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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LeBron James Shoots Hoops at JCC
LeBron James does not — we repeat, does not — think Jews “suck” at basketball. The Shmooze can report this happy piece of news after the NBA star’s latest difficult episode in Cleveland, where his jersey was burned last year following his highly publicized defection from the local Cavaliers to the Miami Heat. An Akron…
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Books The Inefficiency of Writing
Karol Nielsen’s memoir “Black Elephants” has just been released. 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: The facts of my story were always clear but the meaning eluded me for…
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Out and About
The British Mandate-era bar Casino de Paris has reopened in Jerusalem. Take a look at one of the most Jewish Bob Dylan photos ever. “The Jazz Singer” returns to New York City. Egypt cancelled new age 11/11/11 celebrations at the Pyramids out of fear that the Jews might return to claim them. The Jewish Theatre…
The Latest
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Friday Film: Eichmann’s Improbable Executioner
After seeing the documentary film “The Hangman,” screening November 15 at the U.K. Jewish Film Festival, it is hard not to think of Shalom Nagar as the Forrest Gump of Israel. Like the character played by Tom Hanks, Nagar improbably finds himself in the midst of historical events and meeting famous (infamous, really) people. And…
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In Song: Vayera
Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — to a classic work of rock ‘n’ roll. In this week’s parsha, Vayera, three angels appear to Abraham and inform him that at 100 years old he will father a son. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are turned into rubble because…
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When Albert Einstein Met Rabindranath Tagore
Albert Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore at Einstein’s Berlin home, 1926. Courtesy of the Leo Baeck Institute. One was a Bengali polymath and Nobel laureate with white flowing beard and piercing eyes. The other was the world famous scientist, with frizzy hair and unkempt appearance. When Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein met in New York, it…
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Student Sues UC Davis Over Jewish Fraternity Hazing
A former University of California at Davis student has filed a lawsuit against the university. His claims include negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and creating a hostile educational environment — all stemming from the university’s refusal to address his complaints about hazing at a Jewish fraternity on campus. According to the court papers filed…
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Biden To Speak at Detroit Yeshiva Fundraiser
Don’t look for Vice President Joe Biden in Washington on Sunday. He’ll be in Detroit, possibly adding to his long and memorable list of gaffes as he speaks at the annual fundraising dinner for an area Orthodox day school. Biden will also be stumping for Debbie Stabenow, the Democratic junior senator from Michigan, while in…
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Books The Jewish Message
Earlier this week, Tom Fields-Meyer wrote about reading and thinking about books and took a look at autism and God. 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: Not long…
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Coaches at Penn State Filmed By Documentarian
Dee Mosbacher, a San Francisco psychiatrist and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, has inherited her family’s gift for prescience. Her paternal grandparents, Gertrude (née Schwartz) and Emil Mosbacher, of German Jewish stock, had the foresight to divest their ample stock holdings before the 1929 Wall Street Crash, reaping financial rewards instead from Texas oil investments. This week,…
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Concerns Over Waning Interest in Rabin Death Anniversary
Wednesday marked the 16th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s death, according to the Hebrew calendar, and people in Israel have been mourning the former prime minister all week. But, as we reported last year, interest in the anniversary is waning, raising concerns among some that the warning against political incitement that is implicit in the story…
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Most Popular
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News An Israeli restaurant chain said it closed due to boycotts. Protesters are celebrating.
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Opinion It’s time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change
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News Should synagogues remove the Israeli flag from bimahs now? How a New York shul made the decision
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Film & TV What the new season of ‘Nobody Wants This’ gets right — and very wrong — about Judaism
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Does that Trump Time Magazine cover really reference a Nazi war criminal?
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Opinion Demanding loyalty of the U.S. military, Trump hungers for ‘the kind of generals that Hitler had’
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Culture Leonard Bernstein wrote a love song to the White House; now it’s an elegy
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Fast Forward As 1000+ rabbis sign anti-Mamdani letter, others decry mounting ‘red lines’ in Jewish communities
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