The Schmooze lies at the intersection of high and low culture. Here, the latest developments and trends in Jewish art, books, dance, film, music, media, television and theater are all assimilated into one handy pop culture blog.
The Schmooze
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Tipsy Elves Beating Whoopi Goldberg — At Hanukkah Sweaters
I got a call from Marina at the front desk. “You have an ugly package. Please come and pick it up.” So I went along to pick it up. What she meant was that the packaging was bright green and the shape was uneven. But, as I ripped it open I saw that the Tipsy…
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Lena Dunham Called Paul Ryan to Protest Steve Bannon’s Appointment
Check your voicemail, Paul Ryan. There’s a timely, heartfelt plea from one Lena Dunham. The “Girls” star posted an Instagram video of herself leaving a message for Ryan yesterday, pushing back against Donald Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon, formerly executive chairman of the far-right news site Breitbart News, as his chief strategist. Leaving a quick…
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WATCH: Shaq Totally Nails the Hora at a Jewish Wedding
(JTA) — Let’s face it: at 7’1’’ and 350 pounds, Shaq is built to dunk. But dancing? Well, you may be surprised: This past weekend, at a Jewish wedding in Miami, the former NBA star danced the hora. The guests of newlyweds Blair Markowitz and Corey Salter look ecstatic in a video of the momentous…
The Latest
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Secret Tel Aviv Reactions to Missing the Supermoon Once Again Prove Israelis Are Way Cooler Than Us
On Nov 14, the moon became full on the same day it reached the point in its orbit closest to the Earth (its perigee, for you science-y folks), creating a “Supermoon” which appeared “14 per cent bigger and up to 30 per cent brighter than usual” — in other words, bigger and brighter than it…
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Remembering Yaffa Eliach—Holocaust Memorialist Extraordinaire
Yaffa Eliach—Holocaust survivor, professor and longtime friend—who died on November 8 at seventy-nine—was a unique Holocaust memorialist. Her 800+ page tome “There Once Was A World”—a meticulous revisit to her 900-year-old shtetl Eishyshtok—has the heft of memory. But it is her 1982 “Hasidic Tales of The Holocaust’ (Oxford University Press) with its documented oft ”supernatural”…
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Ivanka Trump Uses Dad’s Presidential Win to Promote Her Brand
Shortly after Ivanka Trump appeared on “60 Minutes” alongside her father to discuss his presidential win, select style reporters received an email from her brand’s team suggesting that they write about the $10,800 bangle she wore. The New York Times Sunday Styles reporter Katie Rosman took to Twitter to post an email she received from…
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Feeling Like Garbage? Watch Jon Hamm and Billy Eichner Ask Strangers for Threesomes
Donald Trump is president elect. The ice caps are melting. Leonard Cohen is dead. The world may be falling to pieces, but…well, no, there’s no buts. Stuff is pretty hard right now. There is, however, good comedy, and one ray of frenetic street-screaming sunshine knows exactly what you need right now. That sunshine is Billy…
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WATCH: Amy Schumer, Jeffrey Tambor and Larry David Say ‘F— You’ to 2016
Oh hey, 2016. A-list celebrities and folks on the street have a few choice words for you. John Oliver capped off the season finale of “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday by putting together a collection of disgruntled messages from all those let down by this year. “2016 has been an uncommonly shitty year,” the host…
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Emmy Rossum Fights Back Against Anti-Semitic Trolls
Emmy Rossum is shining a light on anti-Semitic internet trolls. The “Shameless” star tweeted out an image she was sent by a Twitter user, which read: “This is all your ilk’s future, you will be seeing a train shortly. Hollywood days of subjugation is over! SEIG HEIL!” The image appears to show train tracks leading…
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Budapest Festival Orchestra To Perform at Hungary’s Great Dohany Synagogue
The Budapest Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming December 1 Concert at Budapest’s glorious Great Dohany Street Synagogue was announced by Hungary’s Consul General Dr. Ferenc Kumin at the New York consulate’s Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution [which began on October 23, 1956 as a national revolt against Soviet occupation and repression]. The…
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Read Leonard Cohen’s Heartbreaking Last Letter to His Muse
Shortly after Leonard Cohen passed away last night, a heartbreaking letter penned by the singer began circulating around the internet. The note was written to Marianne Ihlen, Cohen’s ex-girlfriend and the inspiration for his song “So Long Marianne,” who passed away from leukemia this past July. It read: Leonard Cohen’s recent letter to his dying…
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Most Popular
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Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
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Fast Forward First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
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Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
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Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion When my children decorate for Hanukkah, I don’t just see pride. I see pluralism in action.
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Fast Forward ‘The most Australian name’: Matilda, the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach attack, embodies a nation’s grief
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Fast Forward A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel advocate in LGBTQ spaces, is shutting down
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Yiddish פֿאַר וואָס הערט מען ניט וועגן דעם גלעצנדיקן וווּקס פֿון דער ישׂראל־בערזע? Why aren’t we hearing about the dramatic growth of the Israeli stock market?
וואָלט דער אָפּרוף געווען אַנדערש, ווען דער ציל פֿון די טעראָריסטן וואָלט ניט געווען ייִדן, נאָר אַן אַנדער גרופּע?
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