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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Wake-up Calls Help People Rise and Pray
Jewish tradition teaches that the current Hebrew month, Elul, is a wake-up call to repent and prepare for the High Holy Days that follow. Well Israel’s largest telecommunications company, Bezeq, is taking this idea rather literally. As if weekday synagogue services don’t already start early enough in Israel — often between 5am and 6am —…
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Gadhafi Invited To Become Israeli
Muammar Gadhafi has been invited to become Israeli. A Jewish family of Libyan descent has extended the offer to the deposed dictator, who as of this writing is still at large. Gita Boaron, who lives in the Tel Aviv suburb of Netanyahu, has told local media that Gadhafi is eligible to make aliyah because she…
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Bar Mitzvah Boy Serenades Tornado Victims
Thirteen-year-old Eli Clarke was so moved by the plight of Joplin, Mo. tornado victims, that he took to his string instruments. The Montclair, New Jersey native and Bnai Keshet synagogue member will be a bar mitzvah in November, and for his tikkun olam service requirement, he wrote a song to raise funds to rebuild Joplin….
The Latest
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Books The Grandparent-Grandson Relationship
Earlier this week, Avrom Honig shared a behind-the-scenes look at the photoshoot for “Feed Me Bubbe,” talked about coming to the Big City, and introduced us to his production assistant, Zadie. 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….
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Mel Gibson To Make Judah Maccabee Movie
Mel Gibson just can’t seem to stop himself from taking on two things: ancient epics and Jews. In a bit of a shocker, Deadline reports that the actor and filmmaker is teaming up with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas to make a movie about Judah Maccabee for Warner Bros. Yes, that Judah Maccabee — the Hasmonean military…
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French Street Artist JR Joins Tel Aviv Protests
Crossposted from Haaretz Some 450,000 people across Israel took part in the March of the Million last weekend, but there were more than 450,000 faces protesting on the streets that night. As a sea of people marched from the Habima Square in Tel Aviv, a sea of disembodied faces — poster-sized, in black and white…
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Kibbitzing With Mel Brooks, Dick Cavett and Carl Reiner
Courtesy of HBO Dick Cavett calls Mel Brooks more than a comedy star; he’s a “super nova.” Mel Brooks calls Dick Cavett “spectacularly gentile.” The two share the stage on the appropriately titled HBO special, “Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again,” an hour-long, anecdote-filled, hilarious love fest debuting September 9 at 9:00 p.m. Brooks…
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Mel Gibson and the Real Miracle of Hanukkah
Mel Gibson, the Hollywood star so tarnished by anti-Semitism that a foul-mouthed tirade of bigotry can be called “doing a Gibson,” is in talks with Warner Brothers to develop a film about Judah Maccabee — the Jewish hero of Hanukkah, also known as Judah the Hammer. Reportedly joining up with Hungarian-American Joe Eszterhas, who wrote…
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Bad Politics Meets Bad Art in ‘Pro-Israel’ Exhibit
According to its publicity materials, “Response Art: An Experiment in Politics, Power, and Pop-Culture,” the exhibit currently running at the Dershowitz Center for Pro-Israel Art, deep in Brooklyn’s South Slope neighborhood, promises to show what happens when artists and intellectuals “struggle together towards a new understanding of Israel and the Middle East — aided by…
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Invitation to Protest: Poetic Summon From Anat Levin
The recent protest movement in Israel is something of a mystery not only to us, across the ocean, but even to many Israelis. Today The Arty Semite is featuring a glimpse into the heart of this phenomenon through a poem-invitation, composed by a promising young Israeli poet, Anat Levin. One can endlessly argue about the…
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Galliano Found Guilty, Gets Slap on the Wrist
Case clothesed. Six months after an anti-Semitism scandal engulfed his high-profile fashion career, John Galliano got off essentially scot-free in a Paris courtroom today, avoiding jail time and a fine. Despite being found guilty of “public insults toward persons on the basis of their religion or origin,” the court slapped the designer with a suspended…
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