Meanwhile, the founders of Heeb got busy putting together the first issue of what they hoped would simply be a smart, funny publication for "cool Jews and their friends." Issue #1 featured a Neil Diamond centerfold and a photo spread on the Jewfro phenomenon, alongside profiles of MC Paul Barman and Peaches. A few months later, after the brouhaha had subsided, issue #2 arrived, with pieces about Naomi Klein, Todd Solondz, Jewish boxing, Israeli hiphop, and a fine piece by Timothy "Speed" Levitch about the wake of you-know-what.
Heeb's publisher/editor is Jennifer Bleyer, a 27-year-old writer who was awarded a fellowship by the Joshua Venture, a well-funded organization dedicated to seeding the social entrepreneurship of young Jews. A veteran of self-publishing--she put out a punk zine called Mazel Tov Cocktail--and radical politics, Bleyer is an accomplished freelance journalist who has worked for publications as varied as Spin and Harper's.
Talking via phone, she admits that the torrential publicity that greeted the launch of her magazine began happily enough, but soon became a kind of "existential abstraction. You know, to see all your efforts reduced to this tiny blip on the cultural radar...." Still and all, after the furor died down, it became clear that very little of it had to do with the magazine itself--which may be the price of having a sensational name. "I never expected the coverage to be terribly substantial," Bleyer laughs. The important thing, however, is that "we're working on issue three."
Jennifer Bleyer speaks at "Two Jews, Three Opinions: Self, Community, and Spirit in Times of Crisis," Sun Oct 20, 3:15-4:15 pm, Carver Stage.
