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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Blending by Intuition
Crossposted from Haaretz Singing was a necessity and inevitability for Claudia Nurit Henig. Born in Argentina, her mother tongue is Ladino, a language that seems to encompass infinite musical riches. Even the transition as a child from Buenos Aires to Arad, after losing her parents one after the next, did not dull Henig’s passion for…
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How American Photography Became European Art
In “Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art pulls from its own collection to present the work of three heavyweights of American photography: Alfred Stieglitz, founder of the influential 291 gallery, and two of his protégés, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand. The show, on through April 10, 2011, gives each photographer his own room,…
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Doctor Refuses To Operate on Man With Nazi Tattoo
A 36-year-old German man is probably experiencing an acute case of tattoo regret today. After seeing Nazi imagery emblazoned on the man’s arm, a Jewish doctor who was preparing to operate on him left the operating theater and had another doctor complete the procedure, English-language German news site TheLocal.de reports. News reports didn’t specify what…
The Latest
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GE Adds ‘Sabbath Mode’ to Hundreds of Appliances
It’s not often a press release from a mega-corporation like GE touts gefilte fish, challah, brisket, noodle kugel and latkes. But just in time for Hanukkah, the company decided to trumpet the “Sabbath Mode” feature it now offers on over 264 “GE wall ovens, smooth-top electric slide-in and smooth-top electric drop-in ranges, as well as…
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Through the Eyes of Children
Crossposted from Haaretz A wall is covered with images. A little girl splashes in gray-scale puddles in the street, her image fuzzy in the moving shot. Framed nearby, a baker lifts hot flat bread out of the oven. A merry-go-round with three girls in headscarves swoops past the camera lens. Welcome to the West Bank…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: ‘Preparing for the Sabbath’
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, Shifra Bronznick writes about “Preparing for the Sabbath”…
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Something Odd About ‘The Odd Couple’
Although they aren’t nearly as dysfunctional as the narrator and the old man with the “vulture eye” in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” or Allie and Hedy in “Single White Female,” Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar make up a lousy pair of roommates in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. But however rave the reviews…
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Will Circumcision Become Illegal in San Francisco?
There are some Jews who say that in the 21st century, performing a brit milah (ritual circumcision) on a baby boy is neither desirable nor necessary. For San Francisco residents, however, there is a chance that it may also become illegal. In the city known for being on the cutting edge of many trends, a…
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Keats’s Prayer for the World to Come
Rarely has the presence of the Divine Being been so radically affirmed by the actions of a Wired magazine columnist. Having decided that our own created universe was getting perilously close to extinction, Jargon Watch writer Jonathon Keats set up an altar designed to stimulate the Ineffable One into further acts of creation. The title…
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Gay Orthodox Jews Say ‘It Gets Better’
Check out this video, the latest in the “It Gets Better” installments against anti-gay bullying. This one, a collaboration between JQYouth and the The Gay and Lesbian Yeshiva Day School Alumni Association, features gay Orthodox Jews discussing their experiences growing up and telling how life ultimately gets better.
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Holiday News From Israel
The Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha is upon us, and just like everything in the Western World, it has been commercialized. Check out this video about the Israeli electronics store that tried to boost its Arab clientele by offering a free sheep with every purchase. A central Eid tradition is to slaughter an animal. In…
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