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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IMAX ‘Jerusalem’ Closer to Heaven Than Earth
National Geographic Entertainment’s cinematographically beautiful new 3D IMAX movie “Jerusalem” is closer to the heavenly Jerusalem than to the earthly one. But even devoid of contemporary political context, the film provides an informative and visually stunning introduction to the Old City of Jerusalem and its fundamental importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For those unfamiliar…
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Bette Midler Wins Jane Jacobs Medal
And the 2013 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership goes to… Bette Midler. The award recognizes individuals “whose work creates new ways of seeing and understanding New York City.” The 67-year-old Grammy Award-winer founded the New York Restoration Project, which works to restore parks, community gardens and neighborhoods throughout the city, in 1995. According to…
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Pulitzer-Winning Playwright Gets Another Chance
Despite a highly successful playwriting career, Donald Margulies has not had much luck with “The Model Apartment.” For convoluted reasons the 30-year-old play has not yet enjoyed a fully successful production in New York. Ironically, when Primary Stages produced the work in 1995, critics were enthusiastic and the play won an OBIE. But it folded…
The Latest
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Books Why Philip Roth Is ‘Too Jewish’ for Nobel
When the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded, I knew that Philip Roth had not won. A colleague condescended: “I never liked Roth,” a put-down to me, a Miltonist and teacher of Renaissance literature, who really doesn’t know better. A couple of decades ago, someone would have mentioned the more elegant, supposedly more disciplined and…
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Lea Michele Sings Goodbye to Cory on ‘Glee’
LOS ANGELES, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Television musical comedy series “Glee” bid farewell on Thursday to Finn Hudson, the hunky, kind-hearted jock played by the late Cory Monteith, offering up songs, remembrances and plenty of tears while sidestepping the question of how his character died. Fans had waited to see how the Fox television show…
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Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem Praise Women in Media
“Good for you honey!” teased Jane Fonda — her arm around my shoulder, with Sally Field listening in — during our chat as I commented on a common sexist workplace put-down, which I addressed in a [1979] Working Woman article “Please don’t Call Me Honey.” Academy Award-winner and Women’s Media Center co-founder Fonda (whose father…
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Miley Cyrus Knows Better Than ‘Old Jewish Men’
Miley Cyrus’ tongue has gotten its fair share of press lately. But the former “Hannah Montana” tween-star turned pro-twerker is now getting attention for something she actually said. In an interview with Hunger magazine, which she covers this month, Miley complained about record executives being too old to know what’s what. And who does she…
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The Human Cost of Palestinian Collaboration
In the hands of a lesser writer and director, Hany Abu-Assad’s “Omar,” the story of a trio of young Palestinian friends caught up in a singular act of vengeance against the Israeli occupation, could have descended to the level of mere agit-prop. That would have left the film — which was recently selected as the…
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Peter Rosenberg, Hip-Hop’s Jewish Radio Star
Growing up in a kosher household in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, Peter Rosenberg became enamored with hip-hop listening to tapes by rapper Big Daddy Kane and scratching records on the turntables he saved up to buy at age 14. Today, Rosenberg is a co-host of one of the nation’s most listened to morning shows, on…
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Lea Michele’s ‘Glee’ Heartbreak Over Cory Monteith
On the eve of “Glee“‘s tribute to Finn Hudson, played by the late Cory Monteith, girlfriend Lea Michele has opened up in her first interview since his death. “I feel like, for me personally, I’ve lost two people: Cory and Finn,” she told TV WEEK Australia. “I really woke up every single day feeling like…
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Hasidic Art Show Takes Off in Crown Heights
When people think of Hasidim, the image that comes to mind is often in black and white. An art show currently exhibiting local Hasidic artists’ work at a storefront space on Kingston Avenue, the main thoroughfare of Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, is challenging that notion. The third annual Sukkot art show, titled “Pure…
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In Case You Missed It
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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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Opinion Is JB Pritzker’s very Jewish toughness the key to fighting Trump?
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