Histadruth Ivrith of America

The Histadruth Ivrit of America was founded during World War I in the year 1916. Its goal was to promote the Hebrew language and culture and to popularize spoken Hebrew and "Ulpanim" (language centers/studios) for the study of modern Hebrew. The organization's aim was to provide a formal structure through which North American Jewry could revive the Hebrew language and move towards developing its own indigenous culture definition. The Histadruth Ivrit was fed by the growing dynamics of renewal and cultural reawakening associated with Zionism in general and the establishment of Israel in particular. Hebrew-speaking societies existed in American since 1880. But it was not until Lag Ba'Omer of 1916 that the various groups were brought under one banner of the Histadruth Ivrit. Impetus to the strengthening of its organizational structure was given by the convening of a "Hebrew Day" at the Zionist conference held in Philadelphia during July 2-5, 1916 with the participation of Dr. Shmarya Levin, David Ben-Gurion and others. The founders of the organization viewed the deployment of Jewish culture through Hebrew language as the most vital and significant mean of maintaining the cohesion of the Jewish people and fostering Jewish identity. The hope was that the Hebrew language could serve as a rallying point around which Jews of diverse opinions and personal and political commitments could nevertheless unite.

In 1917 Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, father of modern Hebrew, attended the historical first annual conference in New York where, joined by prominent Jewish leaders including David Ben-Gurion and Itzhak Ben-Zvi, he helped further the cause for the Hebrew Movement in America. The founders set out to develop extensive programs to encourage the strengthening of Hebrew education, the speaking of Hebrew, and the publication of literary works in Hebrew. As part of this goal by 1922, a Hebrew language newspaper, established as a daily the previous year, began to appear weekly and has been published without interruption until the recent present by the Histadruth Ivrit under the name Hadoar ("The Post"). Hadoar has constantly provided a forum for Hebrew writers in America and all over the world, yet mostly dealt with topics relevant to Jewish life in America. To stimulate interest in younger readers Hadoar Lanoar ("The Post for the Young") was created in 1934. This illustrated bi-weekly supplemented to Hadoar contained vowels and was the forerunner of the popular Lamishpaha ("For the Family"). Lamishpaha was founded in 1963 as an informative monthly magazine directed to young and adult readers who were working towards fluency in Hebrew.

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