Heeb

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Paper and online magazine

title: "Heeb" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["satirical-magazines-published-in-the-united-states", "quarterly-magazines-published-in-the-united-states", "defunct-magazines-published-in-new-york-city", "defunct-jewish-magazines-published-in-the-united-states", "magazines-established-in-2001", "magazines-disestablished-in-2010", "online-magazines-with-defunct-print-editions", "online-magazines-published-in-the-united-states"] description: "Paper and online magazine" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heeb" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Paper and online magazine ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox magazine|"]

FieldValue
titleHeeb
image_fileHeeb magazine cover.jpg
image_size
frequencyQuarterly (magazine); daily (weblog)
categorySatirical magazine/website; Jewish themes
companyHeeb Media, LLC
firstdate2001
lastdate2010 (magazine); weblog ongoing
countryUSA
languageEnglish
websiteheebmagazine.com
::

| title = Heeb | image_file = Heeb magazine cover.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | frequency = Quarterly (magazine); daily (weblog) | category = Satirical magazine/website; Jewish themes | company = Heeb Media, LLC | firstdate = 2001 | lastdate = 2010 (magazine); weblog ongoing | country = USA | language = English | website = heebmagazine.com | issn =

Heeb is an American Jewish website (and from 2001 to 2010, a quarterly magazine) aimed predominantly at young Jews. The name of the publication is a reference to the ethnic slur "heeb", an abbreviation of Hebrew. However, in this case, the word "heeb" seeks to function as empowerment for the Jewish community, thus eliminating the hatred associated with the word.

Origin

The magazine was founded by Jennifer Bleyer, a graduate of Columbia University, and backed financially by Steven Spielberg and Charles Bronfman. Bleyer, who now writes for The New York Times, ended her association with the magazine in 2003. Taking over for her as editor and publisher was Harvard Divinity School graduate Joshua Neuman. Neuman's goal was to spread the idea of Heeb as a "lifestyle magazine", incorporating events like a traveling Heeb Storytelling show in order to reach an underserved Jewish progressive market around the country. The magazine's subtitle was "The New Jew Review".

Highlights

It has become known for its satire and sardonic approach to reaching Jewish readers of all streams. In a late 2006 edition, a live pig was photographed running across a traditional Sabbath dinner table. Heeb’s satirist, David Deutsch, who used his own table to stage the photos asked his rabbi if it were kosher to use a live pig on his table for this purpose, as pig meat is considered unkosher. His rabbi said it wasn't a problem, but recommended that he wash the table afterwards.

The magazine is decidedly anti-establishment and left-wing. It frequently criticizes mainstream American Jewish culture, most famously in an article entitled "Joe Lieberman is a Dickhead." The author of the piece took Lieberman to task for favoring an increase in military spending. Other writers who have contributed to Heeb include Allen Salkin, who wrote "Where Have You Gone Sandy Koufax?", an article about Jews obsessed with Jews in sports, and "Why are We So Guilty?".

Heeb has produced events around the world, including the Heeb Storytelling series. The series has been attended by Natalie Portman, Rose McGowan, Kate Beckinsale and Colin Farrell.

In March 2004, in its fifth issue, Heeb featured the photo spread entitled Crimes of Passion that spoofed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The spread included a half naked Virgin Mary (with pierced nipples) and a Jesus with his genitals wrapped in a tallit.

The Catholic League, in its 2004 Report on Anti-Catholicism stated: :The Jewish magazine Heeb published a 10-page photo feature in its Winter 2004 edition mocking Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ' called 'Back Off, Braveheart'. The editors who introduced the spread said that the death of Jesus was 'summarily blamed upon the Jews', until this 'fondly held belief seemed destined to fade forever' after Vatican II. A sexually suggestive Jesus played by artist Carlos J. Da Silva wears a Jewish prayer shawl as a loin cloth, and the Blessed Mother was shown exposing her breasts and body piercing. The occupation of the model photographed as Mary Magdalene was described as 'Evangelist-cum-nymphomaniac country singer'. She was quoted as saying, 'Who killed Jesus? Ryan Adams.' The woman who was photographed as Pontius Pilate was quoted as saying, 'Christians believe the Jews killed Jesus; that is why there is so much anti-Semitism in the world. The church was created on that one simple anti-Semitic principle. Christians who say otherwise are making it up or misrepresenting their own religion.'

Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a letter to Heeb decrying the spread as "blasphemous to both Christians and Jews".

On the April 27, 2004, episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart remarked "the best solution to international terrorism? The giveaway. For any international terrorist who turns himself in—a free lifetime subscription to Heeb."

On June 17, 2004, the Chicago Tribune named Heeb one of America's "50 best magazines."

In 2005, Ramones front man, Joey Ramone, posthumously received the Heeb Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award at the first Jewish Music Awards.

In January 2006, Heeb was included as part of the Library of Congress' exhibition "350 Years of Jewish Life in America."

A March 28, 2007, feature in The New York Times Business Section spotlighted how Heeb did creative work for advertisers seeking to reach a young Jewish demographic. The article was accompanied by a photo of three men dressed as Hasidic versions of characters from A Clockwork Orange.

Robert Crumb and wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb illustrated the cover of the magazine's "Love Issue" in the Spring of 2007. As Aline told the magazine in an interview: "I had read Robert's work before I met him and I thought he was Jewish because he's just so whiny."

Rush Hour director Brett Ratner guest edited *Heeb'''s 2008 Summer Edition and included what the magazine claimed to be the first-ever Jewish swimsuit calendar, for the Jewish year 5769, "The Ladies of '69." The calendar was photographed by *Elle'' magazine cover photographer Gilles Bensimon and featured Israeli supermodels Bar Refaeli, Esti Ginzberg and Moran Atias, among others. Ratner also photographed director Roman Polanski at Auschwitz, the site of the Polish-born director's mother's murder during the Holocaust.

In the Fall of 2008, Heeb released its "Politics Issue." The cover, a group of coins being dropped into a hand, was designed by Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One and was a play on Fairey's iconic Obama "Change" image.

In *Heeb'''s Winter 2008 edition, Courtney Love told *Heeb'' of ex-husband Kurt Cobain's legacy: "Every time you buy a Nirvana record, part of that money is not going to Kurt's child, or to me, it's going to a handful of Jew loan officers, Jew private banks, it's going to lawyers who are also bankers...."

In 2009 Heeb released an anthology from its Heeb Storytelling Series titled Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish. In 2009 and 2010, Heeb published its countdown list of "The 100 Greatest Jewish Movie Moments," which awarded its top spot to The Big Lebowski.

Heeb ceased publishing the print edition of its magazine in 2010, but continues to publish a daily weblog.

Trademark controversy

Heeb Media, LLC has owned the trademark registration for Heeb magazine publications since 29 June 2004. On 1 February 2005, the application was submitted to receive another registration number for the use of Heeb for apparel and entertainment. The original application was denied under Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C.§1052(a). Heeb Media submitted an appeal to the Trademark Trail and Appeal Board (TTAB) at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 26 November 2008, but it was officially denied and abandoned in June 2009. As record of evidence, Heeb Media submitted letters of their own, which stated that the magazine, although criticised by some Jewish and non-Jewish communities that may take offence to the name Heeb, it is widely accepted among the Jewish student population. The Administrative Trademark judge, Karen Kuhlke stated in the official comments that although the applicant submitted sufficient information, it was still not foreseeable to justify the term Heeb as something non-derogative. Kuhlke was also the judge for the Redskins appeal in 2014, in which she cited the Heeb case.

Roseanne Barr controversy

In 2009, Heeb produced its controversial Germany Issue in which Roseanne Barr posed as Adolf Hitler in drag holding a tray of "burned Jew cookies." The photo invoked the ire of Bill O'Reilly on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor. According to Heeb's publisher at the time, Joshua Neuman, it was intended as means to see if joking about Nazis and the Holocaust still evoked the same reactions as in past years. In 2011 Barr stated that it was intended to show that the Holocaust is just an every day thing and it is something that needs to be stopped. Additional controversy about the photos intentions came about in 2018 after the "Roseanne" revival aired and they were questioned during an interview. Barr posted on social media, defending her position, but it was not taken lightly by viewers and through her comments to do so she made offensive remarks which resulted in ABC cancelling the show.

Contributors

Notable contributors have included Shmarya Rosenberg, Daniel Sieradski, Andy Shernoff, Eli Valley, Myq Kaplan, Moshe Kasher, Noam Gonick, Dara Horn, Julian Tepper, Ann Nocenti, and Marisa Scheinfeld.

Notable interviews

References

References

  1. Becky Tuch. "L'chaim! Lit Mags for Jewish Thought". The Review Review.
  2. Cotts, Cynthia (August 6, 2002) [https://archive.today/20120919121953/http://www.villagevoice.com/2002-08-06/news/fluff-jews/1 Fluff Jews 'Heeb' Magazine Mixes Humor and Politics] ''[[Village Voice]]''. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  3. Sullivan, Jim (Feb. 6, 2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20120725103640/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/105729811.html?dids=105729811:105729811&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+06%2C+2002&author=JIM+SULLIVAN&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=LAUNCHING+A+MAGAZINE+THAT+ASKS%2C+%60WHAT%27S+IN+A+NAME%3F%27&pqatl=google Launching a Magazine That Asks "What's In a Name?"] ''[[Boston Globe]]'' 3rd ed. F.4. Retrieved July 16, 2010. "A couple of years ago, Jennifer Bleyer, a year out of Columbia University, had this brainstorm: 'There should be a cool Jewish magazine,' she thought."
  4. Tugend, Alina. (2002-01-17). "Reaching Out, With Cheek, to Young Jewish Readers".
  5. Berrin, Danielle (April 17, 2008) "[http://www.jewishjournal.com/up_front/article/heeb_goes_hollywood_20080418/ ‘Heeb’ goes Hollywood]" [[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]]. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  6. Werde, Bill. (2003-10-13). "Media Talk; A Sardonic Jewish Magazine Expands Its Ambitions". The New York Times.
  7. Berton, Justin. (2009-02-26). "Heeb Magazine Storytelling: 1 story, 7 minutes".
  8. Goldman, Dudi. (2007-06-04). "In with the Jew?". Ynetnews.
  9. (9 October 2013). "Joe Lieberman Is (Still) A Dickhead".
  10. Salkin, Allen. (April 21, 2004). "Where have you gone, Sandy Koufax?".
  11. Berrin, Danielle. [http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywoodjew/item/stripping_for_hashem_heeb_style_20080926/ "Stripping for HaShem, Heeb-style"], ''[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. The Jewish Journal]]'', September 25, 2008.
  12. "Caught in the Act!".
  13. (February 2004). "Crimes of Passion – Heeb".
  14. (2004-02-12). "Heeb Loses PR Agent Over Passion Riff".
  15. (2004-12-31). "Media".
  16. (2010-08-26). "RIP, Heeb Magazine".
  17. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-040615mags,0,2988284.story?page=3 50 Best Magazines], ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', June 17, 2004.
  18. Wilkening, Matthew. (2022-12-21). "Watch Dave Grohl Cover 10cc's 'The Things We Do for Love'".
  19. [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/haventohome/haven-home.html From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America], [[Library of Congress]].
  20. Newman, Andrew Adam. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E4DC1330F93BA15750C0A9619C8B63 Marketers, Gingerly, Bite at Parody Bait], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 28, 2007.
  21. Arazie, Ilana. [http://www.heebmagazine.com/articles/view/29 Drawn Together] {{webarchive. link. (2009-08-30 , ''Heeb'', Issue 12.)
  22. Berrin, Danielle. (2008-10-23). "Just a nice Jewish director: Public and private images of Brett Ratner clash".
  23. Neuman, Joshua. (28 July 2008). "The Making of the First-Ever Jewish Swimsuit Calendar – Heeb".
  24. (29 September 2008). "18 · The Politics Issue – Page 3 – Heeb".
  25. (8 December 2008). "Fairey Godpainter – Heeb".
  26. (2009-02-16). "Courtney Love Slams "Jew Loan Officers, Jew Private Banks" In Heeb, Heeb Responds".
  27. "'Courtney Love's comments anti-Semitic'". The Jerusalem Post.
  28. (2009). "Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection {{!}} Jewish Book Council".
  29. (2009-02-10). "The 100 Greatest Jewish Movie Moments, Top 10 – Heeb".
  30. (2010-03-05). "Oy! It's Oscar Time! Heeb's 100 Best Jewy Movie Moments".
  31. Kohn, Eric. (26 August 2010). "Heeb Magazine Suspends Print Edition, Goes On-Line Only".
  32. (2010-08-26). "Sitting Shiva for Heeb Magazine".
  33. "In re Heeb Media, LLC".
  34. "HEEB Trademark of HEEB MEDIA, LLC - Serial Number 78250619 - Alter".
  35. "HEEB Trademark of HEEB MEDIA, LLC - Serial Number 78558043 - Alter".
  36. "15 U.S. Code § 1052 - Trademarks registrable on principal register; concurrent registration".
  37. Moyer, Justin Wm. (2017-08-01). "'We can change the meaning': Trademarks filed for n-word after Supreme Court decision". Washington Post.
  38. (2 August 2017). "Trademark for n-word, swastika filed after legal ruling".
  39. "How the case of 'Heeb Media' paved the way for the Redskins trademark decision". Washington Post.
  40. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxreiA5bR68&feature=channel_page Video clip of ''The O'Reilly Factor'']
  41. (3 November 2015). "The Fashion Issue - GOOD".
  42. (2018-03-29). "Remember When Roseanne Dressed As Hitler For Heeb?".
  43. (2022-03-04). "The Most Problematic Things Roseanne Barr Has Ever Done".
  44. "Roseanne's Satirical Photos as Adolf Hitler Go Viral After Her Show's Successful Revival". Haaretz.
  45. France, Lisa Respers. (2018-05-30). "Roseanne Barr's most controversial moments".
  46. Lindsay, Kathryn. "Roseanne Barr Dressed Up As Hitler In Photoshoot & It's Causing Controversy".
  47. (2018-02-21). ""Domestic Goddess" to Nut Farmer: Roseanne Barr's Wild Career".
  48. (2022-09-21). "Roseanne Barr Is Making A Big Comedic Comeback".
  49. (May 30, 2018). "Roseanne Barr: Jewish, offensive and confused".
  50. (4 September 2013). "Best Of 5773: The Top 7 Criminals And Bad Boys".
  51. (19 July 2012). "Necro's 'Yinglesh' Verbal Torrent".
  52. (12 June 2014). "From Rock And Roll to The Rapture: Why Punk Pioneer Andy Shernoff Is Fascinated With The End Times".
  53. (16 December 2014). "And Now, The True Meaning Of Hanukkah".
  54. (20 April 2010). "Myq Kaplan – Chosen Books: "The Bedwetter"".
  55. (2 April 2012). "Moshe Kasher on Moshe Kasher: A Comedian Interviews Himself".
  56. (16 November 2010). "Elon Gold: I Don't Fly on Shabbos".
  57. (October 2013). "An Exclusive Heeb Excerpt From Dara Horn's A Guide For The Perplexed".
  58. (14 November 2012). "Get Acquainted with Julian Tepper's Balls".
  59. (2023-01-14). "Ann Nocenti Returns To Marvel With Storm Solo Series in May".
  60. (8 January 2013). "The Ruins of the Borscht Belt".
  61. kbookatz. (7 January 2009). "My Afternoon with Courtney Love – Heeb".
  62. (2009-01-16). "Courtney Love: Some of My Best Loan Officers Are Jewish".
  63. Berrin, Danielle. (2009-01-28). "Courtney Love Enters the Tribe".
  64. Barshad, Amos. (18 June 2010). "Drake: The Heeb Interview".
  65. Ahlgrim, Callie. "The complete timeline of Drake's rise to stardom, from starring on 'Degrassi' to his record-breaking reign as a rapper".
  66. "Here's How Far Drake Really Got In School".
  67. Abrams, Brian. (23 June 2013). ""You Don't Do Liner Notes With The Dead Sea Scrolls": Rick Moranis In Conversation".
  68. (2015-02-07). "Mel Brooks Teases Fans With Talk of Spaceballs Sequel".
  69. (2013-06-25). "Rick Moranis unsure of 'Ghostbusters 3'".
  70. Hill, Bridget. (2020-10-02). "Rick Moranis Randomly Assaulted While Walking Home In Upper West Side Of New York".
  71. Breslaw, Anna. (19 December 2011). "Chelsea Peretti Talks TV, Twitter and What She Wants in a Boyfriend".
  72. River, Julie. (2022-09-30). "Chelsea Peretti Reveals The Brooklyn Nine-Nine Scene That Was The Hardest To Film".
  73. Dworken, Arye. (20 April 2012). "Chosen Music: fun.".
  74. (2012-09-05). "Lena Dunham's Jewish Boyfriend".
  75. Heeb. (16 December 2008). "Spoonful of Sugar".
  76. Delay, Brittany. (2023-02-17). "Inside Natasha Lyonne's Career From Child Actor To Poker Face".
  77. Poritsky, Jonathan. (21 April 2011). "Gilbert Gottfried Chats with Heeb".
  78. (25 April 2014). "Gilbert Gottfried Speaks To Heeb About His Feud With Shecky Greene".
  79. (2014-05-07). "Gilbert Gottfried Thinks HLN Is Better Than The Playboy Network With All Their 'Hot Pieces Of Ass'".

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satirical-magazines-published-in-the-united-statesquarterly-magazines-published-in-the-united-statesdefunct-magazines-published-in-new-york-citydefunct-jewish-magazines-published-in-the-united-statesmagazines-established-in-2001magazines-disestablished-in-2010online-magazines-with-defunct-print-editionsonline-magazines-published-in-the-united-states