The Home of the Book for the People of the Book
In 2014, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks set out his vision for the renewed National Library of Israel, expressing the exceptional connection of the Jewish people to the written word; their contribution to civilisation. Former Israeli ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub chairs a discussion on how this continues to resonate throughout the world of scholarship and education, […]
Elliot Cosgrove: Being Jewish Today
Since 2008, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue has been one of the most influential voices in American Jewry. In a rare UK appearance, he discusses his thought-provoking book, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today. Reflecting on the dark aftermath of 7 October, Cosgrove contends that even in the face […]
Hannah Arendt’s Lessons
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, We Are Free to Change The World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience offers a bold exploration of the life and work of one of the world’s most influential—and controversial—thinkers. Lyndsey Stonebridge brings Arendt’s ideas into urgent conversation with our turbulent present. Writing unflinchingly about power, terror, exile, and […]
Abraham: The First Jew
In this new addition to Yale’s Jewish Lives series, Anthony Julius explores Judaism’s first figure. He presents Abraham as living two distinct lives, each reflecting Judaism’s enduring contradictions. Julius examines the origins of a fundamental tension between scepticism and faith, independent thought and adherence to divine direction. After a youth spent challenging polytheism, and narrowly […]
Sarra Copia: A Locked in Life
Confined in the Venetian ghetto from 1592 until her death 49 years later, Sarra Copia was renowned for her poetry, generosity and beauty. Her father supported her secular as well as her Hebrew education, and Catholic poets and priests flocked to the literary salon she convened – until one man accused her of heresy. In […]
Tablets Shattered
By 2050, it is predicted that most of the world’s Jews will live in a sovereign Jewish state, marking a dramatic shift after two millennia life in the diaspora. Against this backdrop, journalist Joshua Leifer argues, the pillars of American Jewish identity—Americanism, Zionism, and liberalism—are crumbling. From progressive anti-Zionists seeking to disentangle Judaism from nationalism […]
The Prosecutor
Against a nation determined to bury its Nazi past, Fritz Bauer fought for justice. A gay German-Jewish lawyer, he secretly tipped off Mossad as to the whereabouts of Adolf Eichmann. More remarkably, he fought Germany’s legal establishment in his determination to put those responsible for Auschwitz on trial. Jack Fairweather, Costa-prize winning author of The […]
The Making of Ukrainian Jewry
Amidst immense destruction, the war in Ukraine has revealed the remarkable resilience of its people and fostered unity among Ukrainians of all faiths, igniting a renewed sense of belonging within Jewish communities both at home and across the diaspora. In conversation with Marina Presenti, former Director of the Ukrainian Institute in London, award-winning Ukrainian writer Ilya […]
Tom Segev: One Palestine, Complete
A New York Times Book of the Year upon its release in 2000, One Palestine, Complete was hailed by John Simpson as “by far the best history of the mandate”. Now, a quarter-century later, Haaretz columnist and David Ben-Gurion biographer Tom Segev returns to Jewish Book Week with a newly updated edition of this landmark […]
Dunkirk & Blitz: Making History Matter
Joshua Levine, the author whose work inspired Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and guided Steve McQueen in creating Blitz, has been celebrated for uncovering the human truths behind familiar narratives. Both films, like Levine’s bestselling books, have been praised for their depth and authenticity. Now, Levine joins the BBC’s Culture and Media Editor, Katie Razzall, to explore […]
Is Geography Destiny?
While geography has remained unchanged since sea levels stabilised after the Ice Age, its impact on human societies has shifted dramatically over millennia—and is now evolving faster than ever. For 10,000 years, the Middle East has been a critical land bridge between Africa and Asia, by turns marginal to global affairs or at the very […]
Roosevelt & the Jews
Theodore Roosevelt, a scion of the Protestant elite, was an unexpected champion of the impoverished immigrants who crowded the docks at Ellis Island. Yet, from an early age, he formed a bond with the Jewish community that had never been witnessed before in a US president, rallying for sweatshop reform and citing the heroism of […]