The Cosmo Café in ‘Finchleystrasse’ (as bus conductors jovially called out in Finchley Road) was a much-loved place of refuge and refreshment for its refugee denizens from wartime ‘Mittel Europa’. When theatremaker and artist…
Family and life stories are so much more than simply a collection of dates. Births, marriages and deaths are of course the punctuation to our lives, but it’s the stories in between those events that make up the real lives; that create who we are. As the director of Words by Design, my job…
To commemorate VE Day today, the Museum of London Docklands has made available some rare images to view online. These photographs, paintings and artefacts are part of the museum's Docklands at War collection and would have been on display were it not for the current…
On Sunday 3 May, Limmud presented a brand new event, Limmud Together UK, which took place entirely online. It was a (very) full day of talks, discussions, singalongs and more, and attracted the sort of presenters that guarantee enthusiastic audiences, which, in this case, counted…
As a 21-year-old British Jewish girl, I am blessed to live in a society where I have the freedom to choose how I practice and embrace my faith. I am reform and modern in my lifestyle. Recently, a photo I posted of myself on my private Instagram page was put on a WhatsApp group chat and…
Learning Talmud is a cultural issue. Wait – hear me out. I promise you, there’s more to it than anachronistic laws, bearded men arguing about turgid minutiae and airless study rooms full of greasy, pubescent boys. Although, if…
The Board of Renaissance Publishing, publisher of Jewish Renaissance magazine, is delighted to announce that Dr Aviva Dautch will be taking over as Executive Director of Renaissance Publishing, effective from 4 May 2020. Aviva brings a wealth of experience to our organisation…
"So…did your parents use a matchmaker then?" I was asked in a lecture theatre. It was my first day of rehearsals for Fiddler on the Roof at the University of York, the city of which isn't exactly known for its Jewish cultural scene, having incited medieval England's greatest pogrom in…
"Two Jews, three opinions" – it's an old joke and one we often laugh about, but in many ways it's true. Jews in the UK are not, and never have been, monolithic. We are divided on Israel, on the role of communal bodies, and by cultural and religious backgrounds. We’re a small…
Growing up, my Saturdays were spent at faith school. These mornings combine in my memory as a blur of Hebrew lessons and various artistic endeavours, from which my parents accrued several clumsily decorated menorahs, candlesticks and mezuzahs. In later years, candlestick…
For anyone unfamiliar with Chasidic Jewish communities, or indeed any of the varying branches of Judaism, one word is likely to spring to mind when watching Unorthodox: 'cult'. The story begins with 19-year-old Esty's frantic flight from Brooklyn to Berlin, a journey on which she takes…
In our present situation, in which many quarantined families must resort to home-schooling, perhaps it's apt to ask, what is the ideal method of Jewish education? Historically, formal Jewish education was rudimentary and rigid, and often proved ineffective. This could be because…
Sunday 23 February 2020: the streets of Delhi are ablaze. Hindu nationalists storm the predominantly Muslim slums in the North-East. With 40 dead, and more than 200 injured, Muslim businesses and homes were left looted and destroyed. In a wave of instigated violence, aided by…
“I used to know quite a few Jews,” said my ex Darren not long after we started dating. “Used to?” I laughed. “Yeah. I think they’ve all met sticky ends now,” he answered. “You know my great-uncle Vinny?” “The one who worked for…
Here we go again. I sit in front of an online form and I don’t know which “race/ethnicity” box to tick. I scroll through the options of acceptable identities, the categories that are meant to define me, and find myself outside of…