Andrew Esensten
@esensten.bsky.social
Journalist. Working on a book about Israel's African Hebrew Israelite community. יה חי andrewesensten.net
Reposted by Andrew Esensten
"I’ll assume you’ll be finding us a new hotel or, as a bare minimum, refunding our donkey expenses."
Joseph of Nazareth Has Had It with Hotels.com
July 3, 1 BC Dear Joseph of Nazareth, Your booking is confirmed for HILTON GARDEN INN BETHLEHEM. Hotels.com confirmation number: 483949011 Check-in...
buff.ly
December 26, 2025 at 2:00 AM
"I’ll assume you’ll be finding us a new hotel or, as a bare minimum, refunding our donkey expenses."
Reposted by Andrew Esensten
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
“The film is based on the history of the Shakers, an offshoot of Quakerism that began in the 18th century. Amanda Seyfried plays [Ann] Lee, the founder of the movement, who possesses a hunger for the divine. She finds it inside a British prison cell, where she has a vision in which God is female.”
Amanda Seyfried Had a ‘Complete Spiritual Awakening’
www.nytimes.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:16 PM
“The film is based on the history of the Shakers, an offshoot of Quakerism that began in the 18th century. Amanda Seyfried plays [Ann] Lee, the founder of the movement, who possesses a hunger for the divine. She finds it inside a British prison cell, where she has a vision in which God is female.”
Reposted by Andrew Esensten
“A lot of us grew up with Legos and understand how fun they are,” said Sean Sutton, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who was raised in the Southern Baptist church. “I think people are hungry for high-quality religious sets.”
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/r...
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/r...
Religious-themed brick sets hold appeal for both children and adults in digital age
(RNS) — Faith-based companies making Lego-compatible building blocks are tapping a market for offline toys inspired by biblical figures and events.
religionnews.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
“A lot of us grew up with Legos and understand how fun they are,” said Sean Sutton, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who was raised in the Southern Baptist church. “I think people are hungry for high-quality religious sets.”
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/r...
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/r...
As an AFOL (adult fan of LEGO), I thoroughly enjoyed reporting on the companies that make religious brick sets.
Religious-themed brick sets hold appeal for both children and adults in digital age
(RNS) — Faith-based companies making Lego-compatible building blocks are tapping a market for offline toys inspired by biblical figures and events.
religionnews.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:10 PM
As an AFOL (adult fan of LEGO), I thoroughly enjoyed reporting on the companies that make religious brick sets.
“I am sometimes accused of gingering up the Bible with large and lavish infusions of sex and violence. I can only wonder if my accusers have ever read certain parts of the Bible.” - Cecil B. DeMille
Why Are There So Many Films Right Now Based on the Bible?
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:05 PM
“I am sometimes accused of gingering up the Bible with large and lavish infusions of sex and violence. I can only wonder if my accusers have ever read certain parts of the Bible.” - Cecil B. DeMille
Heating up my coffee in the microwave for the fifth time at 3:46pm, living the dream
December 17, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Heating up my coffee in the microwave for the fifth time at 3:46pm, living the dream
Reposted by Andrew Esensten
“I am hopeful that, as we now have many Asian Jewish leaders making an impact in the Jewish community, added to the more diverse leadership we see across many different communities, that the Jewish world opens up for anyone who wants to belong.”
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl shows Asian American Jews they can lead in Jewish spaces
SAN FRANCISCO (RNS) — The closest thing the United States has to a celebrity rabbi, the Korean-born Buchdahl is also a role model for the tiny community of Asian American Jews.
religionnews.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:00 AM
“I am hopeful that, as we now have many Asian Jewish leaders making an impact in the Jewish community, added to the more diverse leadership we see across many different communities, that the Jewish world opens up for anyone who wants to belong.”
For @rns.org, I wrote about superstar Rabbi Angela Buchdahl.
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl shows Asian American Jews they can lead in Jewish spaces
SAN FRANCISCO (RNS) — The closest thing the United States has to a celebrity rabbi, the Korean-born Buchdahl is also a role model for the tiny community of Asian American Jews.
religionnews.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:25 AM
For @rns.org, I wrote about superstar Rabbi Angela Buchdahl.
How the opps not even Hebrew but they pockets Israelite
- @blpkosher.bsky.social
- @blpkosher.bsky.social
CBlakk - On The Road 2 (feat. BLP Kosher & El Snappo) (Official Video)
YouTube video by CBlakk
youtu.be
November 14, 2025 at 10:07 PM
How the opps not even Hebrew but they pockets Israelite
- @blpkosher.bsky.social
- @blpkosher.bsky.social
Big news in the Hebrew Israelite world:
'Extra brain power': Hebrew Israelite rabbinical body votes to ordain women
After the Vote, Rabbis Malchah Netanyahu and Tamar Manasseh Were Swiftly Welcomed to the Movement's Board of Rabbis in the United States. 'It's a Historic Decision. I Wish It Could Be Celebrated Among...
www.haaretz.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Big news in the Hebrew Israelite world:
My man rolled up in a custom Bukharian jomah. That’s swag.
You guys do yourself a favor and look at what Eric Adams wore to Rosh Hashanah services at the Sephardic Lebanese Congregation
September 25, 2025 at 4:57 AM
My man rolled up in a custom Bukharian jomah. That’s swag.
“It’s not 5G that connects us. It’s the network of the Holy Spirit.”
Jeff Bezos’s Big Fat Geek Wedding
The monks of Venice’s San Giorgio Maggiore have hosted Cosimo de Medici in exile and a papal conclave, but they won’t be throwing any rice at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez.
www.newyorker.com
July 3, 2025 at 9:51 PM
“It’s not 5G that connects us. It’s the network of the Holy Spirit.”
“What’s happening in this room right now is a nightmare for white supremacy and antisemitism, and I love it.” - @koshersoul.bsky.social at an “Erev Juneteenth” celebration in San Francisco last week
Black and Jewish Americans mark Juneteenth together
***
www.haaretz.com
June 23, 2025 at 9:56 PM
“What’s happening in this room right now is a nightmare for white supremacy and antisemitism, and I love it.” - @koshersoul.bsky.social at an “Erev Juneteenth” celebration in San Francisco last week
Reposted by Andrew Esensten
A Bay Area synagogue invited two Palestinians to visit. Their visas were revoked and they were sent home. religionnews.com/2025/06/13/a...
Palestinians invited to speak at a Bay Area synagogue were sent home at airport
(RNS) — The two Palestinians live in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron hills and were recently featured in the Oscar-winning Israeli-Palestinian documentary 'No Other Land.'
religionnews.com
June 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
A Bay Area synagogue invited two Palestinians to visit. Their visas were revoked and they were sent home. religionnews.com/2025/06/13/a...
I wrote about the inaugural Latin-Jewish Film Festival in L.A. and the group that organized it, Jewtina y Co.
'Community of countless stories': Latin Jews gather for a first-of-its-kind L.A. festival
***
www.haaretz.com
June 13, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I wrote about the inaugural Latin-Jewish Film Festival in L.A. and the group that organized it, Jewtina y Co.
“Many other released hostages have spoken of similar experiences, finding solace and the strength to survive by connecting or reconnecting with God and recalling oft-forgotten Jewish rituals.”
Finding God, and Nietzsche, in the Hamas Tunnels of Gaza
www.nytimes.com
June 10, 2025 at 5:10 AM
“Many other released hostages have spoken of similar experiences, finding solace and the strength to survive by connecting or reconnecting with God and recalling oft-forgotten Jewish rituals.”
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s alliance took off like one of SpaceX’s rockets. It was supercharged and soared high. And then it blew up.”
Best lede of the year?
Best lede of the year?
Trump and Musk's relationship flames out just as intensely and publicly as it started
President Donald Trump is threatening to cut Elon Musk’s government contracts as their fractured alliance rapidly escalated into a public feud.
apnews.com
June 6, 2025 at 1:57 AM
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s alliance took off like one of SpaceX’s rockets. It was supercharged and soared high. And then it blew up.”
Best lede of the year?
Best lede of the year?
The #NBAFinals, presented by YouTube TV…on ESPN…on ABC
June 6, 2025 at 12:40 AM
The #NBAFinals, presented by YouTube TV…on ESPN…on ABC
There’s a moment in the Twitter documentary #BreakingTheBird (on Max) where cofounders Ev and Biz talk about driving from SF to Palo Alto to meet with Mark Zuckerberg and the b-roll is…footage of the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s the wrong direction, folks!
June 4, 2025 at 5:55 AM
There’s a moment in the Twitter documentary #BreakingTheBird (on Max) where cofounders Ev and Biz talk about driving from SF to Palo Alto to meet with Mark Zuckerberg and the b-roll is…footage of the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s the wrong direction, folks!
“Kids will grow up with Jenni as their cantor and know without question that cantors look and sound the way Jenni does.”
My @haaretzcom.bsky.social story about Jenni Asher’s historic ordination this week.
My @haaretzcom.bsky.social story about Jenni Asher’s historic ordination this week.
Historic first: Black American woman ordained as cantor in the U.S.
***
www.haaretz.com
May 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
“Kids will grow up with Jenni as their cantor and know without question that cantors look and sound the way Jenni does.”
My @haaretzcom.bsky.social story about Jenni Asher’s historic ordination this week.
My @haaretzcom.bsky.social story about Jenni Asher’s historic ordination this week.
Martin Landau saying "I've never seen somone hold an audience like that, it reminded me of H*tler" about Pee-wee Herman (aka Jewish actor/comedian Paul Reubens) is an absolutely unhinged comment. #Pee-weeAsHimself
May 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Martin Landau saying "I've never seen somone hold an audience like that, it reminded me of H*tler" about Pee-wee Herman (aka Jewish actor/comedian Paul Reubens) is an absolutely unhinged comment. #Pee-weeAsHimself