
Helen Bamber
photo: Rod Shone


Maimonides'Mishneh Torah,
15th century Lisbon

Batmitzvah girls Teheran,
circa 1990

Klezmer fiddle player
Alicia Svigals


Four Trees, London Bridge, 2003 coloured pencil on paper by Raphael
Pepper


Wadi Amla, Yemen, 1983 from Diaspora: Homelands in Exile

Illustration from an 18th century album of Persian and
Judeo-Persion poems |
SOAP
BOX
WHY CAN’T THE BRITISH BE MORE LIKE THE YANKS?
Paul Gross finds some New York Jewish ways more attractive than those
back home
DEBATE
ARE JEWISH SCHOOLS A GOOD THING?
Neil Freedman (19), Natalie Kirby(20) and Cleo Forstater (11) carry further
the debate started by Clive Lawton and Jonathan Romain in our Winter Issue
THE
JR INTERVIEW
HELEN BAMBER
Golda Zafer-Smith find out how the Human Rights Activist came to devote
her life to helping the oppressed
HERITAGE
THE LEGACY OF MAIMONIDES
Ilana Tahan on the life and work of the great philosopher, teacher and
physician. Illustrated by magnificant manuscripts from the British Library
collection.
COMMUNITY – JEWS OF IRAN
TIMELINE
A distillation of 2,500 years of history by Jack Lukeman
DISSIMULATION
Houman Sarshar describes how the Jewish community survived in a Muslim
world
THE PERSIAN JEWISH CARPET
From the work of the Persian Jewish carpet collector, Anton Felton
MAHALLEH
Houman Sarshar on the Iranian version of the ghetto
A CHILDHOOD OF CONFUSION
Gloria Tessler interviews a young man who lived through the Iranian revolution
as a child
MUSICIANS OF IRAN
Their contribution in conserving Persian classical music
WEDDINGS THAT LAST A WEEK
Leah Baer desribes the marriage customs that owe much to local influences
A CULTURAL CHALLENGE
The particular problems of the Iranian diaspora
LIFE GOES ON
About the way of life of the 30,0000 Jews still in Iran
MUSIC
JEWS AND BLACK MUSIC
Keith Kahn-Harris throws new light on the relationship of Jewish musicians
with black culture
FOLLOWING THE FIDDLE
Sophie Solomon celebrates the Jewish involvement with the violin, from
Jascha Heifetz to its leading role in present day klezmer
METAMORPHOSIS – FOLK INTO ART
Jenny Levin describes the research of singer Ruti Halvani into Jewish
Art Song
ART
A TASTE OF PEPPER
Erica Gordon interviews artist Raphael Pepper whose work sits by the greats
of the past in the current Ben Uri exhibition
ARTS IN ISRAEL
SYNAGOGUES BREAK NEW GROUND
Angela Levine asks whether contemporary synagogue design in Israel is
achieving a new aesthetic
BOOKS
HEARD AT BOOK WEEK
A selection of quotes from Derrida to Wedgwood Benn
THE SHORT FROM THE SMALL
Deborah Smith, Judith Mirzoeff and Golda Zafer-Smith review collections
of short stories published by specialist publishers, David Paul, Loki
and Five Leaves Publishing
YOUNG READERS
The Silver Sword
STANDING UP TO BE COUNTED
Reviews of I am Jewish – Personal reflections inspired by the last
words of Daniel Pearl and Pride v Prejudice – Jewish Doctors and
Lawyers in England 1890-1990
BOOKS OF BEAUTY
David Clark reviews Diaspora: Homelands in Exile and Museums
of the World. Erica Gordon reviews The Synagogue.
POETRY
EPIC, HEROIC AND ROMANTIC
Jewels of Judeo-Persian Poetry
POETRY CHOICE
Liz Cashdan chooses from readers' submissions
POETRY REVIEW
Collections from Theresa Turk and Joanna Ezekiel
FOOD
IRANIAN DELIGHTS
Lamb and Apricot Pilaf and Stuffed Pears
RESTAURANT REVIEW
The Greenhouse, Manchester
LETTER
FROM ISRAEL
VIEW FROM AN ‘ANGLO’
Gloria Deutsch views Israeli culture from the point of view of an English
speaker
LAST
WORDS
JUDEO-PERSIAN |