Israelit, Der

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ISRAELIT, DER

ISRAELIT, DER , leading Orthodox weekly in Germany, founded in 1860 by Marcus *Lehmann, in Mainz. The Hebrew periodical *Ha-Levanon was published from 1872 to 1882 as the Hebrew edition of Der Israelit, and also appeared in Yiddish from 1873 to 1879. From 1883 to 1905 Der Israelit appeared twice weekly. It was published jointly with the Jeschurun, founded by S.R. *Hirsch, from 1889 to 1891. After Lehmann's death in 1890, successive editors were his son Oskar, his nephew and rabbinical successor Jonas *Bondi, Julius Lorsch, Jacob *Rosenheim, and S. Schachnowitz. Rosenheim, who reorganized the paper financially in 1906 when its offices were moved to Frankfurt, became its principal leader writer. Under Rosenheim Der Israelit achieved a high journalistic standard and was widely read not only in Germany but also in Austria, Hungary, and Western Europe. It carried a number of literary and educational supplements, and M. Lehmann's popular stories first appeared in installments in his paper. Der Israelit was the organ both of secessionist (Austritt) Orthodoxy in Germany and of *Agudat Israel. The paper's last issue appeared on Nov. 3, 1938.

bibliography:

H. Schwab, History of Orthodox Jewry in Germany (1950), index; Juedische Presse im 19. Jahrhundert … (1967), 53f.; J. Rosenheim, Zikhronot (1955), 97ff.; J. Bondi, in: Der Israelit (Jan. 6, 1910).