Sometimes it’s funny being Jewish in Ireland!
I’m not a religious Jew. But I am culturally and secularly Jewish. And living in Ireland. This year, as in the previous few, I attended my local Jewish community’s Rosh Hashana service. This year, though, due to Covid, it took place online, on Zoom. All fifteen of us in our little boxes on the screen, […]
A book about Jewish footballers would be the shortest book in history
Nathan Abrams talks to author Anthony Clavane about the love affair between Jews and English football. We have yet to feature any sport in JewThink which, unfortunately, upholds the old stereotypes about bookish, weak, effete Jews being no good at physical pursuits. To rectify this omission, I spoke to Anthony Clavane, a self-described ‘Jewish lad […]
The Lemon Tree and the Garden of Friendship
Gloria Tessler recalls how a small act of reconciliation and friendship could reinforce a soft peace
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? A Profile of Yehudis Fletcher
Karen Skinazi profiles Yehudis Fletcher, a Haredi political and social activist who helped to found Nahamu, an organisation dedicated to fighting extremism. ‘What would you do if, say, a transwoman who used to be part of the Haredi community lost the right to see her children in the civil courts?’ I asked (admittedly, it was […]
Lockdown and Motherhood
Miki Shaw, an artist, illustrator and graphic designer based in London, reflects on parenthood during lockdown. Lockdown, when it first came, felt oddly familiar to me. Not the large-scale and tragic backdrop of it, but the personal-scale isolation, and being stuck at home. I’ve been locked down in some ways since I first became a […]
Rosh Hashana 5781
Nigel Grizzard reflects on the new and improved Rosh Hashana services this year. What were my abiding memories of Rosh Hashanah as a child growing up in Woodford Green, Essex? Full shuls and long services that finished around two o’clock in the afternoon. Fifty years on in Leeds, things have not improved much. Schlep it […]
A ‘Modern’ Blood Libel
Dan Rickman reflects on controversial issues of halacha and the language of orthodox Judaism. It is 1966, and Rabbi Dr Immanuel Jakobovits is angry. I’d like to explain what caused this anger, and why this still matters today. The person responsible for his ire was Dr Israel Shahak, a professor of Chemistry at the Hebrew […]
Being Jewish in Aberdeen, Rosh Hashanah 5781
Mark Taylor reflects on a strange year in Britain’s most northerly congregation. Looking back at this year, as you do during Rosh Hashanah, it has been a surreal year. This is Aberdeen Synagogue’s 75th anniversary year, and plans were ongoing to have a celebratory party but all of this has been put on hold. The weather is still beautiful. It has […]
The Jewish Films of Michael Lonsdale
Nathan Abrams celebrates the Jewish films of legendary French actor, Michael Lonsdale. The French actor Michael Lonsdale, who has died, aged 89, may not have been Jewish, but he left behind some key films dealing with Jewish issues. Here are the top five. The Trial (1962) The Trial was the attempt by legendary auteur Orson Welles to adpat the 1925 novel of the same name by the Jewish […]
Heavy Metal and Renewal: Rosh Hashanah in the end times
How metal’s Christian apocalyptic sensibility can ground hope for a Jewish new year of renewal.