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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Jimi Hendrix of the Desert
Crossposted from Haaretz “Bombino” is the nickname of Omara Moctar, a singer and virtuoso electric guitarist from the wandering Tuareg tribes of the Sahara Desert in the African country of Niger. Thanks to his special style of playing, combining an ancient musical tradition with influences of electric blues and Western psychedelics, his fine debut album,…
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Dresden’s Sharp, Shining History Lesson
Image courtesy of Studio Daniel Libeskind Rising from the conservative courtyard of the Military History Museum of Dresden, a gleaming metallic wedge heads straight for the wall of the original 1873 Saxon armory building. Without pausing, Daniel Libeskind’s new wing cuts through the 19th-century structure and reaches its soaring vantage point on its far side….
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Calvin Klein Dishes on Jewish Competition
Forget designer showrooms in the Garment District, modish stores on Madison Avenue, and the latest haute couture from Paris. The stylish place to be last night was at the 92nd Street Y to hear Calvin Klein speak. Most know the Jewish fashion designer as a name on a fragrance bottle or a logo emblazoned on…
The Latest
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Visionary Sukkahs in St. Louis
A year after a sensational debut in New York’s Union Square Park last year, the “Sukkah City” idea has made its way westward to St. Louis. The 10 winners of the “Sukkah City STL” design competition were announced October 4, and they are now in the midst of installing their structures on the campus of…
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Emotional U.S. Debut for Palestinian Theater Group
Seven months after the murder of its director, the Palestinian Jenin Freedom Theatre will make its U.S. debut tonight at Columbia University’s Miller Theater. The Freedom Theatre was founded by Juliano Mer-Khamis — a movie actor from Nazareth with a Christian Palestinian father and an Israeli Jewish mother — as an outlet for the youth…
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The Lions of Zion, Chapter 13
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 12 chapters here. Coogan’s Bluff Rachel and…
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‘Baby Rabbi’ Tops Worst Halloween Costume List
The Houston Chronicle has done a little pre-Halloween window-shopping and found some children’s costumes that parents should think twice about. The paper’s parenting blog deems them uncomfortable, over-sexualized or, as in the case of one Jewish-themed costume, culturally insensitive. In the over-sexualized department, most of the costumes are for girls — as might be expected…
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Books A Sukkah Occupies Wall Street
Last week, Rabbi Jill Jacobs wrote about Sukkot and social justice and asked discussed the importance of place. 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: As I write this blog…
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If Herzl Met Hitler
Crossposted from Haaretz There were the customary images — young people on a grassy lawn and restaurant diners downing hummus — but the first day of the 32nd Acre Fringe Theater Festival disappointed. George Tabori’s “Mein Kampf” (translated by Shimon Levy ) features an encounter between Herzl and Hitler at a homeless center, in a…
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George Orwell Would Be Crying Tears of Joy
Cross-posted with Occupy Writers I’m addicted to Zuccotti Park. The rumble of the drumsticks as they pound the paint cans, the food lines wrapping around the center island, the humming of the generators that keep the computers charged so the word can be sent out 24/7, even the goofballs encamped in the south-west corner rolling…
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Writers Sign Up for Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street has its share of misspelled, ungrammatical placards, but the ongoing protests in Lower Manhattan — and similar efforts around the country and the world — are receiving a strong dose of literary acumen. In addition to efforts such as The Occupy Wall Street Library and The Occupied Wall Street Journal, a growing…
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Yiddish וואָס צוויי פּאָעטן האָבן געשריבן וועגן זייערע מאַמעסWhat these two Yiddish poets wrote about their mothers
מאַני לייב און ראַשעל וואַפּרינסקי, וואָס זענען יאָרן לאַנג געווען ראָמאַנטיש פֿאַרבונדן, באַשרײַבן ביידע דער מאַמעס פֿרומקייט.
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