TOO COOL FOR SHUL? // NOT FOR THESE ICELANDERS…
Join us in the country where rabbis say blessings over volcanoes, hot springs are used for mikvahs and Shabbat sometimes starts after midnight, as we travel to Iceland in our first magazine of 2025. Meet the locals involved in Europe's northernmost Jewish community and hear how Jewish émigrés introduced classical music to the land of the midnight sun. In other features, we hear from Odesan poet Ilya Kaminsky as Ukraine approaches the fourth year of its war; head to Eastbourne with the broadcaster David Dimbleby and his daughter Liza as they discuss their exhibition exploring life's darkness – and light – through the medium of drawing; discover what drag queen Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross can teach us about Judaism in the 21st century; and much more… READ MORE
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© David Edwards
Drawing from the depths
An exhibition focusing on war, torture and death might not sound the most appealing start to the new year – but don’t be deterred, Drawing the Unspeakable is a moving testimony to the power of human connection. Rebecca Taylor speaks to the curators, broadcaster David Dimbleby and his daughter Liza © David Edwards
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In celebration of our 20th anniversary, we’ve launched our first book, Age of Confidence: The New Jewish Culture Wave, which comprises five essays by experts in their fields that cover Jewish culture over the last two decades in a period that spans the attacks on New York’s Twin Towers in 2001 to the challenges of creating culture under Covid today. Interspersed with the essays are a series of archive pieces from past magazines, ranging from Mike Leigh on Arnold Wesker to Linda Grant on Saul Bellow, plus an introduction by Howard Jacobson.
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PASSPORT series
Start exploring the world with our Passport series. Here we visit countries and cities to do in-depth studies of Jewish communities across the globe: from Brighton to Brazil, via Burma and Bulgaria. If you have links to a particular place, or are interested in reading about their people, visit our Passport page to browse through the list of places we have covered, or have a quick search below.
THE PLACES WE'VE COVERED SO FAR
(Click to view)
2025: Iceland
2024: Philadelphia | Singapore | Argentina (2) | Romania
2023: Germany’s East | Scotland | Brazil (2) | Italy (2)
2022: Lithuania (2) | 100 Years of Modernism | Hong Kong | Afghanistan
2021: South London | Japan | Ireland (2) | Prague
2020: Washington DC | Northern England (2) | Northern England (1) | The Caribbean
2019: Oxford | Turkey (2) | Melbourne | Belgium
2018: Mexico | Vienna (2) | Cambridge | Catalonia
2017: Hungary | Gibraltar | The Netherlands | Russian Revolution
2016: East Africa | Greece | Brighton & Hove | Venice (2)
2015: Ukraine (2) | Portugal | Jewish Radicals | Iran (2)
2014: Britain's South Africans | Paris | World War I | Kraków
2013: Britain's Israelis | Italy (1) | Montreal | Uzbekistan
2012: Brazil (1) | Burma | Berlin (2) | Yorkshire
2011: Rome | India (2) | Georgia USA | St Petersburg
2010: Manchester | Slovakia | Provence | Turkey (1)
2009: Wales | Croatia | Tel Aviv | Munich
2008: Ireland (1) | Spain | Rosh Pinah | Liverpool
2007: Vienna (1) | Denmark | Ethiopia | Jamaica
2006: Hackney | Bulgaria | Morocco | The West Country
2005: Cuba | Lithuania | Libya | China
2004: Glasgow | South Africa | London's East End | Iran (1)
2003: Australia | Salonika | Argentina | Egypt
2002: Venice (1) | India (1) | Ukraine (1) | Leeds
2001: Berlin (1)
SEPHARDI RENAISSANCE
In every issue of JR you'll find our unique seven-page section called Sephardi Renaissance. Here we focus on the Sephardi world throughout the UK and beyond. Read interviews with those from places such as Sudan, Morocco and Egypt and hear about their colourful traditions. Learn about ancient Jewish culture across the Islamic world; listen to the voices of young Sephardim today; and uncover the culture of communities stretching from Shanghai, to Bukhara to Venezuela.
