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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Journalists, Public Figures Turn Out To Honor Seth Lipsky
It was a veritable who’s who of public figures and newspaper titans Wednesday night at the Harvard Club in Manhattan as Seth Lipsky — formidable Wall Street Journal writer and editor, and founder and editor of the New York Sun and the English edition of the Forward newspaper — was presented with the 2010 Emma…
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‘We Are Going to Pick Potatoes:’ The Shoah in Norway
Given the current stew of antisemitic hatred in Norway, it is hardly surprising that Holocaust studies from there are hardly a favored export, alongside herring and oil. Over 40 percent of Norway’s Jews were slaughtered during World War II, among the worst losses in Scandinavia at that time. While there is a modest, neglected Jewish…
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Oscar Niemeyer, Israel, and Two Jews Named Jacob
After a recent short hospital stay, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is back to work at age 102. Despite many reiterated online claims by Brazilian Jews to the contrary, Niemeyer is not Jewish. Of mixed German-Italian ancestry, Niemeyer did work with the Brazilian Jewish architect Elias Kaufman on his most famous project, Brazil’s capital city…
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Hippie Days Are Here Again
There is a much buzzed-about exhibit on the Grateful Dead going on right now at the New York Historical Society, which comes as a colorful contrast to the museum’s usual fare of Lincoln arcana and 18th century portraiture. I was wondering, at first, what exactly the Jewish angle is on the Dead. Sure, you don’t…
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Eva Mayer Schay: Surviving Exile and Sadistic Music Teachers
The monumentally traumatic exile of European Jews during Fascist times was paralleled in some ways by the inner trauma of Jewish music students saddled with sadistic teachers. This is the surprising conclusion of a discursive, artless new autobiography, more case history than memoir, “Of Exile and Music: A Twentieth Century Life” (Purdue University Press) by…
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Hebrew U Sues GM over Sexy Einstein Image
When Albert Einstein died he bequeathed his letters and rights to his image to Hebrew University in Jerusalem. And now, 55 years later, the university is suing General Motors for publishing a bodacious, yet weirdly flattering, image of the scientist in last fall’s People magazine “Sexiest Man Alive” issue. The ad, which was part of…
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Jews Onstage and in the Audience in 18th Century England
Fans of old time British music hall know that UK audiences have long been amused by Jewish caricatures, as presented onstage by 1930s comedians like Julian Rose, Issy Bonn, and Abe and Mawruss. Yet even a century earlier, Jews were also represented regularly in theaters, at a time of great social upheaval and waves of…
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New York’s Best (Jewish) Sandwiches
Where would New York City be without its delicious and even outrageous sandwiches? Ranging from the fancy PB and J at Peanut Butter & Co to the iconic deli sandwich at Katz’s to haute cuisine at Bar Boulud, they are the city’s most iconic (and perhaps most consumed) portable food. This week, New York Magazine…
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Small Nations Stick Together at the Israeli Jazz Festival
So, what was a non-Jewish, non-Israeli Cuban doing organizing the NYC Israeli Jazz Festival, anyway? “Someone had to do it,” said Roberto Rodriguez who composes, leads and plays drums for the Cuban Jewish All-Stars. After 20 shows and over 1000 people passing through the doors at John Zorn’s non-profit jazz space The Stone last week,…
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Jesse James Tries To Auction Off Nazi Paraphernalia!
Jesse James and ex-mistress Michelle “Bombshell” McGee are at it again – Nazi apologism, that is. James, who actress Sandra Bullock served with divorce papers in April after news broke of his infidelity, first raised eyebrows when a photo surfaced of him trying on a Hitler salute for size. This week, the former “Monster Garage”…
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In Israel, Not So Many Gay Days?
Since horrific headlines are often all that is seen in the English language media about the LGBT civil rights movement in Israel, on June 8, the JCC in Manhattan will offer a valuable corrective. The 2009 Israeli documentary “Gay Days,” directed by Yair Qedar, will be presented by two festivals — The JCC’s 6th Annual…
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