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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Books
Scandal and Self-Correction in Kosher Food
Earlier this week Timothy D. Lytton wrote about organized crime and kosher food certification. His blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: This past March, the owner of Doheny Glatt Kosher Meat Market,…
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Remembering Gary David Goldberg
Gary David Goldberg died June 23 after a long battle with brain cancer. Now the world is short a talented television writer, and also a mensch. I met Goldberg in the fall of 1996, at a rehearsal for his new TV show, “Spin City.” I was a reporter and he was a legend. The deal…
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Books Why Kids Love Scary Stories
Matthue Roth’s newest book is “My First Kafka: Runaways, Rodents, and Giant Bugs.” He lives in Brookyn with his family and keeps a secret diary at www.matthue.com. His blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series,…
The Latest
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Jewish Art or Jewish Kitsch?
Walking around the loosely organized [“Jew York” show][1] at the UNTITLED gallery on the Lower East Side and the [Zach Feuer Gallery][2] in Chelsea, I began to feel a slight sense of unease. Was it the mezuzah that had mysteriously appeared on the doorpost of UNTITLED? Or the collection of men’s suits from the venerable…
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Brick by Brick
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Late one evening, unable to sleep, I was channel surfing when I happened on a documentary about Hudson River bricks. Lest you think, as I did at first, that the subject would put me to sleep in no time at all, I found myself utterly engrossed — and wide…
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Books Kosher Food and Organized Crime
Timothy D. Lytton is the author of the recently published “Kosher: Private Regulation in the Age of Industrial Food” (Harvard University Press). His blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: The Toronto Star…
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Israeli Boris Gelfand Wins Moscow Chess Tournament
Israeli chess player Boris Gelfand won the Tal Memorial chess tournament in Moscow on June 23, after reaching a draw with Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in the final round. With an overall score of six points, Gelfand edged out last year’s winner, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen —the top-ranked chess player in the world — as well as…
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Stands Tall at ADL 100 Dinner
Guests at the June 11 ADL 100 Award Tribute Dinner jockeyed for photos with the evening’s speakers — 7’2” basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, tennis icon Billie Jean King and Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er. Israel’s tall consul general Ido Aharoni just reached the chin of 6’11” basketball great and now ESPN sportscaster Bill Walton. The…
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When Babs Came to Town
Have you ever seen a real, live legend? I have. This Saturday, I went to see Barbra Streisand live in concert. Earlier in the week, she landed in Israel to participate in President Shimon Peres’s birthday celebration. But unlike many of the other famous guests, Streisand spent the week in the Holy Land, toured the…
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Palestinian Mohammed Assaf Wins Arab Idol
Palestinian cities erupted in joy after Gazan singer Mohammed Assaf won the “Arab Idol” song contest final held in Beirut on Saturday night, providing a welcome break from the grinding conflict with Israel. The fresh-faced 22-year-old from humble roots in a refugee camp endeared millions of voting television viewers with his Palestinian patriotic anthems and…
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Remembering James Gandolfini’s Jewish Side
Of the events and occasions at which I ran into James Gandolfini — who died at 51 on July 19th — most memorable were the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding Award galas held at the United Nations Headquarters. At the June 4, 2008, gala, Gandolfini was seated at the table with honoree Madeleine Albright, former…
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