BooksManya Wilkinson: ‘I wanted to write an edgy novel about the shtetl’This year’s Wingate winner on her tragicomedy Lublin and lost family historyBy Jennifer Lipman6 min read
BooksThe Chasidic stories that anticipate the parables of Franz KafkaRabbi Nachman of Bratslav was one of the great Chasidic writers of the early modern period, and this Pushkin Press translation of his tales of rabbis, robbers, princes and paradoxes is a treasureBy David Herman1 min read
Books Why aren’t Jews allowed to just be ordinary?Yes, we’re often brilliant but we can also be desperately mediocre…By Keith Kahn-Harris3 min read
BibleAbraham as you may never have known him beforeIn his daring new biography, Anthony Julius portrays a divided patriarchBy Simon Rocker5 min read
IsraelHow far is Israel a Jewish state?The predominance of Zionism continues to pose challenges for Judaism, Oxford’s professor of Israel studies argues in his new bookBy Simon Rocker3 min read
Books33 Place Brugmann review: ‘secrets, betrayal and courage in occupied Brussels’From RAF pilots and members of the resistance risking their lives, to Jewish refugee nurses caring for the desperately wounded, this American playwright’s first novel is packed with twists and turnsBy David Herman1 min read
Books The Last Days of Budapest review: ‘intrigue, horror and heroism in the Casablanca of central Europe’Journalist Adam LeBor’s latest book quotes a wide range of newly revealed diaries and letters, and relates some remarkable tales of Jews being rescuedBy Monica Porter2 min read
The Teacher of Auschwitz review: ‘he helped Jewish children survive hell’Wendy Holden has brought Fredy Hirsch, a young gay man who saved hundreds of children from Nazi depredations, to lifeBy Jenni Frazer2 min read||February 7, 2025 09:10
East Broadway to Whitechapel, review: ‘stirring snapshots of a bygone world’David Katz’s short stories are a moving evocation of the Jewish world of Brooklyn and the East End, but also the world of Yiddish literatureBy David Herman2 min read||January 17, 2025 14:34
Why the longest hatred isn’t going anywhere soonThis new study on contemporary antisemtism is a welcome addition to the canonBy Robert Low2 min read||January 10, 2025 15:43
2024 in review: Jewish booksFrom the Shoah to the screwed-up elite, the five stand-out Jewish books of the year are a mix of eviscerating fiction, assiduously researched history and memoirBy Claire Allfree2 min read||December 24, 2024 16:17
Why in the Middle East, a cartoon can be worth a thousands wordsThis visual guide to the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1917 and 1949 is enthrallingBy Robert Low2 min read||December 12, 2024 13:02
The 2025 Wingate Prize longlist is announcedThe shortlist will be announced next month and the winner in FebruaryBy Karen Glaser4 min read||December 2, 2024 11:28
The Thinking Heart review: ‘David Grossman’s dream for Israel omits certain details’The leading Israeli novelist’s new book fails to ask tough questions about the Jewish state’s implacable enemiesBy David Herman2 min read||November 1, 2024 16:02
The Gates of Gaza review: ‘why Israel is where it is’This personal and very painful book should disabuse anyone of the notion that there are easy answers for the Jewish stateBy Jennifer Lipman2 min read||October 2, 2024 11:08
The Hebrew Teacher review: ‘big questions about the future of Israel’Maya Arad’s trio of widely feted novellas examine the familial and professional challenges facing Jews in California and in the Jewish stateBy David Herman2 min read||September 26, 2024 10:58
