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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Tel Aviv Makes ‘Most Creative City’ List
Tel Aviv had the honor on Thursday to be named one of the world’s most innovative cities, alongside London, Sydney, Stockholm and Shanghai. A special report by Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper proclaimed that “while Tel Aviv is small, it’s one giant innovation engine.” “The entire population of Israel may only number seven million—smaller than…
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Banned! Israel May Outlaw Weird Names
Israel would ban strange names under a bill that was just debated by Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation. It seeks to outlaw parents from giving their newborns highly unusual names. Current law already authorizes the Interior Minister to refuse to register a name if “it could mislead or offend the public.” The newly proposed law,…
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Sephardic Music Festival Diary
This was the first time I went to the Sephardic Music Festival. Now in its seventh year, the festival held shows in New York from December 20 to 27, everywhere from 700-person capacity clubs to synagogue basements. I went to five concerts — mostly in the Village — and took notes. December 20: The Mast,…
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Natalie Shows Off Aleph to Israeli Relatives
She may be an Academy Award-winning actress and many men’s dream Jewish woman. But she is also a new mother, and like all new moms, Natalie Portman, wants to show off her baby to friends and family. That is just what Portman did last week on a trip to Israel. Ynet reports that the actress…
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The Lions of Zion, Chapter 24
What would have happened had there been a Jewish team in the Major Leagues? In an original novel serialized on The Arty Semite, Ross Ufberg imagines the trials and triumphs of The Lions of Zion, an all-Jewish team competing in the National League in 1933. Read the first 23 chapters here. Blessed Is the True…
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Poem as a Noisy Mediterranean Duplex
Jake Marmer is the author of “Jazz Talmud.” 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: About a decade ago I read a Billy Collins poem called “Advice to Writers,”…
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Singer Yaffa Yarkoni Dies at 86
Crossposted from Haaretz Yaffa Yarkoni, one of Israel’s greatest and best-loved singers, passed away January 1 in Tel Aviv at the age of 86, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Lyricist Avi Koren, a close friend of the singer’s for 45 years, recalled yesterday that Yarkoni, an Israel Prize laureate, once said to him: “Look…
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Best Classical Performances of 2011
“Kommilitonen!” By Peter Maxwell Davies Juilliard Vocal Arts Photo by Nan Melville Topping my list of the best classical performances of 2011 was that rarest of things: a brilliant operatic rendering of real historic events that engaged the audience emotionally, morally and intellectually. Juilliard presented the American premiere of “Kommilitonen!” (“Fellow Students!”) composed by Peter…
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Who’s Tops on Jewish Sexy-O-Meter?
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the sexiest one of all? Well, according to the popular media, the answer to that question these days is the Jews. Whether you think of this as fetishism or not, it seems that many would agree with Details magazine that “America can’t get enough smoking-hot Semitic tush lately,” to…
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Books From Scratch
Earlier this week, Stanley Ginsberg wrote about the meaning of a Jewish bakery and the sweet and sour sides of life. 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: One…
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Cardozo Law Student Chooses To Be Homeless
A Cardozo School of Law student who identifies himself only as “David,” has some serious first world problems. You know, like the kinds of problems that involve being able to afford a home with a warm bed to sleep in, good food to eat, nice clothes to wear, and somewhere safe and clean to bathe….
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