Collection of Issues of “HaYehudi” Founded by Yitzhak Sobolevsky. London, 1908–1909

“HaYehudi. A periodical dealing with all matters concerning Jews and Judaism in all countries, published weekly every Thursday. Published by Hebraico. Editor: Yitzhak Sobolevsky.” A full annual volume from the twelfth year of publication. 

The issues presented here include a regular column titled “From Jewry Street”, which reported on current events within the Jewish community in England. For example, in the issue dated 25 June 1908, there is a report on a Jewish tailor named Yaakov Jacob’s, who was brought before the rabbinical court of the community for employing women at night beyond regular working hours. He was also accused of working on both Sunday and the Sabbath. He was fined £19 and 12 shillings in court costs. Another issue reports on the founding of the “Association of All London Mohels” at the time, established to jointly protect the interests of mohels. Additional reports cover developments in the Land of Israel. For instance, the issue of 9 July 1908 reports on the opening of the agricultural school “Kiryat Sefer”, headed by Israel Belkind, which had just been inaugurated. Sobolevsky also regularly published appeals to contribute the “Zionist Shekel”, an initiative established by Theodor Herzl. The issues contain special obituary articles on great Jewish figures who had passed away, as well as regular reports on memorial events held in Herzl’s honor. In the issue of 30 July 1908, for example, it is reported: “On Herzl’s yahrzeit, about three hundred people visited his grave. A delegation of 15 Zionists arrived from Hungary…”, Other articles feature news reports from the international press regarding the Zionist enterprise. In the issue of 6 August, a note appears: “The report in the Daily Telegraph that there is interest in offering Eretz Israel to the Jewish people according to the Zionist aspiration… everyone refuses to believe the truth of this report… One might say the Telegraph’s correspondent was mocking us Jews…”, In the issue of 19 November, in an article titled “Haters of Zion, ” Sobolevsky responds to criticism of emissaries sent to Europe to raise funds for the Jews of Jerusalem. In the 12 November issue, an article by Ephraim Deinard appears, harshly criticizing the Reform movement and its religious reforms. 

Yitzhak Sobolevsky [1863–1913] was born in Kolno, Lomza District, Poland. At the age of three, he moved with his family to Warsaw, where he was educated. He later studied at the Volozhin Yeshiva and was a distinguished student of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (1820–1892). Upon completing his studies, he returned to Warsaw and worked with his father in the family bookshop, gradually transitioning to full-time literary work, which he pursued until the end of his life. He began his journalistic writing in 1879 in HaLevanon, and later published articles in HaTzefirah, HaMelitz, HaAsif, and others—primarily on the subjects of Jewish literature and its history. He also founded a literary-scientific platform called Knesset HaGedolah, which provided space for all forms of writing, and he personally contributed to most of its sections. Between 1896 and 1897, he arrived in London, and for seventeen consecutive years (1897–1913) he edited the Hebrew weekly HaYehudi (due to censorship, the edition sent to Russia was titled HaDegel), a singular and unique phenomenon in Anglo-Jewish life for the continuous publication of a Hebrew newspaper over such a period. He was not only the editor but, for many years, wrote nearly all sections of the newspaper himself. Sobolevsky also served as the proofreader, manager, and distributor (assisted at times by Zvi Hirsch Gelberg, and in later years by Aharon Leib Bisko, who edited the paper in his absence). Twice, Sobolevsky traveled to the United States with the goal of launching an American edition of HaYehudi, first in 1907, and again in the summer of 1912. On his final visit, he fell ill in Chicago, managed to return, and passed away shortly thereafter. Until his final days, he dreamed “of founding in America a weekly Hebrew newspaper focused primarily on Jewish affairs in America.” With his death, the publication of the newspaper ceased, despite Aharon Leib Bisko’s efforts to continue its production. Yitzhak Sobolevsky died in London on May 20, 1913.

48 bound issues. Browned paper. Overall good condition.