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
-
‘Kosher’ Clothing Crackdown in Jerusalem
In another sign that the Holy City is also the holier-than-thou one, Jerusalem’s chief rabbinate is going to begin a kashrut certification program for clothing stores. According to the Srugim website (the portal for Israeli news from the national religious perspective — not for the popular Israeli television series of the same name), this has…
-
Monday Music: A Little Rock, a Lot of Soul
She’s seen and done it all, and it wasn’t always pretty. Robin Lane endured a forsaken childhood during the Hollywood heyday, lived and performed with the giants of 1960s West Coast psychedelia, and slashed and burned through the punk rock era. Now, Lane is lending her talents to help others overcome the life traumas she…
-
Visit Einstein’s Brain in Philly
Albert Einstein may have died in 1955, but his brain is still around — very small pieces of it, that is. For the first time ever, the public can now view 46 slivers of Einstein’s brain on display in a special exhibition at the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library, which is run by the…
The Latest
-
Books Why I Wrote ‘The Inquisitor’s Apprentice’
Chris Moriarty’s “The Inquisitor’s Apprentice” 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: When I try to explain why I wrote “The Inquisitor’s Apprentice” — and why…
-
Kosher Liver That Tastes Like Pork
Talk about the best of all worlds. Soon, here in Israel, we’ll be able to observe tradition and start our Shabbat dinner with liver, while enjoying the taste of pork. Oh, and all with the blessing of the Chief Rabbi. Confused? Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger has revealed that his rabbinate is looking in to importing…
-
Keyboard Kings and Queens
Crossposted from Haaretz On paper, and sometimes in practice, there are several good reasons for not getting excited about the annual Tel Aviv Piano Festival. Among them are the festival’s formal and conservative nature, the way the problematic concept of hospitality is dealt with, the absence of a rhythmic component in most of the events,…
-
Out and About
The Times photographs Brooklyn’s Russian ballet. Liana Finck gives a graphic take on the Forward-sponsored Graphic Details exhibition. The Ben Uri Gallery in London is showing the once-missing works of painter Josef Herman. The New York Times profiles the Jewish trans-band Schmekel. Read Eddy Portnoy’s piece for the Forward here. Forward contributor Joshua Furst is…
-
Ghazal for Thanksgiving
Admittedly, not everyone sitting down to their Thanksgiving dinner is going to be recalling Yiddish-speaking immigrant ancestors, ranting about social injustice, or invoking Allen Ginsberg — and doing all of that using an ancient Arabic poetic form. That’s why we need Alicia Ostriker, a great American poet and thinker who was awarded the Jewish Book…
-
Books When I Went to Synagogue
Earlier this week, Anna Solomon wrote about Jews in the West and a grandmother’s secrets. Her novel, “The Little Bride,” is now available. Her 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:…
-
Realtor Helps Toronto Muslims Buy Cemetery
Muslims and Jews may not always get along, but there are instances in which they manage to put aside differences in order to tend to the basic things in life. While political leaders continue to struggle to make peace in the Middle East, a story out of Toronto proves that coexistence and mutual support is…
-
The Arty Semite Guide to Winter’s Classical Music Lineup
An approaching New Year can be a time of rearrangements and transpositions, as Manhattan classical music lovers in search of Yiddishkeit will discover. From December 1 to 3 at Avery Fisher Hall, Gustav Mahler’s unfinished Symphony No. 10 in its revised Deryck Cooke performing edition will be conducted by Daniel Harding. Harding has recorded this…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward For the first time since Henry VIII created the role, a Jew will helm Hebrew studies at Cambridge
-
Fast Forward Argentine Supreme Court discovers over 80 boxes of forgotten Nazi documents
-
News In Edan Alexander’s hometown in New Jersey, months of fear and anguish give way to joy and relief
-
Fast Forward What’s next for suspended student who posted ‘F— the Jews’ video? An alt-right media tour
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
