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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How Do You Say ‘Uppercut’ in Yiddish?
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish . According to the usual stereotype, Jews don’t know how to fight. In fact, Jews have been quite adept at defending themselves, and there is even a rich Yiddish vocabulary to describe how it’s done. A new exhibit, “Yiddish Fight Club,” opening April 30 at the YIVO…
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Want to Date Jake Gyllenhaal? Gotta Go Through Mom.
Jake Gyllenhaal is a good Jewish boy. Exhibit A: to meet his mom, producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner. “I always bring my dates to my mother’s house for the first date,” your former fantasy boyfriend told Ellen DeGeneres on Monday. “I think that’s a good move.” Really? “My mother thinks arranged marriages actually might be…
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Hilary Swank Will Play Deborah Lipstadt in New Biopic
“Million Dollar Baby” star Hilary Swank will be throwing different kinds of punches in her new project. The actress is set to in the screen adaptation of her book, “History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.” “Denial,” directed by Mick Jackson (Temple Grandin, The Bodyguard) and adaptated by UK playwright David…
The Latest
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World’s Tiniest Bible Goes on Display in Israel
(JTA) — You’ve never seen the Bible like this before. That is, if you can actually see this version. For the 50th anniversary of the Shrine of the Book wing of the Israel Museum, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, the museum has launched an exhibition on the “nano bible,” or the world’s smallest Bible,…
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Luckiest Kid in the World Gets Nicki Minaj to Perform at Bar Mitzvah
Some bar mitzvah boys . Others skip the drama and just invite Nicki Minaj. A New York City teen named Matt had the party of the century this weekend, when the singer, dressed in a black Herve Leger dress and Balmain cage sandals, showed up on stage to surprise his tweenage friends with a (hora-autotuned?)…
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Injured Israeli Bird Gets Feather Transplant From a German (Bird)
An injured Israeli swift has been saved from certain death by a feather transplant, thanks to an ornithophiliac couple in south Tel Aviv – and a unique collaboration between an Israeli zoo and a German clinic. Swifts are peculiarly beloved birds. They are wild and rather too small to bother eating, though certain Asian cuisines…
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Mute Survivor Shares Painful Saga at Women’s Spring Luncheon
“My mother is not only beautiful, but articulate and will take you on a journey with her” Regina Skyer — daughter of Holocaust survivor Ruth Wachner Pagirsky — told the guests at the April 23rd Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial To the Holocaust’s 23rd Annual Spring Women’s Luncheon at The Pierre. “Sixty-nine years ago…
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Jason Alexander Re-Records Epic ‘Seinfeld’ Voicemail for Kat Dennings
At some point or another — for better or for worse — we’ve all felt like George Costanza. Kat Dennings took that to a whole new level when she admitted that her voicemail message for the past two years has been George’s famous “Believe it or not,” message from “Seinfeld.” During an appearance on “The Late…
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Tuvia Tenenbom Talks Back to His Critic(s)
“Catch the Jew!” came out in Israel in September of last year, where it fast landed on the #1 rank of Israel’s most important bestseller lists. In November of last year this same book, though under a different title, was published in Germany, where it became a four-month Spiegel bestseller. In both countries countless critics,…
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Native American Actors Walk Off Set of Adam Sandler Movie
Adam Sandler’s career is continuing in its downward spiral. Nearly a dozen Native American actors, including a “Native cultural advisor,” stormed off the set of Sandler’s latest film, “The Ridiculous Six” (a parody of “The Magnificent Seven,”) apparently disgusted at the negative portrayal of their culture . Per the report, “examples of disrespect included Native…
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Mila Kunis Gets Sued for Stealing a Chicken in Ukraine 25 Years Ago
Once in a blue moon, there comes a celebrity story so perfect in its absurdity that it feels like a gift from TMZ heaven. The epic tale of Mila Kunis and the mystery of the 25-year-old Ukrainian chicken theft falls into that category. A lawsuit filed by one Kristina Karo, claims that the Jewish actress…
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