An Arctic Explorer, Hero of 1882

Most .Serious Problem

Israel's Struggle for Education

Edward Israel,' Native Michigander,
Gave Life to Calling as Explorer

teachers, 500 engineers, 500 law-
yers and social scientists, hun-
By JUDAH GILEADI
American Jewish Press Feature
dreds of nurses, scientists, exe-
cutive s, machinists, etc. a r e
Fifty years ago, a young Mich- teered as an astronomer in the
needed and they cannot be sup-
Expedition,
plied. Not only is the shortage in igander, Edward Israel, provided under command of General
A.
skilled and professional m a n - valuable assistance in determin- W. Greely, in 1881, and was cred-
power severe, but the intellect- ing an overland route to Hazen Lady
Franktin
Bay
ited• with recording important
ual life of the country is en- Land in Greenland by way of scientific observations. In spite
dangered. Once the Yishuv con-
of poor health, he undertook to
sisted of the intelligentsia of the "The Bellows" Valley. He died I lead special sleigh investigating
during the expedition, a martyr
working class. Now. with t h e to
his calling. Had he lived, parties.
tidal wave of an unlettered aliya
He was the youngest mem-
was predicted that he would
sweeping over it, the size of the it
become one of the world's ber of t h e expedition that
intellectual class has shrunk to have
determined the overland Green-
outstanding explorers.
dangerously small proportions.
This ,young Arctic explorer land's Hazen Land route, 50
While the problem of ex- was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., years ago, in 1882, and .was ad-
tending secondary schooling to in 1859. He died in Greenland , mired for his courage and en-
children in the cities is being
' thusiasm. He became gravely
at the age of 25. in 1884.
met in an unsatisfactory man-
Upon his graduation from the ill, but he would not accept more
ner, it is not being solved in
University of Michigan, where than the regularly apportioned
any better way in the collec-
he specialized in mathematics, rations. He died before the ex-
tive settlements where, in the he enlisted in the Signal Corps pedition returned to the United
main, only gifted children are of the U. S. Army. He volun- States.
allowed to continue on with a
secondary education. It is
strange that the People of the
Book, in this respect, have
strayed so far from the ?cis-
_ dom that only the treasuring
of books can bring.
CINCINNATI. (JTA) —Old data business in Virginia. He probably
One of the achievements in showing links between Jews in was a Jew from Barbados, to
TYPICAL ISRAEL CLASSROOM
which the State takes pride is the West Indies and the United 'which he returned and where he
• • •
in having extended education to States were discovered during died.
jectives. Last and smallest is the the children of its non-Jewish la five-week expedition just con-
By ELIEZER WHARTMAN
"In the courthouse in Bar-
An American Jewish Press Feature
Agudath Israel trend with 6.6 minorities, notably the Arab I eluded under the auspices of the I bados, we found a power-of-
During the last four years Is- per cent enrollment. Represent- minority. Over 27,000 Arab chil- American Jewish Archives of the attorney from Mordecai Gomes,
rael's educational system has ing the extreme right-wing Or- dren are today studying in gov- Hebrew Union College-Jewish
issued to his brother, Jacob
grown from 98,000 and 5,000 thodox group it has a curric- ernment schools which are pro- Institute of Religion, of Cincin-
Gomes, in 1718. The Gomes
teachers in the academic year ulum somewhat similar to that ving an example to the neigh- nati, it was announced by Dr.
family was very prominent in
1937-38 to an estimated 300.000 of the Mizrachi schools, but the boring backward Moslem coun- Jacob R. Marcus, director of the
business in New York City
and 13,000 teachers. Whis is a staff is drawn from members tries where often less than 20q Archives, who led the expedition.
in 1700-1720. Jacob was sent
remarkable achievement when of the Agudath Israel movement. of the children receive any kind
The aim of the expedition was as 'super-cargo' with shipments
This system of four s e p - of education.
one considers the extraordinary
to the islands. The perils of
to discover documents and other
difficulties facing the State in arate trends within one gen-
maritime business in the Span-
data bearing on the lives. in
One
of
the
most
serious
deter-
bringing in, caring for and eral school system has come
ish Main in those days are
the West Indies, of those Jews
housing the 700,000 immigrants under severe censure f r o rn rents to the introduction of a who became the first members
illustrated by the fact that a
more
general
and
efficient
man-of-war on which Jacob
which have more than doubled many quarters. Its defects are
of their faith to settle in what
school
system
is
the
desperate
Gomes was traveling- on busi-
its population during the time. apparent: each is practically
now is the United States. Driven
ness was attacked by pirates
The figures are all the more autonomous in its own sphere; shortage of qualified teachers. ! from Brazil in January 1654 by
In
an
effort
to
secure
as
many
determining its own curricu-
and he was cut to pieces. The
striking when one considers the
the Portuguese government,
teachers
as
possible,
standards
account of his sad end is set
lum, its own teaching stand-
size of the staff and physical
some of those Jews returned as
for teaching have been drastic- religious refugees to Holland.
ards, its own objectives; each
forth in The American Weekly
facilities needed to maintain
ally
lowered
until
today
little
such a system, a staff and fac- —with the exception. of the
But some went to Dutch Guiana, Mercury of Philadelphia for
more
than
a
high
school'
educa-
ilities which were only in Skele- General schools—is opposed to
:Barbados, Jamaica. Curacao— June 7, 1722.
ttm form when the State was the philosophy of the other tion plus an extremely abbrev- and some to New Amsterdam -"It is interesting to note that the
trends. thus making for di- iated course in pedagogy i s ( New York City).
Barbados Jewish cemetery has
created.
versity rather than unity at a necessary. To the extent that
Particular interest is attached been preserved through the de-
The chief factor responsible
time when unity is desper_ Israel will be able to attact a by Dr. Marcus to the findings in votion of a Christian. Eustace
for this phenominal growth in
new generation of teachers into view of the fact that the 300th Maxwell Shilstone, who is the
ately needed if Israel is to find
registration is, of course, the
a way to salvation out of a its school system will it be able anniversary of the arrival of leading attorney in Barbados
vast immigration pouring into
to meet the ever growing chal- , those Jews in America is to be and the Queen's solicitor. After
welter of antagonistic party
the country. Of equal impor-
conflicts. Chief bmong those lenge of extending the benefits celebrated in 1954. "In the Bar- the last Jewish family had died
tance, however, is Israel's new
of
education to all.
leading the fight for unifica-
bados, - Dr. Marcus said, "we there, he suceeded in saving the
compulsory education la w,
tion is the Prime Minister,
Israel is today moving through were very fortunate in finding cemetery and he turned it over
passed in 1949, under which all
children between the ages of , David Ben-Gurion, but his ef- one of the most critical periods the tombstone of the first rabbi to the Barbados Historical So-
forts in this respect are being
who ever officiated in that caps- ciety."
five and thirteen were ordered
opposed in the main by the in its history. How it will meet , city in the United States. This
to enroll in school. The same
the challenge of future years, rabbi. Haim Isaac Carigal, had
religious groups who see a
order applied to boys and girls
'threat to the teaching of re- whether it will find its way to come to Newport, R.I.. in 1773 as
in the age group of 14 to 17
ligious subjects if the unifica- self-sufficiency. whether it will a wandering scholar—probably
who had not completed an
tion program is adopted, al- keep up the high standard of a to obtain funds for Palestine—
elementary school course. The
though the Prime Minister has
Israel government promises
people that has historically held an early Zionist. Rabbi Carigal
It is doubtful that a rabbi
assured them that such sub-
that when sufficient state
alight the lamp of learning to died in 1777 in Barbados.
"In the same Barbados ceme- ever made a personal appearance
jects would continue to be a dark world remains to be seen.
funds are available compul-
at 'max Springs,
sory education will be extend- 1 taught.
How Israel will solve the prob- tery where we came upon the rabbi's sermon was printed in th.,
ed to the high school level to
This coming academic year, lem of popular education will be Carigal tombstone. we found a paper of the town's school sys-
make secondary schooling the government will act to in- a touchstone as to how she will I tombstone, dated 1672 and mark- tern last year at the request of
ing the final resting-place of the
available to the 85 per cent of stitute a basic curriculum in all solve other problems as well.
first Jew known to have come its superintendent. who said he
children of high school age schools. Realizing that the trend
"out of the
to Virginia. That state's colonial .p icked
now receiving a higher educa- system has a disunifying effect,
air.•'
20 THE JEWISH NEWS
I
records
of
1658
showed
that
tion.
the Minister of Education has
Literally speaking. that's true.
Friday, August 15, 1952
Moses Nehemiah was engaged in
Israel's school system. unlike announced that the government
The sermon came from the coast
America's, is divided into four will seek to introduce some unity
to coast broadcast of the "Mes-
distinct branches called trends. into the school system by es-
sage of Israel," a Sunday morn-
School children in the Holy tablishing a sine qua non curri-
ing program aired by the Union
Land are not registered by their culum and certain teaching and
of American Hebrew Congrega-
parents for a general school sys- testing standards. While leeway
tions. The program. broadcast
tern as we know it, but rather i will be left to local councils and
here at 10 a.m.. each Sunday, was
for a political-ideological trend individual trends to determine
founded 18 years ago by Dr.
which stresses its own type of what additional subjects to add
Jonah B. Wise and the United
subject matter. Largest of these to the curriculum, the Ministry
Jewish Layman's Committee.
"systems within a system," car- of Education will insist on cer-
People from all walks of life-
ried over from Mandatory days, tain basic subjects being cover-
Jews7Christians, even atheists—
is the Labor trend which in- ed.
have written the American
eludes 37.3 per cent of last year's
Under the British Mandate,
Broadcasting Company by the
school population. This trend. the Jewish community was ob-
thousands to commend the pro-
sponsored by the Histadrut liged to pay for schooling for
gram as a contribution to the
Ovdirn (Israel Federation of La- Jewish children, both in elemen-
American way of life. It is esti-
bor) stresses a Socialist view- tary and secondary schools. In-
mated that hundreds of thou-
point, emphasizing what h a s asmuch as the cost of education
sands of people listen_to the pro-
been Labor's contribution to the was prohibitively high, relative-
gram each week.
development of world civiliza- ly few parents were able to af-
tion.
ford schooling for their children.
JDC Aids Nearly 8,000
Next largest trend is the Gen- Now the State has made a step
To Emigrate from Europe
eral school with 32.7 per cent of to have free elementary school-
Israel's school children. This ing extended to each child. the
PARIS, (JTAI—The joint Dis-
trend is similar to the American cost being covered from taxes.
tribution Committee reported
school system where no parti- Unfortunately, it is still finan-
that 4.329 women and children
cular ideology is stressed and the cially unable to extend the same
from 15 West European countries
pupil is given a more or less ob- privilege to children in the sec-
registered with JDC for emihra-
jective viewpoint. The General ondary schools, of which only
"Primer on Communism—A Fact by Fact Expose" Freedom tion to countries other than
trend is followed in size by the about fifteen per cent in the age Pamphlet prepared by the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith Israel during the first six
Mizrachi trend with 18.5-; , spon- group attend school.
is being distributed to all supervisory personnel of Eastern Air months of 1952.
sored by the Mizrachi religious
This small number of stu- Lines, it was announced in an executive memorandum from Cali
During the same period, about
0.• movement which attempts to in- dents attending high schools and tain Eddie Rickenbacker, president and general manager of the 3,500 left Europe under JDC
fluence the child in religion. vocational schools is having a company. J. H. Brock (center), vice president, Industrial and Per- auspices. Of these, 2,448 went to
While methods of teaching serious effect on the life of the sonnel Relations. Eastern Air Lines, Miami, is shown reading the the United States; 374 to Cana-
in the trends are almost similar, country. Approximately 500 stu- memorandum. Also shown are (left) Gilbert J. Balkin, Florida di- da; 307 to Australia; 186 to Latin
the subject matter differs rad- dents graduate from secondary rector, Anti-Defamation League, and Sanford M. Swerdlin, mem- American countries and the re-
ically, as does emphasis on oh- schools each year, but 3,000 new ber of the . Florida ADL board,
mainder to other lands.

U.S. Jewish. Expedition Discovers
Old Data on Jews in West Indies

Airy Sermon
Bears Repeating

_lirlitie Uses _41)1, Expose of Reds

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