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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Angel Investors Help Jewish Business Owners
Jew Crew, Bangitout, JDate. Now, add Tribe of Angels to the list of Jewish social networking websites. An online forum where Jewish investors “can share their interests and expertise with entrepreneurs and vice versa,” Tribe of Angels is the brainchild of Cleveland-based technology consultant Paul Allen, who launched the site in 2004. The site doesn’t…
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The Man Who Coined ‘Genocide’
The 51st yahrzeit of Dr. Raphael Lemkin, the international lawyer who created the United Nations Genocide Convention, will doubtless pass unnoticed on August 28, just as his 50th did last year. This is not unexpected: Lemkin — who coined, conceptualized and defined genocide and who worked tirelessly inside and outside the U.N. to make its…
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‘Sesame Street’ Goes to Palestine
The American administration is about to jump-start peace talks aimed at the creation of a Palestinian state in the framework of the two-state solution, but it seems that the “Sesame Street” star Grover is way ahead of the game — he’s already visited Palestine. In a segment now on the “Sesame Street” website, Grover and…
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In Israel, Cubism of a Different Sort
Crossposted from Haaretz New cottage neighborhoods in west Rishon Letzion symbolize the suburbanization of Israel. The process can be found in stretches between Hadera and Ashdod, where middle-class residents chase their dream of a high quality of life near cities. The most visible traits of this phenomenon are conformism and uniformity: the same furnishings, the…
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These Breslov Tunes Were Saved by Rock ‘n’ Roll
My musically sophisticated Orthodox friends often tell me that they are not interested in Jewish music. It’s not hard to see why. If you take the material produced by the Orthodox pop industry, it’s often just the frum equivalent of Justin Timberlake, or over-produced boys choirs backed up by obnoxious electronics and phony string arrangements….
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Drew Barrymore, Justin Long Defile Kosher Home!
Despite tepid advance reviews for the upcoming Drew Barrymore-Justin Long romantic comedy, “Going the Distance” — Variety diagnosed the movie as having “bipolar disorder” — the trailer is playing up the genre film’s atypical gross-out aspect. Directed by Nanette Burstein, the film follows two lovers, Erin and Garrett, as they try to work through a…
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RIP, Heeb Magazine
Another magazine bites the dust. This time it’s Heeb, which announced today that it will move to an online-only format. In a statement on its website titled “So Much for Controlling the Media,” Heeb’s publisher and editor-in-chief, Joshua Neuman, wrote: I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Heebmagazine.com…
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Gay Israeli Teen Kidnapped by Family
With all the buzz about how hot Tel Aviv’s become for gay travelers, we still get the occasional reminder that not everyone’s on board with circuit parties, muscle boys and beach cruising. Take the family of a 19-year-old gay man living in Tel Aviv. Four people from his hometown of Tamra, an Arab enclave in…
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The Western Wall’s Makeover
The Western Wall is very, very old, and no one seems to mind. (In, fact, that’s kind of the point.) But it’s about to get two decidedly un-Biblical upgrades. As reported in The Jerusalem Post, the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee is currently considering a proposal to build an elevator and pedestrian tunnel that would…
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Its Bookstore May Be on the Rocks, But All Is Not Lost in Yiddishland
The Central Yiddish Culture Organization (CYCO), a Manhattan based non-for-profit outfit dedicated to the promotion and development of Yiddish literature, is in trouble. CYCO, and its inventory of 55,000 Yiddish books is being kicked out of its current home. Given that the income from book sales could not possibly pay market rent on a new…
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Mrs. Goldberg, Media Queen
Before Beaver Cleaver introduced television watchers to his suburban boyhood, before Lucy and Desi’s domestic misadventures became ingrained in the consciousness of the American household, and before the world had even heard of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Gertrude Berg was the queen of the American sitcom. As the head writer, producer and leading actress of…
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