This Could Concern Your Child

Educators Discuss Jewish Trainin

more happily today. Since I need it today, it is not
outdated. Why and how does learning help to make
me more intelligent and happier in my daily living?
The answer is simple. I was born a Jew, and I want

- The occurence of • Jewish Education Month is a
fine opportunity to pause and reflect on the impor-
tarice of the Hebrew langUage and Jewish education in
general. -Experts in linguistics agree that there is a
beauty and splendor about the mother tongue of the -
Jewish •people, but beauty alone is certainly not the
answer to its survival through 5,000 years, making
it the oldest spoken tongue in the world today.
Below, some of the most prominent personages
In. the field of JewiSh education today answer, several
falacious ideas—thoughts that are addressed to them
many times in the course of their services. We list
here the questions and answers they have written,
especially for this Education Month edition.

to remain a Jew. The word "Jew," therefore, must
mean something to me. I find that Jewish' learning

increases my appreciation of the word `Jew' and thus
helps me to understand My past, and my
present. It also helps me to face he future and give
direction to my life.
From my Jewish learning I have diScovered that 1
belong to a people that emphasized for Many genera-
tions, character and spiritual values. My people pro-
duced prophets, 'sages and martyrs who have shown
by their vision, wisdom, courage and self-sacrifice-
how human beings should live for their own sake and
for the sake of others. By reading what they wrote,'
by learning how they felt about other human beings,
the world-at-large, the meaning of life, I get an
understanding of life which I cannot get from my
own experience alone.
Sometithes they are able, to.; tell, me in just a few
words to be found in prayers or in the Bible or in
other classical works the meaning of an experience
and the purpose of life that I cannot find elsewhere.
When I read and learn all these wonderful thoughts
and sentiments, I feel suddenly identified with the
greatest of minds and character who have lived before
me.
Is Jewish learning outdated? If it were outdated,
the Jewish people would not be alive today nor would
Israel have been re-established. Is there anything
more modern, more vital, more alive, more exciting,
more pulsating ...than the content, Jewish living!
Without Jewish learning, I would ,e dead as a Jew.
Every Jew knows that and makes public announce-
ment of this fact when, in the Synagogue ,at the-time
of taking out. the Torah from the Ark, he repeats
aloud, "This Torah—it is a tree of life to those who
cling to it." -

"I know many people who have gotten along with- -
out a Jewish education—so can I."

In his answer, Dr. Emanuel Gamoran, director of
the Education Union of American Hebrew Congre-
gations, writes: "There are many people who think
that they can get along without a liberal 'education,
without music, without knowledge of the arts. No
doubt they do. The question is, how do they get along?
Even animals can live and perform their normal
functions. It isn't what one gets along with, but
what one lacks that counts when the question of
Jewish education is raised. , .
- A n-ian who lacks an education in music,
Misses one of the great interests and joys in life.
But if he misses a Jewish education, he may lack
something much more f undamental—a sense of
security in his'Jewishness, a feeling of happiness, a
feeling of wholeness. He may even be afflicted with
inferiority complexes because of a lack of a Jewish
education. Jewish education is a necessity for the
individual Jew for it gives him a sense of security, a
feeling of belonging. It makes him a natural well-
adj usted .human. being. He is prepared to take his
place with fellow Jews in America who are striv-
Dig to develop a creative American Jewish corinnunity.
Why study Hebrew?
"Hebrew is a dead language—like Latin. As far
Samuel M. Blumenfield, superintendent of schools,
as I know, many important matters are written in
Board of Jewish Education; president, College of Jew-
the English language." .
ish Studies, Chicago, says: This question is frequently
Dr. Menachem. M. Edelstein, Jewish Education
asked not only by people who have no sympathy for
Committee, writes: kdults and adolescents, alike, fre-
Jewish aspirations, but even by men and women who
are interested in Jewish education. Many Jews appre- quently pose. this question and very often, without
waiting for an enlightening explanation, will ration-
ctate the value of Hebrew in Israel, for a Jewish home-
alize and offer their own reply that the Hebrew
land . would be inconceivable without the unifying
language is dead anyway, that one can pbtain in-
force of a national language: What they find rather
difficult to understand is why JeWish educators and teresting reading material in English, and that one
rabbis, as a rule, insist upon the study of Hebrew can be a good Jew -without knowing Hebrew.
Now, there are valid reasons why one should study
by Jews outside Israel who intend to remain in the
any foreign language. There are more and better
countries in which they live.
The error usually committed by people about the reasons why one should learn and become proficient
in one's own mother tongue. -
value of Hebrew consists in the notion that language
The Jew who contends that Hebrew is dead might
is merely an instrument for labeling objects or ideas.
as well' go one step further and state that the Jewish
What is not. so commonly stressed, is that language
people are dead, too. For no other people_ in history
also conveys sentiments, values, nuances, which -do
have been so inextricably bound to its language and
not lend themselves to translation.
literature as the Jewish people. Our\ surname as
Airne Palliere, the French author and convert to
"The People of the Book," meaning the Bible, was
Judasim, bears testimony to the role of Hebrew in
his conversion, stating: "Many others have known 'attached to us by the Gentiles, for they marveled at
the indescribable charm , that the language of the our love and devotion to the Bible and other literary
treasures written'in the Hebrew language.
Bible holds. As I did, they have sensed the mystic
The Hebrew language is a living, growing and con-
perfume these venerable texts exhale, like the subtle
tinuously develoAng organism, just as is any other
aroma - of dried flowers between the leaves of old books.
modern language 'with the exception that Hebrew is
Through the: Hebrew syllables with their sonorous
perhaps the "oldest" modern language in existence.
cadence; something out of the soul of Israel reached
me. A biblical passage or a shred of a prayer out of It traces' its origin from the Patriach Abraham to the
the ritual, which I succeeded in translating, spoke to present time.
There were long periods in Jewish history when
me of Judaism in a more penetrating manner, and
liebrew was not used as a spoken language, but never
was more menacing to my, faith (Catholicism) than
all the learned discourses of a convinced and informed did Hebrew 'cease to function in Jewish prayers, study,
Israelite with the best intentions in the world could in the Writing of great works and in written corn-
have been. When I opened my psalter, the -words 'had munications between Jews, In our own lifetime there
a significance for me, an emotional and religious value has been a tremendous development and growth of
the Hebrew language7--written and spoken. Linguistic
that I could never again find in French or Latin."
experts estimate• that there are 55,000 words in the
To the religious Jew, Hebre* is the language of
Worship and Jewish, religious thought.- To men of Hebrew language today.
There is no better way for' a •ew—adult or child—
letters, it . holds the key to a classic literature. To
to identify himself with his people and deriye joy
lovers of Israel, -Hebrew can serve as a bond of unity
and pride from it than by the study of Hebrew, the
with world Jewry and the State of Israel. To Jewry
living and vibrant language of his people and of - the
at large, Hebrew can serve as a potent factor in Jewish
survival, for it :links the Jew to his past, binds him State of Israel!'
"I can read the prayers. I don't understand them.
to the present, and enables him to share in the vision
- -I don't think I need anymore." -
for a creative Jewish life in the future.
Louis J. Ruffman, president of National Council
What is the value of teaching Hebrew? _
of Jewish Education tells us if the Jewish education
Asks Dr. Azriel EiSenberg, executive Vice-
of the child is to have any meaning and relevance to
president, Jewish Education Committee of NeW York:
Why waste time and energy - on the acquisition of a him and serve as a positive force in his life, the atti-
difficult oriental language when with less time and tude expressed in the above statement is manifestly
absurd. It ref5resehts a very thin and tenuous con-
energy the essence of Hebrew writings can be acquired
nection with Judaism and Jewish life which could be
through translation?
-Hebrew has served as a unifying force in Jewish broken off at any time and under the slightest pres-.
sure. Even if one were to limit his Jewish interest'
life. Now that it is the spoken tongue of ,Israel and of
to participation in synagogue services, a circumscribed
a great many other narts of the world, it is more
than ever a bond of union and as such deserves a ability to read Prayers mechanically is not sufficent.
What meaning 'can such prayers have to the person s
prominent place , in our schools.
In urging the cause of Hebrew, I am mindful not saying them if he is not aware of what he is saying?
His . connection with the synagogue can only be a very
only of the needs of Jewry, but also of the best
perfunctory one with very little assurance that it
interests of American citizenship. What contribution
will be lasting:
either to Jewry or to America can we .expect from a
As a minimum, the Jewish education to be pro-
youth ..that is torn from Jewish ethical traditions,
vided for an American Jewish-- child must aim at
bereft of knowledge of our rich literature and devoid
giving him a positive identification with Jewish life
of the spiritual joys and sorrows of our group life?
A Jewish -youth that knows but the discrimination and its traditions, stimulating him to participate in the
and humiliation that frequently go with, Jewishness, institutions and organizations functioning in Jewish
life in this country and instilling in him a conviction
but lacks the compensation that carves front close
contact with a creative, living, virile Judaism must' of the worthwhileness of Judaism, and what it stands
for. In order to achieve these obj
ective's, the curri-
needs yield' unhappy and dissatisfied individuals bur-
dened* with inferiority complexes. A youth such as culum of the Jewish school must be broad in scope
this can prove a liability both to Jewry and to America. _and provide adequately for a variety of subject areas
and experiences. In any such program the Hebrew
"Why should I be interested in Jewish learning—
language must have a central and prominent position.
It has been outdated?"
"What sense is there in studying Hebrew after
In his answer, Dr. Israel S. Chipkin, vice-president,
you have become Bar-Mitzvah?". •
Jewish Education Committee of New York, states:
Dr. Leo L. Honor, Dropsie College, Philadelphia, Pa.,
I am interested in Jewish learning, because I need
it ,in order to -be able to live more intelligently and in answer to this important question, writes: It

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appears that the basic function of the Jewish school
may be said to be to help one who was born a Jew
to develop into a conscious Jew who voluntarily com-
mits himself to the responsibilities which are incum-
bent upon him becauSe he is a Jew. My attention
was called recently, by Mr. David Todes, who is 'en-
gaged In research in the history of Jewish' education
in Philadelphia, to the fact that this conception of
the function of the Jewish school is not new,.that it
was anticipated by Isaac Leeser more than 100
years ago. In an article in the "Occident" in the 1840S,
1-11 expressed the aim of Jewish education as follows:
"We must educate the, Jewish child so that he be a
Jew by conviction, not only an Israelite by birth."
If the elementary schOol keeps this aim in mind
and sees to it that during the years the child is in
school prior to his Bar Mitzvah, the child is afforded
opportunty through guided , experience to find in
Judaism and Jewish life a, source of strength and a
source of joy. The Bar Mitzvah ceremony will not, -
then, be an empty, meaningless ceremony with, per-
haps, as has been 'suggested in grim- jest, more em-
phasis on the bar than on the mitzvah. It will, inStead,
become a true initiation into Jewish life, which -
entails the awareness of the need for,continued study
in order to gain deeper insights intO.the meaning and
significance of Jewish values.
The ceremony will imply also self-dedication and
determinationtto participate in Jewish community liv-
ing, and the significant elements in induction into
the JewiSh community. Finally, it will signify accept-
ance of all that is involved in insuring the continuance
of Jewish creativity and persistent effort to bring
about a glorious "tomorrow" for she Jewish people;
commensurate with its glorious "yesterday."
"What does Jewish education mean to the aver-

age parent?"
Dr. Judah Pilch, executive director, American As-

sociation- for Jewish Education, New York, writes: I
have had occasion to discuss the problem of Jewish
education with groups of Jewish parents in a number
of middle-sized and small Communities. I have made a-
special effort to be the listener rather -than the speak-
er. In going over my notes, I have found a number of
common denominators with - regard to the meaning
of Jewish' education for the -average' parent. They
can be summarized as follows :
1. Jewish education means learning to live intelli-
gently as Jews. The two most important aspects of
Jewish life are - (a) identification with the' Jewish
group, through observances of Jewish religious forms
and: (b) belonging to one or another of the 'Jewish
organizations engaged in Jewish social welfare.
2. Jewish education means rearing children who
wilt build Jewish homes in the future where customs
and ceremonies which are accepted by the entire_
Jewish groUp will be observed.
•
3. Jewish 'education for the child means growing
up wholesomely to share and participate in Jewish
experiences of family, friends and the community. In

order to achieve this goal, worthwhile and relevant
knowledge, or what is commonly known as TOrah,

is needed.
4. For the community, Jewish education means pre-
serving Jewish life through its institutions. This in-
volves some aspects of Jew_iSh cultural - heritage to
the growing generation.
I doubt very much whether a professional educa-
tor can do better than what these parents have done
in setting forth Jewish educational objectives which
would be valid for the American ,Jewish scene. The
orientation of our parents to Jewish education is
inde4d a challenge to the professional Jewish educa-
tor. it is the job of the Jewish teacher to develop a,
program for the Jewish school which would translate
the desiderata of parents and educators alike in terms
of a pleasant child environment, an attractive school
- and a functional and relevant curriculum. -
The parents, in torn; should understand that edu-
cation is necessarily a slow process. In ordea to attain
their goals, parents therefore must influence their
children to study in a Jewish educational institution

over a long period of time and be subjected to the •
stimultis of an intensive education.

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Editorial

Current Education Month

While the important statements on this page em-
phasize the significance of Hebrew as a major factor

in Jewish' education, it is primarily a symbol of the
needs of our time. Without Hebrew we can not re-
tain the character of Jewish traditional knowledge.
We believe that this is now generally understood
and acknowledged. Biut, as Bernard Isaacs and Albert
Elazar indicate ith their articles elsewhere air this is-
sue, the most serious obstacle in the path of Jewish
education is the shortage of teachers. Their warnings
should be heeded. The teacher , is the' Unknown Sol-
dier without whom the cultural house of our Hebrew
people would collapse. It is imperative, therefore;
that the Hebrew teacher should be encouraged in his
work. and that his standards should be advanced.,
Iv is encouraging to know that the pioneers in
the Hebrew teaching field are not being forgotten.
The testimonial brunch to one of our outstanding ed-
ucators, Mr. Max Gordon, this coming Sunday, is a
fine gesture and an act of recognition of great worth
in Jewish educational ranks.
It is sincerely to be hoped that the current Edu-
cation Month efforts will bring the desired results in
an increased attendance in the schools, an improved
status for teachers and a higher standard in curricula.

Page 20

The Jewish News,

Friday November 7, 1952