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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ = the Jewish Daily News (New York, N.Y.) 1885-1928 יידישעס טאגעבלאט = Jewish daily news / Jewish daily news / Jüdisches tageblatt

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About Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ = the Jewish Daily News (New York, N.Y.) 1885-1928

The trajectory of the Yiddish press in the United States has largely mirrored that of its Yiddish speaking readers during the period spanning from the last quarter of the nineteenth century through the first quarter of the twentieth century. This era was marked by significant Ashkenazi Jewish immigration from eastern Europe to America, especially in the wake of the pogroms targeting Jews in the Russian Empire, beginning in 1881 following the assassination of Czar Alexander II (1855-1881) and continuing into the early 1920s.

Yiddish newspaper headlines from 1906-1920 attest to the growing wave of anti-Jewish pogroms that paved the way for mass immigration to the United States. Examples of such headlines include: “Terror of Pogroms in Many Cities” (Der Morgen Zshurnal, June 15, 1906); “Pogroms in Odessa” (Der Morgen Zshurnal, April 11, 1909); “The Russian Pogroms against the Jews in Galicia” (Der Tog, November 5, 1914); “New Pogroms in Ukraine: Masses of Jews Slaughtered” (Yidishes Tageblatt, September 9, 1920).

Di Varhayt featured some of the most detailed articles about the pogroms; they provided specific statistics of those murdered, wounded, orphaned, and the cost of damages incurred by Jews as the direct result of these violent episodes. Although certainly not the only pogrom victims of that era, the Jews of Odessa were said to have witnessed the worst of these anti-Jewish onslaughts in the earliest years of the twentieth century, as reported in Di Varhayt, November 16, 1906: “There were 874 people killed and 278 wounded there … In total, 14,899 Jewish families suffered there.” Di Varhayt’s coverage of international events continued through World War II.

In January 1885, Hebrew and Yiddish newspaper publisher, Kasriel Sarasohn (1835-1905) founded the Yidishes Tageblatt (Jewish Daily News) in New York. The Tageblatt proved to be the first successful Yiddish daily in the United States, and it had a profound impact on the expansion of the Yiddish press in America and the Jewish immigrant population of that time. At its zenith, the politically conservative and religiously Orthodox daily sold over 70,000 copies daily, a significant number for its day. Among its editors were the Yiddish journalists John Paley (1871-1907), Gedaliah Bublick (1875-1948), and Tashrak, the pen name of Israel Joseph Zevin (1872-1926).

In the aftermath of World War I, the once influential Tageblatt’s impact declined as Yiddish speaking Jewish immigrants in the United States became increasingly assimilated and learned to speak and read English. In April 1928, the similarly traditional Der Morgen Zshurnal (The Jewish Morning Journal) acquired the Yidishes Tageblatt and became Der Morgen Zshurnal, Yidishes Tageblatt (Jewish Morning Journal and the Jewish Daily News).

Jacob Saphirstein began to publish the Morgen Zshurnal on July 2, 1901, and Peter Wiernik (1865-1936) served as the newspaper’s chief editorial writer. Later, he became the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, a position he held until his death. Rare for Yiddish newspapers of its day, the Morgen Zshurnal supported the Republican Party, in contrast to many Jewish newspapers that backed more liberal and even radical entities. This was the only Yiddish newspaper at the time to appear in the morning, and it was known for containing a significant number of want-ads, a feature that greatly appealed to unemployed readers.

In 1916, the newspaper reached its apex in circulation numbers: 111,000 subscribers. That same year, Jacob Fishman (1878-1946) was appointed the newspaper’s managing editor and in 1936, following the death of Wiernik, he became the new editor-in-chief. Under Fishman’s tutelage, the paper took on a more liberal and intellectual tone, featuring works by the likes of Yiddish poet Jacob Glatstein (1896-1971), writer-editor Jacob Magidov (1869-1943), and literary-theater critics Bernard Gorin (1968-1925) and Alexander Mukdoni (1878-1958). Fishman also introduced the column, “Fun Tog tsu Tog” (“From Day to Day”), which focused on both Jewish and more general issues. Even after he retired as editor in 1938, Fishman continued to feature his daily column in the renamed Der Morgen Zshurnal (Jewish Journal and Daily News), which continued to be published by Rabbi Solomon Reichman (1898-1984) until 1953.

Der Tog (The Day) began publication on November 5, 1914, in New York. Established as a non-partisan liberal newspaper, Der Tog was founded by a group of New York intellectuals and businesspeople overseen by Judah L. Magnes (1877-1948) and Morris Weinberg (1876-1968). Among the newspaper’s chief goals were to elevate the Yiddish literary standards of its readers and provide them with a forum for expression. Under the editorship of William Edlin (1878-1947), its columnists included noted Yiddish writers and playwrights such as Samuel Niger (1883-1955), David Pinsky (1893-1949), Aaron Glanz-Leieles (1889-1966), and Peretz Hirschbein (1880-1948). In 1919, the liberal Yiddish daily merged with Di Varhayt [or Die Wahrheit] (The Truth)—founded in 1905—and proceeded to be known as Der Tog or alternately, as Der Tog, Di Varhayt.

In 1953, Der Tog merged with Der Morgen Zshurnal, which at the time had been in existence for 52 years. The combined newspaper appeared as Der Tog, Morgen Zshurnal (The Day-Jewish Journal) under editor Solomon Dingol (1887-1961) and owner Morris Weinberg, publisher of Der Tog. In 1970, the combined Yiddish newspaper had a circulation of 50,000 readers. The newspaper ceased publication due to an overall decline in Yiddish readership in 1971.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ = the Jewish Daily News (New York, N.Y.) 1885-1928

Other Title

  • יידישעס טאגעבלאט = Jewish daily news
  • Jewish daily news
  • Jüdisches tageblatt

Dates of Publication

  • 1885-1928

Created / Published

  • New York, N.Y. : Sarasohn & Son

Headings

  • -  Jewish newspapers--New York (State)
  • -  Jews--United States--History--1789-1945--Sources
  • -  Jewish newspapers--New York (State)--New York
  • -  New York (N.Y.)--Newspapers
  • -  New York County (N.Y.)--Newspapers
  • -  Jewish newspapers
  • -  Jews
  • -  New York (State)
  • -  New York (State)--New York
  • -  New York (State)--New York County
  • -  United States
  • -  1789-1945
  • -  United States--New York--New York--New York

Genre

  • History
  • Newspapers
  • Sources

Notes

  • -  Daily
  • -  Began in July, 1885.
  • -  -v. 44, no. 99 (Apr. 29, 1928).
  • -  Gregory, W. American Newspapers, 1821-1936 p. 470
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  In Yiddish and English.
  • -  United with: Jewish Morning Journal, to form: Jewish Morning Journal and the Jewish Daily News.
  • -  Weekly ed.: Idishe gazeṭen.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 4, no. 4 (Jan. 6, 1888).
  • -  Morgen zshurnal, yidishes ṭageblaṭ (DLC)sn 83045838 (OCoLC)9769743

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 56 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86063496

OCLC Number

  • 13190882

ISSN Number

  • 2998-3339

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ = the Jewish Daily News New York, N.Y. -1928. (New York, NY), Jan. 1 1885. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86063496/.

APA citation style:

(1885, January 1) Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ = the Jewish Daily News New York, N.Y. -1928. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86063496/.

MLA citation style:

Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ = the Jewish Daily News New York, N.Y. -1928. (New York, NY) 1 Jan. 1885. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn86063496/.