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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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Baptize North in Jerusalem
Getty Images In a quick visit to Jerusalem, reality TV star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West had their toddler daughter, North West, baptized on Monday at a 12th century Armenian church in the old walled city. Dozens of fans mobbed an SUV that took the couple, their 22-month-old child and Kardashian’s sister Khloe to…
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Meet Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy’s Dad
Passover went out with a bang this year. To celebrate the last matzo box making it into the trash, Saturday Night Live brought in an unexpected guest: Introducing podiatrist Billy Crystal as Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy’s dad! The father-son duo came to explain why Passover is different from all other nights (Highlight: “The third…
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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Jet Into Israel
TV star Kim Kardashian visits Armenia genocide memorial with her husband, Kanye West./Getty Images Reality television star Kim Kardashian and her husband, rapper Kanye West, landed in Israel for a private visit. The couple, and their daughter North West, 22 months, as well as Kardashian sister Khloe, landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday, following…
The Latest
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5 Things About Lincoln and the Jews
Honest: Abe Lincoln made Jews part of his life and work at a time when we were a barely visible minority in the young nation. The Forward turned to renowned Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, chief historical adviser on the New York Historical Society’s exhibition Lincoln and the Jews, for five fast facts about Honest Abe…
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How Abraham Lincoln Became America’s Moses
Harold Holzer’s having a big year. “Lincoln and the Jews,” a new exhibition he helped assemble, is on through June 7 at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan. His book “Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion” (Simon & Schuster) just won the $50,000 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, awarded…
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Judith Malina, Theater Rebel, Dies at 88
Nate Lavey Photo Judith Malina, an iconoclastic actor and theater world activist who founded the Living Theater, has died at 88, the New York Times reported. Here’s the Forward’s account of her battle to save the Lower East Side drama institution. Judith Malina will not go gentle into that good night. The fiery 86-year-old director…
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POEM: 4/2/07 (for the New Haggadah)
we pray to pray to be able to not a matter of if but a matter of when in hard times in tough times sing the blues to the ones you love begin with the love at hand begin by listening begin by saying we pray to pray to be able to…
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POEM: ‘Canonical’
Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws — Psalm 119 Canonical hours, hours according to law when the world stops for a pause that sometimes befalls us. Remember, it was the ancient Jews who made these hours, hours that were old before Calvary, those oldest matins, lauds and terce. Dante invoked…
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Josh Tyrangiel Honored by JCRC
Launching JCRC’s 2015 Gala dinner at The Pierre, emcee Dari Alexander, Fox 5 News Anchor, touted the Jewish Community Relations Council as most successful “in developing meaningful relationships between our cities’ ethnic and religious communities — bringing together Jews and non-Jews who care about our city and the State of Israel.” Following greetings by Alisa Doctoroff,…
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Wale’s Seinfeld-Inspired LP Debuts at No. 1
Mazel tov to Wale and co-conspirator comedian Jerry Seinfeld! The rapper’s newest record, “The Album About Nothing,” inspired by the canonical sitcom of the ‘80s and ‘90s featuring Seinfeld himself, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week. Between physical copy purchases and digital sales and streams, The Album About Nothing totaled…
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What Do Passover and ‘Downton Abbey’ Have in Common?
A disapproving Lord Sinderby (left) with his wife and son, who married a Grantham lass against his father’s wishes. Once, when radio days were young, there was a silly — but funny — explanation about how radio works: “Imagine a huge dog with its head in Tel Aviv and its tail in Jerusalem, and when…
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