Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Why Branding Judaism Is a Bad Idea

I blame Heeb. Launched in 2001, “The New Jew Review” iterated a sharp, satirical take on Jewish culture. The idea was to edify through mockery: Thus a 2005 cover featured Sarah Silverman displaying her cleavage through a hole in a sheet. Although it can try too hard to shock (remember Roseanne Barr as Hitler baking “Jew cookies?”) Heeb is usually funny — and kind of cool.

Israeli band Aharit Hayamim, one of the recent performers at Jewlicious Festival. Image by Courtesy Aharit Hayamim

That is to say that the magazine is cool (or was — the print version folded last year). But now, perhaps emboldened by Heeb, a number of organizations are attempting to brand Judaism itself as cool.

For example, there’s the Jewlicious blog and its attendant festival, which I covered for the Forward last year. The festival (which took place February 24 to 27 in Long Beach, California) features Jewish music and Jewish comedians and Jewish panels talking about Judaism. The blog is strongly Zionist, with articles like, “Egyptian Riots… but is it good for the Jews?” [sic]. And blatantly supportive of sex between Zionists, with articles like, “The Unofficial Guide to Sex on Birthright Israel.”

It’s a little much for me, the strained attempt to connect Zionism and casual sex. It calls to mind a settler girl buying her long skirts at American Apparel.

A somewhat tamer approach is evinced by Tribefest, “an entertaining, interactive and educational celebration” coming to Las Vegas March 6 to 8. Its promo video is a montage of youngish Jews in sunglasses, showered by animated playing cards, while “Viva Las Vegas” plays in the background. Its website’s graphics — the distressed typeface, the vaguely Eastern illustrations — suggest a 72-hour ecstasy-fueled rave. But the events schedule suggests more bourgeois Jewish concerns: networking, politics, “food justice.”

One session is entitled, “Do You Have to Love Israel to be a Good Jew?” As it’s sponsored by the Jewish Agency for Israel, I’m guessing that the answer will be, “Yes, you do.”

Now, what annoys me about all this is not the idea of Jews getting together or getting it on. Nor am I that annoyed by the unquestioning Zionism (although I am irritated by how everyone at Jewlicious.com seems convinced that more democracy in the Middle East is bad for Israel).

What annoys me instead is the branding. It’s disingenuous. Both Jewlicious and Tribefest are essentially conservative. They want you to support Israel, to hang out with other Jews, and to marry a Jew. Which makes them just like your parents. And even though your parents know what’s good for you, that doesn’t make them cool.

More important: branding cheapens Judaism. It’s not a lifestyle or a product. It’s a faith, a culture, a tribe — however you want to define it, it’s something infinitely more precious and complex. Granted, these organizations need to promote themselves somehow. But maybe there’s a better way than sex and Matisyahu.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.