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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Knighthood, Israeli Style
Shimon Peres has won so many prizes that he’s ready to start giving his own. Israel’s president has announced the creation of the President’s Award, a new honor intended to serve as the Israeli equivalent of a British knighthood, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honor. The prize is for…
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‘Ketzel,’ (Feline) Musical Genius, Dies at 19
She won a prize for piano composition in 1997, at the tender age of five. She won a coveted spot in a book called The World of Women in Classical Music. And last week — at 19 — she passed away. Yes, Ketzel accomplished more than many felines her age. As the New York Times…
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Why Israeli Jews Preserved Their German Roots
Courtesy of First Hand Films Crossposted from Israeli Film & Filmmakers Following the recent jury issues and conflict of interest at the Jerusalem Film Festival, I’ve decided to award my own prize for the best Israeli film. And the award goes to…. Arnon Goldfinger’s “The Flat,” a triumph of personal documentary filmmaking. Though it didn’t…
The Latest
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Hungarian Police Captain, 97, Acquitted of Holocaust-Era Crimes
A sickly, wheelchair-bound nonagenarian who sat in court Monday covered in a blanket and hooked up to an IV was acquitted of Holocaust-era crimes. The scene sounds familiar, but it wasn’t John Demjanjuk on trial again. In this latest attempt to bring World War II criminals to justice, 97-year-old former Hungarian police captain Sandor Kepiro…
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Is ‘Friends With Benefits’ a ‘Judeo-Christian’ Romantic Comedy?
Romantic comedies have a lot of Jewish history — Woody Allen practically invented the modern version of the genre with ”Annie Hall.” But is there a distinction between Jewish and Christian rom coms, and is there such a thing as a “Judeo-Christian” combination? There is according to David Newman and Keith Merryman, writers of “Friends…
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Books Columbia Prof Uses Math To Create World Peace
Getty Images The Five Percent: Finding Solutions To Seemingly Impossible Conflicts By Peter Coleman Public Affairs, 288 pages, $27.99 One of the great challenges of our time is finding ways to resolve intractable conflicts that have proven persistent, destructive and resistant to change. A groundbreaking new book by Columbia University professor Peter Coleman argues that…
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Prize Scandal Rocks Jerusalem Film Festival
The 2011 Jerusalem International Film Festival concluded on a discordant and nasty note July 16, as the fallout from a minor awards competition scandal grew larger. The dispute erupted over an apparent conflict of interest in the festival jury’s decision to award the Van Leer prize for Best First or Second Film by an Israeli…
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Nymphs, Glamour Girls and Burlesque
Crossposted from Haaretz Four women dance to the sentimental sounds of classic Hollywood orchestra music. Ardent fans of musicals will identify these as the song that accompanied Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse’s nighttime dance in Central Park in “The Band Wagon,” Vincente Minnelli’s 1953 film. The four women dance with delicate grace and use their…
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Hockey Fans: Check Out This Play!
The Israeli National Ice Hockey team scored 26 goals in its rout of Greece at the International Ice Hockey Federation Division III championships this April, but only one of them was perhaps the [goal of the year. Israel went on to win the tournament, but the most memorable part of their run was this play,…
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Amid Polish Anti-Semitism, a Magical Australia of the Mind
Courtesy of Transfax Film Production Crossposted from Midnight East The upper floor of an apartment building hides a secret world tied to a rope, waiting to be animated by the voice and imagination of a boy, Tadek (Jakub Wróblewski). Yet soon after he pulls that world — a model of Australia — out of its…
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El Al Flight Arrives at JFK With Dead Horse On Board
El Al has a good safety record among human passengers. Among horse owners, though, its reputation has just taken a hit. American officials are now investigating the death of an equine traveler on El Al flight 831, which arrived at New York’s JFK Airport from Belgium on Friday morning. The flight was carrying a 1-year-old…
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Most Popular
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward A Jewish nonprofit may have accidentally caused Michigan to drop charges against pro-Palestinian activists
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Culture For Christian nationalists, Trump’s pope picture isn’t a joke
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Opinion Is Israel really going to reoccupy Gaza? Ask Trump
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Yiddish World A photo of my bubbe when Jewish stores still had Yiddish signs
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