Bio

Esther D. Kustanowitz is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, consultant and speaker.

Esther is a Contributing Writer at the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, where she writes on topics ranging from comedy to grief, from women in Jewish leadership to social media culture; and is a TV columnist at J.: The Jewish News of Northern California. She co-hosts The Bagel Report, a podcast about Jews and entertainment, and speaks about #TVGoneJewy, a term she invented to describe  the increase of Jewish content on TV.

Esther was also founding editor at GrokNation.com; has written for ModernLoss.com, Haaretz, JTA, the Forward, and eJewish Philanthropy, among others; and has worked with dozens of Jewish organizations. She is also working on a book about life after loss called Nothing Helps (But This Might Help).

As a Jewish early adopter of social media platforms including blogging, Facebook and Twitter, Esther is frequently sought-out as a source on social media engagement and culture, and is known as one of the Jewish world’s social influencers.

Esther has also consulted for and spoken at dozens of organizations and institutions in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Israel, including The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the ROI Community, IKAR, the American Jewish University, Yeshiva University, Slingshot, Limmud, UpStart Bay Area and the Jewish Federations of North America.

Fun facts about Esther:

• She met one of the stars of the TV show “Shtisel” in a German airport
• She has hit the triple crown of Jewish academic institutions: over the course of her career, she has worked for the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), Yeshiva University (Orthodox) and Hebrew Union College (Reform).
• She has authored one book, The Hidden Children of the Holocaust, and contributed to or edited many others.​
• She is a huge Star Wars fan who managed to visit Lucasfilm, go to Comic-Con and meet Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) in the course of a single year.
• She served as founding senior editor for PresenTense Magazine from 2006-2008.
• She placed second in a karaoke competition in New York sometime in the early 2000s.
• She wrote “First Person Singular,” a biweekly singles column for the New York Jewish Week, from 2004-2008.
• Esther has taken numerous classes in sketch-comedy writing and improv in New York and Los Angeles, and has also hosted Jewish and karaoke events.