Flatbush Jewish Journal
Flatbush Jewish Journal (FJJ) is a Brooklyn-based weekly newspaper catering to the Orthodox Jewish community.[1][2][3] It is closely associated with Agudath Israel of America.[4]
Type | Weekly newspaper |
---|---|
Founder(s) | Mordy Mehlman |
Founded | 2010 |
City | New York City, New York |
Country | United States |
Website | https://www.flatbushjewishjournal.com/ |
Overview
FJJ publisher Mordy Mehlman founded the paper in 2010 and claims that 19,000 homes receive the FJJ.[5][6] In 2015 the physical page size shrank due to a change that reduced printing costs.[7]
Local newspapers, including The New York Times, cover their content.[1][8][9] For religious reasons, the newspaper refuses to print pictures of women or girls.[10][8] If a Yartzeit article is published about a woman, the accompanying photo, if present, is of her husband.[3]
One competing periodical referred to them as "my good friends at" and then claimed "inspired by" (themselves). Praise included that the paper "has great coverage of Brooklyn yeshiva events."[7]
Features
FJJ publishes ongoing Torah content by several well-known rabbis; Artscroll books are serialized. Some of their weekly columnists with professional recognition feature a reader's letter and a response, sometimes continued to the following week. Content from Artscroll volumes previously or presently excerpted include writings by or about Yaakov Kamenetsky (Reb Yaakov: The Life and Times of HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky),[11] Abraham J. Twerski (Letters To My Children)[12] and Avraham Yaakov Pam (The Life and Ideals of Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Hakohen Pam).[13]
Since 2013 the newspaper has featured advertisements from an anonymous source aimed to reduce chatter during Jewish religious services headlined "Stop the Talking in Shul!".[14]
The letter pages[15] were, for ten years, the source of material for Rocky Zweig's submissions, whose presence was described by a larger Orthodox newspaper as "a weekly column."[16] The late Zweig[17] wrote a major satire in the guise of a full page of the Talmud, describing the reasons why Donald Trump should or should not build a wall, and why or why not Mexico should want to pay for it; it was printed as the front page of the Purim issue. The Flatbush Jewish Journal's letter pages are considered important reading: in 2013 a long-time elected legislator's negative reaction to content was covered by The Jewish Press.[18]
Impact of COVID-19
What some labeled a fifty-page obituary section in April 2020 was followed up by a shorter one-year-later yartzeit "tribute."[3][19]
See also
References
- Anemona Hartocollis; Ann Farmer (May 1, 2015). "Brooklyn Girl Injured in a Fire That Killed 7 Siblings Is Said to Be Recovering". The New York Times.
- "Jerry Nadler Voted In Favor of Iran Deal, and Will Survive To Tell The Tale". The Forward. October 8, 2015.
- Irene Katz Connelly (April 27, 2020). "Orthodox publication includes 50 pages of obituaries". The Forward.
respected rabbis and yeshiva leaders, as well as Noach Dear, a Brooklyn councilman and judge.
- Josh Nathan-Kazis (February 21, 2019). "Public Advocate Candidate Eric Ulrich Is Courting The Orthodox. Is It Enough To Win?". The Forward.
- "10 Questions About Jonathan Pollard With Rabbi Pesach". Yeshivaworld. November 26, 2015.
- "America's Fastest Growing Newspaper". Retrieved September 5, 2021.
30,000 printed; 250,000 readers; 19,000 homes; 3,000 emailed
- Larry Gordon (June 18, 2015). "Bigger, Smaller, Better". Five Towns Jewish Times (5tJt.com).
- Erin Durkin (July 10, 2017). "Orthodox Jewish mom and popular social media star uses ..." The New York Daily News.
- "Readers sound off on sins, socialists and sandwiches". New York Daily News.
- Shoshy Ciment (August 2, 2017). "Invisible Women: Censorship By Some Orthodox Publications". The Jewish Press.
- Yonason Rosenblum. Reb Yaakov: The Life and Times of Hagaon Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky. ISBN 978-0-8990-6413-0.
- ,Abraham J. Twerski (November 2015). Letters To My Children. Artscroll. ISBN 978-1-4226-1662-8.
- Shimon Finkelman. The Life and Ideals of Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Hakohen Pam. ISBN 978-1-5781-9384-4.
- Josh Nathan-Kazis (September 3, 2013). "Rabbis Declare War on Chit-Chat in Synagogue". The Forward.
- several pages per issue
- Hana Levi Julian (February 18, 2020). "(Rocky) Zweig, z'l, Co-Founder of Neginah Orchestra Passes Away". The Jewish Press.
- "Rocky Zweig".
- Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu (May 2, 2013). "Hikind Joins Bloggers to Accuse Greenfield as a Phony Blogger". The Jewish Press.
- "Flatbush Jewish Journal Marks One Year Since COVID Struck with Tribute Edition". Yeshivaworld. March 22, 2021.