Definition of "heeb"

Most of the famous and up-and-coming performers of the day […] were heebs, and the boys had the feeling that we should all stick together and not knock the big names of "our" race.

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Quit Foolin’ with That Comb”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 49