History

It began publication on November 21, 1879, in New York City. It was founded by F. de Sola Mendes and its publisher was Philip Cowen. The weekly's publisher was The American Hebrew Publishing Company.

Its third issue declared its policy: "It is not controlled by one person, nor is it inspired by one. Its editorial staff comprises men of diverse shades of opinion on ritualistic matters in Judaism, but men who are determined to combine their energies for the common cause of Judaism." To maintain impersonality pertaining to the paper, the names of board members were never been published. The turn-of-the-century Jewish Encyclopedia

Jewish Encyclopedia

The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...

 also says that, "Editorially, The American Hebrew stands for conservatism in Judaism. Nevertheless, the columns of this journal are ever open to the discussion of views with which it can in no way accord, but which may be of interest to its readers. Nearly all the prominent Jewish writers and communal workers in the United States have been contributors to its pages."

From the time of its founding, The American Hebrew covered many topics of intense Jewish interest internationally. It covered the persecutions of Romanian Jews that followed the signing of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), and published a number of important letters on the subject from European writers, which led the American Jews

American Jews

American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...

 to exercise their influence on behalf of their suffering coreligionists abroad. The periodical covered the persecution of the Russian Jews following the May Laws

May Laws

Temporary regulations regarding the Jews were proposed by minister of internal affairs Nikolai Ignatyev and enacted on May 15 , 1882, by Tsar Alexander III of Russia...

 in 1881. The paper reported on the large influx of Jewish immigrants that followed these latter events, and which significantly changed the demographics

Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

 of Jewish-Americans; it also covered the rise of institutions to deal with this influx, including the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

HIAS

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was founded in 1881. The constant flow of Jewish immigrants from Russia gave birth to the society. HIAS assists Jews and other groups of people whose lives and freedom are at risk, through rescue, relocation, family reunification, and resettlement. Since its inception...

 and the Hebrew Technical Institute for their modern education.

In literary terms, The American Hebrew also introduced leading figures in Jewish life, including the writing career of poet Emma Lazarus

Emma Lazarus

Lazarus began to be more interested in her Jewish ancestry after reading the George Eliot novel, Daniel Deronda, and as she heard of the Russian pogroms in the early 1880s. This led Lazarus to write articles on the subject. She also began translating the works of Jewish poets into English...

, who was covered extensively at the time of her death in 1887; she later became famous for her sonnet

Sonnet

A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...

 The New Colossus

The New Colossus

"The New Colossus" is a sonnet by Emma Lazarus , written in 1883 and, in 1903, engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty.- History of the poem :...

, which was inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...

 in 1912.

Timeline

By the twentieth century, The American Hebrew had absorbed several other regional and religious Jewish periodicals, including The Jewish Chronicle of Baltimore, Md., in 1880; The Jewish Reformer, a weekly journal published for a time by Kaufmann Kohler

Kaufmann Kohler

Kaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...

, I. S. Moses, and Emil G. Hirsch, in 1886, and Jewish Tidings of Rochester, N. Y., in 1895.

Over the years, the journal experienced a number of mergers and changes of name.

• The English language
  English language
  English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
  
   Jewish weekly first appeared as The American Hebrew from Nov. 21, 1879 to Dec. 26, 1902.
• After merging with The Jewish Messenger, it next appeared as The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger from Jan. 2, 1903 to April 21, 1922.
• It then reappeared as The American Hebrew between Apr. 28, 1922 and Jan. 29, 1932.
• After merging with the New York Jewish Tribune, it appeared as American Hebrew and Jewish Tribune from Feb. 5, 1932 to Oct. 24, 1935.
• It again reappeared as The American Hebrew between Nov. 1, 1935 and Sept. 14, 1956.
• Following its merger with The Examiner (Brooklyn), it dropped its specifically Jewish title and was re-named the American Examiner; it continued publishing from Sept. 20, 1956 to Oct. 15, 1970.

External links

• The American Hebrew from the Jewish Encyclopedia
  Jewish Encyclopedia
  The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
  
  (c.1905)