Hebrew Publishing Company was anAmerican Jewish publishing house based in New York City. The company published a range ofHebrew prayer books and other religious works, as well as manyYiddish publications.[1][2] The company was founded in the early 1900s on theLower East Side of New York and later was situated at the formerBank of United States building for over forty years.[3][4] The company was described as having the greatest staying power of any Yiddish publisher.[2]
The predecessor to the Hebrew Publishing Company was originally formed in 1883 as Rosenbaum & Werbelowsky, Inc.[5][3] The current company was founded in 1901 by Joseph Werbelowsky and his son David Werbelowsky.[6][7][8] The company also operated a bookstore.[2]
The company was founded on theLower East Side of New York circa 1924.[3] They were located at 50-52 Eldridge Street in 1924 and 632-34Broadway from 1928.[9][10] After the collapse of theBank of United States in 1932, Hebrew Publishing Company took over the bank's headquarters building at 77 Delancey Street.[4] In 1976, after over forty years at the Delancey Street location, the company moved out from its Lower East Side location.[3]
Among their perennial publications were the prayer books edited and translated to English that the company commissioned fromPaltiel (Philip) Birnbaum.[11] These books led the New York Times to describe him as "the most obscure bestselling author."[12]
In 1980, the company was acquired by Charles Lieber (1921–2016) from the Werbelowsky (Werbel) family. Lieber was aprotégé ofAlfred Knopf, had been an executive atRandom House, and was the owner of textbook publisher Aldine Atherton.[13][14] It has since become defunct. Hundreds of the company's publications have been digitized by theYiddish Book Center research institute.[2]
In its early years, the company geared its productions to newly arrivedOrthodox Jewish immigrants who were fluent in Yiddish and Hebrew. The company produced books, educational textbooks, greeting cards, and sheet music.[2] The company also offered a range of books to assist the new immigrants with integrating into American society.[15] The first publication of the Hebrew folk songZum Gali Gali was released by the Hebrew Publishing Company in 1939.[16] The company is thought to be the first to publish a Yiddish-English dictionary.[8]
Hebrew Publishing Company was the title of an award-winning novel by the Israeli writerMatan Hermoni [he].[17] In the book, the novel's protagonist, Mordechai Schuster, a newly arrived immigrant to the United States, works for his uncle at the Hebrew Publishing Company. The novel describes the lives of Jewish immigrants in Manhattan in the early 20th century as they engage in petty trade or work as laborers, living in poverty and overcrowded housing. The immigrants read the cheaply produced literature (known asshund in Yiddish) and sentimental stories published by the Hebrew Publishing Company.[18]
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