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
-
Orthodox Rabbi Caught Studying Torah During Soccer Game Goes Viral
Rabbi Zev Leff never set out to be a viral star — he just wanted to get in some Torah study. But the Haredi rabbi of Moshav Matityahu, located near the Israeli city of Modiin, became an accidental sensation when a stadium camera caught him studying at the Israel-Scotland game in Glasgow. Rav Leff was…
-
Did Kelsea Ballerini Plagiarize An Israeli Artist For Country Music Awards Performance?
Contemporary Israeli dance and country music. It could be a match made in heaven. If it’s done honestly. When 25-year-old country music sensation Kelsea Ballerini performed her hit “Miss Me More” at the Country Music Awards on Wednesday, responses were mixed. Reese Witherspoon called it fire emoji. Many fans complained that the electric performance was…
-
The Forward’s 2018 Sexiest Jewish Intellectual Alive (And One Dead) Awards
Welcome back to the second year of the Forward’s annual Sexiest Jewish Intellectual Alive. It all began last year. Sensing a gap in a marketplace — the dominant Sexiest Man Alive competition was created to showcase the beauty of Mel Gibson — we decided it was time to rank Jews by intellectual hotness. A few…
The Latest
-
Sarah Silverman Preparing Her Aging Dad For Death Is The Most Jewish Thing Ever
Sarah Silverman’s dad Donald is in perfectly good health for an 81-year-old. So Silverman decided “to show you just how important it is to take your elderly parents, bring them on your television show, and make a plan for their death.” As Donald said, popping up next to his daughter during the season finale of…
-
SNL’s RBG ‘Get Well’ Rap Is Weaker Than Ginsburg’s Fractured Ribs
It’s fair to say that “Saturday Night Live” has had its ups and downs. Sometimes, the show is Kate McKinnon singing “Hallelujah” and Kenan Thompson as the tragic hero of a lobster opera. And sometimes, it’s just men embarrassing themselves. Forget the truly misguided bit this week when the absurdly wealthy co-head writer and “Weekend…
-
The Bernie Sanders-Azealia Banks Feud You’ve Been Waiting For Has Arrived
It was bound to happen. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is a snowy-haired, firebrand grandpa grumpily taking on America’s banks, taxes, and social systems. Azealia Banks is a quicksilver, hyper-sexual, socially radical rapper known for erratic behavior, hot-headed internet fighting, and, once, claiming to have lurked inside of Elon Musk’s house for days. It was inevitable…
-
‘Princess Bride’ Writer William Goldman Dead, But Immortal Forever
“True love is the best thing in the world,” William Goldman wrote. “Except for cough drops.” The 87-year-old screenwriter and novelist died on Friday morning after a brilliant career and beautiful life. His genius was as suited to love scenes as knife fights, as compelling recounting history as it was inventing myth, as warm on…
-
Sarah Silverman Schools Nazi Prom Boys On How To Make A Good Holocaust Joke
In the darkest moments, in the valley of the shadow of anti-Semitism, in days torn by violence and pain, there is a light, and her name is Sarah Silverman. And she is committed to teaching the world that there is a better way to make jokes about the Holocaust. Reflecting on the surfacing of a…
-
Mark Zuckerberg And Sheryl Sandberg, We’re Revoking Your Mensch Cards
Well, well, well, well, well, well, well. Here at the Schmooze, the Forward’s pop culture desk, we’ve been pretty relentless in our criticism of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. But damn! Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, whose clean-cut looks and professed Jewish and American values have always endeared them to us just as Javanka’s have…
-
Pregnant Amy Schumer Has Been Hospitalized But On The Mend
Amy Schumer has been hospitalized for hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness. The pregnant actress shared on social media that she was forced to raincheck standup shows in Texas after being admitted to the hospital during the second trimester of her pregnancy. “It blows,” the 37-year-old comedian commented. “Very lucky to be pregnant…
-
When Instagram Took Down Orthodox Fashion Brand’s Pro-Israel Post
When Brooklyn-based Orthodox Jewish sisters Mushky Notik and Mimi Hecht started their brand ‘Mimu Maxi’ in 2014, they couldn’t have imagined their Instagram platform would grow into the success it is today, with over 45K followers. As such, the ‘proud Jewish sisters from Brooklyn’ take to the platform, from time to time, to comment on…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News What a Secretary of State Marco Rubio would mean for American Jews and Israel
- 2
News Your complete guide to Trump’s Jewish advisers and pro-Israel cabinet
- 3
Fast Forward Trump AG nominee Matt Gaetz has left a trail of antisemitic comments
- 4
Opinion Trump’s first picks are die-hard Israel supporters, mocking the pro-Palestinian protest vote
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Is RFK about to ban goyslop — and what on earth is that?
-
Fast Forward Why Neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the U.S.
-
Yiddish אַ זעלטענע זאַך אין פּאַריז — אַ קאָנפֿערענץ בלויז וועגן די ליטוואַקעסA rare event in Paris — a conference just about the Litvaks
צוליב דעם וואָס ס׳רובֿ פּאַריזער אַשכּנזים שטאַמען פֿון פּוילן, קומט די ליטוויש־ייִדישע קולטור נישט אָפֿט צו רייד
-
Fast Forward Who is Marc Rowan, the Jewish investor reportedly in the running for Trump’s Treasury secretary?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
