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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‘LaunchBox’ Wins ‘Next Big Jewish Idea’ Competition
She had to compete against an interactive Jewish history website for kids, a service-learning trip for b’nai-mitzvah and a financial education program, but Batsheva Frankel will receive a $100,000 grant from the Los Angeles Jewish Federation for her new program, “LaunchBox.” LaunchBox, an initiative to send to families in Los Angeles boxes containing tools and…
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Q&A: Ivy Barsky on 9/11, Work-Life Balance, and the Future of Jewish Museums
Ivy L. Barsky is changing museums, cities and American Jewish culture. As deputy director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, located on Battery Place in Lower Manhattan, Barsky worked to convey the Jewish experience through the stories of survivors. Now, as she becomes the director and chief operating…
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Why Barbara Hammer Won’t Be Going to Jerusalem
On June 14, I reported that experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer had declined a fellowship at the American Academy in Jerusalem for “personal reasons” — the explanation given by the Foundation for Jewish Culture, which supports the AAJ. At the time, I reached out to Hammer to explain her decision. Hammer, who was then in China,…
The Latest
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A Deaf Holocaust Survivor’s Harrowing Tale
Leave your headphones at home. Charlotte Friedman, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, tells her story for the first time in a two part video series produced by Jewish.TV, the multimedia branch of Chabad.org. The twist? Friedman, who is deaf, conducted the interview entirely in American Sign Language. The videos are part of a joint effort between…
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Slideshow: Micha Ullman’s Fixed and Fluid Sculptures
‘Chair’ by Micha Ullman, From ‘Under,’ 2011. Courtesy of The Israel Museum. Despite an almost clinical spareness immediately evident at The Israel Museum’s new Micha Ullman exhibition, one quickly comes to appreciate that the works — individually and as a whole — hint at something more than the stark minimalism they first suggest. Chairs appear…
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Introducing ‘Tajew’: Taboo, Jewish Edition
It’s boxed Judaism, plus shipping and handling. Two friends have turned their faith into a money-making venture, the Boston Herald reports. Seth Burstein and Ian Framson were playing Taboo, the popular Hasbro game, when it struck them: “Dude, we should make a game called Tajew and have all of the clues related to Judaism,” Burstein…
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‘I’d gladly turn into a bird, to breathe the free air’
In Italy today, resistance against official anti-Semitism and Fascism has become an unexpectedly current topic. A counterweight is provided by current interest in Holocaust memorials and by an anthology which appeared on January 11 from Einaudi Editore, “Jews Under Persecution in Italy: Diaries and Letters from 1938 to 1945 (Gli ebrei sotto la persecuzione in…
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High School From Hell
Crossposted from Haaretz It is impossible not to have a certain reaction while standing at the entrance to the school where the Israeli comedy series “The Most Beautiful Years” is being shot. True, this is an abandoned school in Azur that was rented for the filming, and production people are running around feverishly moving decidedly…
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Former Klan Leader Exploring GOP Presidential Bid
A field crowded with governors, senators and a past speaker of the house may be welcoming a man with a more unique qualification: David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke is embarking on a tour of 25 states to see whether he could go all the way to the White…
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A Luxury Tour of Hitler’s Old Haunts, Now Accepting Reservations
There’s nothing like a carefree luxury vacation where you visit Dachau, eat a Bavarian dinner at the beer hall where Hitler unveiled the 25-point Nazi party program, and drop by Wannsee, the elegant lakeside residence where the Holocaust was planned. At least that’s the idea behind Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: The Face…
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Romania’s Franz Josef Synagogue To Be Restored
Crossposted from Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art & Monuments My sister Ruth Ellen Gruber recently reported on her Jewish Heritage Travel blog that our ancestral synagogue in Radauti, Romania is under restoration. The process appears to be proceeding quickly — a rare occurrence in Romania, where the Jewish community is overwhelmed with care for so many…
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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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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
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Film & TV Netflix’s newest Israeli show has nothing to do with Israel
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Fast Forward Jill Sobule, pop star who also composed songs for a new ‘Yentl,’ dies at 66
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Yiddish צווישן טרער און מוט — צווישן געדענקען און אומאָפּהענגיקייטBetween tears and courage — between memory and resilience
הירהורים צום 77סטן געבוירן־טאָג פֿון מדינת־ישׂראל
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Opinion Ireland’s prime minister gave condolences for Hitler’s death — here’s why that’s a contemporary problem
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