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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Israeli Swimsuit Model Gets Shout-Out in New Kanye Song
It might be the most daring lyric in the history of rap: an attempt at making something rhyme with “Ginzburg.” But as he’s proven in numerous songs and public appearances, Kanye West is nothing if not bold, and he almost manages to pull off the “swerve/Ginzburg” couplet in one of his latest songs, “Christian Dior…
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Rick Sanchez and Anti-Semitism
By this point, we all know the details of former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez’s fall from grace. As fast as he rose from fill-in anchor in the mid-2000s to host of a two-hour, social media-inspired afternoon broadcast, Rick’s List, he was out the door, taken down by one of the great taboos left standing in…
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Yeshiva University Linguist Honored by Basque Academy
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. Translated by Ezra Glinter. On October 3, Yeshiva University socio-linguist and longtime Forverts contributor Dr. Joshua A. Fishman was honored by the Euskaltzaindia, or Royal Academy of the Basque Language, for his contribution to the struggle on behalf of “minoritized” languages. At a ceremony at the…
The Latest
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Ran Shabtay’s Focused Folk
Crossposted from Haaretz Talking to Ran Shabtay, lead singer of The Trees and the Bees, is a frenetic experience. He jumps from subject to subject. He starts with his love of folk music (“That’s how the real thing sounds; every time I hear Elliott Smith, my jaw drops”), continues with his attraction to art (“A…
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Biggest Bob Dylan Memorabilia For Sale
Bob Dylan fans have a new piece of memorabilia to consider buying: the building which housed the synagogue in which 13-year-old Bobby Zimmerman – who was called to the Torah as Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham – celebrated his bar mitzvah, back in 1954. The Hibbing, Minn. building was converted from a synagogue to an apartment…
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Jewish Leaders in Flatbush Oppose New Messianic Outpost
The Chosen people are getting choosey. Jewish leaders in Flatbush, Brooklyn, are furious that Chosen People Ministries, which calls itself a “Messianic Jewish” organization, plans to set up shop on their turf. The New York Daily News reports that earlier this year, Chosen People Ministries purchased an 11,000-square-foot building (a former Jewish funeral home) and…
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Israeli Website Celebrates HP’s Jewish CEO While Scandal Looms
The new CEO of computer hardware goliath HP is Jewish, Israeli news website YNet reported gleefully on Friday. Léo Apotheker, a former CEO of software goliath SAP, is the German-born child of Polish Jewish refugees with a degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. But Apotheker arrives at HP in the wake of a series of…
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Kazakh-Israeli Industrialist Avoids ‘Sex Yacht’ Arrest
Alexsander Mashkevich has escaped legal action in connection with the Turkish sex yacht incident late last month, according to this JTA article. According to this article, Turkish authorities followed the yacht for months before boarding it late last month. “Thirteen girls, including two minors, from Russia and Ukraine were detained along with several men from…
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This Is What Happens When a GOP House Candidate Dresses as a Nazi
Here’s a question that’s popped up one time too many in the last few years: Why, 65 years after the fall of Nazi Germany, do some people still think it’s conscionable to don Nazi uniforms? And why, for goodness sakes, would they do so if they have political aspirations? Associating with Nazism is career suicide,…
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Symphonies for Space Cadets
For those familiar with One Ring Zero’s sound — a sometimes-kooky, sometimes-eerie blend of forsaken instruments like theremin, claviola, and glockenspiel — it will come as no surprise that the band’s latest album, “Planets,” is a musical tour through outer space. Given their fondness for far-out noises, it was only a matter of time before…
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17-Year-Old Reveals Top Israeli Spy’s Identity on YouTube
Crossposted from Haaretz Israel Police detained a teenage settler on Thursday over suspicions he had uploaded a YouTube video exposing the identity of the head of the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division. The Shin Bet official, known only as A., is the head of the service’s Makhlaka Hayehudit (“The Jewish Division”), which is tasked with monitoring…
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Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
In Case You Missed It
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News Schumer, highest-ranking Jewish official, slams Trump over Iran strike — but leaves his own position unclear
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Fast Forward Why some see an ancient biblical enemy in Iran
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Fast Forward Israel puts civilians on high alert as Iranian leaders vow response to US strikes
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