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
Author Blog: Yiddish and Us
Earlier this week, Hannah S. Pressman wrote about when she first began to study Yiddish. Her 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 three of us waited expectantly and somewhat nervously in…
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Yeshiva Museum Goes Back to School
Yeshiva University Museum has received a grant of $135,900 to expand its Re-Imagining Jewish Education Through Art program. The grant comes from The Covenant Foundation, and is part of the $1.2 million in grants approved by the foundation in January. The foundation plans to distribute a total of $1.7 million this year. According to a…
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Al Pacino With Phil Spector’s Hair
HBO has released a trailer for its upcoming Phil Spector biopic, about the legendary record producer and convicted murderer. The film, written and directed by David Mamet, stars Al Pacino as Spector and Helen Mirren as his defense attorney. Based on the trailer, though, the main attraction seems to be the many phases of Spector’s…
The Latest
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Why Oscar Nominee Doesn’t Represent Israel
Last year, in a nearly empty screening room, I saw what became an Academy Award finalist in the documentary category, “5 Broken Cameras.” I then interviewed filmmaker Guy Davidi about his background and his work on the film for The Arty Semite. Recently I had another email conversation with Davidi, discussing how he’s faring with…
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Heirs Pay Tax With Lucian Freud’s Art Collection
Lucian Freud, a painter considered by many critics to be the leading British artist before his death in 2011, at age 88, was also an art collector, owning works by 19th-century artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Edgar Degas. Now, Freud’s heirs are donating some of his collection to British museums — partly as a…
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Best of the Super Bowl
While some of us are actually excited about the Super Bowl every year, the rest of us just look forward to the creative commercials aired during the big game. The best part is that you don’t even have to watch any football to see them. In fact, the following spots, featuring some of our favorite…
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Books Author Blog: Yiddish and Me
Hannah S. Pressman is the co-editor, with Lara Rabinovitch and Shiri Goren, of “Choosing Yiddish: New Frontiers of Language and Culture.” She is the editor of stroumjewishstudies.org and affiliate faculty for the University of Washington’s Stroum Jewish Studies Program. Her blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and…
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Cantorial Concert a First for Barclays Center
Who knew the man behind the Brooklyn homecomings of Jay-Z and Barbra Streisand had a thing for heimishe melodies? Bruce Ratner, the developer and majority owner of the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, which opened last September with a Jay-Z show and hosted borough native Barbra Streisand a month later, holds a special place in…
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Chat with Sarah Silverman
Apparently, one of the things Sarah Silverman likes to talk about is solar energy, and in particular her brother-in-law’s Israel-based solar company. The comedienne will schmooze with you via Skype about this sunny topic and probably a bunch of other stuff, too, if you donate $5000 to Energyia Global. Always the gentleman, Israel’s Prime Minister…
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Books The Last Jew of Boyle Heights
Earlier this week, Janice Steinberg wrote about “Djewess Unchained,” the Song of the Sea, and Yiddish inflected English and the audiobook version of her novel “The Tin Horse.” Her 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…
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Watch This Beastie Boys vs Sesame Street Mashup
Apparently this video has been around since the summer of 2011, but now there’s an expanded version. Watch the characters from Sesame Street performing the Beastie Boys’ “Sure Shot” (via boingboing):
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Opinion Who’s responsible for deadly antisemitism? Everyone will hate the answer
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Culture Lena Dunham’s new memoir is the most millennial thing ever
In Case You Missed It
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Culture I come from a long line of Jewish Bundists. Now, Molly Crabapple is part of our family.
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Fast Forward 200+ Bnei Menashe immigrate to Israel from India, the first to make the journey in years
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Yiddish װאָס קען מען זיך אָפּלערנען פֿון מאָלי קראַבעפּלס בוך װעגן „בונד“?What can we learn from Molly Crabapple’s book about the Bund?
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט
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Sports Today’s American Jews finally have their era’s Sandy Koufax