Jacob Judah

File: Morgan Halleb packs Pink Peacock food for delivery. (Pink Peacock/ via JTA)

June 23, 2023, 2:21 am

Glasgow’s queer Yiddish-speaking cafe shuts after alleged antisemitic threats

The Pink Peacock, which operated on a ‘pay-as-you-can’ basis, closes doors after ‘astonishing amount of antisemitic vitriol,’ claim owners

By Jacob Judah

A group of members from Britain's House of Lords at the Knesset, May 2023. (Knesset spokesperson)

June 1, 2023, 8:28 am

Largest-ever British House of Lords delegation visits Israel to further tighten ties

Group raises concerns over planned judicial overhaul but focuses on practical measures to further improve trade between allies

By Jacob Judah

Ilan Shor, then-mayor of the town of Orhei, Moldova, arrives to meet with supporters during a campaign event in the city of Comrat on February 15, 2019. (Daniel MIHAILESCU/AFP)

April 20, 2023, 2:41 am

A wanted Moldovan oligarch backs Russian interests at home from a haven in Israel

Convicted in absentia for stealing $1 billion from Moldova’s banking system, businessman-turned-opposition leader Ilan Shor is leading pro-Moscow protests in the country

By Jacob Judah

Books in both Hebrew and Russian sit on a bookshelf at Medzhybizh. (Jacob Judah/ JTA)

December 10, 2022, 5:23 am

Ukrainian Jews have historically spoken Russian. The war is changing that

History led Jewish communities in Ukraine to eschew the language, but disgust at Russia’s invasion brings change — and an increased perception of being part of Ukrainian society

By Jacob Judah

Sarah Silverman (right) is one of several Jewish stars who feature in David Baddiel's documentary 'Jews Don't Count,' which discusses whether Jews lack allies in progressive spaces. (Channel 4 via JTA)

November 22, 2022, 4:57 pm

‘Jews Don’t Count’? UK comic David Baddiel brings a provocative book to primetime TV

Guardian hails ‘a doc so shocking it sounds like a siren’; exploring the normalization of antisemitism, it includes thoughts from Sarah Silverman, Jonathan Safran Foer, Stephen Fry

By Jacob Judah

Rabbi Mordechai Bald and his wife, Sara, have distributed thousands of boxes of supplies to Jewish refugees from around Ukraine in Lviv – boxes of empty products that they have given out lie around outside the synagogue. (Jacob Judah/ JTA)

November 3, 2022, 2:35 am

Refugees grow some Ukrainian cities’ dwindling Jewish communities, possibly for good

As Russia’s bombardment of the south and east shows no signs of relenting, western border towns are being revived by an influx of newcomers, some of whom are putting down roots

By Jacob Judah

Goods purchased with the help of Kherson region Chief Rabbi Yosef Wolff in Russian-controlled Crimea are unloaded at the synagogue in Russian-occupied Kherson on the Black Sea, March 10, 2022. (Courtesy)

October 19, 2022, 9:34 am

‘We don’t know who’s alive’: Concern mounts for Jews in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Many who were unwilling or unable to abandon their homes now languish under occupation. Damaged infrastructure and fear of eavesdropping prevent loved ones from learning their fate

By Jacob Judah

Zhanetta Butenko's house was partially destroyed when a rocket crashed through its roof in early March, in Hostemel, Ukraine. (Jacob Judah/ via JTA)

September 17, 2022, 11:01 am

‘The Jews have arrived’: In Bucha, a Jewish group distributes sorely needed supplies

Even as private donations dry up, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine says it’s supporting some 37,000 Jewish households at a monthly cost of $3 million

By Jacob Judah

A Rangers FC fan celebrates while holding an Israeli flag during a match against Celtic FC in 2017. (Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images/ via JTA)

September 4, 2022, 1:16 pm

Why Scotland’s fiercest soccer rivalry features Israeli vs. Palestinian flags

While many see the display as more about Catholic-Protestant sectarianism than politics, Irish support for Palestine factors in. Either way, local Jews would like to see it stopped

By Jacob Judah

Rabbi Shimshon Izakson chats with a relief worker at a sports hall in downtown Chisinau, Moldova. (Jacob Judah via JTA)

April 16, 2022, 7:48 am

TikTok rabbi seeks to make Ukrainian Jewish refugees comfortable in Moldova

‘We are trying to create the most normal place possible,’ Shimshon Izakson says of relief efforts, as he explains his drive to connect young and Russian-speaking Jews to religion

By Jacob Judah

Tottenham's players celebrate a goal during the English Premier League soccer match against Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Feb. 9, 2022. (Alastair Grant/AP)

March 24, 2022, 7:07 am

British Jews love soccer. So why are there no Jews in the Premier League?

Jews’ increasing ubiquity behind the scenes at the pitch has been mirrored by their near-total absence on it

By Jacob Judah

Thousands of Ukrainians wait to enter the checkpoint at the Ukraine-Moldova border in Palanca, March 5, 2022. (Jacob Judah via JTA)

March 9, 2022, 10:26 pm

At Moldova border, Jews from Odesa wonder when they’ll be able to return home

Bracing for a Russian attack on their hometown, many residents escape to neighboring country; reject Putin’s claim of ‘denazifying’ Ukraine

By Jacob Judah

Ukrainian refugees enjoy a meal at the Agudath Israel synagogue in Chisinau, Moldova, on March 3, 2022. (Jacob Judah/via JTA)

March 5, 2022, 10:45 pm

In Moldova, Ukrainian Jews anxiously wait out war in synagogues and Jewish centers

Local Jews say thousands of their coreligionists have arrived from Ukraine after fleeing Russian invasion, seeking help, shelter, and advice as they plan next moves

By Jacob Judah

Toby Simpson shows a reporter documents in the Wiener Holocaust Library in central London. (Jacob Judah/ JTA)

January 15, 2022, 3:50 pm

In London, the world’s oldest Holocaust archive is still collecting material

Sensing impending disaster, the Wiener Library’s founder gathered evidence of German antisemitism from the 1920s, making an argument against the Nazis before Hitler came to power

By Jacob Judah

Preservation technician Emily Thomas cleans a rail wagon of the type used to transport victims to death camps at the Holocaust Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London, September 30, 2021. (Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

November 17, 2021, 12:36 pm

London’s Imperial War Museum brings the Holocaust into the light for all to see

Unlike other memorials, the recently opened permanent exhibit is unusually well-lit, giving the very human perpetrators of the genocide of Europe’s Jews no shadows in which to hide

By Jacob Judah