Hebrew Press

Israel

June 19, 1963

A commemorative postage stamp on Hebrew Press Centenary :

Issued by Israel

Issued on 19 Jun, 1963

Designer : The stamp was designed by O. Wallish, Tel Aviv

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Tan & Violet Brown

Denomination : 12 Agorot

About :

The Hebrew reader of 1963 may cull his daily news from fourteen Hebrew newspapers that are printed in Israel each day. He may supplement this daily fare by gleanings from numerous illustrated weeklies and from the many fortnightly, monthly, and quarterly publications devoted to literacy, social, and political issues. Even the school-going Israeli has a choice of five weekly papers – offspring of the five foremost dailies. All of Israel’s newspapers are nationwide in distribution and interest, and unlike in other countries there are no specifically “local” papers. The variety that marks the Hebrew press today is the result of a century of growth.
The first Hebrew newspaper – Halbanon – made its appearance in the Holy Land in the spring of 1863, some twenty years before the birth of modern Zionism. This pioneer publication, printed and published by Yoel Moshe Salomon, marked one of the earliest signs of the Yishuv’s transition from medievalism to modernity. Halbanon was followed in the same year by a second publication known as Habazeleth.
Although both these journals were orthodox in spirit their editors tried to introduce new life and thought into the stagnating Jewish community. Their outspoken criticisms of the Jewish institutions of the time brought them into conflict with the leaders of the Yishuv and led to the ultimate discontinuation of both journals. Halbanon closed down after the twelfth issue, and its editor Yechiel Brill was compelled to leave the country. He later revived Halbanon from Paris and Mayence. In 1870 Habazeleth reappeared under the editorship of Israel Dov Frumkin, an early Jerusalem pioneer. It continued to appear regularly until shortly before the outbreak of World War I.
The arrival of Eliezer Ben Yehuda – the father of modern Hebrew – marked an important milestone in the development of the Hebrew press. In 1885 Ben Yehuda founded Hazewi in which he championed his ideas for the revival of Hebrew as a living language.
With the advent of the Second Aliyya the “winds of change” began to gather force in the Yishuv. The men who brought with them a ferment of new ideas naturally sought suitable avenues of expression for their aspirations and ideological concepts.
In 1907 and in 1910 Hapoel Hatzair and Ha’achdut, the first weekly publications of the nascent labour movement appeared. In the pages of these journals thinkers like Brener, A.D. Gordon, Moshe Smilansky and Berl Katzenelson gave expression to the type of thought that inspired the Second Aliyya with that rare compound of realism and visionary idealism that was to have far reaching effects on the future of the nation.
In this same period Eliezer Ben Yehuda and his son Ittamar Ben Avi founded the first Hebrew daily – Doar Hayom. However, it was only with the end of World War I that the daily press came into its own. With the rapid expansion of the Yishuv and the firm entrenchment of Hebrew as the language of daily communication the demand grew for a wider Hebrew press. This period saw the establishment of Haaretz, the first large independent daily and Davar, the organ of the Histadrut (The General Federation of Labour), which were followed by others, and later by the appearance of two widely distributed evening papers.
CH. P.