''Hamagid'' (; ), also known after 1893 as ''Hamagid LeIsrael'' (), was the first

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

weekly newspaper. It featured mostly current events, feature articles, a section on

Judaic studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (espe ...

, and, in its heyday, discussions of social issues. Published between 1856 to 1903, it first appeared in Lyck, East Prussia and targeted

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

, but was soon redistributed all over Europe and the Jewish world. Although it only had a peak circulation of 1,800 copies, it's primarily remembered as beginning the modern day Hebrew language press. It is hard to estimate its true readership, as in its era one copy would pass through many hands. Eliezer Lipman Silbermann

''Hamagid'' carried global and Jewish news in Hebrew, either translated, or as original reporting. It was also the first newspaper to publish

op-eds An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. ...

in Hebrew. The founder and first editor of ''Hamagid'' was Eliezer Lipman Zilbermann (1819 – 1882). He is credited with bringing the social issue of the ''

agunot An ''agunah'' ( he, עגונה, plural: agunot (); literally "anchored" or "chained") is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her religious marriage as determined by ''halakha'' (Jewish law). The classic case of this is a man who has left on a journey ...

'' to the forefront of reader's minds, and he made the issue one of the most important topics in the paper. A frequent contributor to the weekly was

Moses Vita Ascarelli Moses Vita Ascarelli (, ; 5 April 1826 – 11 December 1889), also known by the pen name Emet le-Ya'akov (), was an Italian physician, rabbi, writer, poet, and translator. Biography Moses Vita Ascarelli was born to a Jewish family in Rome in 1826 ...

; under the pen name, "Emet le-Ya'akov," he wrote articles on the condition of Italian Jews under Pope Pius IX. From the 1860s, the paper "fervently" supported resettlement of the Land of Israel for a combination of religious and nationalistic reasons, making the paper an early nucleus of the

Zionist movement Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

. David Gordon (1831 – 1886), formerly deputy editor, became editor in 1880, and his son became deputy editor. He held the position of editor until his death in 1886. After the death of his father, Dov Gordon continued as editor until 1890, until Yaacov Shmuel Fux took over, who edited between 1890 and 1903 and whose sole focus was on cultural and political issues, and not social issues as previous editors had focused on, in the footsteps of Zilbermann. ''Hamagid'' moved twice: first to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1890, then to

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

in 1892. After moving to Kraków, its readership declined, partly due to censorship by Russian authorities. It finally closed in 1903. In its twilight years, its ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' editor was Shimʻon Menaḥem Lazar'','' although Fux kept the title of editor until the end''.'' Post-1892, ''Hamagid'' found itself largely supplanted by other Hebrew language newspapers like ''

Ha-Melitz ''Ha-Melitz'' or ''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860. History ''Ha-Melitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From ...

'' and '' Ha-Tsfira.''

References

External links

Online, searchable ''Hamagid'' editions
from the

Historical Jewish Press Historical Jewish Press is an online archive of historical newspapers written and published by Jews. The database enables, through digitization, virtual access to the Hebrew press in most of its years of existence, starting from mid 19th Century t ...

{{Authority control 1856 establishments in Prussia Publications established in 1856 Hebrew-language newspapers Newspapers published in Germany

See also

References

External links