HaMelitz

HaMelitz was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860.

History

HaMelitz first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From 1871, it was published in Saint Petersburg. Publication was suspended several times for lack of support or by order of the authorities. In 1893, Leon Rabinowitz succeeded Zederbaum as the editor.
HaMelitz was a representative of the progressive or haskalah movement, and even so severe a critic as Abraham Kovner admitted that it had been "more useful to the Jews than have the other Hebrew newspapers". While it was not so literary or scientific as some of its contemporaries, HaMelitz usually had more news and debates of interest, and was consequently more popular.
J. A. Goldenblum was for many years associated with Zederbaum in its publication. Abraham [Shalom Friedberg] and Judah Leib Gordon were the best known of its associate editors. Almost every prominent Hebrew writer of its times contributed to it.
Several collections of literary and scientific articles appeared as supplements to HaMelitz in Zederbaum's time: Ḳohelet, Migdonot, Melitẓ Aḥad Minni Elef, Leḳeṭ Amarim, and Arba'ah Ma'amarim. Among similar publications issued by Zederbaum's successor were HaYeḳev, HaOsem and HaGat, and HaGan.
HaMelitz was intermittently published until 1903.