From celebrities to communal figures, Jews can’t keep their fingers off twitter.
March 10, 2011 10:43ByRobyn Rosen, Robyn Rosen
Lord Sugar
Businessman and TV personality
Lord Sugar has racked up more than 350,000 loyal followers, not bad considering The Apprentice host has only been an active tweeter for five months. A running theme has been his by now tedious battle with Piers Morgan - he suggested his first act as Chief Rabbi would be to have Morgan circumcised. Inbetween plugging his autobiography and various businesses, Sugar treats his followers to pearls of wisdom along the lines of: "Not being funny but footballer Fernando Torres should go blonde again to bring him good luck. He used to score as a blonde."
Tweet name: @Lord_Sugar
Total tweets: 7,850
Following: 41
Followers: 372,421
Stephen Fry
Actor and comedian
Fry has a love-hate relationship with twitter. He joined in July 2008, then he quit, then he rejoined, then he quit again, and then he joined again. Not fond of the "aggression" and "unkindness" of some tweeters, and provoked anger with his views on women and sex. Still, he qualifies as tweet royalty with over two million followers, who doubtless will all be very upset the next time he quits.
Tweet name: @stephenfry
Total tweets: 8,073
Following: 52,828
Followers: 2,305,840
London beth din
Having amassed a disappointing 167 followers since its account was opened last June, the London Beth Din hardly enjoys Stephen Fry-like popularity, but is, nonetheless, the place to go if you want to know if Mojo Assorted Chews are still kosher (they are not). Latest tweets include the news that a new kosher restaurant called YUM YUM has opened in Golders Green. Indispensible.
Tweet name: @KLBDdirect
Total tweets: 32
Following: 83
Followers: 157
David Schneider
Comedian and actor
Schneider says he is a "Jack of all trades, master of about two". One of those two must be the art of the humorous tweet. Schneider, one of the few Yiddish-speakers on twitter, likes to fire off witty or sarcastic messages in response to breaking news stories, much to the chagrin of Cabinet ministers. Comedians love it, though, with several famous names among his
followers
Tweet name: @davidschneider
Total tweets: 8,503
Following: 677
Followers: 77,289
Rabbi Yitzhak Schochet
Mill Hill United Synagogue rabbi
Often uses the site to vent his views on controversial issues as well as promote his blog. Recent tweets range from "same sex marriages have no place in any house of worship! Does that make me homophobic?" to "as they've blocked signals, thinking of flying to Iran with video footage of Egypt uprising to start the next one. Think they'll let me in?" He is one of the few communal leaders to use social networking sites and blogs.
Tweet name: @RabbiYYS
Total tweets: 681
Following: 333
Followers: 352
Amy Winehouse
Musician
Tweets only sporadically, but famous for her spat with Jewish music producer Mark Ronson whom she tweeted: "ronson you're dead to me; one album I write and you take half the credit- make a career out of it? don't think so BRUV". She later backtracked, writing: "ronson i love you; that make it better? you know i love you- it's a jew thing".
Tweet name: @amywinehouse
Tweets: 60
Following: 5
Followers: 199,421
Joan Rivers
Comedienne
What is it about twitter and celebrity broiguses? The veteran comedienne uses the site regularly, particularly to showcase her stand-up material. But she is best known for her regular tweets about wayward actress Lindsay Lohan, which caused the Means Girls star to retaliate with a series of abusive messages, including one suggesting the 77-year-old Rivers needed "botox rehab". Jewish DJ and Lohan's on-off lover Sam Ronson (sister of Mark, see above) waded in by tweeting: "Hey Joan Rivers. You have collagen older than Lindsay."
Tweet Name: @Joan_Rivers
Total tweets: 2,252
Following: 162
Followers: 363,447
Danny Ayalon
Israel's deputy foreign minister
Ayalon is a regular tweeter, with daily updates in Hebrew and English. He uploads comments on foreign affairs as well as photos and videos. His comments are read by more than 8,000 followers around the world, including Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Tweet name: @DannyAyalon
Total tweets: 1,276
Following: 7,958
Followers: 8,895