Type Weekly Founded 1987 Circulation 20,000 | Publisher Pinchos Lipschutz Headquarters Monsey, New York Website www.yated.com | |
Yated Ne'eman is a weekly Haredi newspaper/magazine that is based in Monsey, New York and published in English and distributed in most large metropolitan areas where orthodox Jews reside.[1][2][3] It was established in 1987, and has an extremely wide variety of features in issues of up to 200 pages.[4]
Contents
Haaretz, the newspaper of Israel's secular left, describes Yated Ne'eman as one of the "most powerful" newspapers in the Haredi community.
Editorial policies and views
Its editorial views, opinions, and policies reflect somewhat the positions and policies of Agudath Israel of America and Agudath Israel's leadership body the American Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah ("Council of Torah Sages.") Its views on Orthodox Jewish education are based upon the activities and educational policies of the rabbis that guide Torah Umesorah - National Society for Hebrew Day Schools. However, it has a right-wing tendency which on occasion is somewhat disconnected from the Rabbinic leadership of Ultra-Orthodox Jewry, who often prefer a more pragmatic, nuanced approach to political issues. The publication,as do most of those within its genre, adhere to a strict interpretation of Tzniut that prohibits photographs of women on its pages and website.
History
The origins of the American Yated are to be found in the history behind the establishment of its direct Israeli counterpart, Yated Ne'eman (Israel) (which was itself established over differences of editorial opinion with Hamodia) . In addition, the American Haredi rabbis were searching for an alternate mouthpiece for their views since the widest read Orthodox Jewish weekly in the New York area, The Jewish Press was privately owned, too independent, and expressed more of a pro-Israel Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox point of view, and the widely read UJA supported The Jewish Week was considered beyond the pale. In the 1990s the United States edition of Yated severed its relationship with the Israeli edition over perceived complex religious-leanings at the Israeli paper.
The current publisher is Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, who resides in Monsey, New York.
Significance
The publication and survival of the Yated reflects the rise and strength of a unique English-speaking yeshiva community in the United States that sees itself as independent from the non-Orthodox institutions of previous Jewish generations. Its articles, editorials, photos and advertisements are all strictly controlled to reflect and promote the growth of the American yeshiva world, through institutions such as Beth Medrash Govoha (Lakewood yeshiva) in New Jersey, and other institutions in Brooklyn such as Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, and Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore along with many other Haredi educational, charitable, communal, and political organizations that advertise and ensure that their leadership, activities and accomplishments are conveyed in print.
Link to Israeli politics
The American Yated reports Israeli news extensively, keeping track of social trends, political developments, and military affairs that concern the State of Israel. In its political stance it tends to follow the party line of the Degel HaTorah party [5] as is evidenced by the frequent publication of photos extolling the activities of Degel HaTorah's main present-day leaders, Rabbis Aharon Leib Shteinman and Chaim Kanievsky.
The name
Directly based on its Israeli counterpart, the name of the Yated is based on the Hebrew phrase "yated ne'eman" which literally refers to a peg strongly anchored in terra firma, and is used figuratively to describe a secure connection or something which can be relied upon. The name was supposedly given by Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899–1985) and comes from Isaiah 22:23, "ותקעתיו יתד, במקום נאמן", translated as "And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place", or as "I will drive him like a peg in a firm place".