The Australian Jewish News has an interesting past. The origin of the paper dates back to the year 1895. It was first published on November 1 as the Hebrew Standard in Sydney. Alfred Harris was the editor of the first publication and continued to remain so till 1908 and again from 1925-44. In March 1904, Rabbi Francis L Cohen was appointed as the chief minister of Great Synagogue and he increases the size of the newspaper to 12 pages. In November 1926, after facing financial constraints, the shares of the newspaper were floated in the market but were not supported. In 1931, David Altshul and his sons launched the first Yiddish newspaper in Melbourne in Australia. In 1933, the English version of the Australian Jewish News of Melbourne was launched by Leslie Rubinstein and he also launched the English Jewish Weekly News in the same year.
In the year 1934, The Jewish Weekly News included the Jewish Herald but this collaboration broke up in the year 1935. In 1939, the Sydney edition of the Melbourne based The Australian Jewish news was launched. In 1953, the Hebrew Standard finally becomes The Australian Jewish Times. In March 1986, the first national edition of The Australian Jewish news was published. The Australian Jewish News celebrated its 110th anniversary in the year 2005 with an exhibition of renowned front pages of the paper and a 32-page souvenir edition. In July 2007, Robert Magid, a Sydney-based developer purchased The Australian Jewish News from the Dunkel and Shand families.
Apart from the printed edition, The Australian Jewish News also has an online edition, which covers sections like sport, entertainment, world news, local news, editorials, blogs, audio and video, religion and a section on recommended reading, which covers all kinds of topic. The online edition has a section on latest galleries, which features photographs and articles on various topics. There is a section in the online edition of The Australian Jewish News where one can cast his vote on various social and political issues. There are special sections on religion, Shabbat times, obituaries, editorials, letters, film reviews, book reviews, theatre reviews and Kron cartoons.
Apart from The Australian Jewish News paper edition, there are various supplementary magazines which are published by the group. Most of these supplementary magazines are dedicated to the leading Jewish festivals and simchas. These magazines are inserted from time-to-time into the Melbourne and Sydney editions of The Australian Jewish News as value-added publications. Some of these magazines include Wedding, which is published in June, Bar Mitzvah is published in February, Rosh Hashanah is published in September, New Year New Look is published couple of weeks before Rosh Hashanah, Chanuka in December, Your Guide to Community Celebrations in February, Preparing for Pesach in April, Home Trends in July and November and Education in August and others. All these magazines have separate editions for Sydney and Melbourne.
An issue of The Australian Jewish News would cost $3.50 if one buys it from the local news agent. Special benefits on yearly and monthly subscriptions are also available.
The Australian Jewish News is a renowned newspaper of the world that is known for its qualitative news on all Jewish related issues.
