Ha-Boker

views updated

HA-BOKER

HA-BOKER (Heb. הַבֹּקֶר "The Morning").

(1) Daily Hebrew newspaper, published in Warsaw under the editorship of David *Frischmann from Jan. 14, 1909, until Aug. 20, 1909 (180 editions). Published with the Yiddish daily Haynt, to which Frischmann was a regular contributor, Ha-Boker was politically non-aligned. The editor was very exacting in the stylistic standard of the paper and intent upon attracting as contributors the best Hebrew writers and intellects of the day. Translations from world literature were also published in Ha-Boker. The paper had regular writers in London (Asher *Beilin), and in the United States (A. Fleishman), and occasional contributors elsewhere. Two current events filled up entire editions: the discovery of the agent provocateur, *Azeff, and the rebellion of the Young Turks in Turkey. Especially through the treatment of the latter, Ha-Boker took the stand, opposed to the official Zionist opinion, namely that the Young Turks would aggravate the already negative Turkish position on the Zionist undertaking (which indeed proved the case). Extensive debates were conducted, too, on the topic of Yiddish-Hebrew, and the "Hebrew in Hebrew" teaching method.

(2) Daily Hebrew newspaper published in Tel Aviv, 1935–65. Right-wing circles of the yishuv founded Ha-Boker as their organ for General Zionism. The orientation of the paper was formulated in the first edition by M. *Dizengoff. A brief period of groping was followed by consolidation in the editorial staff, especially after J.H. Heftman became editor in chief (he served intermittently as sole editor or as coeditor with Perez *Bernstein). Ha-Boker is credited with several journalistic innovations in the country, especially with vivid reporting, then in its pioneering stages. The literary supplement was edited for years by Baruch *Karu (Krupnik). After Heftman's death, Y. Gruman served as the paper's editor, followed by P. Bernstein and G. Ẓifroni. With the formation of the Liberal Party (1961), which consolidated the two branches of General Zionism, this paper served as its organ, and as a forum for publicists and writers in sympathy with the party. Finally, with the formation of the Ḥerut Liberal Party bloc (*Gaḥal) in 1965, the two party newspapers, Ḥerut and Ha-Boker, were replaced by a new paper, Ha-Yom.

bibliography:

G. Kressel, Toledot ha-Ittonut ha-Ivrit be-Ereẓ Yisrael (19642), 162–6.

[Getzel Kressel]