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: We Need More Jewish Debate
Rabbi Barry Schwartz is director of The Jewish Publication Society in Philadelphia and rabbi of Congregation Adas Emuno in Leonia, N.J. He is the author of “Judaism’s Great Debates” (Behrman House, March 2012, student edition; Jewish Publication Society, May, 2012, adult edition). His blog posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy…
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Out and About
Ruth R. Wisse and Samuel Leivick, son of Yiddish writer H. Leivick, trade barbs in the Jewish Review of Books. Menachem Wecker takes a look at the hyper-realistic paintings of Max Ferguson. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interviews trumpeter Frank London. Adam Levin’s new collection of stories, “Hot Pink,” is reviewed by Peter Orner in The…
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Q&A: Yiddish Singer Elmore James
When you Google Elmore James the first hits that pop up refer to a blues singer from the 1940s. That is not the same Elmore James who stars in the National Yiddish Theatre — Folksbiene production of “Soul to Soul.” But Yiddish-singing James, 57, thinks the Southern bluesman would see similarities between what the two…
The Latest
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Books Author Blog: Is the Synagogue a Relic?
Earlier this week, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz wrote about prayer and activism and prioritizing the vulnerable in justice. His blog posts have been featured this week 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: Many Jews today claim that…
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SoHo Synagogue Founders Voted Most Stylish
A young rabbi and rebbetzin are holding their own among some heavy-hitting company. Are they being compared to great Torah scholars? Historical rabbis and their wives? No — it’s a bunch of fashion designers, artists, art dealers, musicians, writers and hoteliers whose company they share. StyleCaster has deemed Dovi and Esty Scheiner, co-founders in 2005…
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Did Someone Say War?
Crossposted from Haaretz More than an exhibition, “Iran” is a gag. Most of the works featured and meant to warn of war, are of a kind of intentional, aware subconscious. The problem is that they really are substandard. “Iran” is an annoying exhibition. Usually annoying exhibitions are much more interesting than ordinary fine, tight exhibitions…
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Palestinians Want Their Soccer Star Back
It seems that transfer is a dirty word among Palestinians — when it comes to soccer as well as politics. Transfer is the euphemism used by members of the Israeli far-right who want to expel Arab citizens from Israel, an idea unsurprisingly detested by all Arabs in this region. But when the word is used…
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Friday Film: Captain of a Sinking Country
Watching the documentary “The Island President” is like watching a political thriller — only its story is not fictional and the cast is not made up of movie stars. Most important, the stakes are very real. In fact, they are so high that the existence of an entire country hangs in the balance. The underdog…
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She’s Everywhere! Mayim Bialik’s Old Navy Ad
We can now add CFO (as in “Chief Floral Officer”) to Mayim Bialik’s blossoming curriculum vitae. The “Big Bang Theory” actress, neuroscientist, mommy, blogger, kosher vegan connoisseur, and attachment parenting expert can now be seen hocking spring dresses in a short Old Navy commercial. Bialik appears in the spot wearing a frumpy frock and floppy…
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A Humanist as Good as Capa
The Hungarian Jewish photographer Eva Besnyö (1910-2003) deserves an honored place beside her more widely celebrated compatriots Robert Capa and André Kertész. A Berlin exhibit honoring her, Eva Besnyö: Budapest – Berlin – Amsterdam, closed on February 27, but a dazzling catalog with texts in German and English was published in March by Hirmer Verlag….
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Bar Refaeli To Star in Comedy About Mossad Hit
Crossposted from Haaretz Israeli model Bar Refaeli is set to join the cast of an upcoming Israeli-French film that will poke fun at the 2010 assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. Refaeli joined the cast along with Shai Avivi, who took over the role held by Shlomo Bar-Abba, who had to leave…
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