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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‘The Imagination Is the Body of God’
This piece is crossposted from The Best American Poetry, where poet Eve Grubin is guest blogging this week. Read Grubin’s previous post here and her poetry on The Arty Semite here. Yesterday I wrote that the biblical Eve lived in, as Goethe called it, “the poet’s trance.” But then the snake seduced her out of…
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Israel Is Laid-Back, Study Finds
Apparently, there’s no need for Israel to loosen up. So say the results of a psychological and cultural study published on May 27 in the journal Science looking closely at 33 different countries in an effort to better understand cultural differences, and consequently foster better cross-cultural communication and cooperation. A large international team of scientists…
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Yiddish Songs and Workers’ Rights: Notes From the PJA Dinner
A couple of things became apparent during the Progressive Jewish Alliance’s annual gala in Los Angeles last week, factors which will surely shape the run-up to the 2012 election. These factors did not include the “Yiddish songs of the labor movement,” which were performed entertainingly enough by singer Cindy Paley as guests shmoozed pre-dinner, but…
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He Beat Me Black and Blue: Yiddish Songs of Family Violence, Part Two
This is the second part of a four-part article originally appearing in the Spring 2011 issue of Lilith Magazine. Read the first part here. FIGHTING BACK Soreles khasene / Sarah’s Wedding When Sorele wed, people laughed and scoffed. Why the laughter? The brand new bride Couldn’t even make kugl for Shabbes. She began on Wednesday morning Finished…
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Wilted Desert Rose
Crossposted from Haaretz Rarely does a single building play such an important role in the life of a city. Philip Murray House, the Histadrut labor federation’s local headquarters and the first public building in Eilat, is one such case. Since its inauguration in 1957, when only a few thousand residents lived in the southern city,…
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The Poet’s Trance and the Biblical Eve
Crossposted from The Best American Poetry, where poet Eve Grubin is guest blogging this week. Read Grubin’s poetry on The Arty Semite here. Last week, C.K. Williams gave the annual Poetry Society lecture in London where he quoted Goethe who said (this is paraphrased — Williams said the words quickly, and I scribbled down what…
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Rebuilding Noah’s Ark, Cubit by Cubit
Noah’s ark is inspiring a flood of replicas, at least compared to most years. In the Netherlands, amateur shipbuilder Johan Huibers is building a model of the legendary lifeboat according to its Biblical dimensions: 300 cubits (450 feet) high and 50 cubits (75 feet) wide. When completed, the boat will weigh in at 2,970 tons…
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He Beat Me Black and Blue: Yiddish Songs of Family Violence, Part One
This is the first part of a four-part article originally appearing in the Spring 2011 issue of Lilith Magazine. Picture the stairwell in the poor apartment: the neighbor descends the steps and the woman in the doorway repeats, “Good night, good night,” and then haltingly speaks the words: “He hit me yesterday. I’m black and…
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Counting Down to ‘Ben-Gurion’s Solar Revolution’
The homepage of the Arava Power Company’s website shows a clock counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to “Ben-Gurion’s Solar Revolution.” On June 5, in celebration of World Environment Day, the company will inaugurate Israel’s first commercial solar field at Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava Valley. The Arava Power Company is a privately…
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Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov Headlines Israeli Technology Conference
Spacing out was encouraged at this year’s Limmud FSU, an annual cultural and education festival for Russian speakers in Israel. That’s because the history-making guest speaker was Alexei Leonov, the first man to walk in space when he exited the Voshod 2 ship for 12 minutes in 1965. According to eJewishPhilanthropy, Leonov’s visit to the…
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Books Hearing Palestinian Voices
Americans often hear about Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the U.S.-Israel relationship. We read Israeli authors in translation, buy Israeli products, and anyone within driving distance of a JCC can hear an Israeli speak on a nearly weekly basis. What we don’t often hear are Palestinians. This is, I believe, understandable — particularly for the…
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