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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When Star Trek and M*A*S*H* Meet at Israel Philharmonic Gala
What a surprise to see Leonard Nimoy — “Star Trek”’s ever logical Mr. Spock — beamed onto Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully’s Hall’s stage to the strains of John “Williams’ theme for “Schindler’s List” at the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s October 29th benefit. Nimoy set forth the IPO’s remarkable evolution from its 1933…
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First Look at Museum of Polish Jews
When Warsaw’s Museum of the History of Polish Jews’ main exhibition opens to the public in September 2014, it will add to the city’s Jewish historical trail something which does not presently exist: a history of Jewish life. The core exhibition has been in development since 2003, when the master plan, including the concept and…
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Miley Cyrus To Invade Israel Next Summer
Israel: Brace yourself. Twerking queen Miley Cyrus is headed your way next June. Channel 2 which broke the story, says there aren’t many details about the formerly sweet Hannah Montana star’s trip, but we can only imagine what havoc she’ll wreak on the holy land. Earlier this fall Cyrus complained about old Jewish men at…
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The Magic Oud
On September 29 of this year, Jewish folklorist Dov Noy passed away at the age of 92. Howard Schwartz offers this poem in his memory. Dov, you brought back the merchants trading tales, the grandmothers whispering buba mayses, brought back so many fairy tales told by the stove, warming so many generations. If all the…
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Dealing With the Side Effects of Fiction
Happy Mutant Baby Pills By Jerry Stahl Harper Perennial, 272 pages, $14.99 The narrator of Jerry Stahl’s new novel “Happy Mutant Baby Pills,” has a serious case of unrest. Lloyd earns his living writing pharmaceutical copy — specifically, disclaimers for the side effects of various drugs. He’s also got a fairly severe heroin habit, and…
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Breast Surgery Dance-Off in the O.R.
Sometimes. a little Bey’ can go a long way. Deborah Cohan, a San Francisco-based OB-GYN, instigated what is probably the first ever operation room dance party, right before undergoing a double mastectomy at Mt. Zion Hospital. What ensues is the most inspirational six minutes ever as Cohan and her team bump and grind to Beyonce’s…
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Matti Friedman Nabs Sami Rohr Prize
Carolyn Starman Hessel, Director of the Jewish Book Council, the coordinating organization for the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary programs, calls it “a true life detective story on a thousand-year-old Hebrew Bible.” That’s the description of Matti Friedman’s “The Aleppo Codex,” which has won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. The $100,000 prize is…
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Masha Leon Remembers Chana Mlotek
When I recently called Chana Mlotek about an obscure song of a girl weaving sandals, within a nanosecond, she gave me the song’s provenance, lyricist and composer. On November 4 she died at 91. Chana was among the few of a generation to call me by the diminutive Mashele — we shared a more than…
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No Kotel Bat Mitzvah for Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul canceled her much-hyped bat mitzvah at the Western Wall, opting instead for a low-key ceremony in the town of Safed, The Times of Israel reports. Per Israel’s Tourism Industry, which hosted the former “American Idol” and “The X-Factor” judge, the switch was due to jet lag. But the officiating rabbi, Eyal Riess of…
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Supreme Court Rules Against Naomi Ragen
In a resolution of a plagiarism case appeal brought by author Naomi Ragen, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the author to delete 25 phrases from future editions of her bestselling novel “Sotah.” The order made on Wednesday upholds a December 2011 decision by Jerusalem’s District Court, which ruled that Ragen used parts of haredi Orthodox author…
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Friend and Photographer to Frida Kahlo
Many people are familiar with an iconic photograph of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo titled “Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel, NYC 1933.” In the picture, Kahlo is seated, and a small painted self-portrait hangs above her and slightly to the left on the wall. Less known than the photograph itself is the name of the…
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