Life

‘The strange and beautiful love story of the Maori and the Jews’

The tight relationship between the two peoples predates the founding of New Zealand in 1840, and the Maori case for self-determination draws parallels with Zionism. Kiwi journalist David Cohen reports

By David Cohen

8 min read

A haka in Queenstown, New Zealand, and the Jewish-Maori film-maker Takia Waititi

Vegetables for keeps: Karen Glaser, aged nine with her brother, Steven, and the writer's mother Jolanta Glaser's fermenting kitchen ledge with her pickled pears on the far left

Food

So just how easy is it to make your own pickles?

By Karen Glaser

5 min read

Travel

South Africa with a Jewish flavour

By Karen Glaser

9 min read

Confidants: Nancy Mitford (played by Bessie Carter) in the series Outrageous with her Jewish friend Joss (Will Attenborough)

tikkun olam

How a Mitford sister came to hear about tikkun olam

By Simon Rocker

3 min read

JC LifeDelivered Weekly

Unlock access to our community and get the latest news straight to your inbox!

All Newsletters

Back in the USSR: Izabella Tabarovsky and refuseniks with Natan Sharansky on the right

Jewish students

‘I understand antisemitism because I was born in Russia’

By Nicole Lampert

5 min read

Leon Weintraub at Auschwitz the day after the 80th anniversary of its liberation and (left) in his hotel room on the day of the commemoration at which he spoke

Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day: One man’s mission to capture the faces of survivors for eternity

Portrait photographer John Balsom was accustomed to snapping celebrities – until, as Lianne Kolirin writes, he developed a devotion to taking pictures of those who lived through the Holocaust

By Lianne Kolirin

6 min read

Theatre

Challah, humour, the Holocaust and me

John Nathan meets a writer-performer whose latest show is inspired by her encounters with Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Cohen – and being the daughter of a Shoah survivor

By John Nathan

4 min read

Travel

Grandfather’s ski-steps

Until last January, only one other member of Karen Glaser’s family had taken to the slopes. Then she went skiing in the majestic Dolomites

By Karen Glaser

3 min read

The town of Corvara, in the Dolomites (Photo: Freddy Planinschek)

Persian Jews

Could my Persian grandmother be a winner at the Academy Awards?

My late Bibi appears in Sarah Solemani’s Oscar-shortlisted film about the secret Jews of Mashad. I hope she’s up there giggling at the thought

By Naomi Greenaway

4 min read

From left: Naomi's grandmother, Hannah Haruni, with grandfather, Eli, on their engagement in 1948; Naomi, aged 16, with her grandmother in Israel in 1995, a year before she died

Lifestyle

Books

How I found the real Philip Roth

David Bennun talks to Steven J. Zipperstein about his new literary biography of the pre-eminent Jewish novelist

By David Bennun

6 min read

Defying his detractors: Philip Roth (right) and Steven J Zipperstein

Kosher chef

Keeping kosher in marvellous Montenegro

It was made famous by James Bond. And the hechshered hospitality at Dukley Hotel & Resort is outstanding. But where exactly is this enchanting country?

By Victoria Prever

6 min read

Family

My mother is 102 and scared of being Jewish in public

American film-maker Gayle Kirschenbaum on how October 7 has changed life for her and her mom

By Gayle Kirschenbaum

5 min read

Big Jewish Comedy Gala

The Big Jewish Comedy Gala has the last laugh

The sell-out evening showcased the best of Jewish humour – and the best of Jewish pride

By Ben Felsenburg

2 min read

Theatre

Woman in Mind review: Sheridan Smith sparkles in Alan Ayckbourn’s dark comedy ★★★★★

The actor will surely be in line for an umpteenth Olivier nomination for her quicksilver performance of Susan and her disintegrating mind

By John Nathan

1 min read

Mad release: Sheridan Smith and Sule Rimi as Susan and Andy (Photo: Marc Brenner)

Theatre

Into The Woods review: Goyishe Brothers Grimm gloriously reinvented by a Jewish creative team ★★★★★

Jordan Fein’s masterpiece interpretation of this European fable draws from real life to subvert the idea of happily every after

By John Nathan

2 min read

Katie Brayben as the baker's wife in Into The Woods. (Credit: Johan Persson)

Theatre

Christmas Day review: A not-quite-realised effort at Jewish catharsis ★★★

Arguments over Jewish identity become super-heated in this dark comedy full of timely – although unfortunately random – elements

By John Nathan

2 min read

Theatre

2025 in review: Theatre

John Nathan chooses the best plays of the year, from a new stage adaptation of Mel Brooks’s musical The Producers to a comic revenge fantasy about the kidnap of Jeremy Corbyn

By John Nathan

4 min read

Film & TV

All TV

Hannah Goldstone with her grandfather, Martin Wertheim (Photo: courtesy)

Holocaust Memorial Day 2026

‘If I can make people realise I’m telling the story of real people – my family – that’s what’s important’

By Ben Conway

5 min read

The colour cure: Can embracing the rainbow ease menopause mood swings?

Colour consultant Gabbie Greenberg encourages women to ditch black and grey for bold colours, extolling their power to enhance wellbeing and mood

By Eliana Jordan

2 min read

Meet Dame Polina Bayvel – the trailblazing scientist, whose Jewish faith requires no proof

Bayvel was recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List for her pioneering work in optical fibre engineering, but the Jewish scientist remains reverent to her academic idols

By Eliana Jordan

4 min read

Hamnet review: ‘needs a middle ground between modern and Elizabethan English’ ★★★

The film’s climax is stunning, but producers Steven Spielberg and especially Sam Mendes have directed enough Shakespeare on stage to make the archaic language accessible to a contemporary audience

By John Nathan

2 min read

Travel

All Travel

Celebrating nature: all Eilat needs is more visitors

Israeli travel

Come to sunny Eilat – it’s got everything...except tourists

By Misha Mansoor

7 min read

High teas, hot springs and Jane Austen: Finding winter wellness in Bath

The geothermal hot spot in Somerset offers a relaxing retreat for us world-weary Jews, and all the romance of an Austen novel

By Nicole Lampert

3 min read

My own butler? This is how to cruise...

From a deluxe Friday night dinner and spa treatments to lectures about Jewish heroes and a round of golf, Mark Silver on his sails of the unexpected

By Mark Silver

5 min read

14 fantastic Chanukah gifts to light your foodie’s festive season

Spark joy with these tasty treats and gourmet gadgets

By Victoria Prever

1 min read

Books

All Books

Jewish Joan of Arc: Hannah Senesh and Douglas Century with his book Crash of Heavens

Books

The Jewish woman who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe

By Jennifer Lipman

6 min read

Berlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar Germany

Hopeless cases, lowlifes and down-and-outs, the atmosphere in the extraordinarily talented Ulrich Boschwitz’s first novel feels like something from Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera

By David Herman

2 min read