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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Meet the Jewish Designer Favored To Design Kate Middleton’s Royal Wedding Gown
Will a Jewish thread run through the wedding of Prince William and fiancée Kate Middleton, who announced their engagement this week? One of Britain’s biggest bookmakers thinks so, according to the UK Jewish Chronicle. Paddy Power, which operates betting parlors, telephone gambling, and online gaming in the UK and Ireland, has tipped London-based designer Elizabeth…
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Jews, Poetry and the Avant-Garde
Each Thursday, The Arty Semite features excerpts and reviews of the best contemporary Jewish poetry. This week Jake Marmer writes about “Radical Poetics and Secular Jewish Culture.” Last year’s excellent anthology “Radical Poetics and Secular Jewish Culture,” a comprehensive collection of writings from leading Jewish poets and critics such as Charles Bernstein, Jerome Rothenberg, Marjorie…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: ‘Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy’
In celebration of Jewish Book Month, The Arty Semite is partnering with the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) and the Jewish Book Council to present “30 Days, 30 Texts,” a series of reflections by community leaders on the books that influenced their Jewish journeys. Today, Will Schneider writes about “Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s…
The Latest
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Leonardo DiCaprio Reportedly Looking To Build House in Israel
Crossposted from Haaretz American actor Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to build a house in Israel, the Israel Hayom daily newspaper reported on Tuesday. Citing associates of DiCaprio, the report said that the actor — the boyfriend of Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli — wants to buy a plot of land on which to build a house…
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Words on Display at the National Yiddish Book Center
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree As just about everyone knows by now, the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia has opened a spanking new, $150 million facility where, say its supporters, the “American Jewish dream has been fulfilled.” Meanwhile, the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass., has just debuted a number…
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The Forward Goes High Society
We wouldn’t normally toot our own horn, but this is just too good to pass up. Last night, the Forward held a party at the Rubin Museum of Art both as a kick-off to a fundraising campaign and a lead-up to a March 8 gala at the Mandarin Oriental. Guests included John Ruskay, CEO of…
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An Unlikely Harry Potter Draws Tourists to Israel
We all know how the story ends: Wizard wunderkind Harry Potter, all grown up, slays his arch-nemesis Lord Voldemort, marries his best friend’s sister and “all was well.” Another Harry Potter, a British soldier, met a notably different, more tragic fate. But with the first in a two-part movie version of “Harry Potter and the…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: The Torah
In celebration of Jewish Book Month, The Arty Semite is partnering with the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) and the Jewish Book Council to present “30 Days, 30 Texts,” a series of reflections by community leaders on the books that influenced their Jewish journeys. Today, Cheryl Weiner writes about the Torah. Every week,…
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Quintessential British Actor’s Jewishness Not ‘Gone With the Wind’
In Portugal in 1943, shortly before his plane was shot down during a wartime propaganda mission, the actor Leslie Howard replied smilingly when he was described as a quintessential Englishman (he even seemed British in “Gone With the Wind”): “I suppose we do not have to tell them that I began as a Hungarian.” Born…
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Internet Draws Support for Boys Busted for Bake Sale
Some nice Jewish boys were busted last week for doing something that would make almost any parent proud: They were being entrepreneurial. Andrew DeMarchis and Kevin Graff of Chappaqua, N.Y., were ratted out to the police by local Councilman Michael Wolfensohn, who was unhappy the boys were selling their home-baked goodies in a neighborhood park…
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Books Making a Mess of Comedy
Comedy, explained Aristotle, has a vague history, because at first no one took it seriously. We cannot know for certain if Aristotle was deadpanning, but his observation would amuse Saul Austerlitz. According to Austerlitz, American film comedy has not been taken seriously, either. In fact, the author quips, it is American film’s “bastard stepchild.” With…
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
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Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
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