[net.religion.jewish] Jewish Newspapers in N.J.

richard@vax135.UUCP (Richard Seide) (02/26/85)

Does anyone have any information about Jewish newspapers in the New Jersy
area? I would appreciate any information. Thanks!!

abeles@mhuxm.UUCP (abeles) (02/26/85)

> Does anyone have any information about Jewish newspapers in the New Jersy
> area? I would appreciate any information. Thanks!!

The basic story with Jewish newspapers here in NJ is the following
as nearly as I can determine:  In New York there is The Jewish Week,
which is the finest quality Jewish newspaper of which I am aware in
the United States.  It is a Federation of Jewish Philanthropies
newspaper, which is to say that anyone who contributes to the NY United
Jewish Appeal (UJA)/Federation charity automatically is entered as
a subscriber, and the UJA/Federation supports the paper financially.

It appears that the Federation is organized by geographical area and
its newspapers (of which one important purpose is to publicize fund-
raising activities for the parent Federation) are likewise organized
by geographical areas.  Now, contrary to the popular wisdom, especially
as it is held east of the Hudson river, NJ is not a city but a whole
state.  The Federation is divided into a number of local parts here.
Hence, each part has its own Federation paper.  Unfortunately, none of
these areas at least as I'm aware, has enough clout to put together
a quality newspaper, at least relatively speaking.  They are too
fragmented.  In the New Brunswick area where I live there is "The
Jewish Journal of the Raritan Valley."  It only comes out bi-weekly
and is very "light-weight (i.e., in more ways than one)."  Compared
to NY City, the local Federation is miniscule, so that explains it.

Further north is "The Jewish News of Metropolitan NJ," which emanates
from the YM-YWHA in West Orange (or nearby).  It is heavier in weight
and appears weekly (like The Jewish Week), but it is mostly fluff,
containing endlessly boring photographs of groups of Jewish men and
women who are attending some fund-raiser or another.  The area it
serves is somewhat more affluent.

I am aware of "The Jewish World (?)" which is published for Long
Island, NY, and is of somewhat better quality than the last two.

It would be very interesting to hear from other areas in the 
Diaspora what the quality of the newpaper is.  I have seen one
from St. Louis, Missouri, which has a substantial community of
Jewish people, and it seems somewhat more serious than the one
from West Orange.  A paper from Louisville, Kentucky was rather
slim.  The one from the whole of Northern California was reasonably
well done and probably worth reading even for out-of-staters.
David Sherman has brought up a topic on this newsgroup based
on an article he saw in the Toronto version, which I warrant is
quite good because of the community there.

Now is the part of my article which the Orthodox readers may
decide is objectionable to their sensitivities:  "The Jewish
Press" is the only English-language newspaper I'm aware of which
is not related to a Federation.  It is written by a small clique
of Orthodox Jews centered around Rabbi S. Klass and his son-in-law,
Yehuda Schwartz.  To save the traffic on the net, let me just say
it is the equal of any of the purest drivel I have ever seen!
In fact, it is an embarrassment to the community as a whole because
of the stupidity which it ascribes by association to all us religious
and Orthodox Jews.

I am an avid reader of periodicals, so I'll mention that
Commentary magazine is probably the finest publication
of any type (excluding professional journals) in the sense
of rising to the highest intellectual level.  See the February,
1985 issue for a fascinating discussion by Lucy Davidowicz (sp.?)
regarding the 1984 presidential election and left- vs. right-wing
politics.  I am afraid to admit that I was somewhat swayed
by her opinions--more than I can say for the puerile writings
of my detractors on this network.

I would like to hear from others concerning magazines published
by various Jewish groups and organizations within those groups
to which I might like to subscribe.  I am a voracious reader
of these things when I get a chance, and love to know what 
articulate writers of all persuasions (no kidding, folks) within
Judaism in particular have to say.  Any suggestions?

--J. Abeles

yossi@ahuta.UUCP (j.friedman) (02/26/85)

REFERENCES:  <973@vax135.UUCP>

Check out Moment magazine.  Its a "literary" magazine with articles
at times by Isaac Bashevis Singer and some others.

Joe Friedman
ahuta!yossi

lynnef@tekgvs.UUCP (Lynne Fitzsimmons) (02/28/85)

The Jewish newspaper in Portland, OR is the Portland Jewish Review.  It comes
out once a month.  It columns on whats happening at the JCC, the Robison Jewish
Home (home for old people), the Hillel day school, the various synagogues,
youth groups (AZA and BBG are very big here, I haven't seen anything on USY (the
one I belonged to) or Young Judea.  The Portland Jewish community has a fair
amount of community activity (as opposed to all the synagogues doing their
own thing), and that is written up also.  Portland also has a community
Hebrew School, and most kids get their Hebrew language education there, instead
of the synagogues.

Since Portland has a large Sephardic population, there was recently a program
on Sephardic Jewry; we got lots of mail on that.

The Portland Jewish Review also has a social column, reports from Israel,
solicitations for money, and lots of advertising (cars, food, photography,
and real estate).
-- 
Lynne Fitzsimmons
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