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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Helen Thomas Talks Israel, Jews to Playboy!
Nearly a year after the scandal that ended her epic run as a White House correspondent, Helen Thomas has re-emerged to share more thoughts about Israel and Jews – specifically, that they’re “wonderful,” but also that they wield too much money and power. “[They are] using their power, and they have power in every direction……
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Madonna Channels Charlie Chaplin for Purim
Because sharing is caring, here’s a picture of Madonna dressed as Charlie Chaplin for Purim this weekend in New York City. L’Chaim.
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Books A Girl Who Slays Dragons, but Stops for Shabbat
Mirka Hershberg is a normal 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl. She attends school, polishes the candlesticks for Shabbat, does her homework, gives tzedakah, fights trolls and dreams of slaying dragons. Well, maybe not your typical 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl. Written by illustrator Barry Deutsch, “Hereville” is the story of Mirka’s quest for a dragon-slaying sword. Originally…
The Latest
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Out With Punk, In With ‘Ounk’
Crossposted from Haaretz Man 25 considers itself a performance band in the full sense of the word. While other local indie bands save every penny in order to produce an album and release singles to be played on the radio, Man 25 views recorded materials as a calling card only. Drummer Tomer Tzur (30), guitarist…
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Monday Music: Wartime Songs for Gertrude Stein
There have been New York premieres of several noteworthy works recently, including major new violin concertos by Harrison Birtwhistle and James McMillan. But easily the most interesting was the grand finale of Lincoln Center’s Tully Scope Festival on March 18: Heiner Goebbels’s “Songs of Wars I Have Seen,” which uses passages from the remarkable book…
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Monday Music: A Simple Jew With a Touch of Gaga
Last month, the hugely popular Hasidic singer Lipa Schmeltzer, known simply as “Lipa,” released his latest album, “24/6,” a collection of cover songs currently popular at Hasidic weddings. The release comes almost exactly three years after the singer’s then-largest concert was banned by many prominent rabbis in the Haredi world, and it is only the…
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A Tenor for the People
Crossposted from Haaretz Without any fanfare or festivities, modestly and almost anonymously, Christoph Pregardien — one of the greatest lyric tenors of our time — landed in Israel a few days ago. It is hard to imagine a more impressive career than his: The greatest conductors conduct him, and he is hosted by the top…
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Bob Geldof Awarded Honorary Degree from Ben Gurion University
If there’s one thing that most people know about British singer Bob Geldof, it’s that he doesn’t like Mondays. “Tell me why I don’t like Mondays / I wanna shoot the whole day down,” he famously sang in 1979. Well he might have just changed his mind. Ben Gurion University of the Negev chose today…
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Out and About: Talking Jewish in Livorno; Anselm Kiefer’s Apocalyptic Vision
The scholarship that lets you sleep in J.D. Salinger’s old dorm room. Anselm Keifer and his confrontation with German history. Singer-songwriter Clare Burson reflects on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The legacy of Bagitto, the Jewish dialect of Livorno. Darren Aronofsky has said that he will not be directing ‘The Wolverine.’ The best Jewish rappers…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Curt Schleier goes to see “Peep World,” where Jews finally attain the dysfunctional status of WASPs. Philologos noses around with exasperation. Michelle Sieff adjudicates Deborah Lipstadt’s arguments with Hannah Arendt in “The Eichmann Trial.” Katherine Clarke looks into Southeastern Europe’s first Holocaust Museum in Skopje, Macedonia. Raphael Mostel celebrates a renewed interest in the strange…
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Catherine Clément: a French Author of Memory and Understanding
On January 21, French author Catherine Clément, whose Jewish mother Rivka was portrayed onscreen by Jeanne Moreau in Amos Gitai’s 2008 film One Day You’ll Understand, published an open letter in the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur. Clement announced her resignation from France’s High Commission for National Commemorations (Le Haut comité des Célébrations nationales) after Culture…
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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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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
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