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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Synagogue Roof Unveiled at Warsaw Jewish museum
The reconstructed roof of a 17th-century synagogue was unveiled at Warsaw’s Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The replica of the now defunct wooden Gwozdziec Synagogue was presented Tuesday to journalists in a sneak preview of what will be the core exhibition of the museum, which is scheduled to open to the public next…
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Israel at Eurovision ‘Only for Him’
Israel is hoping for a big win at the Eurovision Song Contest in mid-May with a performance of “Rak bishvilo” (“Only for Him”) by Moran Mazor. Mazor, who will turn 22 during the contest, earned the right to represent Israel in Malmö, Sweden, the site of this year’s event, by defeating nine other finalists in…
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Books My Name Is Inigo Montoya
Austin Ratner won the 2011 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for his first novel, “The Jump Artist.” His new novel, “In the Land of the Living,” is now available. 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…
The Latest
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Daniel Radcliffe Is Harry Potter No More
“After six years, Daniel Radcliffe is officially marking his return to the London stage.” The lede in an article on E! Online yesterday tells us two things. First, that Daniel Radcliffe will be appearing in Malcolm McDonagh’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan.” More importantly however, it proves that it is now acceptable to refer to the…
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Leonard Cohen Day Proclaimed in Milwaukee
We’re not sure if he’s going to be presented with the keys to the city, but we do know that March 15 has been officially declared Leonard Cohen Day in Milwaukee by Mayor Tom Barrett. It’s not every day…or every year…or every decade that the legendary singer-songwriter plays Wisconsin’s largest city. So, his first performance…
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Books Religious Political Power in Israel Comes to a Halt
Yuval Elizur and Lawrence Malkin are the co-authors of the new book “The War Within: Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Threat to Democracy and the Nation.” Today, Yuval Elizur takes a look at religious political power in Israel and January’s elections. Their blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My…
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Streisand Will Give First Concert in Israel
Babs is heading to the Holy Land. Barbara Streisand will sing on June 18 at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, which this year will honor the president’s 90th birthday. Although the 70-year-old iconic singer has visited Israel privately a number of times, this will be her first official public appearance there….
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Paradise in Del Ray Beach
When Kings Point in Delray Beach, Fla., opened in 1972, it wasn’t the Promised Land, though many thought it was close. For a $1,500 down payment, refugees from New York exchanged cold winters, drugs and crime for a gated community filled with their peers. First-time director Sari Gilman’s late grandmother was a resident for a…
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Amanda Bynes Has a New Look…And It’s Scary
Remember when we all wanted to be Amanda Bynes? It was in 2006, right when “She’s the Man” came out. She was awkward, weird and kind of a geek, but she somehow prevailed, and got Channing Tatum in the end. Basically, every tween girl’s dream. The former Nickelodeon darling hasn’t been doing so well lately,…
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Why James Franco’s Neighbors Are Unhappy
“Actor/director/writer/poet/perpetual student James Franco never rests. And apparently, he doesn’t let his neighbors do so either. A couple living next door to Franco is complaining about the constant stream of activity flowing in and out of the “Oz The Great And Powerful” star’s Silver Lake home, from which they believe he is running some sort…
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Caretakers by Day, Drag Queens by Night
The story of five gay, cross-dressing Filipino migrants in cosmopolitan Tel Aviv who work by day as caretakers for elderly Hasidic men and by night transform into a musical drag act, might seem improbable. But it is a true story. Based on Tomer Heymann’s award-winning 2006 documentary of the same name, the world premiere of…
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