JANUARY 2020
THE CARIBBEAN: Freedom and progress // How Jews found a haven in the new world
Cold outside? Warm up indoors with the latest issue of JR, which heads to the balmy climes of the Caribbean. Hear about pirates, sugar planters and refugees who transformed the region into a flourishing Jewish enclave and meet the present-day activists keeping the traditions of the region alive. Explore the routes that music of North Africa and the Middle East has travelled all over the world; uncover the secret of Fiddler on the Roof’s success in a new documentary; and discover the cabaret written in Terezin that's having its European premiere in Newcastle. All this, plus our regular three-month events guide to keep the winter at bay right through to spring!
DOWNLOAD A TASTE OF THE JANUARY JR…
Passport: A girl at Havana’s Beth Shalom synagogue after taking part in a weekly youth group. ©Jonathan Alpeyrie
PASSPORT: THE CALL OF THE CHA CHA CHA
Ruth Behar’s parents left Havana for the United States when she was a child but she had always yearned to reconnect with the island that had been a haven for her grandparents and other Jewish immigrants
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: OUR ENTIRE ARCHIVE
Have you tried our app? It's an easy and convenient way to read JR on the go. Simply search for Jewish Renaissance in the App Store to download it. You'll need to be a subscriber in order to gain access, but once you are, you can visit Exact Editions to create your app log-in details. Not only does the app have our current magazine, but every single back issue, too, so you can pick up a copy of JR no matter where you are.
BROWSE THE FULL CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE BELOW
WHAT’S NEW
JR’s young journalism prize; the Polin museum under attack; China’s Muslim internment camps.
FEATURE
Jews, Christians, Hindus and Muslims on being LGBT+.
PASSPORT
The Caribbean: discover the stories of pirates and sugar planters; meet the activists keeping the region’s communities alive; uncover Jewish Cuba; and hear about the refugees who found a tropical haven from Hitler.
MUSIC
Yallah celebrates Judeo-Arabic music across the globe; Peter Watts on a new concert inspired by Canada’s Blackfoot tribe.
ART
John Hyatt explores an exhibition of John Heartfield’s striking anti-Nazi posters.
THEATRE
The Last Cyclist was written by an inmate of Terezin concentration camp but never performed. Now it will be staged at Newcastle’s Brundibár festival. Judi Herman tells its tragic story.
FILM
As a new film is released on Fiddler on the Roof, David Herman explores why the show still resonates today.
BOOKS
Nicola Christie on the new wave of Israeli children’s fiction; Richard Rampton QC interviews former Supreme Court judge John Dyson; travels around Latin America; a new novel about Varian Fry; Marlene Hobsbawm’s memoirs; David Benmayer on The Legacy of Empire.
THE YIDDISHISTS
Our series that uncovers the YIVO archive. This issue: The Holocaust dictionary.
SEPHARDI RENAISSANCE
Joel R Hart on Palestinian flavours in Jerusalem; Mikhal Dekel uncovers the story of the Central Asian refugees; Naomi Pope’s dramatic voyage on board the Exodus.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Our three-month guide to art, books, film, music, theatre and other cultural events in the UK, Europe and Israel.
FAMILY
Don’t miss the children’s events at this year’s Jewish Book Week.
MEET THE READER
Giovanni Ratti in Cremona, Italy.
