JANUARY 2013
THE JEWS OF UZBEKISTAN
Meet the Jews of Uzbekistan and discover their remarkable history: from ancient Persia, through the rule of Tamerlaine, to an Exodus in the 90s. Elsewhere in this issue, Angela Levine revisits the work of German artists who made their home in Jerusalem in the 1930s; Helga Abraham visits Bina, one of Israel's secular yeshivas; cellist Natalie Clein discusses Bloch’s Jewish work; and so much more.
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WHAT'S NEW
Annie Winblad Jakubowski features as the winner of the Judaica21 first award, for a mezuzah, along with the details and creations of other prize-winners • JR finds out from director Max Dunbar how Manchester's Jewish Museum has achieved record attendances • News about a new Salon for Jewish artists in London
IDENTITY: REDEFINING JUDAISM
Helga Abraham visits Bina, one of Israel's new secular yeshivas and reports on why and how young people are re-engaging with Jewish texts and ritual
WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR EUROPEAN JEWRY?
David Ariel reports on the Yarnton conference that discussed the present state and future prospects of the Jews of Europe , finding new and hopeful trends, particularly among the 'Millenials'
INTERFAITH
A conference was held in Westminster about the interfaith model of Azerbajan. Janet Levin meets Eugeny Brenneysen who was part of the Jewish delegation
THE JEWS OF UZBEKISTAN
Our Timeline spans a remarkable history starting in ancient Persia, continuing to participation in the building of fabulous Samarkand and Bukhara in the rule of Tamerlaine, repression under successive Muslim rulers, new freedoms under the Russian Empire, to repression but also sanctuary under Communism, and an Exodus which gathered pace in the 1990s • We have personal stories from the 1940s and 1980s and members of the current communities in Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent tell visitors from JR about their lives • From a remarkably cohesive expatriate community we hear of a revival of the Bukhori language in New York from Imanuel Rybakov and take part in a celebration supper prepared by the London Mirzoeffs – including a recipe for plov
EXHIBITIONS
Two Icons David Herman reviews exhibitions on the history of the song Hava Nagila and on the poet Emma Lazarus and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York • The Yekke artists of Jerusalem Angela Levine revisits the work of the German artists who made their home in Jerusalem in the 1930s
MUSIC
Top cellist Natalie Clein talks with David Conway about her new CD and what the music of Bloch, particularly his Jewish work, means to her • Jay Prosser celebrates the innovation and diversity of Yasmin Levy's latest CD and finds out from the star what is behind the 'cavernous melancholy' that enriches her voice • To mark the 30th anniversary of the Alyth Choral Society, Judi Herman finds out how choir mistress extraordinary Viv Bellos has managed to get all generations singing
BOOKS AND WRITERS
Amos Oz and Fania Oz Salzberger tell Helga Abraham about how they worked together on Jews and Words and reveal a very special father-daughter relationship • Reviews Colin Shindler reviews Mordechai Bar-On's Moshe Dayan: Israel's Controversial Hero and Patrick Tyler's Fortress Israel • Susan Kikoler reviews The Holocaust in Italian Culture by Robert S. Gordon • David Herman reviews Pursuit of the Nazi Mind by Daniel Pick • Maureen Kendler reviews Valery Rees's From Gabriel to Lucifer: A Cultural History of Angels • Peter Falush reviews Halik Kochanski's The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in WW2 • Volume 10 of The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization is reviewed by Janet Levin • Agi Erdos reviews The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture by Yoram Hazony • Review by Deborah Brooks of Edith Pearlman's Binocular Vision and Tania Hershman's My Mother was an Upright Piano • Malcolm Forbes reviews The Wanting by Michael Lavigne
POETRY CHOICE
Liz Cashdan chooses poems by Harriet Shenkman and Georgia Varjas
