John Paley (February 6, 1871 – December 23, 1907) was a Russian-born American

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

writer and

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

Early life

Paley was born on February 6, 1871, in Plieščanicy,

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

, Russia, the son of Hyman Paley and Chaye Chortow. His father later worked as principal of a Yiddish school in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

Education

Paley's father gave him a traditional education. When he was thirteen, he entered the

Volozhin Yeshiva Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim (), commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva (), was a prestigious LItvak yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin in the Russian Empire (now Valozhyn, Belarus). It was founded around 1803 by Khayim Volozhiner, a student of the ...

. He then spent two years in

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

, where he acquired a secular education. He then went to

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

and studied in Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor's

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

. He later moved to Moscow and worked as manager of a commercial house. He allegedly converted to Christianity at one point, but he immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1888 and returned to Judaism.

Work

Paley's first novel, ''Die Russische Helden'', was published in the ''Folksadvocat''. He then joined their staff and later became its editor. In 1892, he became editor of the ''Yiddishe Presse'' in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In 1894, he became a founder and publisher of the ''Folksvechter'' back in New York. When that paper was sold, he joined the staff of the ''Yiddishes Tageblatt'', working with that paper until he died. Under him, the paper was opposed to socialism. As editor of the paper, he manufactured stories for the paper. During the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, he dug up incidents from the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

and printed them in the paper as if they only occurred the day before. He once tricked a Jewish peddler to eat fried oysters with him, and when he told the peddler he ate unkosher food he threw up the food and lay sick in bed for several days. The next day, Paley reported a story about a gang of anti-Semites who stuffed oysters down a Jewish peddler's throat until the peddler died of suffocation. When the truth came out, he accused atheists were trying to ruin him. His employer was Kasriel Sarasohn. Paley also wrote dramas "The Russian Nihilist" and "Life in New York," "Die Schwarze Chevrah," "Uriel Acosta," "Mysteries of the East Side," "The Erev Rav," "Yichus und Verbrechen," and "Das Leben in New York."

Personal life

Paley was married to Sophia Amchaintzky.

Death

Paley died at home in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

from gas asphyxiation on December 23, 1907. The police initially reported the death a suicide, but the coroner found the death to be accidental. He was buried in Washington Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paley, John 1871 births 1907 deaths People from Borisovsky Uyezd People from Lahoysk district American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Yiddish-language journalists American male journalists 19th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century American newspaper editors Jewish American journalists Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Journalists from New York City Editors of New York City newspapers Deaths from asphyxiation Accidental deaths in New York (state) Volozhin Yeshiva alumni