Kosher Critic: New mag: Joy of Kosher

Now more then ever it is an exciting time to be a kosher food writer. This is because not only is the catalog of kosher products becoming more diverse, but also because the dissemination of public knowledge about kosher is beginning to muscle its way to the forefront of public consciousness. But this recent surge in public interest in kosher food is not by any means coincidental.

It is the result of people who hold the ideals surrounding kosher food close to their heart and are taking major steps to champion the cause of elevating the status and importance of kosher food in the public eye. Leading this charge into the breach of the mainstream is Jamie Gellar, a former award-winning HBO and CNN producer, who has utilized her experience in media and love of cooking to create a kosher media empire.

This empire began with her authoring several kosher cookbooks under the title Quick and Kosher. From there, Gellar, in conjunction with veteran advertising giant Milt Weinstock, created The Kosher Media Network, a multi-media agency who’s goal is to use a wide variety of mediums to engage their audience. Through the Kosher Media Network, Gellar filmed a series of short cooking videos demonstrating how to easily produce even the most complex-looking dishes. This segued into the creation of a user driven website, JoyofKosher.com. This interactive site allows users to share recipes, read blogs, take part in various contests, and put together personal menus for Shabbat and holidays. Through this website, kosher consumers are encouraged to feel impassioned about kosher cooking, and are encouraged to try new and exciting things that elevate the level of kosher meals being served in the home. The website’s success and impact were immediately recognizable, and thousands of regular users began to flock to the site for advice and to share in their personal experiences. Soon it became apparent that a print element would be necessary to further engage the kosher community, and so a magazine titled ‘Joy of Kosher with Jamie Gellar,’ was launched.

In its first run, Joy of Kosher Magazine circulated over 70,000 copies, and because of its high production value, quality content and vibrant photos, it received tremendously positive feedback and the immediate call for more issues. “We wanted to create a magazine that could stand on a shelf next to ‘Every Day with Rachel Ray’ or ‘Martha Stewart’s Living’ and be considered comparable” Gellar said.

This is indicative of her belief that quality is paramount to success, and Joy of Kosher is certainly both a successful publication and a quality magazine. It is reverberant and engaging, in a personal way that cannot be matched by other such magazines that don’t focus on the kosher consumer. At the same time, because it is such a quality piece, non-kosher consumers, or people who keep only a shade of kosher, can easily pick it up and find it not only enjoyable, but informative as well.

Most recently, ‘Joy of Kosher Magazine’, has made a deal that will make them available at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, as well as in Shoprite, and other supermarkets and newsstands. This exposure will only serve to bring more and more people into the Joy of Kosher community, and prove the efficacy of creating quality content on multiple platforms.

This has helped to engage an audience in desperate need for just these types of sites, videos, and publications. As I said before it’s a very exciting time to be a kosher food writer and thanks to Jamie Gellar and the Kosher Media Network, I have a feeling it is going to get more exciting by the day.

Zechariah Mehler is a widely published food writer and expert in social marketing. Follow him on Twitter @thekoshercritic