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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Up for Auction: Hitler’s Reading Glasses, Cigarette Case
The controversy about the sale of Nazi memorabilia continues. Just months after Josef Mengele’s diaries were purchased by an anonymous American Orthodox Jew who says he may loan them to Yad Vashem, and days after Hitler’s Gemlich letter went on display at the Museum of Tolerance, it has been announced that an auction of some…
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Pittsburgh Hasidic Seminary Offers Arts Education to Women
“The teachers here get to know you, instead of getting to know what they can change about you,” said Rochel Goldsmith, a fine arts and writing student at the Tzohar Seminary for Chasidus and the Arts, a one-year Lubavitch seminary for post high school girls opened this fall in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her peer, Rivka Eilfort,…
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Q&A: Jonathan Ames on Being ‘Bored to Death’
Jonathan Ames is a novelist, essayist, short story writer, and, most recently, the creator of “Bored to Death,” an HBO comedy starting its third season October 10. In the show, Jason Schwartzman stars as a fictional version of Ames who moonlights as a private detective on Craigslist to relieve a bad case of writer’s block….
The Latest
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Out and About: Nobel Prize to Swedish Poet; Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah’s Ark’
The Swedish Academy has awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer. And just when we thought Bob Dylan might actually win it, this time. In France, a movie tells the story of a Paris mosque that saved Jews during the Holocaust. Tablet Magazine’s Sam Kerbel analyzes Nick Kroll’s role on the…
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Nazis in Skokie, and On Stage
Peter Van Norden, Adam Korson, Corryn Cummins and Jason Weiss in ‘God of Isaac.’ Photo by Michael Lamont. “The God of Isaac” — James Sherman’s semi-autobiographical dramedy about the 1977 American Nazi threat to Skokie, Illinois, and how it inspired an Americanized Jew to return to his roots — starts promisingly enough. In an opening…
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Larry King Headlines Chabad’s Telethon
Larry King just can’t pass up an opportunity to connect with television audiences. Although he stepped down from hosting “Larry King Live” on CNN last December, King was back on camera a few days before Rosh Hashanah this year to host the 31st annual Chabad “Lechaim To Life” telethon. King’s return engagement netted $4.2 million…
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Feds Probe Columbia for Illegal ‘Steering’
The Columbia Spectator has reported that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating a complaint made against Columbia University on behalf a Jewish Barnard College student. The student was allegedly “steered” away from taking a course with a professor who is known for being critical of Israel and who has been…
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Jerusalem Cinematheque Bans Wagner Broadcasts
Crossposted from Haaretz The Jerusalem Cinematheque has decided not to screen two works by composer Richard Wagner from the opera season of the New York Metropolitan Opera, which will be broadcast live beginning October 15. Starting this year, the Jerusalem Cinematheque joins the 1,600 theaters throughout the world that already use sophisticated HD technology to…
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Hitler’s First Anti-Semitic Letter On Display in L.A.
A letter typed and signed by Adolf Hitler in 1919, and thought to be his first written comments calling for the annihilation of the Jews, is now on display at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The document, known as the Gemlich letter, was purchased by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for $150,000 and revealed…
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Books Ford v. Sapiro
On Monday, Ned Beauman wrote about Oscar Panizza. His debut novel, “Boxer, Beetle” (Bloomsbury), is now available. His 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: Henry Ford might be the most…
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No Pasaran! London Parties Like it’s 1936
October 4 was the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, which erupted when Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists planned to march through the East End of London. Five thousand black-shirted men amassed on the border of Stepney, which at the time 60,000 Jews called home. But they didn’t get in: 300,000 people…
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