Hashachar (magazine)
Hashachar ( Hebrew הַשַּׁחַר'Die Morgenröte') was a Hebrew-language monthly magazine, which was published by Peretz Smolenskin in Vienna from 1868 to 1885 and which at the time of its existence became the most important organ of the Haskala .
Smolenskin founded the magazine to propagate the ideas of the Jewish Enlightenment among the Jewish population, mainly among Eastern European Jews . Smolenskin was also the editor of the Hashachar and published articles in it, which promoted the spread of the Hebrew language, nationalism and the return to the Holy Land ( Zionism ). He also published his radical and socialist ideas in it. On the one hand, he criticized rabbis and members of Orthodox Judaism for being immobile and ignorant in his view, and on the other, educated Jews in the Russian Empire for calling for assimilation. Smolenskin published articles in the newspaper, which criticized Moses Mendelssohn and the people around him, because in his opinion they lacked the national Jewish spirit and would thus lead to assimilation and ruin.
The monthly magazine was influenced by European, mostly German magazines from the same period and also contained literature, scientific articles, biographies and news from the Jewish world. It was published all over Europe and was popular in the Russian Empire - even if it was censored there. In Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, the newspaper was read in secret. The magazine also had economic difficulties, which resulted in temporary publication failures. Abraham Bär Gottlober , an ideological opponent of the magazine, founded the magazine HaBoker Or (הַבּוֹקֶר אוֹר 'The Morning of Light') - as a counterpoint to the Hashachar. Among the authors of Haschachar were Mordechai David Brandstädter , Jehuda Leib Gordon , Mosche Lilienblum , David Kahana and Schlomo Rubin (who helped to found and create the magazine) and Schlomo Mandelkern . In the 1879 issue, Elieser Ben-Jehuda published his first article A Weighty Question in this magazine. (Originally the title was A Burning Question , but was changed through Smolenskin's intervention.) The article dealt with the Jewish national awakening. The rebirth of the Hebrew language was also addressed.
There were 12 issues in total. With the death of Smolenskin in 1885 the magazine was discontinued.