About Alma

Alma

Alma — published online as Hey Alma at heyalma.com — is a digital publication covering Jewish millennial life and culture, based in New York. Launched in 2017 by 70 Faces Media (the parent company of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency), Alma was created as a resource for millennial women navigating early adulthood with a "Jew-ish" angle: a blend of secular and Jewish content addressing careers, relationships, spirituality, family, and identity. Edited at launch by Molly Tolsky — who had spent three years editing Kveller, 70 Faces Media's Jewish parenting site — Alma set out to build an online community for young Jewish women, particularly those unaffiliated with Jewish organizations. Billing itself as a community of "ladies with chutzpah," the site takes its name from the Hebrew word for young women of childbearing age, and it has become a distinctive voice in Jewish digital media: funny, feminist, culturally Jewish, and unafraid of the tricky parts of young adulthood.

Launch: A Site for Jew-ish Millennial Women

Alma launched in 2017 (with its public debut covered in June 2017) as a new property of 70 Faces Media, JTA's parent company. The concept came from editor Molly Tolsky, then 30, who had edited Kveller for three years and found herself craving the kind of community Kveller had created — but for women in her own age bracket. "I wanted a place to talk about dating and building up a career and dealing with family issues — and figuring out where your Jewish identity fits into all that," Tolsky explained. The site entered a crowded field of female-first websites — Bustle, Refinery29, and others aimed at 20- and 30-somethings — but Tolsky was confident Alma's Jewish niche would create a "more intimate" online community than its general-interest counterparts. Launch coverage in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency framed it as a resource for the "often fun, sometimes tricky years of early adulthood."

The "Jew-ish" Angle

Alma's defining editorial concept is its "Jew-ish" angle — a blend of secular and Jewish content that addresses all aspects of a young woman's life. Rather than presuming religious observance, the site meets readers where they are: culturally Jewish, spiritually curious, or simply Jew-adjacent. Content ranges from personal essays on grief, post-college uncertainty, dating, and career-building to slideshows of embarrassing bat mitzvah photos, Hanukkah style guides, and explainers on Jewish traditions. The approach acknowledges that for many millennial Jewish women, identity is fluid, complicated, and deeply personal — and that a publication can honor that complexity without demanding orthodoxy. As Lilith magazine noted in naming Alma's launch one of 2017's Jewish feminist highlights, the site was "a welcome addition to the Jewish internet."

Community: Ladies With Chutzpah

Alma bills itself as a community of "ladies with chutzpah" — and community-building is central to its mission. "The purpose is to form an online community of Jewish women, and particularly women who are 'unaffiliated' and not really involved in Jewish organizations," Tolsky said at launch. This focus on the unaffiliated reflects a demographic reality: large numbers of young American Jews are disconnected from synagogues and legacy institutions, but still seek Jewish connection, conversation, and culture. Alma offers that connection on their terms — digital, informal, funny, and feminist. The site's comment sections and social media presence extend the community beyond articles, creating spaces where young Jewish women discuss everything from antisemitism to interfaith dating to workplace dynamics.

Content: Personal, Funny, and Fearless

Alma's content mix blends the personal essay, the service article, the cultural commentary, and the pure fun of millennial women's media. Readers find everything from deeply personal writing on grief, mental health, and family conflict to practical guides on careers and relationships to humorous takes on Jewish life — bat mitzvah photo retrospectives, dating app dispatches, holiday survival guides. The site has not shied from difficult subjects: pieces on abuse, harassment, and the complexities of Jewish identity sit alongside lighter fare. This tonal range — funny and serious, Jewish and universal — mirrors the lives of its readers, who contain multitudes. The writing voice is conversational, confessional, and culturally literate, assuming readers who get the references (Broad City, Jewish summer camp, overbearing mothers) without needing them explained.

70 Faces Media and the Jewish Digital Ecosystem

Alma is part of 70 Faces Media, the digital media company formed from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and MyJewishLearning — the same parent behind Kveller, JTA, and other Jewish digital properties. This ecosystem positioning gives Alma institutional backing, shared infrastructure, and cross-promotion within the Jewish digital world. Tolsky's path from Kveller editor to Alma founder-creator illustrates the company's talent pipeline: editors who understand Jewish digital audiences get to build new products for underserved segments. Within 70 Faces Media's portfolio, Alma occupies the young-women's lifestyle niche — complementing Kveller's parenting focus and JTA's news coverage.

Feminist Voice in Jewish Media

Alma's feminist perspective distinguishes it within Jewish media. The site centers women's experiences, voices, and concerns — from reproductive issues to workplace sexism to the gender dynamics of Jewish communal life — with an unapologetically feminist lens. Its recognition by Lilith (the Jewish feminist magazine) as a 2017 highlight underscores this positioning. In a Jewish media landscape where women's voices have historically been marginalized, Alma represents a generational shift: young Jewish women writing for young Jewish women, on their own terms, about what matters to them. The site's feminism is intersectional and culturally Jewish — engaged with both mainstream feminist discourse and specifically Jewish questions of gender, tradition, and power.

Audience and Cultural Impact

Alma's audience is millennial (and now Gen Z) Jewish women — particularly the unaffiliated majority that legacy Jewish institutions struggle to reach. For these readers, Alma provides something the organized Jewish world often doesn't: a Jewish space that feels like theirs — funny, honest, digital-native, and free of institutional agenda. The site's cultural impact extends beyond its readership: its pieces are shared widely on social media, its voice has influenced how Jewish organizations talk to young women, and its existence demonstrates the viability of niche Jewish digital media. In the broader landscape of women's digital media, Alma proves that specificity — a defined community, a distinct cultural lens — can be a strength rather than a limitation.

Alma's Place in Jewish Media

Within 70 Faces Media's portfolio — alongside the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, MyJewishLearning, and Kveller — Alma occupies a distinctive niche: the young women's lifestyle vertical, culturally Jewish and unapologetically feminist. Its "Jew-ish" angle, blending secular and Jewish content for millennial women navigating early adulthood, filled a gap that legacy Jewish institutions had left open. For the unaffiliated young Jewish women who make up its core audience, Alma offers something the organized Jewish world often doesn't: a Jewish space that feels like theirs — funny, honest, digital-native, and free of institutional agenda. In the broader landscape of women's media, Alma proves that specificity can be a strength: a defined community, a distinct cultural lens, and a voice unafraid of the tricky parts of young adulthood.

Alma Today

Today, Alma continues to publish at heyalma.com — personal essays, cultural commentary, service content, and community conversation for Jewish millennial life. From Molly Tolsky's 2017 founding vision of a Kveller-like community for women in their twenties and thirties, the site has grown into an established voice in Jewish digital media: the "ladies with chutzpah" talking about dating, careers, family, identity, and everything in between, with a Jew-ish twist. Its official website is https://www.heyalma.com.