JANUARY 2017
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: 100 YEARS ON
To mark 100 years since the Russian Revolution, we explore the ways Jewish creatives responded to the events of 1917: looking at the impact of that period on Marc Chagall, Isaac Babel, and the actors and directors of the Moscow Yiddish Theatre. Elsewhere we pit Clive Sinclair and Frank Furedi head-to-head on whether Dylan deserved his Nobel, and we speak with Richard Rampton, the QC for Deborah Lipstadt in her legal battle against Holocaust denier David Irving – the subject of Mick Jackson's film Denial. The bulging books section features Irish Jewish literature, Maureen Kendler’s take on Amos Oz's novel Judas, and a review of Molly Haskell’s Steven Spielberg bio.
A TASTE OF JR: READ SAMPLES OF JR ARTICLES
BROWSE THE FULL CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE BELOW
WHAT'S NEW
Judi Herman remembers Leonard Cohen; Armin Rosen contemplates the future for America’s Jews under President Trump
SOAPBOX
Do British Jews still have a home in Labour? No, says Lord Parry Mitchell; MP Louise Ellman is fighting on
FEATURES
Two London schemes are transforming lives: one uses art, the other links children up with older people
Does Dylan deserve the Nobel? Clive Sinclair and Frank Furedi go head to head…
PASSPORT
The Russian Revolution: 100 years on How did artists, writers and filmmakers respond? Also in this section: Gillian Slovo and Michael Rosen reflect on life growing up in ‘the Party’
FILM
Judi Herman speaks to Richard Rampton about Denial, the film on the Lipstadt vs Irving trial; Jason Solomons meets Rama Burshtein – whose romcom is a Chasidic Bridget Jones
ART
The Nazis branded Hans Feibusch’s art ‘degenerate’. Olaf Peters speaks to Feibusch’s step-grandson about the artist’s work
MUSIC
Bahla gives a jazzy twist to traditional Jewish music
BOOKS
David Conway on Jewish Irish literature: Ruth Gilligan’s Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan, and Jewtown, the new collection of poetry by Simon Lewis; Maureen Kendler on Judas, the latest novel by Amos Oz; Yanky Fachler on George Eliot’s Zionist novel; Peter Watts on Mezz Mezzrow’s autobiography, Really the Blues; David Herman on the 20th anniversary edition of James Shapiro’s Shakespeare and the Jews; Andrew Pulver reviews a profile of Steven Spielberg. Plus books in brief: The Pharmacist of Auschwitz by Patricia Posner; Whitechapel in 50 buildings by Louis Berk and Rachel Kolsky; The Dark Circle by Linda Grant
UNEXPECTED ISRAEL
The swift returns to the Wailing Wall
SEPHARDI RENAISSANCE
Gita Conn welcomes a new synagogue for the north; a recent film uncovers the lost Jews of Kastoria; plus a new book on Shanghai’s Baghdadi Jews by Maisie Meyer
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Our three-month guide to art, books, film, music, theatre and other cultural events in the UK, Europe and Israel
FAMILY
Five things to do with children at The Jewish Museum London
TRY THIS
Strictly Israeli: Danielle Goldstein swaps two-step for vinestep at a new Israeli dance class
