THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, Nov. 3, 1972-1S
Boris Smolar's
Plan Drawn
to Revitalize
Iran's Schools
'Between You
... and Me
Editor-In-Chief Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1972, JTA Inc.1
PROGRESS REPORT: The study of Yiddish in American
colleges and universities continues to grow. So are programs
related to the history and culture of East-European Jewry
and to the period of Jewish mass-immigration to the United
States. The current academic year opened with such courses
in about 50 universities in various parts of the country.
A catalyst for the development of these studies in the
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Its impact on the Amer-
ican Jewish community and on the academic community as
a whole is being felt stronger and stronger with every year.
In conjunction with Columbia University, YIVO initiated
in 1968, a program for Yiddish language, literature and
culture through its Max Weinreich Center which bears the
name of its founder. Students from 28 universities across
the country participated in the offerings of this program
in 1970. Last year the enrollment included students from
37 universities. This year students from more than 40
campuses enrolled.
The more courses In Yiddish introduced in American
schools of higher learning, the more are qualified teachers
with university education needed for teaching this subject.
YIVO is active in preparing and providing such teachers
through its courses in conjunction with Columbia University.
The Max Weinreich Center for Advanced Jewish Studies
has concluded a formal arrangement with Columbia Uni-
versity by which Columbia courses are open to students
of the Weinreich Center and specified seminars of the
center are in turn open to students at Columbia.
Fifteen of the present and former students of the cen-
ter are currently teaching Jewish studies courses in their
universities. VIVO has also arranged this year, for the first
time, a colloquim for high school and college teachers of
Yiddish. It also provides material and consulations to vari-
ous universities throughout the county which seek advice on
the establishment of programs for Jewish studies in their
localities.
•
•
•
ACADEMIC RECOGNITION: With all these activities, YIVO
— which is holding its annual banquet in New York this
week—has become the central resources institution in its
fields of specialization for virtually the entire academic
community. It is also recognized as such by central govern-
ment agencies dealing with cultural affairs. This was evi-
denced by the grant of $322,500 offered to YIVO by the
National Endowment for Humanities on condition that
VIVO raises half of this sum on matching funds.
Because of the high reputation which YIVO now en-
joys, Jewish federations and welfare funds in a number
of cities—especially in Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Miami
— were generously responsive in their allocations toward
the requested matching funds. However, YIVO is still short
of its total goal. It is expected that other communities will
similarly come to the aid of YIVO in meeting the condition
stipulated by the National Endowment for obtaining the
offered grant.
A major step in helping YIVO to secure the full grant
could also be made by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish
Culture, which has funds for Jewish cultural purposes from
the German reparations. The executive committee of the
Memorial Foundation is meeting Nov. 30, and it is only
logical to expect that it would vote in an allocation for
the YIVO for two reasons: 1. Because such an allocation
will bring matching funds from the National Endowment
in Washington: 2. Because YIVO is, after all, the only
depository in the United States of material perpetuating
the memory and history of East European Jewry annihilat-
ed by the Nazis. The Memorial Foundation would certainly
not want to be held responsible for the reduction of a
U.S. government grant to YIVO by failing to contribute
to the required matching funds.
•
•
MICROFILMING HISTORY: One of the major achieve-
ments of the YIVO this year was the microfilming of ap-
proximately 1,000,000 pages of original documents per-
taining to Jewish immigration to this country. The total
YIVO immigration collections consists of 3,000.000 pages.
Leaders of YIVO hope to receive additional funds from
the National Endowment for Humanities that will enable
them to complete this enormous microfilming project.
The growth of Interest on the part of high school and
college students across the country In VIVO's field of
specialization, has necessitated expansion of YIVO' ■ li-
brary, archives facilities and staff to meet the Increased
demand on services. The reading rooms of YIVO's library
and archives are this year packed with young people every
day of the week. YIVO also succeeded in attracting this
year to Its research program a significant number of young
scholars and graduate students. It also processed thou-
sands of Inquiries and requests for cultural assistance.
All this augers well for the future growth of the YIVO
program, which is attracting more and more attention on
the part of the organized American Jewish community.
The Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds,
through its Large Cities Budgeting Conference, is now ac-
tive In stimulating the Jewish communities in the U.S.
and Canada to provide more funds for a group of eight
Jewish cultural agencies, in which YIVO plays the largest
RAMAT-GAN — A far-
reaching plan to revitalize
Jewish education in Iran has
been proposed by Prof.
Josef Glanz, of the educa-
tion department at Bar-Ilan
University. A n estimated
70,000 to 75,000 Jews live in
Iran, and there are trends
towards assimilation.
Prof . Glanz spent several
months in Iran on behalf of
the education departments of
the World Zionist Organiza-
tion.
According to the report,
some 61,000 Jews emigrated
to Israel since 1948, reduc-
ing the Iran Jewish popula-
tion by 40-45 per cent. How-
ever, the interest in aliya is
becoming less pronounced,
and the number of those re-
turning to Iran is growing.
Generally, t he economic
situation of the community
has improved greatly. Jews
have been leaving slum
quarters for new and pros-
pefous suburbs, mainly out-
side of Tehran. Previously
limited aspirations have been
forgotten, and the number
of families sending their
children to universities is
rising, Prot. Glans said.
A wide strata of Persian
Jewry is maintaining an emo-
tional and factual link with
Jewishness. Synagogues are
filled with worshippers on
Saturdays and festivals, and
there is interest in Jewish
association. There also is
much sympathy for Israel.
At the same time, the Jew-
ish way of life is becoming
ever more alienated from
Halakha, he said.
The leaning to the local
society and culture is grow-
ing stronger, and with it
symptoms of future assimi-
lation gertultiply. Many Jew-
ish fa lies in the rising so-
cial strata send their chil-
dren to non-Jewish schools.
An estimated 50 to 60 per
cent of all Jewish children
in Tehran attend non-Jew-
ish schools.
The number of Jewish
schools, the number of pupils
attending them and the num-
ber of hours allocated to
Jewish subjects in some In-
stitutions are encouraging.
There are 18 Jewish kinder-
gartens, 38 se hoots and
10,680 pupils, of whom 1,293
are non-Jewish.
Prof. Glanz states that
there must be fundamental
changes to update all the
Jewish schools. Conditions
of work for teachers are poor,
and these should be im-
proved, he said. Parents
should be given a greater
share In educational activi-
ties.
- Prof. Glen: proposes a
detailed program to be Im-
He
plemented In stages.
suggests the appointment of
an Israeli adviser for Jew.
lab education In Iran.
The curriculum is aimed
not only at a theoretical
awareness of things Jewish,
but also the compliance with
the precepts of Judaism in
practice.
Air Raid Shelters
JERUSALEM — Israel In-
terior Minister Yosef Burg
said his government has
spent IL 120,000,000 ($28,-
800,000) over the last five
years to build 2,000 air raid
ti
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