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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9 Jewish Things About Star Wars
It’s May the 4th, or, more precisely, May the 4th Be With You! While some of you intend to celebrate this most important of holidays with some “Star Wars” marathon-ing (the original trilogy, yes?)or with a critical analysis of the trailers for the upcoming and much anticipated new movie, here are 9 (5 + 4,…
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Why I’m Protesting PEN’s Award For Charlie Hebdo
When I heard that the writers Deborah Eisenberg, Teju Cole, Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Rachael Kushner and Taiye Salasi had publically withdrawn from their roles as table hosts for PEN America’s annual gala in protest over the organization’s decision to award Charlie Hebdo the Freedom of Expression Courage Award, my first reaction was to cringe…
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We Put Jewish Celebrities Through #HowOldRobot
Ok, we’ll admit it, we just couldn’t resist! Yes, the #HowOldRobot is in its beta stage, but we wanted to know what it would make our of our favorite famous Jews. Here are the results and well… #HowOldRobot still has some kinks to work out. A fine young man – Mel Brooks (88): Bust (immortal),…
The Latest
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Miss America, Alan Cumming Honored by Safe Horizon
“When you are silent for a very long time, it comes back and bites you in the ass” Alan Cumming Tony Award winning actor-producer-activist told the guests at Safe Horizon’s April 28 Champion Awards Dinner at New York’s Grand Hyatt. The largest victims’ services agency in the United States, Safe Horizon presented “Great Scot” Cumming…
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Woody Allen’s Art Imitates Life — Again
Woody Allen’s latest movie finally has a trailer. And the plot is, well, a little problematic. “Irrational Man,” starring fellow MOT Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, promises another older-man-falls-in-love-with-young-muse, thinks-it-will-solve-inadequacies kind of story. According to the trailer, Phoenix plays philosophy teacher Abe Lucas, who joins a college faculty while grappling with an existential crisis. Lucky…
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Hey Jake Gyllenhaal, We’ve Got A Nice Jewish Girl For You
Hey Jake! We have a great girl for you. She’s Jewish, she’s a princess, and — guess what — We’re talking about 30-year-old Chanel Omari, former “Princess of Long Island.” (She’s basically our Princess Di, except the paparazzi chase is in reverse.) You see, Jake, her mom has been talking to your mom (on our Facebook…
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My Tour of The Holocaust Museum With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
In honor of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s April 27th visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Arthur Berger Senior Advisor at the Washington D.C. Museum, invited me to join fellow Sugihara survivor Leo Melamed Chairman Emeritus of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to participate in the visit. Melamed, a childhood friend, appears as a seven…
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Seinfeld is Coming to Hulu. Yada, Yada, Yada.
Jerry, Elaine, George, Kramer and even… Newman have finally found their Internet pied-a-terre! Hulu has won the battle for “Seinfeld“‘s streaming rights. The on-demand subscription service that it will be making all seasons of the hit show — the original episodes, not their syndicated version — available. Yes, that’s all nine seasons and a total of…
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David Krumholtz’s Bubbe Impression Gets Its Own Show
You may know David Krumholtz as that cute guy from Numb3rs. If you’re of a certain generation (ie. mine), you may remember him as Michael from But the comedian’s claim to fame isn’t his nice Jewish boy looks or his nebbishy humor. It’s his ability to credibly portray a 76-year-old bubbe from Boca named Gigi….
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Bloomberg Announces Winners of Genesis Generation Challenge
(JTA) — During a ceremony announcing the winners of the Genesis Generation Challenge, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to set aside any confusion: “No, the [Genesis Prize] award will not go only to a ruggedly handsome international heartthrob named Michael,” he jested. Bloomberg last year won the inaugural $1 million prize, bestowed by…
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12 Things You May Not Know About Jewish Superheroes
It’s National Superhero Day! Many of our favorite superheroes were created by Jews. Here are 12 things you may not know about Jews and superheroes: 1) In 1933, two high school students in Cleveland, Ohio, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, created Superman. In 1938, the two young chaps sold the rights to Superman to DC…
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion The secret cost of Israel’s wars ravaged my family. It’s only getting worse
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Yiddish מחשבֿות פֿון אַן אַהיים־געקומענעם (אַ מלחמה־טאָגגבוך)Reflections of a soldier after returning home (a wartime diary)
דער מחבר איז אַ סטודענט אינעם ירושלימער העברעיִשן אוניווערסיטעט, אינעם צווייטן יאָר ייִדיש־לימוד
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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News At Harvard, reports on antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bias reflect campus conflict over Israel
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