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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Krauthammers Answering “Great Ignorance” with Jewish Classical Music
Years ago, if a French composer had too many Jewish associates, it was assumed he was Jewish too. Thus Maurice Ravel, of Basque origin, was included in “Judentum und Musik,” a 1937 Nazi publication, as noted in the well-researched “The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich” by Michael H. Kater. A…
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Jeff Goldblum Performs a Bris, On a Cigarette
First it was lox, now it’s … cigarettes? Tobacco sticks are the latest unassuming product to face kashrut questions, after a Dutch study found that pig hemoglobin was being used in some cigarette filters. The issue hasn’t captured the attention of the rabbinic authorities just yet, and it might not now that actor and rabbi-in-disguise…
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Yuri Foreman’s Yankee Stadium Shabbos Foiled
At a press conference last week, Jewish boxing phenom Yuri Foreman discussed plans for his upcoming championship bout against three-time world titleholder Miguel Cotto. The bout, to be held at Yankee Stadium, is scheduled for Saturday night, June 5, to accommodate Foreman’s observance of the Sabbath. Foreman, who studies part-time at a Yeshiva, will spend…
The Latest
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Israelis Get a Good Laugh (Care of a Catholic)
The well-known Rabbi Joseph Telushkin once remarked that the Jewish people laugh “in order not to cry.” Well, for fans of American comedy in Israel, there was certainly a good reason not to cry this Easter season. Comedy Central and late-night TV regular, Jim Gaffigan, a practicing Catholic, surprised fans when he performed two impromptu…
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French Actor Sami Frey: or ‘Beckett Judaizing Beckett’
The other evening, a solo performance of Samuel Beckett’s “First Love” (Premier Amour) at New York’s French Institute Alliance Française had an unexpected Jewish aura to it. The French Jewish actor Sami Frey, born Samuel Frei in 1937 to Polish Jewish parents deported from Paris and killed during World War II, will also perform it…
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Remembering French Jewish filmmaker Claude Berri
Just over a year ago, Kaddish was recited over the grave of French Jewish film director and producer Claude Berri at the suburban Bagneux Cemetery, known for its large Jewish section. More up-to-date recognition is overdue, and Berri’s longtime companion, the glamorous French Jewish novelist Nathalie Rheims, recently produced a memoir, “Claude” from Editions Léo…
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Jew vs Puerto Rican To Slug it Out at Yankee Stadium
When Yuri Foreman meets Miguel Cotto in a boxing ring in right field at Yankee Stadium this June, two of New York’s largest ethnic minorities will be represented in what could be the fight of the summer. Foreman, a Russian Jew who grew up in Israel, is the defending super welterweight champion, but top billing…
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Malcolm McLaren, Former Sex Pistols Manager, Dies
The message on Malcolm McLaren’s Web site today is “Malcolm will return shortly”. That’s not likely, since the legendary punk impresario – he thrust the Sex Pistols, which he managed, on an unsuspecting public – died yesterday in Switzerland of cancer at the age of 64. But the impish humor behind the posting sounds a…
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the French Jews Who Did Not Surrender
May 17 will be a landmark date in the family of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her grandfather Pierre Louis-Dreyfus will be 102. Beyond a highly lucrative career as a banker, Pierre is a noted war hero, one of the 42 still-living Compagnons de la Libération, a lofty distinction for war resisters. Like Louis-Dreyfus, a number of…
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Jewish Fan Steals Second at Rangers Game
Jeremy Pinsly doesn’t play professional baseball, but during the Texas Rangers’ opener on Monday, he stole second base. “My boss told me he’d give me $1,000 [to do it], and an extra $100 if I slid headfirst,” the 23-year-old, who works in marketing, wrote in an e-mail to friends. “Me being a Jew, or a…
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The Puzzle of Moroccan Jewish Identity in Israel
Tuesday was Mimouna, the annual festival of the Moroccan Jewish community, and there were lively parties across Israel. But while the Moroccan community tends to come out in force for Mimouna, it seems that as a whole it is losing connection with its traditions. A new poll published by Maariv reported that only 51% of…
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