Richard Ferrer, at The Blogs

Feb 23, 2022, 4:15 PM

It’s been a week of events, dear boy, events

Vehicles carrying Russian flags are pictured in central Donetsk as city residents celebrate sovereign Ukrainian land being recognised as the Donetsk People's Republic by Russia.

In March 1938, a lawless dictator obsessed with his country’s former empire invaded a sovereign neighbour under the pretence of reuniting his people. The invasion of the Sudetenland, followed by the rest of Czechoslovakia, led to the darkest days in human history. This week a...

Feb 15, 2022, 11:04 PM

Uncertain Spurs flatter to deceive on tackling the Y-word

When news broke last week of Tottenham Hotspur taking a stand against the vile word “Yid” being used by its fans, I emailed the club for comment and received an immediate reply. Not from the head of media but from the head of media’s email...

Oct 13, 2021, 6:00 PM

Sally Rooney should just mime her next novel

Sally Rooney, (Pako Mera/Alamy Live News. Via Jewish News)

Sally Rooney no doubt thinks she’s as refreshingly woke as a tub of Ben & Jerry’s vegan-friendly ice cream. Not so. The popular Irish author is more broken than awoken. In denying the Israeli company she previously employed the rights to translate her latest book, Beautiful...

Sep 25, 2020, 2:46 PM

The tick is nothing without the tock

My most vivid memory of my father’s parents, aside from their inability to eat spaghetti bolognaise, is the incessant tick-tock of the grandfather clock that echoed through their Whitechapel flat. I loved boasting to Grandpa Daniel and Granny Minnie that I could count up to...

Jun 10, 2020, 2:30 PM

How should a Jewish newspaper respond to George Floyd’s killing?

The unlawful killing of George Floyd was a tragedy for the black community. But as the trauma of recent days has shown, it psychologically scarred people of all colours. Something snapped in us all. As the Chief Rabbi wrote last week: “This is an essential...

Apr 22, 2020, 12:48 PM

Jewish News is back, more energised and ambitious than ever

If like me, your sense of time is all over the place at the moment (is it April or May?), you’ll be forgiven for thinking the Jewish News is yesterday’s news. After all, just seven days ago, I wrote 600 misty-eyed words about our final issue after...

Dec 18, 2019, 11:29 AM

The future ain’t what it used to be

Corbyn exits, head in hands, stage left. (Press Association)

Car workers in Birmingham, shopkeepers in Sedgefield, market traders in Norwich, steelworkers in Sheffield, greengrocers in Great Yarmouth, fishmongers in Falmouth, bus drivers in Bolsover, waitresses in Workington. In the end, after all the fear and doubt, the message rang far and wide and loud and...

Nov 27, 2019, 12:24 PM

Can everyone PLEASE stop using the ‘A’ word?

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn giving his keynote speech at the party's annual conference, October 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire via Jewish News)

The Jewish community has always proudly defined itself by the contribution it makes to British life. As the Chief Rabbi emphasised this week to devastating effect, thanks to the Labour Party it is now tragically defined by antisemitism. And, quite frankly, everyone is sick and tired...

Aug 28, 2019, 3:49 PM

A monumental decision for Britain

Blueprint of the Westminster Holocaust memorial and learning centre design (Jewish News)

There are hundreds of Holocaust memorials worldwide, 69 in the United States alone – from Nashville and Nebraska to Missouri and Mississippi. Most are incongruously located thousands of miles from humanity’s greatest crime. Here in the UK the Holocaust is, to quote survivor Ben Helfgott,...

Aug 14, 2019, 1:32 PM

The beach front in the battle against blind hate

On-going protests outside JD Sports and HSBC in Brighton.

We all sense it. The calm before the storm. Before you can say ‘Facilitated customs arrangement’, Westminster will reconvene to face down its greatest challenge of the 21st century. The British prime minister, his majority now hanging by a gossamer thin thread, refuses to rule...

About Me

Richard has been editor of Jewish News since 2009. He is one of Britain's leading Jewish voices, writing for The Times, Independent, New Statesman and many other titles. Richard previously worked at the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, edited the Boston Jewish Advocate and created the Channel 4 TV series Jewish Mum Of The Year. In July 2022 he was named one of “39 People Making Waves in the Jewish Media Sphere” by the website Future of Jewish.