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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The Arty Semite Guide to Fall’s Classical Music Lineup
One poet called autumn the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,” but some New York concerts redolent with Yiddishkeit focus on the pleasant shock of the new, not misty mellowness. On September 16 at The Austrian Cultural Forum, a new arrangement of the Adagio movement from Mahler’s unfinished Tenth symphony will be conducted in two…
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Books My Culinary Journey
June Hersh is the author of “The Kosher Carnivore: The Ultimate Meat and Poultry Book,” available this week. 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: If you had told me…
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Oakland Museum Cancels Palestinian Children’s Exhibit
The Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland, Calif., has cancelled a planned exhibit of art by Palestinian children, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The exhibit, which was scheduled to run from September 24 to November 13, was to have featured artwork by children aged 9 to 11 depicting the 2008-2009 Gaza war, including images of…
The Latest
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‘Torah Archaeology’ Sheds Light on Ancient Dispute
Crossposted from Haaretz In the heart of ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem two weeks ago, an unwritten taboo was shattered in broad daylight: The first Haredi conference on “Torah archaeology” — having been boldly advertised in the Haredi daily Hamodia, and approved by several leading rabbis — drew a packed audience. The opening speaker, Chabad Rabbi Shaul Shimon…
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Out and About: Israeli Metal in Istanbul; Homage to Hitch
Despite tensions between Israel and Turkey, Israeli metal band Orphaned Land was welcomed by 5,000 fans in Istanbul. Avi Steinberg talks to Maurice Sendak about his new children’s book, “Bumble-Ardy,” for the Paris Review. The A.V. Club talks to Mel Brooks on the occasion of his new HBO special. Tony Bennet talks about his collaboration…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Jenna Weissman Joselit pays a visit to the Jewish living room. Dan Friedman talks to Judith Brin Ingber about her book, “Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance.” Dan Friedman talks to architect Daniel Libeskind about his design for the World Trade Center site. Jay Michaelson urges us to take Judaism into our own hands. Allan Nadler…
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Poem for 9/11
(for 9/11 loved ones) the in(di)visible where you were once the niggun the tefilah of my life that instant transformed you from musical notes and written words to the spaces in between where you can only be heard and read by those who know how to listen and look for you
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‘The Great Gatsby’ and Religion Swapping
Shooting is under way on the new Hollywood version of “The Great Gatsby,” and director Baz Luhrmann has made several interesting choices, including casting. The Australian director behind “Moulin Rouge” has cast Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the role of Meyer Wolfsheim, a shady Jewish character based on real-life criminal Arnold Rothstein, whose most infamous…
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Friday Film: Sergei Eisenstein’s First Feature
On February 13, 1948, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency announced that film director Sergei Eisenstein, “the son of a Jewish merchant,” was dead at the age of 50. Eisenstein’s father was a prosperous German Jew and his mother Russian Orthodox. Eisenstein grew up highly assimilated, though he was aware of his Jewish heritage. He was friendly…
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Howard Lutnick on 9/11 and Remembering What Is Important
We all have 9/11 memories etched into our brains, and it’s funny how your mind can play tricks on you. On September 11, 2001, I was beginning my first year as director of education at Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The next day, when the scope of the devastation was…
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In Song: Ki Tetzey
Vincent Van Gogh, detail from ‘Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background,’ 1889. Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — with a classic work of rock ‘n’ roll. This week’s parsha, Ki Tetzey, begins with rules about how to treat a female captive from war, and goes on…
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Fast Forward In Tenafly, NJ, a crowd awaits the release of local son Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity
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