The goody bag that Heeb gave out at the New York launch party for its summer issue. Contents include Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union,” an issue of the Heeb swimsuit edition, a screening copy of Jakie Mason’s latest video, Bacon Salt, a “Loser” headband, breath mints, a couple of buttons, body wipes and a vibrator.
Heeb Magazine, which printed its first issue in 2002 with a boost from the Joshua Venture, which was in part funded by Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Person’s Foundation, has certainly carved out a niche for itself as the magazine for the young, unaffiliated and disaffected Jewish set.
The quarterly magazine has also become a noted presence in American pop culture, able to draw big-name Jewish celebrities onto its covers and into its pages in every issue often in risque portraiture.
The best examples: Issue # 9: The Sex Issue, featuring Sarah Silverman wearing nothing but a white sheet with a hole cut into it, and Issue # 14: The Chosen Issue, featuring Jonah Hill holding a bagel and personal lubricant.
Heeb may or may not be where you want to spend your charitable dollars, but it has been able to effectively reach a set of Jews few other Jewish projects have, on a budget a fraction the size of many outreach projects.
The latest issue of Heeb might be its raciest yet: The Jewish Swimsuit Issue, featuring Israeli-supermodel-and-Leo-DiCaprio-ex Bar Refaeli on its cover in a bikini… ummmm… scandalously surrounded by lobsters.
(For an inside look at the making of the issue, check out the LA Jewish Journal’s God Blog)
For those still in the old-school fund raising world, this is how the other half lives.
Heeb held its New York launch party for the issue Thursday night at Bowery Electric on the Lower East Side, prime Heeb territory.
The gift bag of swag that Heeb gave out at the party included: A paperback copy of Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union;” an advance copy of Jackie Mason’s forthcoming video “The Ultimate Jew;” packets of Bacon Salt a kosher product that promises to make anything taste like bacon; a headband that says “Loser” on it; a package of multi-grain tortilla chips; breath mints from ModernTribe.com; body wipes, for when you need to shower but don’t have a shower; a couple of buttons; and a vibrator from the upscale adult toy store Babeland. Yes. A vibrator. (I’m going to venture to say that the UJC never gave out such a bag.)
A Fundermentalist shout out to whomever comes up with the proper order in which to use all of the items in that bag.
