It’s official. The print edition of Heeb Magazine is now suspended.
Over the past couple of years, Heeb, the former Joshua Venture project that became the unofficial authority for hipster Jews, has been under something of a death watch as the broader media engaged in some serious schadenfreude waiting for the magazine to crumble.
Over and over again, its editor Josh Neuman insisted that even though the production had slowed for the print edition of Heeb, which has famously featured the likes of Sarah Silverman, Jonah Hill and Roseanne Barr in risqué – or for the prudes among us offensive – poses, it was still going to continue in print form.
Apparently, for right now at least, the brave fight on the fringe of mainstream Judaism is over, and the magazine will suspend its publication in print, though the website will continue on, according to this post on Heebmagazine.com by Neuman.
I have some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that Heebmagazine.com will continue to provide trenchant analysis of world events, cultural critique of all that is Jewish and Goyish and countless photos of scantily-clad Israeli models under the leadership of newly named editor-in-chief, Erin Hershberg, culture editor, Jonathan Poritsky, creative director (former music editor), Arye Dworken, humor editor, David Deutsch and comics editor, Jeff Newelt.
The bad news is that we are suspending the print edition of Heeb Magazine.
As an original member of the editorial board, I can vouch for the fact that none of us back in 2001 would have imagined that Heeb would someday have a paid, full-time staff, an office overlooking the Manhattan skyline (okay, slightly obscured by a Con Edison power plant), advertisers, investors and celebrity editors. None would’ve imagined Jon Stewart name-dropping us on The Daily Show, suggesting that the best solution to international terrorism is to offer every international terrorist who turns himself in a free lifetime subscription to Heeb Magazine, or The Chicago Tribune naming us “one of the best magazines in America.”
Don’t worry. In true Heeb fashion, Neuman got in a parting shot…
One final note: Heeb Magazine has never been about making Jewish “cool.” What we are big believers in, however, is making Jewish fun. We believe that in a world in which Jewish periodicals outdo themselves in attempting to highlight just how endangered Jews are, there should be one Jewish media outlet that actually makes its readers smile. So whether online, or in print, we like to think that we can all still have a little fun—and don’t worry, Ahmadinejad will still be waiting when we’re done.
Sincerely,
Joshua Neuman
