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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Vilnius Grave Stones in Middle School Walls
Crossposted from Samuel Guber’s Jewish Art & Monuments Eleven years ago I visited the Uzupis Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius, Lithuania, or rather, what remained of it. In the dark light of winter I climbed the hill of the cemetery to look for traces of gravestones and walls. Where there were approximately 70,000 burials from 1830…
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Israel To Convert Army Bases Into Apartments
Israel’s government may kill two birds with one stone by converting as many as eight army bases into residential living areas. The plan, still under discussion among the treasury, defense ministry and Israel Land Administration, would initially turn four bases into apartment complexes, in a move that could eventually create up to 40,000 new housing…
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Top 10 Anti-Semitic Slurs of 2011
As 2011 draws to a close, children writing to Santa Claus aren’t the only ones making lists. Editors everywhere are furiously compiling the annual news round-ups that give us a chance to look back and smile — or cringe — at the year’s bests and worsts, in every category from books to fashion and beyond….
The Latest
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The Lions of Zion, Chapter 21
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 20 chapters here. Sleep Would Not Come…
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Competition to Design National Library of Israel
Crossposted from Haaretz The National Library of Israel is staging an architectural competition for a new $100 million facility in Jerusalem. The privately funded building will be one of the largest public construction projects in Israel in the coming decade, about the size of the Supreme Court, and has already stirred considerable interest in Israel…
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Carolina Herrera Store Opens Near Tel Aviv
Fashionistas were out in force last week at the opening of the first Carolina Herrera store in Israel. The Jerusalem Post reports that they drank champagne and ate hors d’oeuvres as they shmoozed and checked out the merchandise in the spacious and tastefully appointed space on the top floor of the Ramat Aviv Mall in…
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Bibi Launches Bible Study Meeting
It seems that Bibi is feeling the need to connect with the Word of God these days. Last Friday, Israel’s prime minister announced at a ceremony marking thirty days since the passing of his late father-in-law, Shmuel Ben-Artzi, that he has established a regular Bible study meeting in his official residence in Jerusalem. The study…
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In Bed with Émile Meyerson
The Lublin-born French epistemologist and philosopher of science Émile Meyerson died in 1933, but is still remembered for his dedicated Zionism and friendship with fellow Jews, such as author and activist Bernard Lazare. Yet until now, Meyerson has been little known as a man. On April 28, Les éditions Honoré Champion published “Miscellanies: Short Unpublished…
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Rabbi Destroys TVs in Religious Ritual
Check out this video. What’s the story? Any guesses? It looks like a video of a garbage processing plant, or maybe a recycling project. In fact, as the noisy truck starts to tip out its load, so begins the newest bizarre religious ritual in Israel. Amnon Yitzhak, the charismatic outreach rabbi, decided to hold a…
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Books Historical Figure Fixation
Lavie Tidhar’s most recent novel is “Osama” (PS Publishing). 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 might be obsessed with historical figures. Maybe it’s a Jewish thing. But…
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Monday Music: God Bless the Christmas Jews!
Bah humbug! This is a trying month for those of us with sensitive ears. Which is worse: the saccharine “holiday” drivel saturating the airwaves, or the ceaseless griping of those cheerless snobs who make a winter sport of proclaiming their distaste for the season’s musical offerings? It hardly takes a musical genius to wince at…
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