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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How To Make a Film About Films That Were Never Made
Image from “The Boat,” directed by Nir Bergman in “Sharon Amrani: Remember His Name.” Crossposted from Midnight East Ten years ago, on September 8, 2001, a young man drowned in the Mediterranean, just off Manta Ray beach in Tel Aviv. “Bonfire Night” (1998), his graduation film for the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School Jerusalem,…
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ESPN Cracks Down on Anti-Semitism in Fantasy Football
It’s not just Arsenal football fans in the U.K. who are using their websites to spread anti-Semitism. Here in the U.S., ESPN was alerted by the Simon Wiesenthal Center that people were setting up fantasy (American) football teams with names like “Jews are Immoral,” “Jews are Terrible” and “Jews Love Pennies” on the ESPN website….
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Sex Toys Sold Modestly
It’s got the goods, just not the suggestive photographs to go with them. And that is exactly the way KosherSexToys.net thinks it should be catering to the sub-sector of the Orthodox public interested in shopping for sexual aids and fetish gear. Those in the market for these kinds of things can find a nice selection…
The Latest
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Monument to Isaac Babel Erected in Odessa
Courtesy of The World Odessit Club Eighty-five years after bestowing “The Odessa Tales” and “Red Cavalry” to both the Russian and the Jewish modernist literary canons; 71 years after a 20-minute show trial resulted in execution by firing squad; 54 years after his posthumous rehabilitation by Soviet authorities, and several decades after plans were first…
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The Lions of Zion, Chapter Eight
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 seven chapters here. How Khetzke the Cowboy…
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Israel’s Leading Film Composer in France
Crossposted from Haaretz Armand Amar’s name can be found on ads in the Paris metro, on round billboard signs throughout the capital, and on movie house posters. But the Israeli-born French musician and composer is listed at the bottom, in small print, underneath the films’ leading actors and directors. As a film composer, Amar is…
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Former NBA Star To Coach at Jewish Day School
A former NBA All-Star has landed an unlikely coaching gig — at a Jewish prep school in Florida. It sounds like the set-up for a movie, but it’s true: Former professional point guard Kenny Anderson has signed on to coach boys’ basketball at the David Posnack Jewish Day School in Davie, Fla., a town located…
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Hasidic Biker Gang Spreads the Word on Wheels
It’s time to let go of the incorrect assumption that all ultra-Orthodox Jews try to turn away as much as possible from the outside world. You’d be wrong to think that all of them spend every waking moment at serious study, prayer and work. It turns out, at least in some cases, that Haredim just…
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Would Bar Refaeli Ever Date Prince Harry?
If the latest rumors about Prince Harry are true, Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli’s dad is going to have to learn to keep his temper in check. What do the 57-year-old Rafi Refaeli and the 26-year-old who is third in line to the British throne have to do with one another? More than you might think….
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Jewish Publication Society Sold to University of Nebraska Press
The Jewish Publication Society has sold its entire inventory to the University of Nebraska Press for $610,000, The Lincoln Journal Star reports. This includes nearly 250 titles as well as its popular Bible, the JPS Tanakh. According to the Journal Star, JPS will continue to develop new works although NU Press will take over publication,…
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Monday Music: Where Klezmer Ends and Jazz Begins
Tzadik Records’ Radical Jewish Culture releases often split the difference between jazz and klezmer. Both genres drag long canonical histories behind them like the train on a wedding dress. Both are easily innovated upon, prone to flights of improvisation, and adept at locating individual musicians in the midst of a vast history. Joel Rubin and…
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