“What Has All This Got to Do with the Jewish People?”: The New York Yiddish Press and the Founding of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 1913-1928 Cover Image

“What Has All This Got to Do with the Jewish People?”: The New York Yiddish Press and the Founding of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 1913-1928
“What Has All This Got to Do with the Jewish People?”: The New York Yiddish Press and the Founding of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 1913-1928

Author(s): Yael Levi
Subject(s): History, Recent History (1900 till today), Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
Published by: Argonaut
Keywords: Yiddish press; Hebrew University; Jewish politics; Jewish nationalism; United States; Zionism;

Summary/Abstract: The Yiddish press in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century was a major arena in which debates on political and ideological questions within the Jewish world were conducted. The Jewish world dealt intensively in the founding of the Hebrew University during the early decades of the twentieth century. In that context, the Jewish press in the United States had an important role. The Yiddish press was the most influential among the foreign-language Jewish press, and reflected the contemporary political processes regarding that issue. This article addresses the change in the prevailing attitude toward the idea of the university as expressed in New York’s Yiddish press. By examining the various positions taken in the Yiddish press toward the idea prior to the First World War and comparing them to the attitudes expressed after the war, I will argue that before 1914 the opposition to the founding of the university stemmed from both pragmatic and ideological grounds, whereas following 1918 this opposition largely dissipated, and pragmatic considerations fuelled growing support for the idea.

  • Issue Year: 23/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 187-215
  • Page Count: 29
  • Language: English