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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Tweet #Torah to the Top
The most-tagged topics on Twitter generally involve Justin Bieber and other celebrities, but at least for one day, the Jewish Publication Society hopes to elevate Torah into the top 10. In honor of Shavuot, the Philadelphia-based JPS is introducing a new tool that breaks up blocks of text into Tweet-size chunks, then posts them with…
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Second Ave. Deli Vs. Heart Attack Grill: Who Owns the Triple Bypass?
Who can tell the difference between a “Triple Bypass Burger” and a “Triple Bypass Sandwich?” Everyone can, according to the owners of the legendary 2nd Avenue Deli. But an Arizona restaurant seems to think that it has a lock on artery-clogging fare—or at least on the terms used to describe it. Deli owner Jeremy Lebewohl…
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Slideshow: Departures, Experiments and ‘Degenerate’ Art
Among the Nazis’ persecuted minorities were Jewish and non-Jewish artists, musicians and writers branded “degenerate” by the regime. “Radical Departures: The Modernist Experiment,” an exhibition currently showing at the Leo Baeck Institute/Center for Jewish History in New York, gathers together work by these “degenerate” artists, including Georg Stahl, Samson Schames, David Ludwig Bloch and others….
The Latest
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Shalit Independence Day Protest Absent From Israeli TV
It was probably the most newsworthy element of this year’s Independence Day celebrations in Israel, but, oddly, footage of it didn’t appear on television. At the official state torch-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem, Yoel Shalit — the brother of Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive by Hamas for almost five years — stood up with…
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Books The Scent of Passover
On Monday, Molly Birnbaum wrote about her first writing teacher. Her blog 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: On the first night of Passover, my boyfriend and I attended a…
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JDate Launches Netflix-Like Jewish Film Club
Cinematic tastes are usually a good indicator of compatibility. Maybe that’s why JDate, which calls itself “the premier Jewish singles community online,“ is launching a movie site. The New York Times reports this week that JDate is sponsoring “North America’s first Jewish Film-of-the-Month Club,” which plans to send a new, Jewish-themed feature film on DVD…
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A Rock Opera for the ‘Memory Industry’
It’s not every day that one gets to see an opera illustrated in comics and sung by rock musicians, but happily, May 7 was one of those days. That night “Memorial City,” the latest musical theater piece by comics great (and former Forward cartoonist) Ben Katchor and composer Mark Mulcahy, had its Manhattan premiere as…
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‘House’ Stars Tour Israel
The stars of TV’s “House” started their summer vacation by celebrating Israel’s Independence Day in Tel Aviv. That’s the word from Israel’s tourism ministry, which is co-hosting four of the show’s cast members this week, along with partners including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and El Al. The four actors —…
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Greta Garbo’s Gay Jewish ‘Svengali’
Greta Garbo, who died 21 years ago on April 15, is a permanent screen legend, as last year’s lavishly illustrated “Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style” by Stefania Ricci from Skira Publishers, reminds us. Yet director Mauritz Stiller, who discovered Garbo and made her a star, remains an enigmatic figure, as “Nordic Exposures: Scandinavian Identities…
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Yiddish Cell Phones Unveiled
Like my new klingen? How about this cool schirm verteidikung? Ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel might be asking those questions this week — about their ringtones and screen-savers, respectively — after an Israeli telecom company launched a new “kosher” cell phone with a Yiddish interface. Reuters reports that “Israel’s second largest mobile provider, Partner, [has] introduced…
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Alicia Silverstone Names Baby Boy ‘Bear Blu’
Jewish actress Alicia Silverstone, whose vegetarian activism has drawn more attention than her thespian activity, is back in the spotlight after naming her newborn son for the ursidae family. Bear Blu Jarecki was born May 5 to the actress and author, 34, and husband Christopher Jarecki, Silverstone’s rep told People yesterday. Silverstone followed up with…
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News An Israeli restaurant chain said it closed due to boycotts. Protesters are celebrating.
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Opinion Jews are worried about Zohran Mamdani. Here’s why they shouldn’t be
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News Should synagogues remove the Israeli flag from bimahs now? How a New York shul made the decision
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Film & TV What the new season of ‘Nobody Wants This’ gets right — and very wrong — about Judaism
In Case You Missed It
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News Who is Jessica Tisch, the Jewish police commissioner both Mamdani and Cuomo want to keep?
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Culture One was born Catholic, another was a West Virginia Protestant — now they’re all making Jewish art
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Yiddish World VIDEO: Social media activist asks Jerusalem passers-by why Yiddish is important
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Fast Forward He celebrated Oct. 7 and criticized Israel. Now, ICE has detained him.
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