Channukah Special: an Interview with Heeb Rebecca Wiener

2007-11-22T20:36:00-05:00

Channukah begins at sundown on December 4th, and to honor this holiday celebration, the Storque editors interviewed Rebecca Wiener, who works for the humorous and smart Jewish culture magazine Heeb.

A native of Houston, Texas, Rebecca studied history and visual art at Brown University. After graduation, she moved to New York to work at downtown publication index Magazine, where she soon became Managing Editor. Rebecca now serves as Heeb's Editorial Director and spends her days wrangling writers and finding synonyms for kosher.

Chanukah has been known as a children's holiday. Are folks of other ages opting in?
Are you kidding? Presents are thrilling no matter how old you are or what your religious orientation may be. Plus, now that I’m a penny-pinching New Yorker working at an independent magazine, I can finally appreciate those socks and books that my parents are always trying to gift me.

Can you pick out 8 of your fave gifts for this occasion?

If your friend has bad circulation like me, gloves are the perfect gift. And with these adorable things you can look like a well-groomed street urchin.

It’s terribly hard to find holiday cards that aren’t overtly Christmas-y or just plain ugly. These cards are simple, beautifully printed and thankfully devoid of cartoony dreidels and Technicolor menorahs.

It’s the Hebrew word for life and it looks lovely in pink on this shirt.

This shirt is from my friend Anna’s store. I love this tunic and it looks so cozy. Wait, don’t buy it. I want it.

Um, this knit portrait is awesome. I really don’t know what else to say. (Also, Jake Gyllenhaal was in the 2005 Heeb 100.)

I always thought we needed more diversity in our hand soap.

The perfect card for someone who isn’t going home for the holidays. Now you can get a little dose of family by mail.

I heart Bklyn. Maybe your Secret Savior does too. This poster shows all our neighborhoods.

Why do you think it's important for Jews to buy handmade (if so!)?
It’s important for everyone to buy handmade, to support creativity and to opt out of the military-industrial-generic-gift complex. And people always appreciate one-of-a-kind presents; it makes them feel like you think they are unique little flowers, even if you actually think they’re dried-up duds.

How does DIY and crafting relate to the Jewish traditions and culture of gift-giving?
Well, it doesn’t really relate to the Jewish traditions I grew up with—my mother would head for a tailor to re-sew a button, and my father and his bad back weren’t exactly churning out home improvement projects. But the Etsy ethos certainly speaks to Heeb’s culture. With a small staff and grassroots support, we’re always learning as we go along. There’s no better way to figure out how to do something, than to just DIY. And you could say that the entrepreneurial spirit is certainly in line with Jewish traditions. What some are calling the “New Jewish Community” is really a collection of young Jews who are blogging, making magazines, comics, music that emerge from their own experiences with Judaism and everything else in their lives. Little businesses are sprouting up—clothing companies like Rabbi’s Daughters, record labels like JDub.

Is there such a thing as kosher crafting?
I suppose that as long as you don’t mix wool and linen fibers in your potholder, fire up the welding torch on the Sabbath or sculpt your ashtray out of spam, you’re pretty good to go. [Takes break to eat bacon cheeseburger.]

Why did you pick Rob Kalin as one of the Heeb 100? How did you hear about Etsy?
I’ve been a fan of the site for a while, and one of my friends is a seller (annamatrona). The Heeb 100 is all about young people who are making their own way, seeing a gap in the world and filling it with skill and style. Rob fits the bill perfectly. Etsy is such an elegant solution to a simple problem: people are making cool stuff and other people want to buy cool stuff. Oh yeah, and Rob’s Jewish. That made the decision a little easier.

What are some of the Heeb staffers’ favorite Channukah traditions?
Personally, I’m all about the latkes, with applesauce please. And in our most recent issue—on newsstands in December, cough, cough—we reinvent the game of dreidel for adults with “Heeb’s Guide to Strip Dreidel.” And of course, our favorite Christmas tradition is Heebonism, Heeb’s massive blowout party on Christmas eve in NYC.

Does it bother you that there's so much commercialized Christmas crap? Are you happy that you don't have to deal with it?
Oh, I have to deal with it. Anyone with ears and eyes has to deal with the jingles and fake frost and doggie reindeer outfits. I am glad I’m not forced to drink eggnog, though... I’m a lactard.

But seriously, what do you love, love, love about this season?
Let me bring this full circle to the presents. I love the presents. Also, picking the wax off the menorah on the last night is just so satisfying.

Who are some great Jewish artists or designers whose work you really admire?
There are tons, and we try to feature as many as we can in the magazine. Rachel Antonoff and Sari Gueron are two fashion designers we included in the The Heeb 100 who are awesome. Also, we love the photographers Noah Kalina and Dina Kantor (also The Heeb 100ers). Check out the pages of Heeb and you’ll run across quite a few more great photographers and illustrators.

Storque articles by rebeccasw

Channukah Special: an Interview with Heeb Rebecca Wiener