GOLDBERG, ABRAHAM

GOLDBERG, ABRAHAM (1881–1933), Yiddish and Hebrew journalist. Born in Brest-Litovsk into a maskilic family, the eldest brother of the Yiddish poet Menahem *Boraisha, his education combined both traditional and secular elements. His journalistic career, which complemented his early Zionist activity, began in the Hebrew press at the turn of the century, although he later wrote primarily in Yiddish. He was one of the chief contributors to the Yiddish daily *Haynt from its foundation in 1908, and when the paper was reorganized after World War i he became its editor-in-chief. During this period Yiẓḥak *Gruenbaum returned to Poland from Russia, and Goldberg became his right-hand man in the communal and Zionist struggle in Poland. Under Goldberg's editorship, Haynt became the main advocate for Jewish rights and protagonist of Polish Zionism, exercising great influence on the Jewish masses. Goldberg consistently maintained that it was the duty of the press not only to provide information, but also to serve as an instrument for the amelioration of the condition of the Jewish people. He convinced Russian émigrés to protest the Mendel *Beilis trial in Kiev. Goldberg played a leading role in the Zionist Organization of Poland and was a delegate to a number of Zionist congresses. Although he wrote mainly in Yiddish, he supported the weekly Ba-Derekh, published by Haynt, the last Hebrew newspaper in Poland.

bibliography:

I. Gruenbaum, Penei ha-Dor (1957), 270–2; Y. Zineman, In Gerangl (1952), 114–9; lnyl 2 (1958), 43–4; G. Kressel, Leksikon, 1, 410. add. bibliography: Rejzen, Leksikon, 1 (1928), 477–9.

[Getzel Kressel /

Jerold C. Frakes (2^nd ed.)]