Writing and Consulting by Esther D. Kustanowitz

LimmudLA, an annual post-denominational, multi-generational conference exploring all facets of Jewish life and identity in which everyone has something to learn, and everyone has something to teach is being held February 13-16 in Costa Mesa, CA, and I’m involved with four sessions…times and room assignments will be revealed on site, so if you’re going, make sure to look for me on the schedule and running around the conference.

Reshaping the Jewish Future: A Look at Young Jewish Innovation Worldwide
Jewish demography studies have focused on the dwindling birth rate. But beyond the numbers panic, Jewish innovation and creativity has seen unprecedented growth as a cohort of young Jews are changing the Jewish future through creative programs. Join representatives of the ROI Community (a global network of Jewish leaders in their 20s and 30s) for a discussion about community partnership with these new initiatives and a glimpse into how globalization may affect the Jewish people.

The Singles Scene: Jewish Dating in the Age of J-Date
Scott Perlo, Esther Kustanowitz, Suzannah Warlick
It has been said that all is fair in love and war, but is everything really fair in the pursuit of love? What are the “sins” of modern dating and matchmaking? How does the Internet affect how we connect with (and sometimes disparage) each other? What do Bible stories teach us about relationships? And how can we as Jews apply our ethical code and tradition to the process of matching ourselves and others? Our panelists explore ethical dating in the modern age.

‘Jews’ Line is it Anyway?: Basic Improv for Jews
Let’s face it: we may be the people of the Book, but our history, while widely documented after the fact, is not pre-scripted. As a people, Jews have always improvised in daily life and our adaptability, intelligence and humor have helped us become an active part of comedy and popular culture. Join other beginning improvisers for basic improv icebreakers and some light cultural analysis of what makes these short-form improv games “Jewish.”

Writing Workshop: Find Your Megillah
There’s a megillah inside every Jew, not just those named Ruth and Esther. Jews are natural storytellers because our faith is based in oral and then written history. But what makes a story worth telling and retelling, generation after generation? In this experimental writing workshop, visit some noteworthy texts from Jewish tradition and engage in free-writing exercises based on and inspired by those texts.

I’ve been hard at work this month, helping ROI prepare to relaunch their website (coming soon), preparing for upcoming conferences (LimmudLA and Jewlicious Festival 5.0, I’m looking at you), conducting private blogging workshops, and of course posting pieces on topics like Lost and Bible Study, religious and pop culture lenses on dating, a review of the new documentary “Blessed is the Match,” and others over at Idol Chatter (click here for the January archives).

I also spoke on “Jewish Dating Ethics” at a private home in Los Angeles, as part of a mini-conference sponsored by LimmudLA, and debriefed from the speech I gave in December as part of the “Sex and Relationships” panel convened in New York by Zeek Magazine at the 92Y Tribeca.

I also found time to cover the “Women to Watch” conference for the Jewish Journal in LA.

In the coming months, I hope to finalize summer plans as well as line up speaking engagements and writing/editing jobs in LA, New York, Jerusalem and many other places. Want to be on my itinerary? Book now: esther.kustanowitz at gmail.com.

West Coast Esther is now back on the West Coast for the foreseeable future, becoming more involved in her California life and staying on top of her work for clients such as ROI and Beliefnet, and branching out to become involved in some initiatives on the local level. Hopefully, I’ll have more to share about that stuff later. But for now, here’s some recent writing you may have missed over at Beliefnet:

George Clooney Opens a Whinery for Christmas

New Year’s Resolutions for Celebrities

Calendar Boys: Mormon Hunks and Nice Jewish Guys Strut Their Stuff

Virgin Mary, Playboy-Style

Lights and Songs in the Key of Hanukkah

You can always check MyUrbanKvetch.com for additional writing on popular culture, and lots of other things, including encounters with Emmy-Award-winning writers and commentary on contemporary Jewish life. And for an inside look at some of the people who make ROI Community such an innovative group, check out ROI120.com.

I’ve moved to LA for a new adventure, but will be visiting NYC regularly. Next scheduled visit is for participation in a panel on December 11th. So while I’m making the trip, if you’re interested in booking me for a December gig, be in touch! (jdatersanonymous at gmail)

I recently left my position as senior editor at PresenTense to concentrate on other projects. But in the first moments of the new year, I thought it might be interesting to see where I’ve been article-wise during my tenure:

Two Jews, Three Blogs: Inside Jokes, Inner Dissent and Inner Life from Bloggers of the Tribe (PDF, page 13)
Zionism and Me: Wrestling With Israel
The Hebrew Slanguage: Unpacking the Junk from Israel’s Trunk (with Jacob Shwirtz)
Man With a Plan: Avi Liberman (profile)
Jews’ Line Is It Anyway? Why the Chosen People Choose Improv

Every article I wrote there was about something important to me, and it was a real treat to be able to explore those issues in print, for an audience of my peers. Interested in reprints? Contact me and we’ll talk about the possibilities…

Since Tuesday I’ve been here in Jerusalem, thanks to the Nefesh B’Nefesh flight which imported me in order to introduce me to their work in bringing Jews to Israel for aliyah, and on occasion of the first international Jewish blogger convention. Coverage of that has been all over the web, including at MyUrbanKvetch and Jewlicious, and in several print publications as well, including Ynet (in which I’m quoted) and Haaretz (in which I’m not quoted, but CK from Jewlicious and Friend of Esther Benji Lovitt–of WhatWarZone.com–are).

I also did three radio interviews, for Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) and Reshet Bet (Channel 2) in Hebrew and for IsraelRadio in English. (Links to come when I have them.) The Hebrew interviews were difficult, but hopefully I didn’t sound too insane. You’ll be the judge of that when the links go up, I’m sure…

Here are some links to press coverage which contain quotes from me:
Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)
Ynet (Hebrew)
Ynet (English)

Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem.

Everyone’s favorite temp, Ryan, talks with indie writer-director Quentin Tarantino about becoming a Jewish partisan for “Inglorious Bastards”…meanwhile, the federal investigators looking into the circumstances of Heath Ledger’s death were talking with an immunity-seeking Mary-Kate Olsen about her potentially testifying, and then decided to close the books on the case….Christina Applegate is fighting cancer, and next weekend, Madge and Guy are justifying their love.

Just another week in Idol Chatter. Click on the links and enjoy the marginally-spiritually-related dysfunction of our celebrities. (And send good thoughts to Christina, if you’re so inclined.)

Just back from Israel, and right before I go back (don’t ask, it’s a lot of flying, and explanation will come soon enough!), I’ll be at the CAJE conference in Burlington, VT, teaching basic tech skills to educators…I’m in the same room all three sessions, so I should be easy to find.

If I’m not there, I’ll be wandering around the conference, attending other sessions, and presiding over the Bloggers Cafe (Monday and Wednesday from 4:15-5:30, in Votey 206), where novice and seasoned bloggers will have the chance to put what they’ve learned into practice. Come on by!

8/11/2008 Monday 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
People of the Blog I: The Basics of Jewish Blogging
Votey 205

8/11/2008 Monday 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
What a Shayne Facebook: Social Media and Next Generation Jews
Votey 205

8/12/2008 Tuesday 10:15 am - 11:30 am
People of the Blog II: Jewish Blogging Strategy
Votey 2005

New posts added all the time! Keep this page bookmarked or RSSed to make sure you’re up-to-date!!

I’m in Israel for the summer, meeting different people (and eating new things apparently) and doing business in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. While it’s a surreal life, it’s an exciting one. Follow my experiences at MyUrbanKvetch.com, or see below, where I’ll list the posts as they go up.

What I Learned at Google
Geek Tiyul (PICZ Goes North)

Shout: The Pride Parade and the Quest for Identity

Scoop’d: How to Eat Hummus Like an Israeli

TV Show Nails Religious Singles Scene in Jerusalem

ROI Summit Concludes, Esther Crashes

Holy Hip-Hop! Pre-Sabbath Breakdancing in the Holy Land
Old and New in the Israeli Hip-Hop Scene
Tagged in Tel Aviv
In Honor of the Sex and the City Movie: Who’s Your Favorite Man?

Eurovision 2008, Liveblogged from Jerusalem

Football Jewligans in Gan Sacher

Tel Aviv Intermezzo

“You’ve Got a Friend”: Modern Dance Invades President’s Conference
President’s Conference Day 2 (cont’d): Future of Jewish Leadership

Adventures in Israeli Cuisine, or “What’s That On My Plate?”

President’s Conference Day 2: Opening Plenary

President’s Conference Day 2: Writers Facing Tomorrow

President’s Conference Day 1: In Brief

President’s Conference Day 1: Pre-Conference Contemplation

May in Jerusalem

The piece below originally appeared as part of the Jewish Week’s “Big Ideas” Issue in December of 2006 and decried a lack of research on Jewish singles and suggested a center for research of single life which could double as a young community center and living space for single Jews.

Very recently, researcher Steven M Cohen produced “Uncoupled: How Our Singles are Reshaping Jewish Engagement,” a study about unmarried 20-somethings and 30-somethings and their habits regarding connection to Jewish life. (He’s speaking at the PresenTense Institute this Thursday at 1pm, and I’ve been invited to comment in response. See here for directions.)

But the more I think about it and write about it (on JDatersAnonymous and in the creation of a book proposal on the subject of Jewish singles), and the more I see of the communal approach of the PresenTense Institute, the more relevant I think a proposal like this is–people have their own projects and interests, but the spirit of the collective inspires individuals and their creativity. While this piece was written for the Jewish Week and therefore centered on New York City, the truth is that such an institute could exist in another major city somewhere–Chicago, LA, San Francisco or Jerusalem–and would yield interesting research as well as perhaps some interesting friendships and relationships.

So here’s the piece again for your re-consideration. Looking forward to the discussion. (And yes, the piece is available for reprints–reasonable rates, just ask.)

JSinglesSpace and the Continuity Cafe
by Esther D. Kustanowitz

Each year, a new crop of idealistic Jewish twentysomethings moves to New York City in an attempt to forge romantic futures and financial fortunes in the city that never sleeps. The number of people crammed into Upper West Side two-bedroom apartments that were converted to three to accommodate each year’s immigrant singles thematically recalls Lower East Side tenement days. 10024 has so many single Jewish women that they may not even all show up in a JDate zip code search (a true story from JDate customer service). And many of those twentysomethings stay uncoupled until they’re thirtysomething or fortysomething, clustering in tribes of the seemingly-eternally single. But despite all of these fascinating trends, academic studies have yet to focus on Jewish singles anywhere, let alone within the borders of New York City.
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