American Hebrew, The American Jewish Publication Soo.
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
which corporation was nnnicd"TlR' Aincricnn Hebrew Publisliing Coiuiiany." In the Ihiril number periodical, its policy was declared as follows; not controlled by one person, nor is it inspired by one. ll.s editorial staff comprises men of diverse shades of opiinon on ritualistic matters in .ludaisni. but men who are determined to combine theireniru'ies At tJH'outset of for the eommon cau.se of .ludaisni." its career. "The American llrlirew"
of
tliis
"It
is
— and
—
to this day by which only one that clian^e clianjre has been mad( bcin;; rendered nece.s.sarv by the death
waseonductiil
Orig'in
and Man-
is
a hoard of editors, in
agement.
—
To insure al)solule imperits mcnd)ers. sonality in all matters pertainin;; to the paper, the names of the |iersons forming this board have never of one of
been pu))lished. Durini; the persecutions of the
Rumanian
.Tews
that follnwcd the si!,'nin.ir "f the Treaty of Berlin (1HT8) which treaty, it was hoped, would alleviate, rather than agjrravate. the condition of the Jews of liumania "The American Hebrew " pidilished a nunilier of important letters on the subject from European writers, which led Hie American .lews to exercise their inlhience on behalf of their suffering coreligionists abroad. The perseeulion of the Russian .Jews that began with the enforcement throughout Russia of the ^lay Laws in ISXl caused a large immigration of these Jews to the United Stfites. In England and America, immigration aid a.ssoeiat ions were formed; and "The American Hebrew " assisted in the formation in New York of the " Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society." which cared fur the immigrants on their arrival in the United States; though this journal was not connected in any other wa.v with the society. Among tlw leading figures in Jewish life that " The American Hebrew" has introduced to American Judaism may be named Em.m. LA7,.KfS. who attaiiic'il ilistinetion as a poet. Under the management of this journal. Miss Lazarus published her "Dance
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ones were Holmes. Curtis. Burroughs. Ilowells. Hay, and Higginson. Zebulon B. Vance. Robert G. Ingersoll. and many others re|iresented the public nu'U. These persons all gave their views on the causes of the existing iirejuilice against the Jews. an<i suggested means for its dis.sipation. Among the more important literary contributions published in Ihecol-
umnsof "The American Hibrew
Max
"
must hcinstanced
edition of Judge Daly's work on the "Settlement of the .lews in , ierica." There, too, many important discussions bearing on the di'velopment of Judaism in America have been carried on. Since its publication "The American Hebrew " has absorbed .several Ji'wish periodicals, among which have been "The .Ii'wish Chronicle" fif Baltimore, Md.. in 1,880; "Jewish Tidings " of Rochester. N. Y., in IN!)."); "The Jewish Reformer." a weekly journal cfindiicted for a time by Kaufniann Kohler, I. S. J. Koliler's
Moses, and Einil <!. llirsch. in ISHti. Among other matters of public interest in which "The American Hebrew" has taken an important part are the establishnient in New York city Active in of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Matters of and the ilispatch. in I'.lllO. of a special Public commissioner( David Blaustein) to visit
Interest.
Humaiiia for the
|)iir|iose
of aseerlain-
ing the condition (jf the Rumanian .Jews. Mr. Blaustein contributed aseriesof comprehensive rejiorts on the subject of his investigations; and in tlu'in he also discussed the question of emigration, which had then already begun. The.se reports ai)))eared in the October and November issues of
"The American Hebrew" for 1000. Editorially. "The American Hebrew" stands
for
conservatism in Juilaism. Nevertheless, the columns of this journal are ever o])en to the discussion of views with which it can in no way accord, but which may be of interest to its readers. Nearly all
communal workhave been contributors to "The American Hebrew" has always
the prominent Jewish writers and ers in the United States its
pages.
of D<'alli," a fourte<'nth-century tragedy, based on authi'iitie documents ]daced at her disposal by Prof. Fran/. Delit/sch. Sulisci|Uently Miss La/.'irus cimtrilmled the tirst poem she translated from the original Hebrew, which appeared in the issue for May 11,
avoided the publication of ])urely private or social news, thus resisting an almost universal tendency among modern American newspapers, -p
1883. In "The American Hebrew" Miss Lazarus advocated industrial education for the younger generation of Russian refugees; lierefTorts in this direction. togethiT with those of other earnest writers, leading ultimately to the founding of the "Hebrew Technical Institute" in New York city, which was the lirst institution of its kind in the United States. Special numbers of "The American Hebrew " have been published from time to time. A noteworthy issue was that of the memorial number commemorative of the death of Emma Lazarus. This was pidilished in December. 1HS7. and contained tributes in prose and verse from the pens of Browning. Whit tier, Warner. Stednian. Hay. Burroughs. Dana. Eggleston, Bov<'sen. .Maurice Thompson, and Savage. Three years later (1890). " The American Hebrew " published a unique religioliterary symposium, entitled "A Consensus on Prejudice." Among the contributors to this number were such prominent educators as President James McCosh Religioof Princeton University, President Literary Charles W. Eliot of Harvard UniverSymsity, and Prof. Crawford II. Toy. The
journal
posium.
Christian Church was represented bjBishops Potter. Littlejohn. and Coxe, and Doctors Vincent, Dix. Crosby, Chadwick. Newton. Buckley. Hale, and Gladden. Literary men also contributed to this number; and among the leading
jj
AMERICAN ISRAELITE, THE A
established
in
(
'iniiiiiiali.
(),.
v
w.ekly
in
.Iiilv,
by Isaac Mayer Wise uiuler tlu' title of "The Israelite." It had two objects; (1) to propagate the principles of Reform Judaism; and (',') to kee]) the IS.")-),
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Israelites that lived often singly or in coniniunities of two or three families, in the mimerous small towns of the United States in touch with Jewish affairs, thus contributing to save them to Judaism. "The American Israelite" has always advocated progressive thatis. Reform Judaism. while planting itself on the platform of Americanism. It has constantly maintained that American .lews are differentiated from American Christians in religion only, not in nationality, and that there is no such thing to-day as a
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Jewish nation. For some time Edward Bloeli and Herman M. Mrxis were associated with Dr. Wise as ])ublislieis. On .Ian. 1, 18T.5. Leo Wise, the eldest son of the editor, became business manager, and the editorial management gradually jiasscd into his hands; though Dr. Wise wrote the leaders and most of the editorial paragraphs uninterruptedly up to the time of his deatii (March 26. 1900). Since the latter dale the management has been a.ssisted by Rabbi David Philipson of Cincinnati, as editorial writer, and by Dr. Louis Grossmaun of Cincinnati, and Dr. Julius Wise of Chicago, as editorial contributors. On .July 1, 1874, the title of the paper was changed to "The
