Hevria
Hevria is an American Jewish arts and culture website and collective.
History
Hevria was founded as a group blog in April 2014 by writers Elad Nehorai and Matthue Roth. The site's name is a portmanteau of the Hebrew words "chevra" and "briah". 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 " "; the three theorized that a full website could give even more insight into Hasidic Jews, and Nehorai subsequently recruited other blogging contacts to participate.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. 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, and Neshamas, a sister site that publishes anonymous stories involving heavier topics such as abuse and mental illness in the religious Jewish community.
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. In January 2022, Nehorai posted an article to his 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 United States|LGBT rights] in the Orthodox community as a culminating moment.