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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All the Emperor’s Treasures
On the Yiddish Song of the Week blog, Forverts associate editor Itzik Gottesman writes about “If I Were to Have the Emperor’s Treasures,” as sung by Ita Taub: This recording of Ita Taub was done in our dining room in our Bronx home in the 1980s after a meal, as you can hear from the…
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30 Years Later, Jews Celebrate John Lennon on Hanukkah
“You came to me one summer night and from your beam you made my dream,” sang the Beatles on their 1964 cover of “Mr. Moonlight.” Yes, the entire song was penned as a love letter. But that doesn’t mean those particular words can’t be applied during Hanukkah, when we celebrate and remember the miracle that…
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Lewis J. Stadlen: Rekindling a Talented Jewish Character Actor
On October 2, BearManor Media issued a Kindle Edition of 2009’s “Acting Foolish,” an unjustly overlooked memoir by actor Lewis J. Stadlen. Born in Brooklyn in 1947, Stadlen famously appeared on TV’s “The Sopranos” as Dr. Ira Fried, a wittily dour specialist in erectile dysfunction. Yet Stadlen is basically a stage animal, as student of…
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And the Most Jewish City in America Is…
As Hanukkah celebrations got underway last week, The Daily Beast ranked the 30 most Jewish cities in America. Their results were determined by three per capita factors: Jewish population, number of synagogues and kosher restaurants. As expected, New York claimed the top spot. With a Jewish population of 9.6%, four synagogues per capita and an…
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Will Leonardo DiCaprio Convert to Judaism?
How does Leonardo DiCaprio look in a yarmulke? We might get a chance to find out. The (UK) Daily Mail reports the 36-year-old, Catholic-born megastar may convert to Judaism as a step toward nuptials with his Israeli supermodel girlfriend Bar Refaeli. “A source” apparently told the Daily Mail that “Leo’s sudden intense interest in Israel,…
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‘Wandering’ Jews Head to Church
Some Florida Jews have become regular churchgoers. No, they haven’t converted; the members of tiny Congregation Matah Chaim in coastal Palm Bay have made a local Christian worship hall their temporary base while they raise money for a permanent home, reports Florida Today. Twice a month at the Riviera United Church of Christ, “a projection…
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Fashion Designer’s Nonsensical Anne Frank Interpretation May Sell T-Shirts
It may have only been a blip in the ironic T-shirt-clad world of hipsterdom, but if culture-tracking websites like Jezebel and Vice see it fit to run images of aleXsandro Palombo’s latest clothing designs, well, who are we to argue? The provocative, arguably iconoclastic, Italian designer and illustrator recently posted a set of politically charged…
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It’s a Giant Menorah Shrine!
Sid Horowitz, a retired dentist living in Bridgewater, N.J., has been collecting menorahs for the past 40 years as gifts and has been inviting guests to participate in menorah lighting festivities for over 10 of them. Check out this photo of the massive menorah lighting at his home last night.
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Books Composing Identity, From Jamaica to England
This year’s Man Booker Prize shortlist featured two authors who write about groups not often represented in British literature. Howard Jacobson, author of “The Finkler Question,” has made a career crafting a literary image of the English Jew, while Andrea Levy, shortlisted for “The Long Song,” has documented the black British experience in her five…
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Jazz Great — and Gone
Crossposted from Haaretz On Friday morning, the ninth-grade students in the jazz program at the Thelma Yellin High School for Arts were learning about the history of jazz with their beloved teacher, Amit Golan. That same day there was a test. The questions were about Duke Ellington, Art Tatum and other early jazz giants, whom…
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Taxpayers Will Cover Cosmetics Bill for Skinhead’s Murder Trial
Do you like the makeup on John DiTullio’s face and neck? Hope so, because you may be paying for it. The skinhead, who goes on trial for murder today in Clearwater, Fla., will appear in court with special cosmetics covering his tattoos — including a swastika on his neck and green-tinted “scar” running from forehead…
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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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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
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