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. Andrews Buick 17500 GRAND RIVER VE. 6-4500 Rosh Hashonah Greetings and As producers of nature's greatest BEST WISHES Protective Food—MILK .. . the members of the floppy New Year To All! IHOWES SHOEMAKER CO. CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINES 2373 - 17th Street LAfayette 3180 19707 JOHN R. titst:stslati* TOwnsend 9-4200 LE SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU Our Best Wishes to All for a Happy and Prosperous New Year • HOGARTH 1355 Flat Work Curtains TEMPLE 2-5221 • 7490 INTERVALE 50 years GRAND RIVER AT 12TH STREET • Lion Steel Co. Rough Dry LAUNDRY & DRY CLEANERS Bring the Boys Home Sooner By Buying More Bonds 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