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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Israeli Ingenuity? No-High Pot
Israeli researchers say they have developed a marijuana plant that gives the user no high. The research firm, called Tikun Olam, operates a marijuana plantation in northern Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post. Medical marijuana has been legal in Israel since 1993, though its recreational use is illegal. Tikun Olam claims that its new marijuana…
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Video: ‘Jewish Bieber’ Wows Again
Edon Pinchot, the young Orthodox crooner who was breathlessly dubbed the “Jewish Justin Bieber” by the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), has continued to shine on “America’s Got Talent.” After sailing through the Vegas round with his rendition of David Guetta’s “Without You,” he dazzled the crowd last night with a performance of Guetta’s…
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Axl Rose Lands in Israel
Axl Rose, the lead singer of American legendary hard-rock band Guns N’ Roses arrived in Israel on Monday, ahead of the group’s one-off performance in Hayarkon Park on Tuesday. Rumors of an Israeli stop of a GNR tour have been circulating nearly annually since the band’s last Israel show – their now legendary 1993 show…
The Latest
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Books Do Jews Win the Anxiety Sweepstakes?
Dan Smith’s second book, “Monkey Mind,” is a warm and painful look into his life-long struggle with anxiety and paradox. The same dogged interrogation of his psyche which antagonizes and often undermines him is redirected here in service of understanding and healing. What results is a patient, emotional and often funny catalogue of how he…
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Jonah Hill, Fashion Icon?
Jonah Hill is Seth Rogen’s awkward sidekick no longer — not since the formerly pudgy comic slimmed down and started taking on more serious roles, like his Golden Globe-nominated part in “Moneyball.” Word has it that his style matches the shift. Hill’s gone from slumming it in basement blogger duds to a full-on embrace of…
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Books Author Blog: My Pekar Years
JT Waldman is the author of “Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me” and Megillat Esther. Visit his official website here. 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: I met Harvey Pekar…
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Books Author Blog: Albert Einstein As Committed Jew
Last week, Harry Ostrer wrote about a series of scientists who contributed to our contemporary understanding of Jewishness. 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: Albert Einstein may have been the most…
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Books Author Blog: It’s All in the Blood
Last week, Harry Ostrer wrote about a series of scientists who contributed to our contemporary understanding of Jewishness. 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: If being Jewish were in the blood,…
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‘Weeds’ Gets Existential With Rabbi Dave
The Showtime hit dramedy, “Weeds,” returned for its eighth and final season yesterday, starting off with a bang. Literally. Fans of the show will recall that it finished last year with a cliffhanger: a rifle aimed at protagonist Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker). Would Nancy be shot? Would the assassin switch to another target before…
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Mila Kunis On JDate?
Buck up, all you JDate and OKCupid browsers: Actress Mila Kunis, star of the Seth MacFarlane movie “Ted” and all-around bombshell, tells Glamour that she would be right there with you if she weren’t quite so well known. “I would go Internet dating instead of going out to bars,” Kunis told Glamour. “In two seconds…
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Meet the ‘Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door’
“Chiseled gladiator.” “Gay warrior.” “Killer bod.” Yes, it sounds like The New York Times has a crush on 29-year-old Zachary Koval, who was just selected as one of the Sexiest Vegetarians Next Door by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The Times will have to get in line; photos of Koval’s “cut body” have…
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Culture That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
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Opinion Were the attacks in Boulder and D.C. the product of ‘blood libel’? Not so fast
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News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaeda in address to Republican officials
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Culture In the Trump-Musk feud, both sides are united by antisemitism
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