Dos Abend Blatt

''Dos Abend Blatt'' (''The Evening Paper''; original extensive title yi, אבענד בלאטט פון דיא ארבייטער צייטונג; ') was a Yiddish-language daily newspaper published in New York City, United States.Diner, Hasia R.
In the Almost Promised Land: American Jews and Blacks, 1915-1935
'. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. p. 29 ''Dos Abend Blatt'' was launched as an outgrowth of the weekly ''Di Arbeter Tsaytung'' (''Workman's Paper'').Michaels, Tony
A Fire in Their Hearts; Yiddish Socialists in New York
', Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2005. p. 103 Published between 1894 and 1902, it was an organ of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP).

''Dos Abend Blatt'' was the first socialist Yiddish daily to appear in New York. During its early phase, ''Dos Abend Blatt'' rivaled the readership of the anarchist ''Freie Arbeiter Stimme'' and, later, the bourgeois-orthodox ''Yiddisher Tagesblatt''. The newspaper was sponsored by the United Hebrew Trades.
American Journalism, 1690-1940
'. London: Routledge, 2000. Vol. 3. pp. 175-176

Politically, ''Dos Abend Blatt'' argued in favour of an internationalist line, denouncing national chauvinism, labor nationalism and Zionism. It called on Jewish workers to unite along class lines, rather than building an identity around their language and/or religion (''Yiddishkeit''). Regarding antisemitism, ''Dos Abend Blatt'' argued that the problem had economic roots and thus Jewish nationalism was not an adequate answer. However, the news section of the paper carried frequent reports on antisemitism and pogroms around the world.

In 1897 a split erupted amongst the Jewish cadres of the SLP. A dissident minority group was expelled in June 1897. The majority group, represented by Philip Krantz, Benjamin Feigenbaum, Jacob Milch and Joseph Schlossberg, retained control over ''Dos Abend Blatt''. The dissidents founded a new Yiddish socialist newspaper, ''Forverts''.Frankel, Jonathan.
Prophecy and Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the Russian Jews, 1862-1917
'. Cambridge ngland Cambridge University Press, 1984. p. 467 Competition between ''Forverts'' and ''Dos Abend Blatt'' became fierce, a contest which ''Dos Abend Blatt'' would eventually lose. Two political issues, in which ''Forverts'' adopted a far more pragmatic approach in appealing to Jewish communal sentiments, proved decisive in the competition; the Dreyfus affair and the Spanish–American War.Bell, Daniel.
Marxian Socialism in the United States
'. Cornell paperbacks. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996. p. 98

Regarding the Dreyfus affair, ''Dos Abend Blatt'' found itself at loggerheads with large sectors of the Jewish community. The editor of the paper, Philip Krantz, questioned the innocence of Dreyfus. This position would prove largely unpopular amongst the Yiddish-speaking community.Jacobson, Matthew Frye.
Special Sorrows: The Diasporic Imagination of Irish, Polish, and Jewish Immigrants in the United States
'. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. pp. 62-63, 150

At the time of the Cuba war, ''Dos Abend Blatt'' was one of the first newspapers to voice opposing to the policies of the American government. The paper, through the editorials of Krantz and Benjamin Feygenbaum, opposed the nationalist fervour that the war aroused, and argued that the war was carried out for the benefit of the dominant classes, that Cuba would not be liberated but put under American rule and that the working class was suffering the losses at the battlefield. The paper argued against the discourse that Spain was an eternal enemy of the Jewish people.Jacobson, Matthew Frye.
Special Sorrows: The Diasporic Imagination of Irish, Polish, and Jewish Immigrants in the United States
'. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. pp. 146-147, 150-151

In July 1899 the SLP split into two. Those loyal to Daniel De Leon retained control over ''Dos Abend Blatt'', but several prominent members (such as Krantz and Feygenbaum) had joined the other camp and subsequently left the paper.Frankel, Jonathan.
Prophecy and Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the Russian Jews, 1862-1917
'. Cambridge ngland Cambridge University Press, 1984. p. 473

By 1900, there was an attempt to popularize ''Dos Abend Blatt'' amongst the Jewish community, through introduction of 'Jewish News' and 'Jewish Letters' (from abroad) sections. However, this shift in editorial policy gave little benefit, as ''Forverts'' had already won over major sections of readership by consistently appealing to the notion of ''Yiddishkeit''.Jacobson, Matthew Frye.
Special Sorrows: The Diasporic Imagination of Irish, Polish, and Jewish Immigrants in the United States
'. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. p. 274

''Dos Abend Blatt'' and ''Di Arbeter Tsaytung'' both terminated publication in 1902.

Bibliography

*Milkh, Yaʻaḳov, and Louis Lazarus.
The Rise of the "Forward" and Its Struggle with the "Abend Blatt" (1893-1902): Reminiscences
'. New York: ouis Lazarus 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abend Blatt
Publications established in 1894
Publications disestablished in 1902
Yiddish socialist newspapers
Jewish newspapers published in the United States
Jews and Judaism in New York City
Defunct newspapers published in New York City
Socialist Labor Party publications
Defunct Yiddish-language newspapers published in the United States
Non-English-language newspapers published in New York (state)
1894 establishments in New York (state)
1902 disestablishments in New York (state)
Yiddish culture in New York (state)
Daily newspapers published in New York City