Friday, September 7, 1945
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
!I-
re
if
me
ognize the school as a miniature
society which can and should be
the "testing ground where the
optimum values in human rela-
tionship can be striven for," may
have evolved the answer to this
delicate problem by experiment-
ig with joint Ch•istmas-Hanuk-
ah and Easter-Passover pro-
grams of a non-religious char-
acter in the schools.
So far as I know, the first ex-
periment of this kind was tried
in the Lincoln Junior High
School in Minneapolis a decade
ago. Shortly after William P.
Von Levern became principal in
the fall of 1934, he became
aware that whenever there were
Jewish holidays, better than half
the student body was absent. At
first he accepted the traditional
procedure of merely acknowledg-
ing the fact that various days
were festivals for Jewish pupils
and that they would not be in
class.
Then he found non-Jewish
children asking questions: "Why
are the Jewish pupils out to-
day?" "What holiday is it?" He
saw that at Christmas and Eas-
ter Jewish youngsters sat glum
and close-mouthed during school
observances of the holidays.
When teachers began reporting
that a barrier was dividing Jew-
ish and Christian children in
school activities, he felt it was
time to do something.
Confers With Rabbi
At the beginning of the 1936-
36 school year,- Von Levern in-
vited Rabbi David Aronson of
Beth El Synagogue to confer
with him and exchange ideas.
Out of this meeting came a de-
cision to include in the school's
annual Christmas entertainment
the story of the Hanukkah fes-
tival.
When the youngsters arrived
the morning of December 14.
1936, they heard the school or-
chestra in the lobby softly play-
ing Christmas carols and Hanuk-
kah hymns. Throughout the clos-
ing days of the Jewish festival
of lights and prior to Christmas
the students heard daily con-
certs of festival music. The ?IMO
grade dramatic club presented
Maeterlinck's The Bluebird to a
school assecnbly. 1 apecial pro-
gram was publisI ✓d f tb . this oc-
casion, the cover page depicting
the Christmas and Hanukkah
symbols and the contents telling
the story of both holidays and
pointing up the similarities.
On one side of the main cor-
ridor was a lighted Christmas
tree and a lighted wreath, and
on the other a stained-glass win-
dow effect with the six-pointed
Star of David furnishing the
background for a lighted Ha-
nukkah menorah. Stretched across
Rosh Hashonah Greetings!
Detroit
Live Fish Co.
the corridor was a banner bear-
They are courses in teaching
ing the slogan, "Understanding."
applied democracy. Making good
In the social studies classes, I
use of the fortuitous circum-
teachers explained the signifi- !stance that Christmas and Ha-
came of the symbols. nukkah, the festival of lights
Thus was coneived a pioneer- commemorating the Jewish tri-
ing eduational venture. Impress- umph over Greek religious op-
ed with the reaction of children pression in the second century
110(1 teachers to this innovation, before
Christ, and Easter and
I
on Levern, Rabbi Aronson and assover, the feast of freedom
two Lincoln teachers next wrote commemorating Jewish liberation
a pageant for the Easter-Pass- from Egyptian slavery, generally
over period, depicting the story occur at about the same time,
of both holidays in song and Lincoln Junior High effectively
pantomime. Now an annual tra- exploited the festive spirit of
dition at Lincoln Junior High, both Christian and Jewish pupils
t h e Christmas-Hanukkah an
a d to acquaint each group with the
Easter-Passove• o b s e r v a n c es, cstuoms, esthetic symbols, and
which take advantage of the co- culural traditions of the other.
incidence of the Christian and Program Popular
Over the years this program
Jewish festivals, are not religious has increased in popularity and
programs.
ffectiveness. Last year students
I
V
[U. P. A. HELPS MAN THE MACHINES
in the same
LE SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU!
This welder was formerly a refugee
from Nazi Europe. Brought to the
Jewish National Home with the aid of
the United Palestine Appeal, he is one
of some 62,000 employed in Jewish
industrial production in Palestine.
The development of heavy and light
industries of all kinds has been
stimulated by the Jewish Agency
with a view to enlarging employment
possibilities for newcomers. Jewish
Palestine has become the most itn•
portant industrial center of the Middle
East. During the war years, Palestine's
industrial resources were geared to
the production of essential commodi.
ties for the Allied forces. The empha-
sis today is on reconversion to create
maximum opportunities for large•scale
resettlement of immigrants from de-
vastated Europe. Every aspect of the
program of the Jewish Agency, Pales.
tine Foundation Fund and Jewish
National Fund to speed the absorp-
tion of great masses of immigrants is
sustained with funds of the United
Palestine Appeal, which is a partner
in the United Jewish Appeal.
HEARTIEST GREETINGS FOR ROSH HASHONAH
We are pleased to extend our New Year
Greetings with the wish that the coming
year may bring you health and happiness.
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17500 GRAND RIVER
VE. 6-4500
Rosh Hashonah
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LE SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU
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Rosh Hashonah Greetings
the motto, "All Men Are Broth-
ers."
The Washington Elementary
School in Springfield, Massachu-
setts (home of the Springfield
Plan), where one third of the
children are Jewish, employs a
What is significant about the variation of the Minneapolis
experiment initiated in Minnea- technique. For years the Jew-
apolis is that it serves to teach ish youngsters had no part in
youngsters at an impressionable the annual Christmas program.
age and under non-secarian edu- Two years ago the Parent-Teach-
cational auspices not only an ap- er Association, recognizing the
preciation of each other's differ- similarity between the Christian
ences but a recognition of the story of the Child and that of
fact that the American way of Hannah and her sons in the
life demands that each must re- Hanukkah tale, the presence of
spect the right of the other to the feast of lights in both sto-
be different. Instead of ignor- ries, and the sriking parallel in
ing differences, the Minneapolis dress and setting, named a com-
idea stresses them, emphasizing mittee of teachers and parents
that each has its beauty and ethi- to create a two-part pageant of
cal value.
lights.
Taking its cue from Minneap- Hanukkah Program
olis, John Marshall High School
A rabbi helped wih the histo-
in St. Paul initiated a similar rical material. Costumes were
program some five years ago. made by the parents who also
Annually this school sets up a supervised rehearsals. The
combined Christian and Jewish school's art and music depart-
display just prior to Christmas ments lent a hand. The . chil-
and Hanukkah, depicting the two dren themselves picked the cast,
holidays in dramatic form. The selecting both Christian and Jew-
exhibit includes the Star of Da- ish youngsters for leading roles.
vid, the eight-branched Hanuk- As the pageant took final shape,
kah menorah banked by potted it included six scenes, three each
plants, and the traditional Christ- from the Old and New Testa-
mas tree. Above the display is ments. The music was a blend
family
TO. 8-3273
LUMBER CO.
painted scenes depicting Christ-
ians and Hanukkah on the win-
dows of the hall landings, and
the assembly program included a
Hanukkah tableau, a Christmas
tableau, a morality play, and
music.
SINCEREST GREETINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR
9515 OAKLAND
E. E. ANDERSON
Pegs Nine
J. W. ALLEN 8 CO.
1601 HOWARD ST.
DETROIT
MICHIGAN
Milk Producers
Association
extend
NEW YEARS GREETINGS
with best wishes for
A HAPPY HOLIDAY