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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Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher: Tweet, Pray, Love
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are not new to controversy or gossip, but the latest rumors of Kutcher’s infidelities had them packing their bags and heading to Israel. Following reports of marital trouble, the Hollywood power couple jetted off to the Holy Land. The Jerusalem Post reported that the duo has already been spotted visiting…
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Erotic Paintings of Paris Life Find a Florida Home
When Claudine Faifer unwrapped the 165 oil paintings that arrived at her Miami Beach home last May, the first thing she thought was, “ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod!” There, among the vibrant scenes of clowns, carnivals and cafés, were 65 erotic images painted by her father, the late Jacques Faifer, a little-known artist whose colorful works capture…
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The Middle East in the Middle of the Night
Gregory Levey‘s newest book, “How to Make Peace in the Middle East in Six Months or Less Without Leaving Your Apartment,” is now available. His blog posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog series. For more information on the series,…
The Latest
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Gaydamak Is Back in Israel
Talk about a disappearing act. Love him or (as many do) hate him, there’s no disputing that Russian oligarch Arcadi Gaydamak used to be a star in his adopted home, Israel. Famed for his generosity — or some would more cynically say his self-promotion — he aided northern Israeli towns damaged in 2006, during the…
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Claude Lanzmann to Open New ‘Treblinka’ Exhibit in Israel
Crossposted from Haaretz French director Claude Lanzmann will visit Israel this week to take part in the inauguration of a new display room in kibbutz Lohamei Hageta’ot. The new hall, called “Treblinka,” will include a display describing the project for the annihilation of European Jewry, with particular focus on the notorious death camp. The exhibition…
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Out and About: David Grossman in Frankfurt, Idan Raichel at the Opera
David Grossman has won the German Book Trade Peace Prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Isaac Bashevis Singer comes to Carbondale, Illinois. As the music consultant for The Israeli Opera, Idan Raichel has chosen Vieux Farka Touré to open the new season on November 26. Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize in…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Ranen Omer-Sherman leafs through “Turn Right at the End,” a controversial comic book series by Israeli artist Sivan Hurvitz. Philologos gets devilish. Stuart Schoffman reviews Philip Roth’s latest novel, “Nemesis.” I review Elie Wiesel’s latest novel, “The Sonderberg Case.” Allan Nadler reviews the unfortunately titled “The Relationship of Orthodox Jews With Believing Jews of Other…
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An Orthodox ‘We Are the World’ for Sholom Rubashkin
The latest effort to rally supporters for jailed Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin comes in the form of a six-minute music video posted online yesterday, featuring a who’s who of Hasidic music stars. The video mixes slo-mo shots of Rubashkin with “We Are the World”-style clips of the all-male cast of singers in the recording studio….
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Teens Arrested in Mercer Island Anti-Semitism Graffiti Spree
There’s a long list of things that Jewish teenagers have to worry about in high school: zits, gym class, overbearing mothers, but now, students at Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island can add anti-Semitism to the list. On the eve of Yom Kippur, security cameras caught three teenage boys defacing the school building with…
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The Jews Who Went West
Chicago’s first minyan gathered for Yom Kippur in 1845; before then, the 12-year-old city hadn’t been able to muster a prayer quorum of even 10 men. Yet it was only two years later that Chicago welcomed its first rabbi, the Reverend Ignatz Kunreuther, and its first synagogue. This history lesson is displayed in the first…
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Books Soviet Literature in Dark Times
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. Translated by Ezra Glinter. When I bought Natalia Gromova’s book, “The Downfall: The Fate of a Soviet Critic in the 1940 and ‘50s,” it didn’t occur to me that it would have a Jewish dimension. I’m generally interested in this period and in this subject, and…
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Music Jill Sobule was as much a Jewish icon as a queer one
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