 Official Hevria logo | |
Type of site | Essays, blogging, Judaism, arts education |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 2014 |
| Founder(s) | Elad Nehorai Matthue Roth |
| Editor | Matthue Roth |
| URL | hevria |
Hevria is an American Jewish arts and culture website and collective.
| Official Hevria logo | |
Type of site | Essays, blogging, Judaism, arts education |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 2014 |
| Founder(s) | Elad Nehorai Matthue Roth |
| Editor | Matthue Roth |
| URL | hevria |
Hevria is an American Jewish arts and culture website and collective.
Hevria was founded as a group blog in April 2014 by writers Elad Nehorai and Matthue Roth. [1] The site's name is a portmanteau of the Hebrew words "chevra" (group or society) and "briah" (creation). Roth and Nehorai conceived of the project during an email conversation in 2012 with writer Chaya Kurtz, who had gotten attention for an xoJane article entitled "What Women's Media Needs to Know About Chassidic Women"; the three theorized that a full website could give even more insight into Hasidic Jews, and Nehorai subsequently recruited other blogging contacts to participate. [2]
Beginning as a collaborative group blog for personal essays, poetry, and fiction writing, the website evolved into a creative collective hosting communal gatherings, arts workshops, weekend retreats, "creative farbrengens", and other events. [1] [2] [3] Other Hevria projects have included "Hevria Sessions", a series of live studio performances by up-and-coming Jewish musicians such as Levi Robin and Bulletproof Stockings, [2] and Neshamas, a sister site that publishes anonymous stories involving heavier topics such as abuse and mental illness in the religious Jewish community. [3]
On January 2, 2020, Nehorai announced that he would be stepping down as editor of Hevria, citing concerns that the attention he was receiving as an activist was distracting from the site's mission. He clarified that Roth would be taking over the site's leadership and that he would remain involved in a less visible capacity. [4] In January 2022, Nehorai posted an article to his Substack newsletter giving more details about his decision to leave Hevria, in particular citing the backlash to an article he had written defending LGBT rights in the Orthodox community as a culminating moment. [5]
In 2016, Nehorai and filmmaker Matthew Bowman began producing through Hevria a five-episode documentary web series on the Israeli community of Bat Ayin, located in the Gush Etzion area. [6] [7] [2]
From 2017 to 2019, Nehorai hosted HevriaCast, the website's official podcast, wherein he interviewed artists, writers, and other creatives in the Jewish world. The podcast was recorded at CLAL Studios in New York City, and the standard intro and outro music was the song "Voice Lessons" by Darshan. Many Hevria contributors were guests on the show, as were Hasidic artist Yitzchok Moully, comedian Mendy Pellin, actress and filmmaker Amy Guterson, social media personality Adina Sash, and musicians Dalia Shusterman, Isaiah Rothstein, Bram Presser, Jon Madof, Basya Schechter, and Eprhyme, among others.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad operates mainly in the wider world and caters to secularized Jews.
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Neo-Hasidism, Neochassidut, or Neo-Chassidus, is an approach to Judaism in which people learn beliefs and practices of Hasidic Judaism, and incorporate it into their own lives or prayer communities, yet without formally joining a Hasidic group. Over the last century neo-Hasidism was popularized by the works of writers such as Hillel Zeitlin, Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Lawrence Kushner, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Arthur Green.
Bat Ayin is an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Hebron. It was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council, with a population of less than 1,000, consisting mainly of "Ba'alei T'shuva" Jews with Hasidic tendencies. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli and US governments dispute this.
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Mishpacha- Jewish Family Weekly is a Haredi weekly magazine package produced by The Mishpacha Group in both English and Hebrew.
Elke Reva Sudin is a Jewish-American painter, illustrator and lecturer. In 2010, her Hipsters and Hassids painting series premiered in New York City, comparing and contrasting her Hasidic Jewish origins and hipster Brooklyn cultures. She founded NY Drawing Booth in 2014, and is also a founder of Jewish Art Now.
Binah is a Jewish women's magazine published weekly by Binah Magazine Corporation in the United States. Additional distribution takes place in the United Kingdom and Israel. Binah Magazine Corporation is a subsidiary of Hamodia Publishing Corporation. The magazine debuted in Elul 5766.
Yishai Romanoff is an American Hasidic musician, best known as the lead singer for the Breslov punk band Moshiach Oi!. Romanoff, as well as the rest of the band, is featured prominently in the 2012 documentary Punk Jews. He is also a drummer for Shabasa labelmates Blanket Statementstein, RockaZion, and Shin Shin Mem.
Rabbi Zalman I. Posner was an American rabbi and writer associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Posner served as a congregational rabbi and community leader in the American Southeast for five decades, serving the Orthodox congregation Sherith Israel and founding an Orthodox Day School both in Nashville, Tennessee.
Orthodox pop, sometimes called Hasidic pop, Hasidic rock, K-pop, Haredi pop, and Ortho-pop, is a form of contemporary Jewish religious music popular among Orthodox Jews. It typically draws stylistically from contemporary genres like pop, rock, jazz, and dance music, while incorporating text from Jewish prayer, Torah, and Talmud as well as traditional Jewish songs and occasional original English lyrics with themes of faith and positivity. The genre was pioneered in the 1970s by artists like Mordechai Ben David and the Miami Boys Choir, who incorporated secular pop and dance influences into their music in contrast to the more traditional Jewish music of the time, and has had continued success in the modern era with singers like Yaakov Shwekey, Lipa Schmeltzer, Baruch Levine, and Benny Friedman.
Shulem Deen is an American author, essayist, former Skver Hasid, and critic of Hasidic Judaism. He is the author of the memoir All Who Go Do Not Return (2015), and is a regular columnist at The Forward. He is also the founding editor of Unpious, a journal for voices critical of Hasidic lifestyle and beliefs.
Amy Gordon Guterson is an American Orthodox Jewish actress, filmmaker, and educator. She is best known for her role as Chaya Epstein in the long-running video series Agent Emes. She is the founder and director of the Tzohar Seminary for Chassidus and the Arts and co-founder of the Jewish women's theater troupe Kol Isha. She is also a board member of the Arts and Torah Association for Religious Artists (ATARA), founded by Miriam Leah Droz.
Matthew "Matthue" Roth is an American columnist, author, poet, spoken word performer, video game designer, and screenwriter.
Elad Nehorai is an American writer, activist, and social and political commentator. A left-wing, formerly Orthodox Jew, his writing and activism typically revolves around social justice, mental health, religion, opposition to antisemitism, and advocacy for arts education, particularly within the Jewish community.
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