Life

Why do secular Jews love this branch of Orthodox Judaism so much? What is its secret?

A London rabbi on how spreading a message of Jewish joy and pride means Chabad has grown from an insular Chasidic sect to the influential Jewish force it is today

By Miranda Levy

7 min read

Roots schmoots: Rabbi Bentzi and his wife, Rochie

Cruel dilemma: Jewish children must now constantly ask themselves if they risk being ostracised by standing up for Israel

first person

‘Our kids are on the front line in the war of words… how should we arm them?’

By Naomi Greenaway

5 min read

Family

When the JC played cupid: How three couples found their soulmates via JC adverts

By Eliana Jordan

5 min read

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof workshop to explore the father-daughter relationship

By Ahron Asher Moss

1 min read

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Israel

British Jews find ‘home away from home’ with property purchases in the Jewish State

By Eliana Jordan

4 min read

Lena Dunham at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, has written a new TV series with a Jewish protagonist, out on Netflix July 10. (Getty Images)

How Jewish is?

How Jewish is Lena Dunham?

The writer and star of HBO’s ‘Girls’ is releasing her latest semi-autobiographical comedy series, this time with a Jewish protagonist

By Eliana Jordan

3 min read

Film

Hot Milk review: ‘delicately adapted for the screen’ ★★★

In her directorial debut, Rebecca Lenkiewicz establishes the characters of Deborah Levy’s 2026 Booker-nominated novel with care and admirable economy

By John Nathan

1 min read

Vicky Krieps and Emma Mackey in Hot Milk

Jewish food

Meet the farm-based food star from America’s Midwest serving up cookie salads

Molly Yeh’s roots make her no stranger to fusion flavours

By Victoria Prever

4 min read

Meet the farm-based food star from America’s Midwest serving up cookie salads

Mexican Jewish food

Food is our connection to our Mexican Jewish past

A colourful cookbook fusing Eastern European and South American traditions was inspired by hand-written recipes from generations past

By Victoria Prever

2 min read

Mexican mavens: Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle were inspired by their shared culinary heritage

Lifestyle

Opera

The opera singer who won’t be silenced on Israel

Born in St Petersburg to Ukrainian and Russian parents, acclaimed soprano Ilona Domnich grew up with the message: ‘Don’t disclose. Hide your Jewishness.’ Now she is done hiding

By Jonathan Sacerdoti

7 min read

Chai note: Ilona Domnich (Photo: Omer Barr)

BBQ recipe

Get your grill on

How to get your grill on – it's the perfect way to cook supper any day

By Judi Rose

3 min read

End of Life Bill

US Rabbinical Council say End of Life bill overlooks ‘moral caution’

The bill has divided religious opinion across the board

By Daniel Ben-David

2 min read

People campaigning in support of the End of Life Bill as it was being debated in Parliament in June (Photo: Getty)

Jewish refugees

From Berlin to Finchleystrasse: the Jews who redefined the Finchley Road

Thousands of refugees from Nazi Europe rebuilt their lives in coffee houses, bookshops and cabarets along Finchley Road, turning this dusty stretch of the A41 into a boulevard of dreams. The grandson of two Finchleystrasse pioneers reports

By Etan Smallman

6 min read

Bohemian haunt: Cosmo, a meeting place for intellectuals and eccentrics from 1933 to 1998 (Photo: Marion Manheimer)

Theatre

Evita review: ‘Rachel Zegler’s star quality shines’ ★★★★★

Every Evita is defined by its Eva and the clarity, accuracy and power of this one’s voice is astonishing

By John Nathan

2 min read

Rachel Zegler as Eva Peron and James Olivas as Juan Peron in Evita (Photo: Marc Brenner)

Theatre

Intimate Apparel review: ‘Beautifully performed revival’ ★★★

The suppressed passion between black seamstress Esther and immigrant Jew Mr Marks makes this plot feel freshly hatched

By John Nathan

2 min read

Samira Wiley and Nicola Hughes in Intimate Apparel (Photo: Helen Murray)

Film

28 Years Later review: ‘flips our national psychology on its head’ ★★★★

In this horror movie, the British Isles is infected and full of zombies – and the sea that surrounds us no longer protects us from those on the continent, it protects them from us

By John Nathan

1 min read

Run for your life: Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams

Theatre

Who is Claude Cahun? review: ‘The subject is endlessly fascinating’ ★★★

The achievements of this French Jewish lesbian living a non-conformist life under Nazi occupation is filtered through our 21st century obsession with gender politics – at the expense of conveying her bravery

By John Nathan

2 min read

Subversive campaign: Rivkah Bunker (left) and Amelia Armande in Who is Claude Cahun? (Credit: Paddy Gormley)

Film & TV

All TV

He's behind you: Scarlett Johansson and a mutant dinosaur in the seventh Jurassic movie

Film

Jurassic World Rebirth review: ‘Scarlett Johansson breathes new life into dinosaurs’ ★★★

By John Nathan

2 min read

How Jewish is Owen Thiele?

The ‘Adults’ and ‘Overcompensating’ star is working on a semi-autobiographical comedy series starring Ilana Glazer and Susie Essman

By Eliana Jordan

1 min read

Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything review – a fascinating exposé with one glaring omission ★★★★

The American broadcaster known for her intimate interviews with celebrities and politicians alike was a complicated figure according to a new documentary. But was her Jewishness part of her complexity?

By Eliana Jordan

3 min read

Review: F1 ★★★ A Pitt stop for Brad

This film about Formula One fails to pick up speed despite great action sequences

By John Nathan

1 min read

Travel

All Travel

Feline watchful: a cat perches on the on Kasbah of Agadir Oufella, the fortress built in 1572 to protect Agadir

Travel

All about amazing Agadir

By Leah Pennisi-Glaser

4 min read

Move over Napa – it’s all about Santa Barbara

The ‘American Riviera’, with its stunning vistas and delectable local wines, might just be the country’s best spot for viticulture

By Anna Pointer

5 min read

A trip to Tuscany’s ‘Little Jerusalem’

Pitigliano offers a trip into history – and an excuse to linger among south-west Tuscany’s hidden charms

By Beverley Byrne

4 min read

Want to feed your Jewish soul? Then come to Safed

You don’t leave this northern Israeli city with selfies, you leave with questions. Big ones

By Josh Kaplan

1 min read

Books

All Books

Rescued: (clockwise from top) Max Ernst, Andre Breton, Hannah Arendt, a Jacques Lipchitz sculpture, Jacques Lipchitz, Walter Benjamin, Lion Feuchtwanger, Marc Chagall and journalist Varian Gray

Books

Marseille 1940 by Uwe Wittstock: one hack’s mission to save Jewish intelligentsia from the Nazis

By Amanda Hopkinson

2 min read

The JC summer 2025 children’s reading list

From royal rescue missions to understanding the liminal ritual of havdalah, here are the season’s four best new books for toddlers, teens and those in between

By Angela Kiverstein

1 min read

The Third Reich of Dreams review: ‘surreal testimonies to a nightmarish reality’

This is a fascinating piece of work about people’s dreams in Nazi Germany

By Alun David

2 min read

The Propagandist review: ‘a devastating account of Vichy France’

Historian Cécile Desprairies’ debut novel is a dark and powerful account of the French men and women who eagerly embraced evil

By David Herman

2 min read

Music

All Music

Shofar-blower extraordinaire: Bar Zemach is taking the horn from the synagogue to the concert hall (Photo: Jenni Munz)

Jewish music

The young Israeli giving the shofar a new voice

By Eliana Jordan

3 min read

Die Walküre at the Royal Opera House: ‘Wagner played to perfection’

Australian Jewish director Barrie Kosky whips up a perfect storm of brilliance in what is arguably the greatest opera ever written

By Stephen Pollard

2 min read

How Jew-hate is becoming the norm in the music industry

Antisemitism in the music business might be in the news thanks to Kneecap, but the truth is the Irish band’s politics are simply emblematic of a growing problem. Nicole Lampert reports

By Nicole Lampert

7 min read