I'm a person to watch (in a good way). Plus, catching up on Jews of the Week and some happy occasions.

Friday, July 1, 2022

Hello! Today's newsletter is about some exciting news about an award I won on Tuesday! (If you were wondering why I asked for help choosing a headshot a few weeks ago, this is why!) I'm also featuring last week's Jew of the Week, a custom doodle I made for a wedding last month, and a July Fourth cartoon. Plus there are a lot of new people here! I have a welcome message for you below.

On Wednesday, my Haggadah was mentioned in the Skimm, a daily newsletter, which is why I got a bunch of orders before I even woke up on Wednesday (if you ordered, I am shipping it today!!). 

Welcome new subscribers! Hi! I'm Danielle! Thank you for joining this cartoon community. I send a Jewsletter every Friday announcing a "Jew of the Week." I used to send a newsletter every Sunday with new cartoons, so I'm figuring out my new cadence and strategy. I'm a writer, artist, and author. More about me here (in cartoons of course).

I was named a New York Jewish Week '36 to Watch'

I got an award! I'm on New York Jewish Week's "36 to Watch" list. I cannot believe it! This is such an honor, and I felt even more honored when I saw the other awardees on the list. I encourage you to look at the whole list, not just me! The world feels heavy right now, and it was a nice distraction to have this excitement and read about inspiring positive people. Jewish Week says the community is "reinventing itself after a period of loss and upheaval," and I relate to that in a few ways (more on that here.)

Jew of the Week is me, just this once!

For the past month or so, I've been doodling and interviewing a "Jew of the Week" every Friday, which features interesting Jews doing amazing things that deserve some attention. I started this feature partly because I knew I was nominated for an award and didn't think I'd get it. To my shock, I did!

So this week, I guess I'm Jew of the Week! I know this is a little extra, but I'm just really proud! I started the doodles and books on my own. It was a risk! And I've been funding it myself and putting in long hours. The recognition means a lot. Jew of the Week is supposed to be inspiring, and I hope I can inspire anyone who wants to do their own thing, connect with a childhood hobby, or celebrate a win. Anyway, Jewish Week's writeup only included some of the answers I submitted, so if you want more, you can read the rest in my blog post. And I made a one-minute video about JOW. Click the image above or link here to watch.

Jew of the Week from last week

I missed the newsletter last week, but I stil had a JOW — Netta Barzilai! Netta is a very talented Israeli pop singer who won Eurovision in 2018. She was in the US last week, and I went to her concert with my dad in Philly. We met her after and she was so sweet! I've been interviewing the JOWs, and am really hoping to interview her. While I wait for that, enjoy my favorite song of hers below.

It's a match! A custom doodle for a wedding.

I drew my friend Natalie and her now-husband Phil for their wedding last month and she turned it into a matchbox! If you would like one, reach out!

July Fourth Problems

I made this doodle last year, when it felt like I was making up for the year before. Every holiday seems to have this first-world problem of too many choices — especially in NYC! I'll be doing a couple of these this weekend.

Thanks for reading! Happy long weekend, if you have one! (I cannot believe it's July!) Today, I interviewed an upcoming Jew of the Week, an author based in the UK! Next week should be camp themed (if you've been following along, it got pushed back) and I'll share a really cool love story book I did (well, it's already on my blog if you want to get ahead!)

Doodles, Danielle