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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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Irina Reyn reviews “My New American Life” by Francine Prose, a novel that subverts the traditional immigration myth, but also reinforces it. Philologos charts the influence of Yiddish on the local Amsterdam slang known as Bargoens. Jacob Berkman gives the definitive take on the demise of JDub Records. Lawrence Grossman uncovers the history of philosemitism…
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Amy Winehouse, a Jewish Addition to the ‘Forever 27 Club’?
Amy Winehouse, the British, Jewish, hard-living soul singer was found dead today in her North London apartment. She was 27. Given her age, Winehouse is already being compared to other singers and musicians who died at 27, otherwise known as the “Forever 27 Club.” These include Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones (found dead at the…
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Friday Film: How To Embrace Your Inner Cat Lady
Crossposted from Midnight East “Mrs. Moskowitz and the Cats,” a film by Jorge Gurvich, opened July 21 in Israeli theaters. I saw the film for the first time at the Jerusalem Film Festival in 2009, when Rita Zohar won an award for her performance as the movie’s protagonist, Yolanda Moskowitz. Seeing the film again, I…
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Israeli Teenagers are Winners at the International Physics Olympiad
The Israeli team at the 42nd International Physics Olympiad returned home from Bangkok, Thailand with some serious bling around their necks. Each of the team’s five members came home with a prize. The teenagers won five medals – two gold, two silver and one bronze – ranking Israel 13th in the world, four places higher…
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Black and Jewish? So Are They!
Funny or Die “Yeah, uh huh, you know what it is. My nose and ass — they’re both big” is the catchy refrain to this outrageous yet endearing Funny or Die parody, celebrating the idiosyncratic joys of being both black and Jewish. It’s hard to be put off by the video’s many offensive Jewish and…
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In Song: Mattot
James Tissot, “The Women of Midian Led Captive by the Hebrews,” 1896-1900 Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — with a classic work of rock and roll. This week’s parsha, Mattot, opens with laws on vows and how to annul them. The central part of the parsha tells of…
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Books An Empty Mental Space
Earlier this week, Dr. Erica Brown asked, “What are the Three Weeks, anyway?” and wrote about learning to mourn. Her new book, “In the Narrow Places,” is now available. 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…
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Prominent Palestinian Prisoner Found With Phone in Jail Cell
The most prominent Palestinian imprisoned by Israel, Marwan Barghouti, is now serving two weeks in solitary confinement for having been caught with a mobile phone in his cell. Israel’s Channel 2 News reports that the phone was discovered during a search by prison personnel in response to tips that contraband had been smuggled to security…
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Jazz for Thinking People
Crossposted from Haaretz Jonathan Greenstein is a young saxophone player who lives and performs in Tel Aviv. His debut album “Thinking,” on the Spanish label Fresh Sound, takes him elegantly from the category of promising jazz musician to that of jazz musician who is keeping his promise, and it’s a pleasure to be an ear…
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Glenn Beck is Jerusalem Bound and Not Everyone is Happy
The Israeli left is none too happy about the fact that broadcaster Glenn Beck is planning a huge rally for Jerusalem in August. But it seems that it’s not only the left that has become concerned about the marriage of convenience between the controversial American conservative and Israelis — it’s also some on the Israeli…
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Slideshow: A Festival of Exile
It takes some nerve to call a festival the “Golus Festival.” Golus, meaning exile or Diaspora, is usually something bemoaned in Jewish tradition. But from July 14 to 17, for approximately 60 people in (the appropriately named) Goshen, New York, Golus was something to celebrate. Organized by the creators of Yiddish Farm as a foretaste…
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