LaIsha

La'Isha ( , literally "For the Woman") is an Israeli women's magazine published weekly in Hebrew by the Yedioth Ahronoth media group. Founded in January 1947¹ as a supplement to the group's newspaper, it became a separately sold magazine in July that year. Communication scholar Einat Lachover has described it as the country's most popular and longest-running privately owned commercial women's magazine. The magazine combines service journalism on fashion, beauty, food, health, family life and consumer affairs with interviews, personal narratives and reporting on social issues. Researchers including Sonia Leiden, Moran Pollack and Einat Lachover have examined its changing representations of domesticity, paid employment and women's participation in public life, and the relationship between its commercial identity and its civic role. Its public initiatives include the Miss Israel pageant, held under its auspices from 1950 to 2021, and projects addressing sexual and domestic violence. A permanent redesign displaying a domestic violence helpline on every issue's spine received international advertising awards in 2026. Karina Shtotland has been editor-in-chief since 2014.

La'Isha ( , literally "For the Woman") is an Israeli women's magazine published weekly in Hebrew by the Yedioth Ahronoth media group. Founded in January 1947 as a supplement to the group's newspaper, it became a separately sold magazine in July that year. Communication scholar Einat Lachover has described it as the country's most popular and longest-running privately owned commercial women's magazine. The magazine combines service journalism on fashion, beauty, food, health, family life and consumer affairs with interviews, personal narratives and reporting on social issues. Researchers including Sonia Leiden, Moran Pollack and Einat Lachover have examined its changing representations of domesticity, paid employment and women's participation in public life, and the relationship between its commercial identity and its civic role. Its public initiatives include the Miss Israel pageant, held under its auspices from 1950 to 2021, and projects addressing sexual and domestic violence. A permanent redesign displaying a domestic violence helpline on every issue's spine received international advertising awards in 2026. Karina Shtotland has been editor-in-chief since 2014.

History

Foundation and early years

The first issue appeared in January 1947 in Mandatory Palestine as Yedioth Ahronoth – La'Isha, a four-page weekly supplement sold with Yedioth Ahronoth. A retrospective published by the magazine in 2004¹ reported an initial print run of 200 copies and a price of 20 Palestine mils. The opening editorial promised practical information about household management, family budgets, nutrition, childcare, sewing, fashion, health and beauty, alongside discussion of women's participation in public and cultural life. On 23 July 1947, it became a separately sold publication, subtitled "a popular weekly for the home and family". The founder and first editor-in-charge was lawyer Hemda Nofekh-Mozes, who remained associated with the magazine until her death in 1989. Her legal-advice column, Bisvakh Hamishpat ("In the Tangle of the Law"), addressed legal and social questions affecting readers. Day-to-day editing was initially undertaken by Aharon Shamir, who served until 1952, followed by David Karsik, who remained editor until 1979. Early departments covered mothers and children, dressmaking patterns, beauty, children's health and cooking, together with interviews and personal stories. A retrospective published for the 4,000th issue also mentioned the features "Figure of the Week" and "These Women", a knitting column and children's photography contests. The advice column Tevat Do'ar ("Mailbox"), established in January 1947, offered confidential responses from a lawyer, educator, physician and experienced woman. Questions about children, relationships and sexuality helped establish the magazine as a source of personal guidance. Historian Sharon Geva found that its 1950s coverage gave unusual prominence to individual women Holocaust survivors. Interviews and first-person accounts identified the women by name and included their photographs, treating the Holocaust as part of an individual biography rather than primarily as a political controversy or collective narrative. This approach nevertheless frequently framed survivors through motherhood, family life and victimhood.

Early statehood and social change

During Israel's early years, the magazine addressed everyday life under austerity, family, health, employment and consumption. It also promoted public initiatives associated with constructing an Israeli female identity, including Miss Israel, a national homemaker competition and the introduction of Mother's Day into Israeli public life. The first Miss Israel competition took place in 1950, following Nofekh-Mozes's initiative. During the Six-Day War, La'Isha encouraged readers to contribute to the war effort. The delayed 1967¹ beauty pageant, ultimately held in Jerusalem, was presented as part of the celebration of victory. In the early 1970s, it sympathetically covered poverty, housing shortages and discrimination against female factory workers, sometimes criticizing government policy. Although it did not cover the militant demonstrations of the Israeli Black Panthers, it supported their objectives and included women associated with the movement among its "women of the year"; the 1971 list was headed by "the Israeli woman struggling with economic hardship". Its coverage largely overlooked the protest's Mizrahi ethnic dimension. A later study contrasted this reporting with its much narrower coverage of the 2011 Israeli social justice protests. Studies of the 1970s found that domesticity and motherhood remained dominant ideals, alongside emerging representations of independent and critical women. An analysis of articles published between 1967 and 1977 found that the magazine encouraged paid employment for women, including mothers, while presenting several competing understandings of women's work and the division of responsibilities within families.

From the 1980s onward

Zvi Elgat succeeded Karsik in 1979 and edited the magazine until 1996. An obituary published by Ynet in 2008¹ stated that under his editorship the magazine reached unprecedented circulation and became the most widely distributed weekly in Israel. Coverage expanded to careers, education, relationships, health, consumer affairs, culture and leisure, while fashion, food and family remained central. A retrospective of milestone issues documented the combination of celebrity and entertainment coverage with articles about women in management, domestic violence and an illustrated self-defence course. In August 1996, Iris Zohar-Pinhasi became the first woman to oversee the magazine's daily editing, serving until 1999¹. During her tenure, the relationship between advertising and editorial content attracted criticism. In 1997, the media journal The Seventh Eye criticized the integration of products and advertisers into articles; Zohar-Pinhasi and the magazine's marketing staff defended consumer information as a service sought by readers. Orna Nenner became editor-in-chief in June 1999. She described her approach as combining enjoyable reading with practical information, investigative reporting and women's advancement. Personal features and articles about careers, relationships and the division of household work became more prominent. She also introduced the column "A Room of One's Own" and articles on the economic value of housework. The column Hamichtav Shelo Nichtav ("The Unwritten Letter"), which she had founded in the newspaper supplement Zmanim Moderniyim and brought to La'Isha in 1999, published genuine letters addressed to people with whom readers had left something unsaid. Karina Shtotland, previously editor of Zmanim Moderniyim, became editor-in-chief in 2014. She expanded reporting on obstacles to women's participation and advancement, including violence, employment discrimination, prostitution, single parenthood and women's health. In 2021, she received the Sokolov Award for written journalism for this work. For its 75th anniversary in 2022, the magazine launched a searchable online archive of nearly 4,000 covers dating from 1947, accompanied by articles about their history. Its 4,000th issue followed in 2023, with a retrospective tracing its development from a small publication focused on homemaking, thrift and grooming into a broader magazine covering personal stories, society, culture, health, sexuality, careers and fashion.

Editorial leadership

Editors-in-chief

Men oversaw day-to-day editing for most of the magazine's first five decades, although much of its writing staff consisted of women.

Editors-in-charge

Hemda Nofekh-Mozes was the founding editor-in-charge from 1947 until her death in 1989. Her daughter-in-law, Miriam Nofekh-Mozes, held the position from 1990 until the end of 2025; according to a 2026 article published by the magazine, she brought women into editing and management roles. In November 2025 the Nofekh-Mozes family announced the sale of its shares in the Yedioth Ahronoth group to Arnon (Noni) Mozes, and it was reported that Miriam Nofekh-Mozes would leave the magazine at the end of the year after 35 years. This supervisory role is distinct from that of the editor-in-chief responsible for everyday editorial work.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378872254 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.