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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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Matthew Sharpe finds the future of the Middle East in Alan Dershowitz’s “The Trials of Zion.” Jerome A. Chanes writes about writing about writing about the Holocaust. Mordechai Shinefield isn’t a woman, but he likes listening to them sing. Philologos sneaks across the border. Laurence Klavan appreciates some underappreciated plays. Alon Rab watches the resurrection…
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War of the Bus Ads
Maybe they felt left out after seeing those dueling holiday bus ads by believers and atheists. After pro-Palestinian group Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign bought ads on local buses alleging “Israeli war crimes,” a group calling itself the American Freedom Defense Initiative countered by buying its own ads with messages like “One Billion Dollars to Hamas:…
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Xmas Jollies for Jews
In the subculture of Christmas mixtapes Bill Adler is a very important Jew. For close to 30 years, the Manhattan music maven has put out “Xmas Jollies,” which just may be the most eclectic Yuletide mixtape on the planet. Adler has what musicians refer to as very big ears and for many of his 300…
The Latest
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Greek Bishop Blames Jews for Financial Woes
Greece’s fiscal and social problems have complex roots – unless you’re Greek Orthodox bishop Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, whose explanation takes just three words to summarize: Blame the Jews. Semites such as “Rockefeller, Rothschild and Soros control the international banking system that controls globalization,” the Metropolite said this week on Greece’s most-watched morning TV show,…
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‘Mean Old Jews Who Crucify My Lord’
Hats off to New York Times music critic Ben Sisario for posting this rousing holiday song by one Sister Albertha Harris Lewis on his blog. Our question is, who is Sister Albertha Harris Lewis, anyway? One thing is for sure though: Anti-Semitism never sounded so good. Please share any info in the comments and listen…
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Books The Genesis of a Cartoon
Ken Krimstein is the author of “Kvetch As Kvetch Can: Jewish Cartoons.” In his previous posts he wrote about how to be a Jewish cartoonist, making it as a professional and kvetching and wining. His blog posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish…
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The Tenderness of Age
Each Thursday, The Arty Semite features excerpts and reviews of the best contemporary Jewish poetry. This week, Rodger Kamenetz introduces “The Change” by Alicia Ostriker. This piece originally appeared on August 3, 2001, as part of the Forward’s Psalm 151 series. It is being published here online for the first time. Ms. Ostriker has published…
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Israeli Attorney Launches Campaign Against Overcharging
Shopping in Israel can be an intensely irritating experience. There’s the line-jumping, the willingness of checkout staff to keep customers waiting while they chat with each other or on cell phones, and the hard-sell for things you don’t need just before you pay. Then there’s the overcharging – not the while-you’re-not-looking kind, but the we’re-waving-it-in-your-face-but-you-can’t-protest…
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Fox Blooper: Elie Wiesel Dubbed ‘Holocaust Winner’
Talk about a bad typo. On a recent episode of “Fox & Friends,” Elie Wiesel was described as a “Holocaust Winner.” Sure, the ticker label was just a mixed-up combination of “Nobel prize winner” and “Holocaust survivor,” but considering Wiesel was on the show to talk about human rights abuses, it was a pretty unfortunate…
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Running Down a Dance
Crossposted from Haaretz Leonid Jacobson bears the distinct honor of being both the only Jewish choreographer active in the Soviet Union during the Communist era and a man who won praise from Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova after they defected to the West. The search for Jacobson has brought dance historian and researcher Janice Ross…
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James Van Der Beek Names Daughter After Tree in Israel
Crossposted from Haaretz “Dawson’s Creek” actor James Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly Brook said Wednesday that their newborn baby daughter Olivia was named after an olive tree in Israel which served as a romantic spot during their courtship. “There’s an olive tree in Israel that’s special to us. We spent time under it…
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