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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Q&A: General Aladeen on Obama and Romney
After I was mercifully saved from the bourgeois enjoyment of a sailing trip off the Horn of Africa in 2008 by the merciful boats of the Navy of Wadiya, I spent several months lying prostrate at the doors of a Wadiyan palace hoping that the then Colonel-General Aladeen would release me. In early 2010 he…
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Happy Birthday, Arthur Schnitzler!
Today is Viennese-Jewish author Arthur Schnitzler’s 150th Birthday. One of the key modernist writers in the German-speaking world, Schnitzler (1862–1931) is regrettably little-known in America. In his plays, stories and novels, Schnitzler painted a vivid portrait of his place and time, fin-de-siècle Vienna. He was also one of the most controversial and experimental writers, both…
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Gilad Shalit Visits ‘Homeland’ Set
In what was a surrealistic scene, former Hamas captive Gilad Shalit, smiling and in dark shades, visited the set of “Homeland” in Israel. The Showtime series, about CIA agents working to prevent American Iraq War POWs suspected of being turned by Al-Qaeda from committing terrorism, is based on the Israeli TV show “Hatufim.” The show’s…
The Latest
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Hip-Hop Artist Y-Love Comes Out as Gay
Y-Love, the 34-year-old ex-Hasidic hip-hop artist, came out as gay in an interview with Out magazine published today. Y-Love, also known as Yitz Jordan, was briefly married to a Jewish woman, tried reparative therapy and lived a double-life for many years. But now he is announcing to the world that he is gay so that…
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Slideshow: Yiddish Communist Magazines
In conjunction with its conference on “Jews and the Left” (see our story here), the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has prepared an outstanding exhibition called “Shades of Red: Yiddish Left-Wing Press in America,” curated by Krysia Fisher and on view until September, 2012. Among the highlights of the exhibition is a series of arresting…
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Lawyer Blames Library for Death of Kafka Claimant
Crossposted from Haaretz Ruth Wiesler, one of two sisters claiming to be the heirs of Franz Kafka’s manuscripts, and who had been battling the State of Israel over their possession, has died at age 80. Wiesler and her sister, Eva Hoffe, claimed they inherited the manuscripts from their mother, Esther Hoffe, who had been the…
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Catfight! Gwyneth Paltrow and Rashida Jones
Gwyneth Paltrow might be the public face of Hugo Boss’s new Boss Nuit Pour Femme perfume, but that doesn’t mean she’s lost her sense of humor. The other day, when she wasn’t busy with an official photo shoot, Paltrow took time to goof around with her pal Rashida Jones. The two ditched the professional make-up…
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Beth Din of America Launches New Journal
Standard halacha, or Jewish law, demands that Jews take their disputes to a court of Jewish law — a beit, or beth, din. It’s a hard sell in countries where Jewish courts have no power of enforcement and the secular courts seem fair. To get Jews to follow the policy in real life, rabbis have…
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Barbra Streisand and Adele? It Could Happen
You can’t say Babs is one to sit around and putter. According to Page Six, beloved funny girl Barbra Streisand may be looking for some new duet partners. The musical stalwart recently nabbed a contract extension with Sony Music, where executives are asking Streisand to do an album of her old standbys with younger artists….
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Books Author Blog: Nice Jewish Girl on the Balance Beam
Dvora Meyers is the author of “Heresy on the High Beam: Confessions of an Unbalanced Jewess.” 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: When you tell someone that you used to do…
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Natalie Portman Turns Heads at Ballet Gala
Natalie Portman’s “Black Swan” days may be behind her, but the actress was still the belle of the ball at the New York City Ballet’s Spring Gala on May 10. Not quite a year after the birth of her son, Aleph, Portman looked as slim and elegant as ever in a feminine, tiered Christian Dior…
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Most Popular
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Mosab Abu Toha, Palestinian writer targeted by far-right pro-Israel activists, wins Pulitzer for commentary
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Fast Forward A Jewish nonprofit may have accidentally caused Michigan to drop charges against pro-Palestinian activists
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Culture For Christian nationalists, Trump’s pope picture isn’t a joke
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Opinion Is Israel really going to reoccupy Gaza? Ask Trump
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