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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Out and About
The infamous Jewish secret agent Oy-Oy 7 has returned, and Andrew Silow-Carroll is celebrating. In preparation for Thanksgiving, William Shatner warns about the dangers of exploding turkeys. Nineteen-year-old Jewish rapper Mac Miller has reached #1 on the Billboard charts with his independently produced album, “Blue Slide Park.” Take a gander at Leonard Cohen’s gun collection….
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‘Agentn’ of Yesterday and Today
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. To perform Yiddish theater today, you need a lot of money, or a lot of ambition. The New Yiddish Rep theater company, led by David Mandelbaum, has the latter. Mandelbaum is an actor and director who also plays most of the other roles a theater company…
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Hubby: Boehner Shunned Wounded Gabby
It looks highly unlikely that we will ever chance upon Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, having a friendly beer with Speaker of the House John Boehner. Gawker noticed that The Hill published excerpts from Kelly’s new book, “Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope,” that clearly showed that Kelly is more than a…
The Latest
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Collector Keeps Israeli Art ‘Out of the Ghetto’
Donald Rothfeld, a retired cardiologist from New Jersey now living in New York, has decided to keep his significant Israeli art collection “out of the ghetto.” Consequently, Rothfeld has donated it to the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C. Rothfeld made the gift together with his wife, Susan Merker, and…
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Brett Ratner’s Subconscious Stockbroker Guilt?
The writers over at New York magazine’s Vulture are convinced that they have successfully mined film producer and director Brett Ratner’s subconscious to explain why so many of his movies have anti-Wall Street themes. One need not look further than his current and disappointing “Tower Heist” — featuring a Bernie Madoff-type villain played by Alan…
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Following in the Footsteps of Abraham
Crossposted from Haaretz The Israelite fortress at Tel Arad is situated atop a high hill. An impressive structure, it is visible from a great distance. As I was sitting on the hill, looking out at the enormous expanse of the Negev, I thought of what William Ury, of Harvard University, had said to me the…
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Books Never Quit on a Hill
On Monday, Karol Nielsen wrote about the inefficiency of writing. 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: A friend met an aspiring agent who had worked in publishing and recommended…
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Human Rights Pioneer Retains Human Mystery
A 1968 Nobel Peace Prizewinner for his activism on behalf of human rights, the French Jewish legal scholar René Cassin is more honored for his public actions than understood as a man. Co-author of the UN’s postwar Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Cassin was given a book-length homage in 2001 from Les editions Honoré Champion,…
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In Photos: Celebrities Design Plates To Feed Hungry
Famous personalities who have the means to dine in fancy restaurants always have a lot on their figurative plates. Now, some of them have taken time from their busy schedules to decorate real plates as a way of helping to feed the hungry. At its annual fundraiser on November 22, Mazon Canada’s Montreal chapter will…
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Books Jewish Authors Honored at Canadian Literary Awards
Canadian Jewish writers — both living and deceased — were honored today at Canada’s 2011 Governor General’s Literary Awards ceremony in Toronto. The Governor General’s Awards are the oldest Canadian prize for literature (in both English and French) and are organized by the Canada Council for the Arts. David Bezmozgis and Jonathan Garfinkel, both 38,…
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Low Fence Blamed for Tel Aviv Skyscraper Suicides
The Azrieli Towers have come to define the Tel Aviv skyline in recent years, but they have also become the prime location for those seeking to jump to their deaths. There have been 10 suicides from the towers in the past three years. Israel’s Channel 2 News reported yesterday that the Tel Aviv police have…
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Looking Forward That time my violin teacher tried to convert me to Christianity
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Fast Forward UK’s largest Jewish group calls Israeli aid to Gaza ‘long overdue,’ months after disciplining members for criticizing Israel
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