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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Japanese Choreographer Brings Dance ‘Flood’ to Tel Aviv
Crossposted from Haaretz “My Israeli identity has become stronger recently,” says Mami Shimazaki, the Japanese dancer and choreographer whose new work “Flood” premieres August 10 at the Summer Dance Festival at Tel Aviv’s Suzanne Dellal Center. “I talk more, make more noise, laugh more. [I’m] more lighthearted,” she continues in polished Hebrew. “But somehow when…
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Israeli Court Allows Egg Extraction From Dead Teen
For the first time in Israel, a court has ruled that the eggs of a deceased woman may be extracted and saved. The decision by the Kfar Sava Family Court this past Sunday was in relation to the case of the late Chen Aida Ayish, a 17-year-old from the Sharon region, who died of severe…
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Belief in Benevolent God Reduces Stress
Are Jews more anxious because we believe in a vengeful God? A new study suggests that might be the case. “Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have found that those who believe in a benevolent God tend to worry less and be more tolerant of life’s uncertainties than those who believe in an indifferent or punishing…
The Latest
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Kanye West: ‘People Look at Me Like I’m Hitler’
A lot of people don’t like Kanye West — which apparently makes him feel like Hitler. “I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street and people look at me like I’m [expletive] insane, like I’m Hitler,” the rapper and awards-show hijacker told fans last night at a concert in England. “One day…
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Haredi vs. Secular in Filmmaker’s ‘Battle for Jerusalem’
“Meeting Jerusalem through people who were so passionate about it, who were really saw something beautiful and special here despite all the challenges — I fell in love. I have to admit,” said Liz Nord of her decision to make her documentary film, “Battle for Jerusalem.” In the city this summer to continue work on…
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Books Jews and Chinese Food
Michael Levy is the author of “Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China’s Other Billion.” 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: My therapist once told me a joke:…
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Last ‘Pink Triangle’ Holocaust Survivor Dies at 98
Another living link to the Holocaust was lost last week when the last surviving man to have worn the pink triangle — sewn onto concentration camp uniforms to signify homosexuality — died at the age of 98. The New York Times reported that Rudolf Brazda, who had been imprisoned in Buchenwald, died in Alsace, France,…
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Obama’s Bar Mitzvah Dance Party
A few days ago, I was in the process of retrieving my book bag from the trunk of a colleague’s car when the hood of the trunk came down suddenly and swiftly on my head, leaving me momentarily stunned. Like the characters in countless cartoons, I saw stars. The stars, in turn, gave way to…
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Out and About: Painting Jerusalem; Roseanne Barr for President?
Roseanne Barr announced on the Tonight Show that she was running for president. Sarah Lazarovic illustrates her family trips to out-of-the-way shuls. Jenna Weissman Joselit reviews Michael Levy’s “Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China’s Other Billion.” Richard McBee takes a look at paintings depicting the destruction of Jerusalem. Along with Jack White and…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Gerald Sorin looks at the complicated history of Jews and Black baseball. Berel Lang celebrates the 50th anniversary of ‘Catch-22’ by arguing that the book is a neglected masterpiece of Jewish fiction. Jenna Weissman Joselit pays a visit to the Stanton Street Shul and admires its zodiacal murals. Benjamin Ivry appreciates two new books by…
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Friday Film: The Changing Face of the Israeli Family
“The Queen Has No Crown,” Tomer Heymann’s devoutly personal look at family, gay identity, and homelessness, is a document of the ideological and geographical peregrinations of one Israeli family. Recently screened at the JCC in Manhattan as part of its Feigele Film Festival, and showing August 7 at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the…
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