Friday, September 26, 2008

New York Daily News

Heebsters take over the Jewish New Year, not to mention New York

Thursday, September 25th 2008, 8:10 AM

Monday night at sunset marks 5769, the new year of the Hebrew calendar. Or, if you're a Jewish hipster, the first page of "The Ladies of '69" calendar - a six-page swimsuit pullout of scantily clad supermodel "tribe-members" in the summer issue of Heeb magazine. For publisher Joshua Neuman, this was not a spiritual decision in the classic sense.

"It was fun. I got to see Bar Refaeli naked," says New York-based Neuman of Leonardo DiCaprio's Israeli girlfriend, who posed for the cover surrounded by some very unkosher crustaceans.

Welcome to New York's Heebster movement, led by local tastemakers hell-bent on pushing the boundaries of traditional Jewish culture.

"A Heebster is a cool jew," says Lisa Alcalay Klug, author of "Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe," released this month. "It's about owning the stereotypes, expressing irreverence and realizing our tribe is a great shindig."

The "shindig" is packed. The dress code? Self referential T-shirts, ironic tallis prayer shawls. The rules? Anything goes. Starting with the clothes. (More)

San Francisco Chronicle

Leah Garchik Thursday, September 25, 2008

"Cool Jew" provides directions for making a shofar, the ram's horn trumpet used in synagogue. These begin with boiling the horn in water and baking soda for a couple of hours to remove cartilage and end with warnings about keeping the thing kosher: Don't drill holes in it. Don't paint it.

Finally, the most modern caveat: "Don't choose a shofar online. Before you buy, it's best to know how thy horn doth blow. Pucker up!"

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