Religion is undoubtedly a vehemently debated issue across the various faiths, but one idea that most people would agree on, regardless of their denomination, is that religion is sacred. It is a hot issue with passionate advocates that many agree should be handled with the utmost discretion.
Whatever religion is, it is certainly not funny. Right? Wrong. Comparable to the legendary newspaper 'The Onion,' with its use of witty satire and side-splitting humor, Heeb is a humorous and satirical New York-based magazine by, and for, Jewish people.
For Heeb's humor editor David Deutsch, who graduated from UW-Madison in 1992 with a bachelor's in history, the humorous and light-hearted nature of the magazine serves a greater purpose for its readers.
'It's the only Jewish magazine or newspaper out there where [Jewish people] are not chronically confronted with [their] own imminent demise,' Deutsch said.
The magazine was launched in 2002. One of the creators, Publisher and Editor In Chief Joshua Neuman, commented on the foundation of Heeb.
'It seemed conspicuous that there was a magazine for like, left-handed, transgender, fishermen, but there wasn't one for young Jews,' he said.
In Madison, Heeb is available at Canterbury Booksellers and A Room of One's Own, as well as Borders Books and Barnes and Noble.
Although Deutsch, Neuman and their coworkers have faced disapproval for taking a sensitive topic and presenting it lightly, Deutsch has dismissed much of this criticism.
'It's good that Heeb is out there just being funny. We deal with serious issues, we just deal with them in a funny way. You can write a lengthy essay explaining why you think that Joe Lieberman is not doing a good job as senator, or you could have a cut-out doll of Joe Lieberman where you can turn him into a leather daddy,' he said.
Yet, the magazine has also brought in letters of praise from Jewish people all over the country, which compensates for this minor criticism.
'People will find in Heeb whatever it is they want to express their identity,' Deutsch said.
The staff has received letters from Zionists and anti-Zionists alike. Zionists convey messages like, 'Finally there are a bunch of Jews who aren't afraid of kicking ass like Israel kicks ass,' while anti-Zionists say things like, 'I'm glad there's finally a Jewish periodical for me that isn't full of Zionist propaganda.'
According to Deutsch, 'What are you talking about'? is one of the common reactions upon reading letters like these.
But, he said, for these people and others, finding Heeb was like finding a lifeline.
'For the first time something [associated with] being Jewish clicks with them. They connect to what Heeb is and it means something to them.'
Though constructed with a more serious nature, UW-Madison students also produce a Jewish magazine titled 'The Voice,' published through Hillel on campus.
'The Voice is a student-run magazine,' said Hal Ossman, associate director of Hillel.
Funded by the Associated Students of Madison, 'The Voice' is 'a part of our Jewish cultural collectivity. Its purpose is to promote Jewish writing and culture [as well as] stuff going on on campus,' Ossman said.
The magazine features student articles, poetry, essays, artwork and photographs with Jewish themes.
As for Deutsch, his Jewish satire endeavors do not end with his work at Heeb magazine.
He also recently teamed up with Neuman to write 'The Big Book of Jewish Conspiracies,' which was published in 2005.
The book was written in order to see 'what would happen if Heeb had been able to cover Jewish history and not just contemporary events,' Neuman said. He described the effort as 'Monty-Python-esque.'
The book appears as a mock-history book, presenting various Jewish conspiracy theories as truth, and the absurd stories of Jewish malice behind them.
Deutsch does not have unrealistic expectations of the impressions the book will leave. He knows that 'at some point there are going to be X-number of people that are never going to be reached,' but just making fun of the anti-Semites seems to be enough for him.
'The guy who believes the Jews are killing Christian children ... one thing he doesn't want is to have his beliefs laughed at,' he said. 'You're never going to write the book that anti-Semites are going to pick up and be like, 'Huh, what do you know? I guess I was wrong. This book spells out very clearly that Jews aren't behind every bad thing in the world.' The best-case scenario is that you write a book that just sort of gives them the finger,' Deutsch said.
Through the book and the magazine, Deutsch and Neuman have spelled out very clearly that not only are they going to be heard, but that what they say will be funny.
'I definitely feel that God would like people to have a little better sense of humor,' Deutsch said. 'We could all stand to make fun of ourselves and make fun of the things people think are important. In real life, things are just sillier than we imagine them to be.'
