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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Slideshow: UK Jews From Punk to Prayer
“What does it mean to be British and Jewish in this century?” That’s the question that photojournalist Judah Passow asked himself when formulating the guiding principles for “No Place Like Home,” his photographic exhibition that opened at the Jewish Museum London on February 1. A winner of four World Press Photo awards, Passow was born…
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Video: Seinfeld in Acura Super Bowl Ad
If Matthew Broderick can do it, then so can Jerry Seinfeld. Sell cars, that is. Hot on the (w)heels of Broderick’s reprise of his famous Ferris Bueller alter ego to hock a Honda, we have Seinfeld doing his shtick to push the new Acura NSX. It seems these days you don’t even have to wait…
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British Film Festival Returns to Israel
Crossposted from Haaretz The British Film Festival is returning to Israel after a two-year hiatus, with a selection of movies by new and interesting voices that give audiences a glimpse into modern-day Britain. The festival, the flagship event of the British Council in Israel, will be showing ten films in seven cities — Tel-Aviv, Haifa…
The Latest
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Out and About
Israel’s biggest outdoor sculpture exhibition is happening now in Jerusalem. Sam Roberts reviews “Jews and Booze” for The New York Times. Read Jenny Hendrix’s review of the book for the Forward here. Adam Kirsch leafs through the letters of Joseph Roth. Millionare music mogul Alan Melzer left $1 million to his driver and $500,000 to…
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First Jewish Interfaith Cemetery in Canada
Winnipeg’s Shaarey Zedek, western Canada’s largest Conservative synagogue, is once again ahead of the curve. The congregation, which was the first Conservative shul in Canada to fully welcome and include LGBT Jews, has now opened the first Jewish interfaith cemetery in the country. Ian Staniloff, Shaarey Zedek’s executive director, said that the interfaith cemetery is…
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Jewish Mom in Custody Battle With Saudi Prince
A Saudi prince is facing an international arrest warrant for not handing over custody of his 10-year-old daughter to her French-Jewish mother. The Paris criminal court ordered Prince Sattam al-Saud, of the royal Saudi family, to give the little girl, Aya, to her mother, Candice Cohen-Ahnine. The prince, however, says he is not planning to…
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Synagogue Restoration Points to Future of Lviv
Crossposted from Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art & Monuments Ukraine-born, Lviv-trained and Israeli-based architectural historian Sergey R. Kravtsov has been studying the history and architecture of the Golden Rose-Turei Zahav Synagogue, destroyed in the Second Wold War and surviving as a ruin, for at least a decade. He has now produced a handy history of the…
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Books A House Divided
Matthew Shaer is the author of “Among Righteous Men: A Tale of Vigilantes and Vindication in Hasidic Crown Heights.” His 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: In my last…
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Posthumous Album for Israeli Legend
Crossposted from Haaretz Nearly six years after his death at the age of 73, the multitalented performer Yossi Banai remains an icon of Israeli culture. Next month will see the release of the album the writer, actor, singer and dramatist was working on when he died, in May 2006. The album, “Old Songs,” consists of…
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Ferris Bueller Now Drives a Honda CR-V
The Shmooze has been wondering what product would be featured in the new Superbowl ad in which Matthew Broderick is reprising his role as Ferris Bueller. Well, now that the full commercial is out online, it seems we could have guessed from Broderick’s teaser line, “How can I handle work on a day like today?”…
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The Arty Semite Guide to Upcoming Concerts
Classical music events both before and after Purim (on March 8) focus on dialogues redolent of Yiddishkeit, as New Yorkers and others will discover. On February 10 at Weill Recital Hall pianist Lia Jensen-Abbott will perform Fanny Mendelssohn’s “The Year,” a work inspired by the composer’s relationship with her brother Felix. The Hungarian Jewish composer…
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