Hey Alma is a feminist Jewish culture site and online community bringing you a diversity of voices. We publish daily articles about pop culture, politics, news, identity, holidays and more, all through a Jewish lens. We believe in using our platform to raise the voices of all Jews, but especially those who often don’t get heard enough in the organized Jewish world, including Jews of Color, queer Jews, Jews by choice, and Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews.
Please join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and our Facebook group, Hey Alma pals. Hey Alma is a project of 70 Faces Media.
What does the name Hey Alma mean, you ask? Alma [ahl-ma] is a Hebrew word meaning a woman of childbearing age who has not had kids. Which is really weird and oddly specific, we know. When Hey Alma launched in 2017, we called ourselves a publication for “ladies with chutzpah” and were exclusively geared towards women and non-binary folks. These days, we think of ourselves as a publication for anyone — regardless of gender — who cares about Jewish identity and culture and how they fit into everyday life. Still with lots of chutzpah.
Meet the Team:
Molly Tolsky (she/her) is the founder and editor of Hey Alma. She holds a BA in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her creative fiction and non-fiction can be found in Tin House, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Electric Literature and elsewhere. She is also the editor of Kveller. Molly lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter. You can visit her website and follow her on Instagram and Twitter. You can also reach her at molly@heyalma.com.
Vanessa Friedman (she/her) is the deputy managing editor of Hey Alma. She has a BA in Creative Writing from NYU and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Prior to joining Hey Alma, Vanessa worked as the community editor at Autostraddle. Her work has been published in Vogue, Nylon, Hey Alma, Catapult, Autostraddle, Shape, and elsewhere. She lives in Portland, OR with her wife, dog, and four chickens. You can visit her website and follow her on Instagram and Twitter. You can email her at vanessa@heyalma.com.
Evelyn Frick (she/they) is the associate editor of Hey Alma. She graduated from Vassar College in 2019, where she studied English Literature and Art History. Prior to joining Hey Alma, Evelyn served as an assistant on the Friends Like Us Podcast hosted by Marina Franklin. In her spare time, she participates in the time-honored Jewish tradition of stand-up comedy and is a contributor for Reductress. You can follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or reach her at efrick@70facesmedia.org.
Avital Dayanim (she/her) is the audience engagement editor and graphic designer at Hey Alma. She’s a Boston-based creative and graduate of Wesleyan University, where she studied English literature. Prior to joining the Hey Alma team, she served as Digital Marketing Specialist at the Jewish Arts Collaborative (JArts). Avital is also a writer, poet, and freelance illustrator whose work has appeared in publications such as The Washington Post and Windowcat Press. You can find her on her website or on Instagram, or reach her at avital@heyalma.com.
Deborah Kolben (COO/Editorial Director, 70 Faces Media) serves as the Chief Content Officer at 70 Faces Media. She was a co-founder of Kveller.com. Previously, Deborah was the city editor of The New York Sun and the managing editor of the Village Voice. She received a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and received an Arthur F. Burns fellowship to report in Germany, and has also written for The New York Times, Financial Times, The New York Daily News, and The Forward. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.
Rebecca Phillips (VP, Audience & Digital Strategy, 70 Faces Media) is a digital veteran with nearly 20 years experience creating, managing, and marketing website and mobile content. She spent 10 years at religion and spirituality site Beliefnet.com, where she was Director of Content Strategy. She led content teams at parenting sites CafeMom and Mom365, and served as Chief Content Officer at digital agency RevSquare, where she oversaw all content and marketing projects for clients like Showtime Networks, Kaplan Test Prep, ReachMD, PJ Library, and more. Rebecca graduated from Columbia University and holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Shevy Baskin (Audience Development Manager, 70 Faces Media) has an MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and a BA in Sociology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. She has previously interned for the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, UJA-Federation of New York, and Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikveh.
Grace Yagel (Senior Designer and Multimedia Editor, 70 Faces Media) received her BA in Visual Communications and Motion Design from Holon Institute of Technology in Israel. Grace has always admired TV and how it’s created and when YouTube came along she was drawn into creating and editing videos herself. Other than videos Gracemakes zines called “Paper Punchers” and writes a blog in Hebrew named “101 Things I’ve Learned (since I moved to New York)”.
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Hey Alma is brought to you by 70 Faces Media. Questions? Comments? Drop us a line at hello@heyalma.com.