Isaac Bashevis Singer: A Long, Long Way
“I wouldn’t say that Yiddish is dead, neither would I say that Yiddish is blooming. I would say that Yiddish is sick. But in our history, between being sick and dying is a long, long way…” Isaac Bashevis Singer. As the centenary of the birth of one of the most respected Jewish writers of all […]
TsitTsit Fringe: The Poetry Haggadah: Setting History Free
Poets Jill Abram, Adam Kammerling and Sophie Herxheimer will read from their work as we launch a new project involving contemporary poets and the traditional seder night text. Over the next year, Tsitsit will be commissioning twelve poets to respond to the themes and content of the Haggadah, a text that became fixed at a […]
TsitTsit Fringe: Villa Russo
Author Julia Nelki introduces her family history, a story of the 20th century through the lens of a house in East Germany , and how it is being adapted into a new piece of musical theatre, Stumbling Stones. This is a story that takes us from the heart of Germany to the High Andes ,from […]
The Beatles’ Hairdresser
The Beatles’ hair changed the world. As their untamed manes grew, they set off a cultural revolution as the most tangible symbol of the Sixties psychedelic dream. But how did a Jewish boy from Burnt Oak become part of this epochal change? From dropping out of school aged 15 and apprenticing to Vidal Sassoon to […]
TsitTsit Fringe: Much Ado About Noshing
A light hearted look at Jews, books and food ( with bagels!) From Farfel the Madding Crowd to Chrainspotting, spend lunchtime in the company of some very funny writing about Jews and food. And bagels will be provided ,of course….
To Egypt With Love
With the Suez crisis of 1956, Egypt’s remaining Jewish population was forced to flee a land which had been their home for over 2,000 years. Author Viviane Bowell, who fled the country when she was a child, describes in vivid detail the lost world of the Jewish community of Cairo. In conversation with historian and […]
The Meeting
The horror of the Holocaust seen through the prism of two brothers from a German Jewish family, Richard and Arthur Lindner. In The Meeting Elsbeth Lindner remembers her uncle and her father. In drawing together two very different lives – the huge success in America of her artist uncle (chosen as one of the individuals […]
A Small Town in Ukraine
Decades ago, historian Bernard Wasserstein set out to uncover the hidden past of Krakowiec, where his family originated. Now he recounts its dramatic history across centuries of conflict as Cossacks, Swedes and Muscovites rampaged through. In the Age of Enlightenment, a Polish magnate created an arcadia of serenity; under the Habsburgs it became a typical shtetl. […]
The Story of Russia: Orlando Figes
No country has been so divided over its past, or reinvented its story so often, as Russia. To understand what Putin’s regime means for the future we need to unravel Russia’s history. There can be few better guides than historian Orlando Figes, whose books have been translated into over 30 languages. In The Story of Russia – a book of 2022 […]
Art Spiegelman & Hillary Chute in conversation with Jonathan Freedland
From Superman to Maus, comic art has both subverted and triumphed over popular culture for almost a century. Our latest online event sees Jonathan Freedland joined by Maus creator Art Spiegelman and Hillary Chute, editor of the National Jewish Book Award winner Art Spiegelman’s MetaMaus and the upcoming Maus Now. They will look at the […]
Lapidarium: The Secret Life of Stones
From the hematite used in cave paintings and the moldavite that became a TikTok sensation to from crystal balls to compasses, rocks and minerals have always been central to our story. 3,000 years ago, Babylonians constructed lapidaries, books that tried to pin down their magical secrets. Now art critic and author Hettie Judah explores the […]
Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew
From a Catskllls comic to one of the few individuals to have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards, Mel Brooks dominated 20th century American comedy. Now, as he approaches 97, the director of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein is the subject of the latest book in Yale’s Jewish Lives series. Jeremy Dauber’s Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew explores how Brooks’ American Jewish humour morphed from being solely […]