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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Lesbian Couple Thrown Out of Gertrude Stein Exhibit for Holding Hands
If one security guard had his way, holding hands would be forbidden to lesbian couples at Gertrude Stein exhibits. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, two women were thrown out of the Contemporary Jewish Museum on July 17 after being told that they were not allowed to hold hands on the premises. Daryl Carr, a…
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Paul Simon Holds World’s Dullest Press Conference
Hopefully the concert will be more exciting. Paul Simon stayed studiously boring during a press conference in Tel Aviv today, shortly after arriving in Israel for a concert tomorrow night in Ramat Gan. The 69-year-old musician claimed never to drink, smoke or party — or even to consume dairy products — in order to preserve…
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Alexander Steinweiss, Pioneer of the Album Cover, Dies at 94
In 1940, a 23-year-old graphic designer named Alexander Steinweiss proposed that Columbia Records change its presentation and packaging of 78 RPM record albums. His idea: To use original artwork — drawings and paintings — on the front of the albums. This new approach meant a dramatic departure from gold or silver imprints of “just the…
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How a Ukrainian Refugee Became Germany’s Top Russian Translator
Courtesy of Cinema Guild A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. It is not by chance that Vadim Jendreyko’s documentary, “The Woman With the 5 Elephants,” about an 87-year-old Russian-to-German translator, opens with the image of a train crossing a bridge. As the lights from the windows of the moving train flicker through…
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Traveling in Europe? Watch for ‘Day of Jewish Culture’ Events in September
Jewish tourists lucky enough to be in Europe in early September should keep an eye out for special events at synagogues and other Jewish sites across the continent. September 4 will serve as this year’s European Day of Jewish Culture, and will feature a variety of tours, commemorations and other activities in countries across the…
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Roberto Saviano, Scourge of the Mafia and Reader of I. B. Singer
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when a man knows he is to die shortly, “it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” The young Italian Jewish journalist Roberto Saviano, under threat of imminent death from angered mafiosi after his 2006 “Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples’ Organized Crime System”, has decided to concentrate on…
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Books Learning to Mourn
On Monday, Dr. Erica Brown asked, “What are the Three Weeks, anyway?” 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: We have become who we are as a people not only…
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Gwyneth Paltrow Will Raise Her Children Jewish (Maybe)
She’s been having trouble making up her mind, but Gwyneth Paltrow now says she wants to raise her children Jewish. The “Shakespeare in Love” Oscar winner made the comments to guests at a London event organized by Community Security Trust, a Jewish charity. She says she was inspired to make the decision after appearing on…
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Yehuda Poliker’s Promising Mix of Beat and Sadness
Crossposted from Haaretz Yehuda Poliker sang his new song, “Fuma, fuma,” not once, but twice at his concert in Caesarea last Thursday. The first time, toward the middle of the concert, the attention focused on the image of the small Romanian (“half a raisin”) that Poliker meets in south Tel Aviv, the person who offers…
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Struggling To Be Gay and Orthodox, Without Hypocrisy
One of the first prayers at the start of the Shabbes meal is not the traditional Hamotzi on the bread, but the blessing over the wine. As one of the characters in “A Strange and Separate People” explains it, that’s why the challah is covered by a cloth: “We don’t want the bread to feel…
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Interfaith Coalition Wants Muslim Prayer Out of Toronto Schools
Hindus, Christians, and Jews are finally banding together behind a common cause. Unfortunately for Muslims in Toronto, the cause is them. An interfaith coalition — whose less peaceable elements include the Jewish Defense League and Canada’s right-wing Christian Heritage Party — is sounding the alarm over lunchtime Muslim prayer sessions at a Toronto public school,…
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Film & TV The new ‘Superman’ is being called anti-Israel, but does that make it pro-Palestine?
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Opinion This German word explains Trump’s authoritarian impulses — and Hitler’s rise to power
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Music ‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history
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