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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New Treaty Could Protect Jewish Sites in Kosovo
Crossposted from Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art & Monuments The fate of long-neglected Jewish sites in the small, poor and newly independent country of Kosovo has recently received some attention from the United States. On December 14, 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga signed the Agreement on the Protection and…
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Two Holocaust Exhibits Open at UN
In conjunction with the annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on January 27, two Holocaust-based art exhibits opened at the United Nations. “A Monument of Good Deeds: Dreams and Hopes of Children During the Holocaust,” curated by Yehudit Inbar, Director of the Museums Division at Yad Vashem, includes…
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Israeli Arab Actor Targeted by Right-Wing Campaign
Crossposted from Haaretz In a normal — not to say ideal — country, discussion of a production of Federico Garcia Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba” would deal with the production’s artistic merits. But we are not living in a normal country, and so before I discuss the artistic values of this production at Tel…
The Latest
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Q&A: David Steinberg Takes Us ‘Inside Comedy’
You can’t really say that edgy comic David Steinberg is back, because in truth he never really left. He just wandered off in a less visible direction, behind the scenes, as a director of commercials and television shows such as “Weeds” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” In fact, he was in an especially cheerful mood on…
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New Online Jewish Heritage ‘Clearinghouse’
Much of the continent may have united, but Jewish heritage initiatives in Europe have remained far-flung — until now. The just-launched Jewish Heritage Europe website will aim “to serve as an online clearinghouse for all news, information and contacts about Jewish heritage from as far east as Turkey and Russia to the UK and Portugal,”…
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Monday Music: Chamber Project in the Hall
We all know the answer to the old question, “how do you get to Carnegie Hall?” is to “practice, practice, practice.” But the Israel Chamber Project has also gotten there by cultivating an appreciative New York audience in the four years since the ensemble’s inception. “It’s the right time for a Carnegie Hall debut,” the…
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Baby-Faced Leaders Better at Making Peace
Never mind putting on your game face. Put on your baby face, instead — that is, if you want your opponent in peace negotiations to accept your overtures. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found that enemies have an easier time gaining our trust if they have what is colloquially referred to as…
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Sarah Jessica Parker To Play Gloria Steinem
Not long after we heard that Demi Moore had dropped out of the role as Gloria Steinem in the upcoming Linda Lovelace biopic, word came that Sarah Jessica Parker would be replacing her. It is unfortunate that Moore’s personal situation is difficult right now, but the Shmooze bets that SJP will make an even better…
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Semiotics of the Suitcase
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree As everyone knows by now, we are what we eat. But we’re also the sum of our associations, many of them derived from museum exhibitions and film screenings. Take old suitcases, for instance. When I think of these objects, of where they’ve been and what they contain, what springs…
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Books Returning to Crown Heights
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: I did not…
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Out and About
The Israeli Museum of Caricature and Comics is giving its Golden Pencil award to “Dry Bones” creator Yaakov Kirschen. Forward contributor Robert Zaretsky writes for The New York Times about Paris, as seen through Hollywood’s lens. The Times profiles Yiddish vaudevillian Shane Baker. Read the Forward’s profile of Baker from 2010 here. Keven Shea Adams…
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