At midnight on Saturday through Thursday, one can find Al Kustanowitz sitting alone scouring the internet. He is not checking box scores, reviewing stock trends, or trading in conspiracy theories. No, he is scouring the internet in search of Jewish humor. Jewish humor is Kustanowitz’s passion, and he believes, “The Jewish people are very funny. Sometimes we are funny and realize it, and sometimes we don’t.”
Kustanowitz views himself as a collector and aggregator of Jewish humor located on the internet. After finding humorous Jewish videos, he adds commentary and places them on the blog he founded and created, Jewish Humor Central (http://www.jewishhumorcentral.com). He started the blog in October 2009; originally spread by word of mouth, it now has nearly 5,000 followers, growing by over a 100 each month.
Kustanowitz and his wife moved to Fair Lawn from Riverdale in 1973, when his job at IBM transferred him to New Jersey. They had one child and knew they did not want to raise her in an apartment. They bought a Bergen County map and mapped out the synagogues and other Jewish institutions. With friends already living in Fair Lawn and a house coming available nearby, the choice became obvious. Kustanowitz says, “It’s been a great place to bring up children.”
Kustanowitz began the blog after he retired from IBM, and had more time to pursue his lifelong interest in Jewish humor. His daughter Esther had been a blogger herself for years already at that point, and encouraged her father to start. And with that, Jewish Humor Central was born. From the start, Mr. Kustanowitz was amazed at how easy it was.
In fact, Kustanowitz had been sharing humor for a long time. It started with his family newsletter, entitled “The Kustanowitz Kronicle,” which he produced every year around Purim. The newsletter satirically reports family happenings and other Jewish events—NEW TALMUD FRAGMENTS FOUND BY UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS—Documents of Mass Confusion Unearthed; Scholars Mystified.” Kustanowitz began sending each family member a copy of the newsletter, but eventually, people outside the family saw it and requested to be on the mailing list. In a way, blogging was an extension. Creativity runs in the family— Kustanowitz’s late wife Shuli was an author; his daughter Esther is a creative media consultant, son Jack develops web and mobile technology, and son Simmy is a TV producer.
After three years of blogging, Kustanowitz realized that he had amassed 900 posts. He noted that the posts seem to naturally fall into seven categorizes: For example, ‘Israel is a Funny Country,’ ‘Jewish Holiday Hilarity,’ ‘Klezmer Komedy,’ etc. Each category became a book. Jewish Humor on Your Desktop which is now available on Amazon.com.
Kustanowitz then turned to speaking, finding that his books lent themselves to shows or presentations. He takes the best elements of the 200 or so posts that make up each book and does one-hour shows with his own commentary. Though he jokes that he was one of the last acts at Kutsher’s Catskills resort, Kustanowitz has become a sought-after speaker. He has spoken in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Israel to groups as large as 450. He greatly enjoys speaking and is always happy to get more gigs. To find out more about Kustanowtiz’s as a speaker or to book him, go to jewishhumorprograms.com
Those who follow Jewish Humor Central receive an email notifying them of a post every morning. In fact, other than Shabbat and Yom Tov, he has published every day except for the first month after the passing of his wife. Kustanowitz feels an obligation and responsibility to his loyal followers. Each post includes a survey in which readers can offer opinions on the post and tell Kustanowitz how they felt about the post. He carefully checks the responses he gets and adjusts accordingly. Kustanowitz joyfully recounts hearing from a number of doctors who have told him that they share his blog with patients — it makes their day.
Kustanowitz’s goal is simple: “I want to help people start their day off with a happy note, a laugh, a warm feeling, and to connect with the Jewish People.” The blogger believes that “We take ourselves too seriously these days and we need to let ourselves go and have fun.” It is his hope that Jewish Humor Central helps people do just that.
As a successful blogger, Kustanowitz has advice for would-be bloggers. It’s all about sharing, he says, “Blogging makes sense if you have a passion or interest that you want to share and an interesting slant.”
Kustanowitz certainly does have that passion himself. He believes we Jews are a funny people. In fact, telling jokes and our humor just may be the way we have survived countless hardships. Therefore, Kustanowitz will continue to pursue his labor of love. So don’t call him at midnight. He’s busy at that hour.
Larry Bernstein is a free-lance writer, teacher, and tutor. He and his family live in Bergen County. You can find his website at larrydbernstein.com His blog address is memyselfandkids.com
By Larry Bernstein
