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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Celebrating the Film Studio That Showed Israel’s Early Days
Bronzed workers forge a winding road through the hills leading to the Dead Sea; smiling politicians cut ribbons marking the National Water Carrier, chemical factories and a gleaming submarine; proud generals lecture an adoring audience on their latest military victories; Jewish athletes march at the Maccabiah Games — these images, known as “Yomaney Geva” (“Geva…
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Books London Book Club Keeps Arab-Israeli Dialogue Open
When the English novelist Ian McEwan accepted the Jerusalem Prize in January, he did so despite strident demands from pro-Palestinian writers to reject the prize and boycott the Jerusalem Book Fair where it is awarded. But McEwan insisted on his right to engage in dialogue with all Israelis, and argued in the Guardian that literature,…
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‘The Normal Heart’ Beats On Broadway
“The Normal Heart,” just revived on Broadway, is less a play than a sensory experience, likely to leave audiences feeling drained, exhilarated and perhaps a bit guilty. That the play is powerful is, given its subject matter, to be expected. That it is nuanced as well is a tribute to playwright Larry Kramer, a man…
The Latest
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$1 Million For a Bar Mitzvah? No Way, Kanye
Former NBC CEO Jeff Zucker threw his son Andrew a lavish bar mitzvah at the Four Seasons this weekend — complete with sushi, a celebrity guest list that included Katie Couric and customized Converse sneakers handed out to Andrew’s pals as party favors. But if there was one thing missing from the bash, it was…
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Where’s Hillary? Hasidic Newspaper Photoshops Clinton Out of Bin Laden Photo
A Hasidic newspaper in Brooklyn has attracted national attention for defying explicit White House instructions and erasing Hillary Clinton from what’s arguably the year’s most powerful photo. The Yiddish-language newspaper, Der Tzitung, also erased Director of Counterterrorism Audrey Tomason from the image, which was taken as President Obama and his top officials watched the raid…
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Monday Music: Fusion Mix-and-Match
In the late 1960s the term jazz fusion became a popular way of referencing music that borrowed heavily from both jazz and funk, or jazz and rock, or really any two genres that musicians troubled to smash together. If you hadn’t already noticed, fusion has been a dominant mode of expression in Jewish music over…
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‘Live Long and Prosper’: Mr. Spock’s Hebrew Hand Gesture
EDITOR’S NOTE: Leonard Nimoy, most famous for playing Mr. Spock on ‘Star Trek,’ has passed away at the age of 83. Here’s how he came up with the hand gesture that made him famous. Who could forget Mr. Spock’s trademark hand sign on “Star Trek”? It turns out that the distinctive salute was based on…
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Books My First Writing Teacher
Molly Birnbaum is the author of “Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way.” 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: The first…
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‘Baroque Synagogues’ at Prague Jewish Museum
Exhibition curator Arno Pařík in the restored synagogue in Boskovice, Moravia. Photo by Samuel Gruber. Crossposted from Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art & Monuments The Jewish Museum in Prague has opened the exhibition “Barokní synagogy v českých zemích” (“Baroque synagogues in Czech Lands”) curated by Arno Pařík. The exhibtion is at the Robert Guttmann Gallery, and…
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Out and About: The Poetry of Ethan Coen; Woody Allen Comes Clean
Filmmaker Ethan Coen is set to publish his second poetry collection, titled “The Day the World Ends,” next near. Shtetl Magazine reviews “The Joyful Child” by Montreal novelist Norman Ravvin. NPR profiles mother-daughter klezmer duo Elaine Hoffman Watts and Susan Watts. Woody Allen spills the beans on life in show business. The U.S. National Archives…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Benjamin Ivry remembers conductor George Szell, who may have been a dictator on the podium, but was no Nazi. Jordana Horn sees “Rabies,” billed as “Israel’s first horror film,” at the Tribeca Film Festival. Jenna Weissman Joselit keeps track of Jewish Time. Philologos is singing in the rain. Steven G. Kellman reviews “Motti,” an offbeat…
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Opinion Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse
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Fast Forward As starvation mounts in Gaza, Jewish voices increasingly rise up in consternation
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Fast Forward Grossinger’s iconic rye bread rises again — and won’t require a Catskills trip to obtain
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