Comments on: Hamevaser: Behind The Hocking

By: Aton

Aton — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:37:06 +0000

Josh has some very good points. I first joined Hamevaser in 94-95. The mid-1990s at YC and Revel was a very active period for a eclectic, quirky, brilliant and highly opinionated intellectual clique who succeeded in attracting considerable popular attention to Hamevaser for several years. This was likely a combination of well-chosen topics and the occasional publication of highly controversial/borderline heretical opinion pieces and absurd graphics. These generated plenty of consternation among the Roshei Yeshiva but sold lots of papers. This group was succeeded by a group of genuine intellectuals (Yossi Ziffer, Rachel Leiser, Benjy Balint, et al.) who reduced the paper's size to magazine format and kept the tone very tame and non-controversial. Hamevaser was perhaps more academically solid than it had ever been but was certainly less read, and interest had begun to dwindle to the point that Yehudit Robinson, Josh and myself were all who remained from the 1997-8 group to carry the journal forward. I don't think my push for glossy format destroyed Hamevaser. I was looking for a way to restore interest in Hamevaser which was already in decline, and I was (and remain) too 'farchinyucked' to solicit outright Apikorsus, so I thought I could get people interested by 1. improving its external appearance so that students would feel pride in publishing with us, and 2. going back to the "Beis Grinki" strategy of selecting hot topics that would draw readers. Ephraim Shapiro did an incredible job with the layout, and Hamevaser was more noticed and talked about. We managed to get some high-profile interviews (Rabbi Lau, Rabbi Sacks, Rabbi Lamm) with interesting questions and responses, some formulated with help from YU faculty. Financing was a problem in 1998-1999 and we burned through several managing editors but we managed to pull together enough funds to keep ourselves publishing, and we could have afforded to publish four glossy issues that year (which had been our original plan) had submissions proven sufficient. We were forced to keep pushing deadlines ahead to muster enough quality student contributions for two issues (on relating to non-religious Jews and Women in Judaism), enlisted some of the old Beis Grinki veterans and random friends to help with a non-glossy Purim issue (Hamolech -- Josh, with all due respect, most to whom I have shown it still think it to be hilarious) and ultimately pushed off publication of our third issue (Text and Textualism) to late 2000, even after that year's Purim issue (thus named Hamemissing). There were at least two subsequent issues by later editorial boards. I think the issue behind Hamevaser's decline was not having set the bar too high for funding -- I offered Hamevaser a blank check as SOY president in 1999-2000 -- or layout -- Ephraim was still around YC and eager to help. Rather, it seemed to me that while the Beis Yitzchak/solid Beis Midrash crowd continued to go strong, interest in intellectual pursuit of academic Jewish studies/old 5th floor crowd had waned, replaced with the "brain drain" to pre-med on the one hand and the arts/creative endeavors ("Mima'amakim") or Bible (Nachalah) or Derrida/"Beis HaPshat" on the other. Those stalwarts who remained with an interest in Jewish philosophy or Jewish history could not write well, or did not produce much that was publishable, at least at that time. Why the loss of interest? I can think of four reasons: 1. Loss of inquisitive minds to pursuit of professional careers 2. Decreased philosophic debate/polemic in the Yeshiva after R. Parnes and R. Bronspigel's departure to Lander College, R. Lamm's stepping down from the presidency 3. General decline in intellectual discourse in society 4. The intellectuals who succeeded Beis Grinki "hocked" more and wrote less

By: Meredith

Meredith — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:47:31 +0000

Town Crier beat me to posting the song link.
Just saying that y'all still have a fan base.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:44:10 +0000

The Purim editions were a completely differnt beast entirely. Actually for my first year on Hamevaser the Editors decided not to do the Purim edition, much to the dismay of many. Similarly cursed by their prediscesors success - nothing *ever* came close to Beis Grinky's "Hamoshiach" - and the consensus was, correctly, that we just weren't that funny. Ironically we did make a mention of it in The Ordinary Potato where I used Hamevaser's computer to make the back-page ad for "Hamemissing." Subsequent years did have Purim issues, but for the most part they just recycled the same old jokes about Briskers, Rav Schachter, and Post-Modernism. That and the general lameness of Hamevaser were factors when Ben and I gave Masechet Bava Commie to The Commentator (and the obvious subject matter of course). About the only thing original which came out of the later Purim Hamevasers was Schick's brilliant "She'asini Kirtzono" poster. And yes, I did link to the Dennis Leary tribute in the post. Never would forget that one. I even performed it on a Purim in Ben's apartment once, and I highly doubt that there will ever be a repeat.

By: The Town Crier

The Town Crier — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:14:06 +0000

Purim commentators and pur hamevasers
are two extraordinarily different entities.
(just as purim commentators and observers were)
I Remeber when Edah was just starting up and ther was a hamevaser purim edition with an ad for "Ervah."
The last Purim Edition of Hamevaser that was ever done to date, contained the famous backpage artowrk by (i dunno if he wants me to say his name) which has been sdistributed in poster format every year since then was the parody of the famous kids' asher yatzar poster tailor made in the same presentation for the bracha of "sheasani kirtzono"
it never gets old.

By: Menachem Butler

Menachem Butler — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:26:15 +0000

My particular contribution to the purim issue of The Commentator -- see the PDF http://www.textimony.com/commie/commie.PURIM.pdf -- was my "A PREVIEW OF THE TORAH U-MADDA JOURNAL, VOL. 13 (2005)," as well as our sitting in The Commentator office for many hours lounging around thinking of things to write for the purim issue... Enjoy the PDF: http://www.textimony.com/commie/commie.PURIM.pdf

By: The Town Crier

The Town Crier — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:17:16 +0000

I wasn't offended. I honestly don't rember that particular occurance but I do not doubt that it happened. Somehow, I might not ever be able to forget this though http://yuweb.addr.com/purim5759/features/hamevaser.shtml

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:15:26 +0000

What does a Purim edition of an academic journal look like?

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:01:28 +0000

Wasn't meant as a slight against you, but more of a remark of how hard you were worked and the toll it took.
Remember that time the zip drive didn't work and you lost 15 hours of work?

By: The Town Crier

The Town Crier — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:44:16 +0000

For me it was a "psychological expense" but for you it was a "burn out?"
Thanks.
Hamevaser in all of its intellectual glory went out the window hte last few years (rather, got flushed down the toilet) along with all of the various other academic journals which used to be staples of the yeshiva undergraduates.