Algemeiner Journal

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American newspaper

title: "Algemeiner Journal" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1972-establishments-in-new-york-city", "defunct-yiddish-language-newspapers-published-in-the-united-states", "jewish-newspapers-published-in-the-united-states", "newspapers-established-in-1972", "newspapers-published-in-brooklyn", "zionism-in-the-united-states"] description: "American newspaper" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algemeiner_Journal" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American newspaper ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox newspaper"]

Field	Value
name	Algemeiner Journal
image	[[File:Algemeiner Covers.jpg
type	Weekly newspaper
format	Tabloid
founded	1972
owners	Gershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation
founders	Gershon Jacobson
circulation	23,000
publisher	Simon Jacobson
editor	Dovid Efune
headquarters	Brooklyn, New York, USA
website
::

The Algemeiner Journal, known informally as The Algemeiner, is a newspaper based in New York City that covers American and international Jewish and Israel-related news. It is widely read by Hasidic Jews.

History

Gershon Jacobson, a former reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune, founded the Yiddish-language Der Algemeiner Journal (דער אַלגעמיינער זשורנאַל, 'The Universal Journal') after consulting the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Der Algemeiner Journal Corporation published the inaugural issue on February 23, 1972. The ten-page paper was priced at 25 cents. Twenty thousand issues were printed. The corporation's goal was to promote Jewish identity and information to American Jewry. Der Algemeiner Journal intended to fill the gap after the daily Yiddish paper Der Tog Morgen Zhurnal closed in 1971. Jacobson had earlier written and served as its city editor. The largest-circulation Yiddish weekly in the United States, Der Algemeiner Journal emphasized Jewish community news, with a politically independent viewpoint, including reporting on tensions between rival Hasidic sects. Although Jacobson was a Lubavitcher Chasid, according to The New York Times, he "defied easy categorization."

At its peak, Der Algemeiners circulation neared 100,000. In 1989, in response to the increasing marginalization of Yiddish in the Jewish community, Der Algemeiner Journal began printing a four-page English supplement in the middle of the paper, attracting a more diverse Jewish audience.

The Algemeiners advisory board was chaired by Nobel laureate, writer, and activist Elie Wiesel.

Jacobson served as the paper's editor and publisher until his death in 2005, and Gershon's elder son Simon Jacobson became the publisher. He founded the Gershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation (GJCF), a Jewish media organization with the mission to serve as a voice for Jews and Israel. At this time, circulation was approximately 18,000.

In 2008, Jacobson reconceived Der Algemeiner Journal as an English-language publication, replacing the Yiddish "Der" in the title for "The". That year, Dovid Efune became the editor-in-chief of what was called The Algemeiner and Director of the GJCF. Efune left his position in November 2021 to join The New York Sun, but remained on the board.

In 2012, the GJCF launched the website Algemeiner.com.

Content and circulation

The Algemeiner print edition is published every Friday, except during Passover and Sukkot. In 2023, its circulation is about 23,000. It is widely read by Hasidic Jews, for whom Yiddish is the daily language.

During the United States presidency of George H. W. Bush, Algemeiner had among the harshest editorial lines on the Bush administration's efforts in the Israel-Palestinian peace process to roll back settlements. This perspective placed the publication outside the Jewish mainstream at the time.

In 2020, Reuters reported that Algemeiner, The Times of Israel, and The Jerusalem Post had published op-eds credited to "Oliver Taylor", a fabricated "reporter" whose identity could not be verified and was thought to be "created by similar machine learning methods used to create deepfakes". One of "Taylor's" op-eds called Mazen Masri, a legal scholar at City University London, and his wife, Ryvka Barnard, a Palestinian human rights activist, "known terrorist sympathizers", which both denied.

In 2020, Algemeiner editor-in-chief Dovid Efune said the publication is largely funded by small donors who support the site's message.

Annual events and lists

The Algemeiner began hosting its "Jewish 100" gala in 2014, an elaboration on its annual dinner. Donald Trump and Melissa Rivers headlined the 2015 event, presenting short speeches and accepting awards for Algemeiner recognition of their support of the Jewish people and Israel. The Algemeiner unveils its annual "J100" list at a gala, honoring 100 people that have positively influenced Jewish life.

References

"Algemeiner Journal".
Tzivia Jacobson, [http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/3105536/jewish/The-Rebbes-Advice-on-Opening-a-Yiddish-Newspaper.htm "The Rebbe's Advice on Opening a Yiddish Newspaper,"] ''Chabad.org'', December 2014, January 2015.
[http://archive.jta.org/article/1972/02/25/2960397/new-yiddish-weekly-launched "New Yiddish Weekly Launched,"] [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]], February 24, 1972.
(February 24, 1972). "A New Yiddish Weekly Makes Its Appearance". [[The New York Times]].
[http://www.forward.com/articles/3587/ "Yiddish Journalist Gershon Jacobson, 71"], ''[[The Forward]]'', June 3, 2005.
Chaim Miller, [https://books.google.com/books?id=z8MNBAAAQBAJ&dq=gershon+jacobson+lubavitcher+chasid&pg=PA208 "Turning Judaism Outward: A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, page 208"], ''Turning Judaism Outward: A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe'', p.208, copyright 2014.
Elli Wohlgelernter, [http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/15693/head-of-yiddish-paper-comes-from-a-different-school "Head of Yiddish paper comes 'from a different school,'"] ''[[Jweekly]]'', May 18, 2001.
chiourim.com. "Allgemeiner Journal : 40 ans au service de la communauté juive".
Fox, Margalit. (June 2, 2005). "Gershon Jacobson, 70, Founder and Editor of Yiddish Journal, Is Dead". The New York Times.
"GJCF mission statement".
(7 August 2018). "In the pursuit of justice".
(November 3, 2021). "The New York Sun, a defunct newspaper, plans a comeback after a sale.". The New York Times.
[https://www.algemeiner.com/about/ About us] ''Algemeiner Journal''
"Algemeiner Journal newspaper in New York City New York". Mondo Times.
(1996). "Jewish power: Inside the American Jewish establishment". Addison-Wesley.
Satter, Raphael. (15 July 2020). "Deepfake used to attack activist couple shows new disinformation frontier". [[Reuters]].
"Mazen Masri".
(July 20, 2020). "What's a deepfake and why exactly are they so dangerous?". Newsweek.
(June 8, 2020). "The uncertain future of Jewish news media". Columbia Journalism Review.
(February 11, 2015). "Algemeiner Journal Jewish 100 Gala Honors Donald Trump, Joan Rivers and Yuli Edelsterin".
(February 4, 2015). "Donald Trump, Melissa Rivers Headline Algemeiner Gala". Observer.
(2022-11-30). "Algemeiner Unveils 9th Annual ‘J100’ List at Gala Featuring Enes Kanter Freedom, Sebastian Kurz and Pat Boone".
(2017-09-29). "Trump Family Members Make Publication’s List of ‘People Positively Influencing Jewish Life’".
"The Algemeiner’s 6th Annual J100 Gala".

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