Di Tsayt (New York City)

Di Tsayt (Yiddish: די צײט, 'The Time', also transliterated in the Germanized fashion as Die Zeit) was a Yiddish language daily newspaper published in New York City, United States 1920-1922.^[1][2][3] Di Tsayt was a national organ of the Labor Zionist Poale Zion movement in the United States.^[1][2][4] It was published by the Poale Zion Publishing Association.^[4] The playwright David Pinski was the editor of Di Tsayt.^[2][5]

Di Tsayt
די צײט

Type	Daily
Editor	David Pinski
Founded	August 29, 1920 (1920-08-29)
Political alignment	Labor Zionist
Language	Yiddish
Ceased publication	April 26, 1922 (1922-04-26)
Headquarters	New York City
OCLC number	32750086

Founding

Di Tsayt was founded on the initiative of Nachman Syrkin and other champions of the Poale Zion.^[6] To launch a daily newspaper of its own was quite an undertaking for the Poale Zion movement. Shares were sold amongst sympathizers in different areas of the United States. Golda Meir participated in the campaign to sell shares for the founding of Di Tsayt.^[7]

Profile

The first issue of Di Tsayt was published on August 29, 1920.^[8] The newspaper was published parallel to the existing Poale Zion weekly, Der Yiddisher Kempfer. Whilst Der Yiddisher Kempfer retained the role as the ideological-political organ of the movement, Di Tsayt focused more on issues of nurturing Jewish culture.^[4]

Closure

The publication attracted a number of talented Yiddish writers, but could not position itself in the competition with the main established Yiddish newspapers of the city.^[6][9] The newspaper suffered from financial difficulties for some time.^[8] In the end the newspaper went bankrupt.^[10] The publication was closed down on April 26, 1922.^[8] The closure of Di Tsayt resulted in a significant loss of prestige and demoralized the Poale Zion movement in the United States.^[11][12]

References

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• Journalism portal

1. Divre ha-Ḳongres ha-ʻolami ha-aḥad-ʻaśar le-madaʻe ha-Yahadut: Yerushalayim, 3-10 be-Tamuz, 753, 22-29 be-Yuni, 1993, Vol. 2, Part 3. ha-Igud ha-ʻolami le-madaʻe ha-Yahadut, 1994. p. 118
2. Mendelsohn, Ezra, and Richard I. Cohen. Art and Its Uses: The Visual Image and Modern Jewish Society. New York: Published for the Institute by Oxford University Press, 1990. pp. 289, 304
3. Caliendo, Ralph J. New York City Mayors. [Bloomington, Ind.?]: Xlibris, 2010. p. 489
4. Rojanski, Rachel. The rise and fall of Die Zeit (Di tsayt)*: The fate of an encounter between culture and politics
5. Brown, Michael. The Israeli-American Connection: Its Roots in the Yishuv, 1914 - 1945. Detroit, Mich: Wayne State Univ. Press, 1996. p. 111
6. Raider, Mark A. The Emergence of American Zionism. New York: New York University Press, 1998. p. 47
7. Syrkin, Marie. Golda Meir: Woman with a Cause. New York: Putnam, 1963. p. 53
8. Szajkowski, Zosa. Jews, Wars, and Communism. New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1972. p. 183
9. Passow, David. The Prime of Yiddish. Hewlett, N.Y.: Gefen, 1996. p. 25
10. Fox, Maier Bryan. Labour Zionism in America: The Challenge of the 1920s
11. Cohen, Moshe. Labor Zionist Handbook; The Aims, Activities and History of the Labor Zionist Movement in America. New York: Poale Zion Zeire Zion of America, 1939. pp. 50, 150
12. Reinharz, Shulamit. American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise. Waltham, Mass: Brandeis Univ. Press, 2004. p. 116