Algemeiner Journal

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Algemeiner Journal
File:Algemeiner Covers.jpg
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatTabloid
OwnerGershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation
FounderGershon Jacobson
PublisherSimon Jacobson
EditorDovid Efune
Founded1972
HeadquartersBrooklyn, New York, USA
Circulation23,000[1]
Websitealgemeiner.com

The Algemeiner Journal, known informally as The Algemeiner, is a newspaper based in New York City that covers American and international Jewish and Israel-related news. It is widely read by Hasidic Jews.

History

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Gershon Jacobson, a former reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune, founded the Yiddish-language Der Algemeiner Journal (דער אַלגעמיינער זשורנאַל, 'The Universal Journal') after consulting the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.[2][3]

Der Algemeiner Journal Corporation published the inaugural issue on February 23, 1972. The ten-page paper was priced at 25 cents. Twenty thousand issues were printed. The corporation's goal was to promote Jewish identity and information to American Jewry.[4] Der Algemeiner Journal intended to fill the gap after the daily Yiddish paper Der Tog Morgen Zhurnal closed in 1971.[5] Jacobson had earlier written and served as its city editor.[6] The largest-circulation Yiddish weekly in the United States,[6] Der Algemeiner Journal emphasized Jewish community news, with a politically independent viewpoint, including reporting on tensions between rival Hasidic sects. Although Jacobson was a Lubavitcher Chasid,[7] according to The New York Times, he "defied easy categorization."[2]

At its peak, Der Algemeiner's circulation neared 100,000. In 1989, in response to the increasing marginalization of Yiddish in the Jewish community, Der Algemeiner Journal began printing a four-page English supplement in the middle of the paper, attracting a more diverse Jewish audience.[8][2]

The Algemeiner's advisory board was chaired by Nobel laureate, writer, and activist Elie Wiesel.[9]

Jacobson served as the paper's editor and publisher until his death in 2005,[2] and Gershon's elder son Simon Jacobson became the publisher. He founded the Gershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation (GJCF), a Jewish media organization with the mission to serve as a voice for Jews and Israel.[10] At this time, circulation was approximately 18,000.[2]

In 2008, Jacobson reconceived Der Algemeiner Journal as an English-language publication, replacing the Yiddish "Der" in the title for "The". That year, Dovid Efune became the editor-in-chief of what was called The Algemeiner and Director of the GJCF.[11] Efune left his position in November 2021 to join The New York Sun, but remained on the board.[12]

In 2012, the GJCF launched the website Algemeiner.com.[13]

Content and circulation

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The Algemeiner print edition is published every Friday, except during Passover and Sukkot. In 2023, its circulation is about 23,000.[14] It is widely read by Hasidic Jews, for whom Yiddish is the daily language.[2]

During the United States presidency of George H. W. Bush, Algemeiner had among the harshest editorial lines on the Bush administration's efforts in the Israel-Palestinian peace process to roll back settlements. This perspective placed the publication outside the Jewish mainstream at the time.[15]

In 2020, Reuters reported that Algemeiner, The Times of Israel, and The Jerusalem Post had published op-eds credited to "Oliver Taylor", a fabricated "reporter" whose identity could not be verified and was thought to be "created by similar machine learning methods used to create deepfakes".[16] One of "Taylor's" op-eds called Mazen Masri, a legal scholar at City University London,[17] and his wife, Ryvka Barnard, a Palestinian human rights activist, "known terrorist sympathizers", which both denied.[18]

In 2020, Algemeiner editor-in-chief Dovid Efune said the publication is largely funded by small donors who support the site's message.[19]

Annual events and lists

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The Algemeiner began hosting its "Jewish 100" gala in 2014, an elaboration on its annual dinner.[20] Donald Trump and Melissa Rivers headlined the 2015 event, presenting short speeches and accepting awards for Algemeiner's recognition of their support of the Jewish people and Israel.[21] The Algemeiner unveils its annual "J100" list at a gala, honoring 100 people that have positively influenced Jewish life.[22][23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Tzivia Jacobson, "The Rebbe's Advice on Opening a Yiddish Newspaper," Chabad.org, December 2014, January 2015.
  4. ^ "New Yiddish Weekly Launched," Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 24, 1972.
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ a b "Yiddish Journalist Gershon Jacobson, 71", The Forward, June 3, 2005.
  7. ^ Chaim Miller, "Turning Judaism Outward: A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, page 208", Turning Judaism Outward: A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, p.208, copyright 2014.
  8. ^ Elli Wohlgelernter, "Head of Yiddish paper comes 'from a different school,'" Jweekly, May 18, 2001.
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  13. ^ About us Algemeiner Journal
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