Mishpacha

Mishpacha (Hebrew: משפחה) is a weekly Orthodox Jewish magazine published in Jerusalem; it was founded in 1987. Its name means "family" in Hebrew. The Hebrew edition is part newspaper, but the English version is a magazine. It reflects the various views of some parts of the Haredi public in Israel and the rest of the world.

The Hebrew and English edition differ in content and style.

Ownership and management

It is owned by Eliyahu Paley, a Yerushalmi, together with the backing of a group of investors, mostly non-orthodox.

As a Jewish newspaper that claims to speak for the Orthodox sector and not owned or controlled by a certain political movement or sector, it follows the guidance of rabbinical advisors who take responsibility for its content.

Editors and writers

• Eliyahu Paley, CEO of Mishpacha Publishing Group, has a background in Torah learning, as well as in business. He studied full-time in the Hebron Yeshiva and kollel until the age of 26 when he initiated the Hebrew Mishpacha. Since 1990, he steadily developed Mishpacha from a small magazine to an international publication with a global readership. He lives with his family in Jerusalem.
• Rabbi Moshe Grylak, Editor-In-Chief of Mishpacha, combines his background in Torah study with decades of experience in writing and speaking in his work for Jewish outreach. Grylak learned in Kol Torah and the Ponovezher kollel, later teaching Torah in Brazil and in an Israeli Hesder yeshivah. For close to a decade, he penned a column in the secular paper Maariv, presenting Torah ideals in a language and style targeted to the average Israeli. Grylak went on to found Yated Ne’eman and served as editor-in-chief for its first two years in print. In addition to writing over twenty sefarim on Judaism and Torah topics, he is also a novelist. For the past twelve years, he has served as editor-in-chief of Mishpacha. He lives with his family in Jerusalem.
• Yosi Elitov, Assistant editor. He is a Chabad Chasid whose upbringing as the son of a rabbi gave him experience reaching out to fellow Jews.
• Binyamin Rose, News Editor and IDF veteran who served from 1995-2000. He is a Hareidi who graduated from Hebrew Theological College with a bachelor’s degree in Talmudic Studies and spent nearly a decade as a print and broadcast journalist, winning awards from the Associated Press for his news coverage. He then pursued a longtime interest in finance and turned it into a career, serving as an investment advisor at Sloymie Rubinoff in Miami, Florida, for eight years. On moving to Israel with his family in July 1993, Rabbi Rose studied in kollel and then spent three years as Project Manager for the Learn Torah Now public relations firm before joining Mishpacha in March 2004.

Opposition

The newspaper has repeatedly been widely denounced by prominent Haredi rabbis, primarily from the Lithuanian stream of the Haredi world, but Hasidim as well. In 2011, a widely publicized denouncement was made by Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, and others, including Mizrahi Haredi Rabbi Yaakov Hillel as well as Hasidic rabbis from the Vizhnitz, Zvhill, Sanz, Erlau and Boyan movements.^[1][2] They alleged that Mishpacha distorts and blurs the Torah world view, and that one must not bring these papers into their house.

Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz referred to Mishpacha as being "false", not containing any benefit, and wreaking destruction on everything. After his death, Mishpacha claimed to have held an interview with his sons while they were sitting shiva; this was publicly denied by them.^[3]

Additional magazine

Mishpacha is also the name of a magazine published in Perth, Western Australia for ex-pupils of Carmel School, a Modern Orthodox and Zionist Jewish day school.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]

External links

• Mishpacha Homepage
• המשפחה הרביעית (Hebrew)