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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Whitney Houston Had Israel Trip Planned
For some people, that one last trip to Israel never takes place. That’s what happened to Whitney Houston, according to CBS’s “The Insider.” AbbaNibi, the Israeli/Jewish cultural newswire reports that it was revealed on the gossip show last night that Houston had been planning a return trip to the Holy Land as a follow up…
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German Soccer Marred By Anti-Semitism
Soccer hooligans called Israeli soccer player Itay Shechter a “dirty Jew” and made the Nazi salute at him during a training session for the Kaiserslautern team in southwest Germany on Sunday, prompting an outcry in the German media against anti-Semitism in German football. Although DFB, Germany’s national football association, condemned the incident and said it…
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Books What the Kids Are Doing With Their Lives
Michelle Haimoff’s debut novel, “These Days Are Ours,” is now available. Her blog posts are being 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: I realized late in life that my parents weren’t your typical…
The Latest
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Is Natalie Portman Married? Yes!
UPDATE: The rings say it all—Natalie tied the knot. Natalie Portman and Benjamin MIllepied are officially married, Us Magazine reported. The rings that actress Natalie Portman and her fiancé Benjamin Millepied were wearing at the Academy Awards this past Sunday could very well have signaled that they’ve made it official. But Portman’s reps wouldn’t confirm…
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Consolation for ‘Footnote’
Crossposted from Haaretz “At this time many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy,” Iranian director Asghar Farhadi said in his acceptance speech for his film, “A Separation,” winner of the Oscar for best foreign language film at Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony. “They are happy…
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Rambam in Brooklyn
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Just when you think you’ve heard of everything, comes word of a brand new vegetarian restaurant that proudly calls itself “Maimonide of Brooklyn.” Located in the hip Boerum Hill neighborhood, its menu, a paean to healthy eating, offers fig, date, hazelnut and almond sausages, soy nuggets and doughnuts that…
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Q&A: Herb Alpert on Becoming Tijuana Brass
Herb Alpert’s list of accomplishments is longer than, well, a trombone. He is the composer, arranger, trumpet player and leader of the famed Tijuana Brass, as well as a record producer (he and partner Jerry Moss founded A&M records), painter, sculptor and philanthropist. Alpert has had five number one hits, 15 gold and 14 platinum…
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Buffalo’s Oldest Synagogue May Be Destroyed
Crossposted from Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art and Monuments The former Ahavath Sholom Synagogue at 407 Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, N.Y., built in 1903, is threatened with demolition. The building is one of the last standing synagogue of the “facade-dome” type that was popular at the end of the 19th century. Jewish use of the building…
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Big Win for French Jewish Director
French President Nicolas Sarkozy publicly congratulated actor Jean Dujardin and director Michel Hazanavicius on winning the Oscars for best actor and best director, respectively. The president proudly stated that these awards, along with three others (including best picture) for “The Artist” “demonstrate the exceptional vitality of our cinema and the success of our policy of…
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Weird People at the Library
“Up From The Stacks” is musical theater, but like no other performance that you may have seen. The show, which originally appeared in 2011 in New York and had its West Coast premiere February 23 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, tells the story of college student Lincoln Cabinée, who has a part-time…
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Monday Music: Balkan Beat Goes On
Crossposted from Haaretz The penultimate song on “Give,” Balkan Beat Box’s new album, is poignantly titled “Enemy in Economy.” This light and humorous song mocks the varying suspicions that Americans harbor toward non-Americans, and in effect takes a stand against xenophobia. “Enemy in Economy” ends with a sort of musical pan of the length of…
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Yiddish ייִדיש אין ציריך: אַ נײַע היים פֿאַר אַן אַלטער שפּראַךYiddish in Zurich: A new home for an old language
אויף אַן אָפּשערעניש לעצטנס האָט די משפּחה גערעדט ענגליש און שווייצער דײַטש, אָבער די צערעמאָניע האָט מען געפֿירט אויף ייִדיש
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Fast Forward As images from Gaza spread, US rabbis wrestle with war’s morality from the pulpit
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Fast Forward Donald Trump says US will distribute food in Gaza, where he says there is ‘real starvation’
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Fast Forward Regina Spektor responds to pro-Palestinian protester at concert: ‘You’re just yelling at a Jew’
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