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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Modern Orthodox Top Model Gets Cut
So much for an Orthodox “America’s Next Top Model” winner. This week, Esther Petrack, an Israeli-born Boston native, was eliminated from the competition. In the opening episodes of the show, the 18-year-old caused a ruckus by suggesting that she would break Shabbat if she needed to for modeling jobs. Bloggers criticized Petrack for her lack…
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Books Q&A: Author Michael Wex on the Jewish Comic Novel
Michael Wex is best known for his acerbic, authoritative books on Yiddish language and culture, but in this fall’s “The Frumkiss Family Business,” he has turned his attention to fiction. The sprawling novel is a farcical family saga, following three generations of a Jewish clan in Toronto’s Bathurst Manor neighborhood and questioning, in Wex’s characteristically…
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Judd Apatow Debuts Star-Studded AJWS Video
Last night, Judd Apatow debuted his tribute video at a benefit for the American Jewish World Service at Jazz at Lincoln Center. First, a message flashes on screen: “A Public Service Announcement not approved by American Jewish World Service.” Then Don Johnson appears with perfectly coiffed hair and stubble, and says, “I’m Don Johnson, and…
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Isaac Babel’s Last Days in Lubyanka
During a script reading at the Jewish Museum London on October 24, two writers with mortality on their minds came face to face: the bushy-eyebrowed 83-year-old East End poet and kitchen sink dramatist Bernard Kops, and the eternally 45-year-old journalist and playwright Isaac Babel. “Some things grab you; you know what makes a play,” explained…
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‘Oseh Shalom’ Passes 1 Million YouTube Hits
A stirring video rendition of “Oseh Shalom,” produced by prolific English producer Trevor Horn for the U.K.’s Office of the Chief Rabbi, surpassed the 1 million views mark on YouTube earlier this week. The video, recorded in May 2008 in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary, was shot at a North London studio (more) famous for…
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Welcome to Jordan: Check Your Yarmulke at the Border
There’s plenty of controversy in Europe, Canada and the U.S. regarding the banning of burqas and the restrictions on religious clothing and jewelry in public schools and other settings. But so far, no one has proposed that religious items get checked at the border. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, there are recent reports that…
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Hearing News From the Temple Mount in Salt Lake City
Each Thursday, The Arty Semite features excerpts and reviews of the best contemporary Jewish poetry. This week, Rodger Kamenetz introduces “Hearing News From the Temple Mount in Salt Lake City” by Jacqueline Osherow. This piece originally appeared on June 1, 2001, as part of the Forward’s Psalm 151 series. It is being published here online…
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Beyond the Ten Commandments
Crossposted from Haaretz Artists from across the world descended on the Arab-Hebrew Theatre of Jaffa last week to take part in the 10th annual Sha’ar International Poetry Festival. The festival, which took place October 21 to 23, featured film screenings, live music, dance, and of course, poetry. The theme of this year’s showcase, titled “Sex,…
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Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller in Celebrity-Studded Video for AJWS Benefit
Fundraising events for Jewish non-profits don’t usually turn out to be laugh riots. But tonight’s American Jewish World Service (AJWS) benefit at Jazz at Lincoln Center should have the audience rolling in the aisles. No, president Ruth Messinger’s not doing her banana-peel shtick; director Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad”) will premiere a celebrity-studded tribute video…
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To Open on Shabbat or Not? That Is the Question
The National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia doesn’t even opened its doors until November 26, but already it’s making history of its own. The five-story museum has struggled with the decision of whether or not to open on Saturdays (Shabbat), when Jewish law forbids work and commercial dealings. The alternative: Allow thousands of…
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Stephen Sondheim’s Little Night Kvetching
Culminating over a year of 80th birthday commemorations, the Broadway lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim recently had a Manhattan theater named after him. Yet a self-annotated volume of his lyrics due out October 29 from Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, “Finishing the Hat,” still seethes with resentment. The book’s subtitle, “Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments,…
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