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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The Anti-Thanksgivukkah Anthem You’ve Been Waiting For
Holiday haters, rejoice! Finally, here is an anti-Thanksgivukkah anthem that you can rally around to protest the unholy alliance of latkes and cranberries, stuffing and dreidels. In the words of video creator Daniel Brenner (who stars along with the “Jew Twins“): “Thank God this holiday only comes once every 70 millenia.” Because really, Charlie Brown…
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Tata Werneck’s ‘Bully’ Slip Irks Brazilian Jews
The popular Brazilian actress Tata Werneck apologized for comments she made about Jews on a national talk show. Werneck said in a statement about her remarks on “Love & Sex” that she was “deeply troubled” by the reaction she has stirred in the Jewish community, Yahoo! Entertainment reported. The president of the Jewish Confederation of…
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Botticelli Fresco Lures Celebs to Israel Museum
“Imagine an Israeli museum receiving Botticelli’s (1481) ‘The Annunciation”— a monumental fresco, a great national treasure —on loan from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy,” James Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem announced at the American Friends of the Israel Museum October 28 Gala at Cipriani 42nd St. “The day…
The Latest
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Rapping About ‘My Yiddishe Mame’
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here A recently released music video weaves together the classic Yiddish hit “Mein Yiddishe Mame” (“My Jewish Mother”) with a modern hip-hop tribute to a more contemporary Jewish mother. In its first two weeks on You Tube, the video received a whopping 11,000 hits. “Mein Yiddishe Mama,”…
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Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs to Host People’s Choice Awards
As of right now until 11:59 p.m. on December 5, you can now vote for your picks for the People’s Choice Awards. In other fun news, the show will be hosted by TV’s second famous broke women (you know, because “Girls”…): Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, stars of “2 Broke Girls.” It happened! Beth and…
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Lou Reed Leaves $15M to Wife and Sister
Rocker Lou Reed, the frontman of the 1960s band The Velvet Underground who died last week, left his estate to his wife and his sister, according to a will filled in a New York court. The performer, whose solo songs include “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Perfect Day,” died of liver disease at the…
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Google Doodle Honors Raymond Loewy
If you’ve had to search for anything on Google today (which, let’s face it, you probably have), you have most likely encountered the Google Doodle honoring Raymond Loewy: Known as the “father behind industrial design,” he would have celebrated his 120th birthday today. Born in France in 1893 to a Viennese Jewish father and a…
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Bringing Dr. Ruth’s Story to Stage
After watching the excellent production of “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” at Manhattan’s West End Theatre, my first thought was that someone had handed playwright Mark St. Germain (creator of “Freud’s Last Session”) a gimme. On the face of it, all Germain had to do was stick a microphone in front of the voluble sex therapist, transcribe…
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Chana Mlotek, Yiddish Folksong Scholar, Dies at 91
Yiddish folksong expert, researcher and anthologist Chana Mlotek died on November 4 at age 91. Mlotek maintained a decades-long association with the Forverts and with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, where she was the institute’s music archivist. When I worked with Mlotek at YIVO, people would come to the archives and say, “I only…
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How Kate Hudson Helped Lea Michele Cope
There’s nothing like a little girl talk to get one through the worst of times. In the December issue of Elle (which she covers), Lea Michele describes how Kate Hudson was her shoulder to cry on in the aftermath of boyfriend and co-star Cory Monteith’s sudden death. “I called her and said, ‘I don’t know…
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Rudy Giuliani Applauds Homeland Security
Spotting N.Y.C. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly as I arrived at the Grand Hyatt for the October 28 Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation Gala, I felt very safe. Petite sexpert, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, perennial photo-op magnet and a former sniper in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, managed to be photographed with Federal enforcement groupings that included…
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