Lockdowns and subsequent lows The week governments ordered people to remain at home, over two years ago, was one of the toughest moments of the Coronavirus pandemic. On a general population level, there have been multiple moments since then that have caused just as much disruption, if not more so. New lockdowns have been introduced […]
Why in some ways this feels like the toughest period of the pandemic Read More »
What are your impossible stories? There’s a quote that’s stuck with me this past month or so, and it’s from the writer, Saidiya Hartman, whose book, ‘Lose Your Mother’ has me gripped this January. Elsewhere, in another one of her works, she’s posed the question: ‘How do we tell impossible stories, and how do we
Here’s a queer question. What are your impossible stories? Read More »
I fell for the same Edenistic charms that Melville, Gauguin and Robert Louis Stevenson had all succumbed to. Tahiti, it was then.
Tahitian tales (and the selfish desire to sail away) Read More »
I guess what tribe I belong to can’t only be explained on scientific, or genealogical lines. Maybe I simply shudder in a particular way when I hear the name ‘Adolf Hitler’. Maybe Jews aren’t related just by blood but in our synapses?
It’s just a place (What I’ve learnt about being Jewish in strange new places) Read More »
There’s pride for some of us this Pride Season. For others, such terrible, corrosive shame remains. Worse, prejudice and, yes, punishment remains for countless millions, simply on account of their being lesbian, bi, trans or gay.
Pride, shame and some pride today (and still shame) Read More »
In our family’s story we find the roots for our own story – good and bad. We can take strength from our ancestral history, but we might want to deconstruct that story, and consciously move beyond anything that no longer serves us in the present day.
Why summoning Indiana Jones can help with our family trees (and our future) Read More »
When I was in the Royal Free hospital, recovering from my kidney operation, I needed to search for my story. I was releasing painkillers into my body every five minutes: the pain stabbed at my sides. Sleepy, I thought to myself, ‘why am I here, why have I chosen to donate my kidney, and what comes next?’
We’re all storytellers. You might not know it yet. Read More »
What can any of us do in response to the newer challenges – of anti-Semitism today? I would simply start by saying please open your heart or mind to what Jewish people themselves say needs to change. All too often in recent years, Jews warning journalists, politicians and others about anti Jewish prejudice have been accused of playing political games, of effectively ‘crying wolf’.
From medieval times to the Modernists (The surprise stories of anti Jewish prejudice) Read More »
Whatever (or whomever) we lose, we must lament and later mourn, commemorate and acknowledge. Whatever lessons history teaches us, let’s at least agree, there are lessons that need to be learnt, that we can’t let our histories simply fade.
The Hidden Histories Read More »
I’ve been called various things throughout my 39 years.
At school I was called ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Igor’ (the character in cartoon, ‘Count Duckula’) and ‘Gonzo’ and various other nicknames, owing to my prominent nose. I now plan to reclaim my family past, reclaim my name from its early 20th century past. I’m coming out as Andrew Kaufman.
What’s in a name? Coming out as Andrew Kaufman Read More »