Feldheim Publishing, a major name in the chareidi publishing world, is seeking a stay of proceedings against the company despite its financial difficulties.
Founded in New York City in 1939 by Phillip Feldheim, the company was then run by his son Yaakov and then grandson Mendy.
Despite its growth and rise to become a major contributor to books and seforim, the company’s pioneering efforts to introduce books with quality graphics and other features unknown to chareidi publishing, in addition to expanding to Jerusalem and elsewhere in Eretz Yisrael; it appears the company is now in financial trouble.
According to a Chadrei Chareidim report, efforts to freeze legal proceedings refers to the publishing house only and it is not connected to the chain of stores operated in chareidi areas throughout Eretz Yisrael.
While it is clear that a connection exists between the publishing operation and the stores, which also sell titles from other publishing houses, the ramifications of ongoing proceedings vis-à-vis the stores is still unclear at this early stage.
Chadrei Chareidim adds that “a source in the publishing industry” is indicating that Ohr Chaim is expressing interest in stepping in, and if a purchase agreement is reached, Ohr Chaim will be ‘the’ major player in the industry. Meetings between the two have been taking place.
A Feldheim source responded to the report stating “The only thing that is true is the company is in financial hardship. Management is probing possibilities and a decision will be made in the near future. The remainder of the report is untrue”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Everyone relax. Feldheim is far from closed. We are just at the beginning of a process.
This is a very disturbing story as Feldheim are probably one of the Jewish publishers that recently have started reproducing there books in a cheaper format yet people still prefer to buy non Jewish fiction do we want that in 5 years time our kids won’t have any Jewish books to read
It could be that within a few years, most publishing will have migrated to electronic format and most seforim will be read on an IPad, Kindle or similiar device. There will still be a need for some seforim for use on shabbos and yom tovim when those devices are muktzah but otherwise, I suspect the days of the hard copy sefer are nearing an end.
I love Feldheim. Their Torah Classics have made a difference to me. I wish the company total success and financial recovery.
February 19, 2012
Official Statement from Feldheim Publishers, New York
The financial crisis you may have read about is in reference to Feldheim Publishers,
Jerusalem.
Our US operation, Philipp Feldheim, Inc. is an independent entity and we will B’Ezras
Hashem continue publishing and distributing books.
Yitzchak Feldheim
Philipp Feldheim, Inc.