The ''Der Poylisher Yidl'' ( yi, דער פוילישער אידעל, ''The Little Polish Jew'') was one of the first

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

periodicals in the

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

language and Britain's first socialist paper targeting an immigrant audience. It was founded on 25 July 1884 by socialist Morris Winchevsky and his friend, writer Eliyahu Wolf Rabinowitz. It featured poetry (mostly Winchevsky's), transatlantic Jewish news and critiques of the local Yiddish theatre (including Sarah and Jacob Adlers' troupe). Its writing style was inspired by

Aaron Liebermann Aaron Samuel Liebermann (, ''Aharon Shmu'el Liberman''; 20 May 1845 – 18 November 1880), also known by his pen names Bar Drora and Daniel Ish Ḥamudot and later as Arthur Freeman, was a socialist author, Hebrew translator, and political es ...

(who established London's Hebrew Socialist Union), combining international commentary with local community organising. It sold for 1

penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

per issue. In 1892, it was renamed to ''Di Tsukunft'' (Yiddish: די צוקונפֿט, ''The Future''). The newspaper ceased publication after less than a year, due to ideological differences. Winchevsky, who was staunchly anti-religious, left because Rabbinowitch accepted an advertisement from Samual Montagu, who was a pillar of the religious community. Winchevsky went on to co-found the '' Arbeter Fraynd'', which regularly criticised Montague and Britain's

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

Herman Adler. The newspaper struggled to gain traction and published a total of 16 issues. It was quickly overtaken by the ''Arbeter Fraynd''. The Jewish scene in London in general suffered from factionalism. The prevalence of anarchists meant Russia was not interested in supporting them. Most radical Jews ended up in New York City, including the paper's founder Morris Winchevsky. The paper claimed to "treat the Jew... as a man... as a Jew... as a worker" and listed four kinds of Jews: "The 'indifferent' care only about themselves; 'assimilationists' consider Jewish separateness to be the root of Jewish troubles; 'nationalists' blame the Jews' homelessness for their sufferings; 'socialists' consider the Jewish problem to be part of the general social problem, not one apart".

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poylisher Yidl, Der Jewish socialism Publications established in 1884 Socialist newspapers Yiddish socialist periodicals Jewish English history Yiddish culture in England Polish-Jewish culture in the United Kingdom Secular Jewish culture in the United Kingdom

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