Writing, Editing & Creative Media Consulting
Blogging with Esther
Cupid’s Clips: This Week’s Articles
010 years ago
While Valentine’s Day week isn’t always a week of romance and celebration for everyone, this year, Cupid brought me two new clips to share.
Last weekend in the print edition and Tuesday online, the Forward published my piece “The Jewish Lonely Hearts Who Meet Online” – about online dating sites, the blame game that singles play with each other, and how we all could take a higher road when it comes to interacting online.
Then on Facebook, we launched some midweek discussions about JDate’s advertising, when that niche dating service launched its new ad campaigns, making some laugh and others cringe. With slogans taking a pot shot at Match.com (“6000 years of persecution and now you’re joining Match.com?”) and appealing to those who are waiting to “find someone who shares your love of gefilte fish,” the slogans run from the stereotypical to the unoriginal, playing to the broadest strokes of public awareness of what defines a Jew, and what those Jews are looking for when they’re looking for love online. (You can read the NYTimes article about this new campaign here.)
In a sad note this week, but relevant to Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to share things we love with people we love, the world lost famous comedian Sid Caesar. The Jewish Journal asked me to write something – since I love writing about entertainment, TV and comedy, and did feel a bit personally connected to Caesar (even though we had never met), I wrote this piece – “My Friend’s Seder With Sid: Remembering Sid Caesar,” now featured in the Jewish Journal’s Religion section – about how virtual connections can become real, with people acting as emissaries and interceding to create real-life connections. The story contains some of my friend’s personal reflections of her time with Sid over the last year, and reminds us of how much laughter he gave the world. May his memory and his work continue to be an inspiration to those of us who dabble in or appreciate comedy. 🙂
2011 – Quite a Year
012 years ago
2011 was quite a year, for some great reasons and one really sad one.
We’ll start with the sad first in this post, and hopefully build towards joy from there. As the Psalm says, “they who sow in tears harvest with joy.”
In May, my mother, Shulamit E. Kustanowitz, lost her battle with two serious illnesses. Losing her has been the most earth-shattering experience of my life, and I’m dealing with it every day in some way. My writing has changed, both in frequency and in tone, and I haven’t been diligent about updating my blogs and websites, because it just didn’t seem important and because I felt, for a while, as if I’d lost command of the words. So it’s taking me a while to return to posting about my publications and achievements, and to the daily business of musing on things social media- and technology-related.
But there have been moments, even within a year of mourning, which are worth celebrating. I was thrilled to be named to the Big Jewcy , a list of 100 Jews to watch, which this year also featured my brother (we were the first siblings to make the list the same year, and the piece about me was published on my birthday, by coincidence). I presented at the 2011 General Assembly in Denver, JHub (social entrepreneurship hub in London), and the UK’s Limmud Conference, moderated at the Jewish Federation’s Day of Jewish Learning and Culture, and made 2012 plans to present or moderate sessions at LimmudLA (next weekend), Jewlicious (the weekend after), and the ROI Summit in Jerusalem (June). A friend also made me laugh with his Gefilte Fish Invaders game/Rosh Hashanah greeting card, which got me quoted in the Jewish Week’s Jewish Techs blog. So life does go on.
I’m working on getting my writing going again, and some of that is happening in a longer chunk of text that I’m referring to as a “book” and which might just be one some day, tentatively titled “Nothing Helps (But This Might Help): Loss, Grief and Unintentional Comedy in a Year of Mourning.” Some of it is likely to pop up on the web in various places – on my blogs or on websites – and hopefully to be finished before the end of 2012. (At least that’s my current estimate.) But I’m also balancing that with some lighter pieces, some focusing on culture or comedy, or other such smile-provoking subjects, and will likely produce several other pieces about Jewish life and contemporary culture, because – let’s face it – I do what I do.
Like I said, 2011 was quite a year. Here’s to a 2012 of gratitude, productivity, health, healing, laughter and eventually, joy. Thanks for your continued support.
Recent Publications: Opinionated Jewish Women, Innovation and more…
014 years ago
“ROI Lights”: Introducing a series of Hanukkah posts about innovation and creativity (ROI Community)
“Where Are All the Opinionated Jewish Women?”: An op-ed submissions imbalance at the Forward leads to a larger discussion about Jewish women and our opinions  (MyUrbanKvetch, reprinted in eJewishPhilanthropy)
“Young Professionals/Singles/Young Leaders” – What’s in a Name? (MyUrbanKvetch)
“The Future of Jewish Journalism, Or Anything Else” (MyUrbanKvetch, reprinted in eJewishPhilanthropy)
September’s Beliefnet Posts
014 years ago
As a contributor to Beliefnet’s Idol Chatter, I cover the intersection of spirituality and popular culture. These are my posts from this month:
“Bridging the Gap”: Jewish and Middle Eastern Comics Laugh Together
“Modern Orthodox”: ANTM Contestant Gives Up Sabbath for Modeling
Your “Twimprimatur,” and Other Secrets of Social Media
014 years ago
What’s a Twimprimatur? Here’s a hint: I made it up. And here’s another hint: imprimatur + Twitter. (Imprimatur literally means “let it be printed,” but here are some more definitions.)
In July, I was interviewed by Rusty Mike Radio in Jerusalem – we went deep into blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Check out the entire interview here, for insights into making these social media work better for you, as well as stories about Jewish innovation, how to make blogging into a quasi-career, and what my connection is to Madonna. And, of course, how to create your own Twimprimatur. 🙂
Jewish Blogging 101 and 201 Now Online
014 years ago
I recently concluded a three-part webinar series on social media and blogging for the Jewish Communal Professionals of Southern California. My presentations from those webinars are now available online. See the “Social Media Basics” webinar here.
Newly uploaded on Slideshare is “Jewish Blogging 101” and “Jewish Blogging 201,” both below.
Jcpsc blogging 201
View more presentations from Esther Kustanowitz.
Are Facebook and Twitter a Fad?
014 years ago
At a recent event about social media and Jewish community, I spoke on a panel with Leah Jones where we addressed what the future of these social media tools might be. More videos from this event are available on my YouTube channel.
November and December: Idol Chatterin’
015 years ago
When it comes to the intersection between pop culture and spirituality (which sometimes means Judaism, specifically), my posts at Idol Chatter on Beliefnet run the gamut: from TV to music, from books to movies, from the Holocaust to the Family Guy to ABBA. Seriously.
After my making a case in October for Don Draper being a vampire, November brought a slew of varied stories. Ian McKellen started ripping pages out of hotel Bibles, Comedy Central expanded to Abu Dhabi, and that “Family Guy” live special offended lots of people. Reading and watching movies about Anne Frank – and presenting on Jewish pop culture at a local high school – led to both reviews and contemplations of what constitutes teen theology. The Macaroons, a new kids’ band, brought catchy rock hooks to Jewish subjects, just in time for Hanukkah.
In December, ABBA was named to the list of future inductees for the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, leading people to say, “um, is ABBA really rock?” But forget Swedish pop music and senatorial musical submissions: what’s new with Jewish music this Hanukkah? The NY Times did a short piece, but I had a few suggestions of my own. Also, in the wake of Orrin Hatch’s musical Hanukkah present to the Jews, Conan’s Jewish cast member – Max Weinberg – sang back with a Christmas song for Mormons set to “I Have a Little Dreidel.” Meantime, those creative folks over at G-dcast created a special animated episode for Hanukkah.
And just yesterday, Roy Disney died, reminding everyone how much of an impact Disney has had on the cultural landscape.
Thanks, Google: Long-Lost Radio Transcript (Israel Radio)
015 years ago
In 2008, I attended the First International Jewish Bloggers Convention in Israel, sponsored by Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organizations that assists people who are making aliyah (moving to Israel). I was interviewed several times on the radio and in print, and one of those radio transcripts is available online. It’s kind of interesting to read it more than a year later (although the transcript is missing a few words – maybe I have to enunciate more next time, so Israeli transcriptions can be more accurate).
Social Media Manifesto Takes Off on Twitter
015 years ago
At this point, social media isn’t new. Some people have asked why I would even write something like this, which is so intuitive to people who live their lives in the www’s of the internet. And that itself is the answer: although the use of social media tools is growing in the world at large, not everyone lives their lives via Facebook, blogs or Twitter. And it’s not that everyone should always be on social media. But I do believe that social media can help, especially at traditionally underfunded Jewish organizations – a few hours of training, and the social media can be managed in house, for free.
Jewish nonprofits are beginning to acknowledge the need, but still seem skittish. And that’s why I took to my keyboard – as someone with extensive experience in the Jewish non-profit world, I take pride in and give honor to the fact that I wouldn’t be where I am today without social media.
“Manifesto: Social Media and Jewish Organizations” has been retweeted several times by Jewish organizations and educators, shared with fellowship members and technology staffs. I’ve got meetings set up in New York to talk with potential clients about social media outreach. And I’ve been asked to lead a few groups at the upcoming Darim Online Northern New Jersey Social Media Boot Camp. Plus, the post is beginning to be cross-linked in other locations and cited as inspiration for kicking social media conversation into high gear (see the Boulder Jewish News).
It’s really gratifying to see a conversation accelerate, perhaps because it’s about time, and perhaps because of something you wrote. Thanks to all who shared it, retweeted it, emailed it, circulated it, or otherwise supported its sentiments. Go Team Social Media!