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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Check Out These Eerie Pictures from the Sandstorm in Israel
Today, Israel looks a lot more like the planet from Star Wars than we’re used to. Since Tuesday, country has been swept by a sandstorm, the worst one the country has seen in 75 years. Apparently, all that sand is coming from Syria and Jordan. (Thanks!) As an Israeli, I’ve witnessed many such storms. This…
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From Bike Mechanic to Jewish Songstress
EDITOR’s NOTE: Beth Hamon’s song “Sparks,” made the Top 5 in our Soundtrack of Our Spirit project, which celebrates the best new voices in Jewish music. In , she describes her musical journey from Portland bike mechanic to full-time songleader, and rejoices in a newfound community. It has been quite a day here at Rancho…
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5 Rosh Hashanah Videos To Get You in the High Holiday Mood
What’s the best way to celebrate Rosh Hashanah? New music! When you’re done going through our list of the check our roundup of some of the best Rosh Hashanah-inspired covers of pop songs. 1)”Apples and Honey Are Good,” Erez Cohen Music Sung to the tune of Andy Grammer’s “Honey, I’m Good.” the Jewish version features…
The Latest
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Talking Polish Underground and World War II With Joshua Zimmerman
“I am always explaining — often to American Jews — that not all Poles were anti-Semites,” I told Joshua Zimmerman Yeshiva University Associate Professor of History and Eli and Diana Zborowski Professorial Chair in Holocaust Studies and Eastern European Jewish Studies” and author of the just published [Cambridge University Press] “The Polish Underground and the Jews…
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‘Rabin’ Filmmaker Amos Gitai Talks Jewish Terror
Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai says his film “Rabin: The Last Day,” screened at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, won’t end conspiracy theories about the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 But it does show, he says, that there was a right-wing hate campaign against the late war hero and former general. Rabin…
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Did Israel Use Jewish Voodoo To Jinx Soccer Superstar Gareth Bale?
The British press thinks it has come up with an explanation for Israel’s surprising draw with Wales in Euro 2016 soccer qualifier on Sunday night – witchcraft! “Call it witchcraft, call it voodoo, call it black magic,” wrote Richard Innes in the Daily Mirror. “Whatever it is, it clearly worked.” Israel’s Tal Ben Haim jinxing…
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The Jewish Historian Who Made Sure ‘Hamilton’ Is Right for Broadway
(JTA) — Historian Ron Chernow has written successful biographies of the likes of J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and George Washington. So it’s fair to say that at this point in his career, the Alexander Hamilton biographer knows the drill: There’s the author tour, the positive reviews, the making of the best-seller lists. There…
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Jacoby Boren Takes Center Stage for Ohio State Football
(JTA) — Ohio State may not be know who will be starting at quarterback as its season opener approaches, but the Buckeye who will be snapping is a sure thing: Jacoby Boren, the football squad’s Jewish center and newly named co-captain. Boren, a senior, was named one of six co-captains last week by coach Urban…
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Portman’s Directorial Debut is a Bitter-Sweet Israeli Homecoming
(Reuters) – Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman made her directorial debut with a film sympathetic to the Holocaust-haunted refugees who founded her native Israel, but she bristles at the idea that the portrayal might be patriotic. Instead, she considers “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” her screen adaptation of Israeli novelist Amos Oz’s grimy, erotic and…
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This Palestinian Woman Can Really Pump Iron
This is pretty cool! , an Armenian-Palestinian from Jerusalem, became the first Palestinian female bodybuilder to participate and win a competition in Israel. She won “Miss Fitness” at a competition organized by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association, also known as NABBA. The Arab Christian contestant beat 4 other Israeli bodybuilders for the title, after only…
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Jewish James Bond Author Thinks Idris Elba is ‘Too Street’
Anthony Horowitz, the British Jewish writer tasked with writing “Trigger Mortis,” the next novel in the James Bond saga, might want to look to his main character for charm lessons. In an interview with the , Horowitz let it be known that he thinks Idris Elba, a fan favorite in the runoff to cast the…
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