The Virtual Writing Studio/PR Office of Esther D. Kustanowitz

Recently, I noticed that Jews seem to be enjoying a bit of the improv….and wondered why. Was there something innately Jewish about the art of thinking on your feet, being in the moment and working without a script?

Check out the article, in Issue 4 of PresenTense Magazine, here.

Welcome new visitors–I hope you enjoy the new decor and aim to provide you with fresh content regularly. Tell your friends to visit and leave comments–I look forward to your feedback on this site.

And of course, because blogging is a constant, here are some recent posts you might enjoy:

Beliefnet
Is Change the Only Constant (New Amsterdam)

90210 Redux?

JDatersAnonymous
The Week in Singles Stories: Jewish Standard Edition
Random JDate Shoutout of the Week

MyUrbanKvetch
“Have You Met Ted?”: Josh Radnor Owns Up to Jewish Roots
Shin-Bet Blog
Purim Costumes and Conundra

And more always coming…

The new issue of PresenTense Magazine is out! See below for a sample of the laid-out magazine, or check here for a link to the TOC, to access individual articles, including my latest, “Jew’s Line Is It Anyway? Why The Chosen People Choose Improv.”

We’re churning out another issue for Israel’s 60th, so if you’re interested in advertising in that issue, or distributing either Issue 4 or the upcoming 5, let us know!

Where have I been all month? Between the Israelity Tour (read my blog posts here) and the Jewlicious Festival (http://jewliciousfestival.com), February was all about the West Coast for me. And seriously, the rumors are true: the February weather is much nicer in LA than in NYC. Since I got back, March has been all about my new nephew and, of course, settling back into something resembling a routine.

New singles columns in the Jewish Week:
“Looking Out for Number 2”
“Oddly Enough: Jewish Singles Edition”
“Don’t Worry: Be Single Happy”
“Status Symbol”

There’s also a new issue of PresenTense Magazine out…check it out, and especially my article about why the chosen people choose improv, here.

Until I get this site’s act together, feel free to check in with my other sites, MyUrbankvetch and JDatersAnonymous, to see all of my online endeavors and offline publications.

The Jewish Journal reprinted my column on chivalry…check it out here!

EstherK.com is under reconstruction. But in the meantime, please visit MyUrbanKvetch.com for the most frequent updates about publications, events and appearances. We’ll be back soon, so please stay tuned!

Why can’t singles just meet over a nice Shabbat dinner? This column focuses on an L.A.-based, rabbi-originated program to help Jewish singles in their 30s and 40s do just that.

Read “Table for More Than Two” here.

There’s been lots of press about this year’s GA, which devoted a plenary to Next Generation issues. I was honored to serve as a speaker for that plenary.

If you missed it, here’s a link to the video.

Full text of the delivered speech available at MyUrbanKvetch.com; click and let the link lead you…

After Yom Kippur, I found myself tapping away at my keyboard, Bradshawlike yet again, and dipping into the primordial ooze of “The Blame Game.”

Coming soon…gigs and conferences. You gonna be there?

October 21, American Zionist Movement Biennial, Evening Plenary (Newark, NJ)
October 28-30, Professional Leaders Project (Santa Monica, CA)
November 8, Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, “Matchmaker: In Search of a Kosher Man” discussion. 9pm (New Brunswick, NJ)
November 12, UJC General Assembly, Next Generation Panel, 9-10:15 am (Nashville, TN)

The holidays snuck up, and I forgot to share all my columns. So, if you haven’t been checking them out at my Recent Writings page, here are the direct links:

My new column, "On the Record," is now online at the Jewish Week website. An excerpt:

There are always things we keep to ourselves. A journalist will
occasionally encounter a source who grants an anonymous or “off the record” interview, often because of concern about the source’s job, a family member or some other sensitive issue. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — which, among other things, protects witnesses from having to incriminate themselves — is often rendered, in Miranda Warning format, by local or television law enforcement, as the right to remain silent. Even our dearest friends have their secrets.

I blog and write on the record, but I am occasionally tempted by the prospect of anonymity; if my name were not attached, I might be more fearless and truthful. However, as someone who believes in the sanctity of word choice, I think that speech, commentary and conversation should be on the record. “Off the record” should be a worst-case scenario, not a default setting.

And the column before that, “Courtship, Connection, Community and Chemistry“:

Ask anyone who’s been in the singles scene for more than five minutes: Passion is not something that can be artificially created — nurtured, with the right raw materials and weather conditions (and, some would add, with divine assistance), perhaps. But expecting people to summon passion at will for an event that’s already been planned without their input is like an arranged marriage: it might have worked once upon a shtetl, when unions were communally determined. But nowadays — whether you like it or not — people are making their own choices according to what turns them on emotionally, spiritually, or socially. They might choose to affiliate with the existing Jewish community, or they might create their own modes of engaging with their Jewish identity. Or they may opt out entirely — choosing to remain free agents, or to stick with the analogy, spiritual bachelors, free to wander, to pick and choose their venues and non-committed level of engagement.