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Bidding Information
Lot #
22746
Auction End Date
1/20/2009 12:00:00 PM (mm/dd/yyyy)
Title Information
Title (English)
Hameasseph
Title (Hebrew)
המאסף בארץ החדשה
Author
[Only Ed. - Polemic] [Mordecai Johalomstein]
City
New York
Publisher
K.H. Sarasohn
Publication Date
1881
Collection Information
Independent Item
This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
Description Information
Physical
Description
Only edition. 44 pp., 192:128 mm., light age staining. A very good copy not bound.
Detailed
Description
Published by the Society of the Friends of the Hebrew Language (Shoharei Sefat Ever). Founded in 1880 in New York by Eastern European immigrants, it was the first society in the world dedicated to promoting the Hebrew language and "it served as a model for the East European Hebrew intellectuals who founded similar societies during the 1880s in such cities as Chicago and Rochester". The mission of the New York society was "to awaken a love for our holy language in the hearts of the rest of our brethren who reside in this city who, though familiar with the Torah and hear the Hebrew language, unintentionally do not make an effort to meditate upon books printed in that language. Also to arouse fathers ... to teach their children the Hebrew language and Jewish literature ... The foundation of our religion in this city becomes weaker on a daily basis, and from year to year, as Reform becomes stronger and more popular among the youth. And this is only because our children are raised in their childhood not even hearing the prayers that were transmitted to us in Hebrew from the Men of the Great Assembly. Therefore, the young and the parents go ... to hear hymns and prayers in the Reform synagogues in the language of the land. From this the young learn the ways of the Reformer and then they too break away from the yoke of the Torah and the commandments. Therefore, we are obligated and commanded to strengthen the study of the Hebrew language among our children who are born in the land so that they will not learn the ways of the Reformer" (p. 5). While most Hebrew writers prefaced their books with a statement that they are not interested in money or honor, the publishers specifically state, "this is not the case with us. For in this New World we have adopted a new style for our prefaces. They will begin by stating that, indeed, we do seek honor and we hope to be rewarded with lucre as the fruit of this journal. For our only goal is to increase the honor of the Hevrat Shoharei Ever, and in order to increase its income we have begun the labor of publishing this quarterly because in the new land there is not one periodical that speaks to the nation of Israel in the Jewish language" (pp. 34). Contributors included Judah David Eisenstein, Mordekhai Johalomstein, Kasriel Hirsch Sarasohn and Moses Aaron Schreiber. Each issue of this quarterly was to cost twenty-five cents. Only one number appeared. It contains two essays on Hebrew philology, one on the opposition of the Talmud to the New Testament and an American poem translated into Hebrew. It also contains much information about the society, including its manifesto, constitution, contributors, finances, activities, prayer invocation at the first meeting, ete. This was the fifth attempt to establish a Hebrew periodical in America. "No editor is listed but it may be assumed that Jalomstein ... was responsible for seeing the material through the press" (Kabakoff (1980-1], 44). The Society's most important patron was Jacob Schiff (p. 9).
Paragraph 2
יאסוף בקרבו: פעולות החברה שוחרי שפת עבר ומאמרים הנוגעים לספרות העברית. יוצא לאור פעם אחת בכל תקופות השנה על ידי חברת שוחרי שפת עבר בנויארק. חוברת א. שנה ראשונה...
לא יצא יותר.
Reference
Description
CD-EPI 0183935; Goldman pp. 779-780
Associated Images
2 Images
(Click thumbnail to view full size image)
:
Order
Image
Caption
1
2
Listing Classification
Period
19th Century:
Checked
Location
America-South America:
Checked
Subject
Other:
Periodical
Characteristic
First Editions:
Checked
Language:
Hebrew
Manuscript Type
Kind of Judaica
