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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Quadriplegic Israeli Tennis Player Eyes Paralympics
Serious tennis fans have likely heard of Israeli players like Shahar Peer and Andy Ram, but it’s safe to bet that most are not familiar with Noam Gershony, despite the fact that he is higher ranked than the others. Gershony, a quadriplegic, plays wheelchair tennis. He is ranked third in the world in wheelchair quad…
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Friday Film: ‘True Story’ of Olympic Anti-Semitism
Courtesy of Corinth Releasing As told in the German feature film “Berlin 36,” opening in New York September 16 and Los Angeles September 23, Gretel Bergmann, Germany’s greatest female high jumper at the time of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, was very much “out” as a Jew, and she suffered the consequences. But a competitor, Marie…
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Books Settling a Debate in a NYC Cab
Earlier this week, June Hersh wrote about her perfect day, her Jewish culinary journey and unraveling the mystery of Jewish food. 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 a…
The Latest
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Flying El Al? Better Pack Your Own Sandwich
If you’re planning on flying El Al, pack your own sandwiches. The airline has reportedly announced that it is cutting the number of flight stewards in tourist class by one steward in flights of up to four hours and two in longer flights. El Al employees are furious with the company’s chief operating officer and…
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Walter Hautzig and Other Cherished Musical Mentors
There are many kinds of music teachers, but the most memorable seem to be either the beloved saints or the abusive nightmares. On October 2, one of the former, Vienna-born pianist Walter Hautzig, who will be 90 on September 28, will be honored with a concert at New York’s Steinway Hall, as well as with…
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Friday Film: An Israeli Arab in the IDF
Did you hear the joke about the Arab who volunteered for the IDF? He was so patriotic that the Beitar Jerusalem fans in the Border Police were impressed. They even considered visiting his family’s home in Sakhnin. Well almost, anyway. Except it’s not a joke, it’s a documentary. Recently screened at the Jerusalem International Film…
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Johansson and Kunis Exposed by Hackers
For people who keep track of these things — and naturally, The Shmooze is far too refined for such behavior — today is the second straight day that private photos of a major Jewish celebrity have been released by hackers. Yesterday’s victim was Scarlett Johansson; today’s is Mila Kunis. Both appear to be victims of…
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Black Metal for the Sonderkommandos
British black metal band The Meads of Asphodel are beginning work on an album about the Sonderkommandos, Jewish inmates who operated the gas chambers and crematoria in the concentration camps. According to metal news website blabbermouth, the band’s lead singer, Metatron (whose moniker comes from the name of a Jewish angel), is traveling to Krakow…
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One Man’s Quest for Julius Streicher’s Jewish Books
Photo by Claus Felix Meyer Before and during World War II, between 30,000 and 40,000 Jewish books ended up in the hands of Julius Streicher, the infamous Nazi and editor of the anti-Semitic propaganda newspaper Der Sturmer. Today, German-Jewish community leader and former journalist Leibl Rosenberg is working to return 10,000 of them to their…
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Israel Will Re-enact Space-Age Experiment
Israel will be trying to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records next week. Of course, Israel is often seen as a place of extremes, but this attempt at record-breaking has nothing to do with the usual political headlines or social disagreements. As a nice distraction to what many fear will be a…
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Meet Josh Bernstein, the Next Teen Pop Idol
Josh Bernstein has got an amazing set of pipes, and he is using them to his advantage in the Kidz Star USA Talent Search, under way right now. The 14-year-old student at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md., is one of four finalists in the competition sponsored by KidzBop.com. This morning, Bernstein…
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