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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A Brush With Aristocracy: The Day I Covered a Royal Wedding
Alas, intrepid journalist though I am, I cannot finagle a way to cover this royal wedding, the Friday nuptials of William and Kate. But I sure remember being there the last time an heir to the British throne ceremoniously tied the knot, and that day — July 23, 1986 — was both my most aristocratic…
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How To Monetize Christian Pilgrimage to Israel
In 2010, over two-thirds of Israel’s 3.45 million tourists were Christian, and nearly half were self-proclaimed religious pilgrims. It’s rare to find a discriminatory tourism industry these days — dollars are dollars — and fortunately for Israel, the Holy Land is holy for a lot of folks. Enter the Gospel Trail, the Israeli Tourism Ministry’s…
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Military May Soon Get Atheist Chaplains
Christians have many. We Jews have a few. Muslims and Buddhists do, too, and the Hindus and Wiccans may soon get theirs. But despite the fact that 3,000 chaplains minister to the needs of active-duty service people in the military, none serve atheists. That may soon change. “Groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing…
The Latest
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Video: ‘Next Year in Uman: A Journey to Ukraine’
Photo by Ahron D. Weiner In 2004, photographer Ahron D. Weiner took his first trip to the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine. Before his death in 1810, Nachman is said to have promised that if his followers came to his grave on Rosh Hashanah, he would intercede on their behalf in…
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The Ghosts of Kentridge Past
At a remove, William Kentridge’s work can seem like a study in contradictions. His work is heavily influenced by the once repressive — now merely turbulent — politics of his native South Africa, but often features a lightness sometimes bordering on whimsy; his observations have a universality of tone, yet are underpinned by a distinctly…
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Out and About: Phillip Lopate on Simon Schama; New Director for the Folksbiene
Essayist Phillip Lopate ponders “Scribble, Scribble, Scribble” a new miscellany by historian Simon Schama. Has Paul Simon been getting the attention he deserves? The Canadian Jewish News profiles former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler. Two synagogue restoration projects in Poland have won awards, one of them for “façade of the year.” Bryna Wasserman, artistic…
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Regal Theater in St. Petersburg
Crossposted from Haaretz The Europe Theatre Prize award ceremony, held 10 days ago in St. Petersburg, Russia, was the most impressive and certainly the most moving out of the five times I’ve had the honor of attending this event. This was due not only to this year’s prize winners and their work, but also the…
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Anne Frank Gets the Musical Treatment
You’ve read Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl,” but what about her blog? If you’re weirded out by the idea, you may not instantly love “Le Blog de Anne,” part of a promotional Web site for “Anne le Musical,” a song-filled new play about — you guessed it — the murdered Jewish teen. Premiering…
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National Poetry Month: In Person
Poetry existed long before printing, literacy, or even the alphabet: Poet-bards went around reciting their material orally, memorizing lines and improvising on them. Their performances — from slight intonations to full-on theatrics — were inseparable from the messages themselves. Although today most writing resides on bound print pages, some poetry circles have pushed for an…
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Things That Look Like Hitler: Mustache Edition
As The Shmooze has already observed, the people of the United Kingdom have a habit of seeing Hitler in odd places — from the facade of Welsh houses to their own pet cats. Now a small-town politician has spotted the Nazi leader — or at least his mustache — on one of his own political…
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Books April 11: An Eerie Confluence of Dates
Deborah Lipstadt’s most recent book, “The Eichmann Trial,” is now available. 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: It was the 50th anniversary of the start of the Eichmann…
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Most Popular
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Film & TV The new ‘Superman’ is being called anti-Israel, but does that make it pro-Palestine?
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Music ‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history
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Music Remembering Ozzy Osbourne’s Jewish vow renewal
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Culture She was my Hebrew school bully — and I finally learned what happened to her
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish אַב קאַהאַנס נאָוועלע „יעקל“ ווערט מגולגל אין אַן אָפּערעAb Cahan’s novella “Yekl” transformed into an opera
דער קאָמפּאָזיטאָר דן שאָר האָט זיך אינספּירירט פֿונעם פֿילם „העסטער סטריט“, וואָס איז אויך באַזירט אויף דער נאָוועלע
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Yiddish פֿרוידס פּסיאָנאָלאָטישע טעאָריעס און דער ייִדישער געדאַנקען־גאַנגFreud’s psychoanalytic theory and Jewish thought
פֿרױד האָט אַנטדעקט אינערלעכע סודות פֿונעם איך, בעת מאַקס װײַנרײַך האָט געפֿאָרשט די פּסיכאָלאָגיע פֿונעם ייִדישן פֿאָלק.
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Fast Forward Jewish quarterback Jake Retzlaff will play at Tulane after leaving BYU following suspension
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Fast Forward The largest Reconstructionist synagogue is set to cut ties with the movement over Israel tensions
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