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IC
The Chautauqua System
of Jewish Education
Jewish Education.
HISTORICAL SURVEY
THE JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA SOCIETY
P. OrBOX 825. PHILADELPHIA. PA.
1912
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COPYRIGHT 1912
Thb Jewish CHAVTAuauA SoaiBxr.
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION Page R
THE BIBLICAL ERA
Abram Simon, Ph. D.
THE RABBINICAL ERA 41
William RoBenau, Ph. D.
THE MODERN ERA B9
Abram Simon, Ph. D.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS
INDEX 95
I->*J^i>oo
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JEWISH EDUCATION.
INTBODUCTOBY.
To stimulate Interest In Jewisb educatloDSil problems bas
been the distinct purpose of the Jewisb Cbautaugua Society since
ItB inception. In tb!s endeavor, tbe need of presenting an bletoi-
Ical survey of tbe contributions made by Jews to the science ol
pedagogy was trequently felt. In order to meet such need some
of tbe papers contained In tbie volume were prepared tor tbe Soci-
ety's Summer AesemMles. Wltb tbe view of giving a larger circu-
lation and a permanent form to these papers, t^e Society herewith
pubiisheB this volume as the Qrst of a series to be devoted to
studies In the fleld of education. Excepting for a few monographs
and Encyclopedia articles this work now makes available, for the
first time In the English language, a succinct account of the note-
worthy contributions Of the Jews to the history of education. This
publication is designed to serve as a Text-book la the Correspond-
ence School conducted by the Society. It is to be hoped that this
survey will be welcomed by all who have not had tbe opportunity
heretofore to see the subject presented In a systematic form.
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BIBLICAL ERA.
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JEWISH EDl'CATION IN THE BIBLICAL ERA.'
Bv ABRAM SIMON
A study of the blstory of Jewish Education In the Biblical
Era is fruitful in aiiggestions for methods of inetruction applicable
to-day. I shall construe the Biblical Era as the fifteen hundred
years between the Patriarchal and the Maccabean epochs, and 1
shall consider only such methods and principles which aeem to
point a moral and adorn a tale in the volume of modem education.
Th?s essay divides itself naturally into aix parts, forming answers
to these questions;
I. What is the general trend and purpose of Education?
II. What la the specific purpose of Education in the Bible?
III, What was the standard of general culture in the Bib-
lical Era?
IV. How and by whom was auch education or culture Im-
parted?
V. What are the methods and principles ot such education,
applicable to-day in our religious schools?
VI, What is the message which the Biblical educational
ideal holds for this age?
I.
What is the General Trend and Purpose of Education?
A Philosophy ot Education is still in the making. The mass
of information as to man's spiritual nature has not yet been for-
mulated into so exact a scheme as to enable ub to say that there
Is a complete Science of Education. If there is a science of edu-
cation, it Is descriptive rather than normative. The depth of the
spiritual nature of man is now being plumbed. Tet it must be ad-
♦Presented originally to the Summer Assembly of the Jewish
Chautauqua Society, Buffalo, N. T.. July 17, 1909.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
mltted gladly that despite the foam ot speedily vaniahlng frothy
thoorlea and deductions, divers have been privileged to bring to
light and leading much o( the content and method ot spiritual
phenomena. The art of education is waiting patiently on the
science of education. What we have not as yet, but ought to have
is what J, S. Mill called, a treatise which would embody the "laws
of the formation ot character."
Fortunately, the human instinct InBists on self-expression and
self- reproduction, and formulates Its moods, pasBlons, Ideas and
dreams Into moving traditions and fluid Institutions according to
Its needs, ability and courage. Fortunately, the home performed
Its divine task before Sociology saw the light of scientific day.
Parents did not wait for the coming of Psychology and Pedagogy
to impress themselves and their ideals upon their children. Thu
race has educated itself without worrying over finalities. It grip-
ped the eternal verities of lite; the ages have slowly clothed them
in flesh and bone. The real heart of the Educational Ideal haa
never ceased beating since the dawn of human life.
Our modern educational Ideal Is a synthesis of all the past
Ideals as modified by the growth of nationality, democracy, science
and industrial development. It revolves about the right of each
child to its own fullest development, the duty of the State to train
Us children to the highest efllciency of citizenship, and to the right
and duty of the home to be the productive and practical unit of
society Cor the care of childhood. While the first and second Ideas
have received but scant philosophical recognition in the past, the
third Idea, the dower and duty ot home, baa never failed to ha
appreciated as the dynamic force and possibility of all education.
The Home contains the first and best of ail schools, all teachers,
all pedagogics, and I much doubt If Society will ever develop a
sublimer instttutlon tor the production, conservation and enhance-
ment of Its accumulating treasures. Nor should It he forgotten
that the education In the home was connected and saturated with
the rites and rules of religion. Education seeded and sprouted in
the home, but It has been fertilized by Faith. If the progressof
society has thrown the burden of education upon the State, it may
well pause In considering in how tar It can afford to dispense with
the Intimacy and the warmth ot domestic instruction and the glow
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JEWISH EDUCATION
of religion in the training of its citizenship for Life. "Education,
then, in ita widest sense Is the means which a nation (In which
State, Church and Home are organic unite), takes deliberately for
the training of ita citizens In the traditions and principles of na-
tional character and for the promotion of the welfare of the whole
as an organized ethical community."*
Out of this, has grown our modern Educational Ideal. Baby-
lonia and Bgypt had general learning but It was exclusively the
privilege and the possession of the priests; they have not left us
their ideal ao as to have It succinctly embodied. From Greece
comes the ideal of culture, embodied in philosopher and athlete.
Rome found her ideal of efficiency in the training ot the orator.
The Middle Ages busied themselves in producing the montc in the
cloister and the knight in the castle. The masses in their ignor-
ance watched the development side by side of these ideals of monk-
ish piety and knightly chivalry. The Renalssaace broadened the
mind, and brought hack Greek and Roman ideals. The Reforma-
tion clarified the heart and brought back the Bible Ideals. The
one gave learning more breadth and depth; the other gave relig-
ion more purity and more scope. A new educational ideal was
born when the fertile brain ot Rousseau gave "Bmlle" to tbe
World in 1762. The Ideal of Nature, ot a nature as It can only
exist in the imagination of men to whom civilization is a curse,
thrilled Europe. Young Emile is to be trained In the lap
and arms of Nature. No restraint, no rules, no books, no obedi-
ence, no God, — only a full reliance on, and devotion to Nature
and the child-Instincts of human nature, Learn nature's secrets!
Nature must be the Bible; experiments and observation are the
Law and the Prophets. I^et him grow strong, learn to swim, use
his hands, and at fifteen introduce him to history, literature and
society. This idea went home to the masses. Amid much rubbish.
It contains a principle which has been transforming all modern
Education, and finding Its enhanced expression and formulation in
Pestalozzi. Proebel, Spencer, Bain and a host of noble workeri
who are brlnglnf; »s at last to the heart of the child. Thus. Bdu-
•S. S. Lfturl — "Historical Snrvey oC Pre-Christian CivlltKa-
tion" — Introduction.
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JEWISH EDUCATIOX
cation has become a movement o( the people, lor the people and
by the people, and for the completest and most harmonious tnter-
action of the Individual and of society for each other's life and
progress. To this happy consummation, modernity is contribating
the ideal of service.
The question is, Is the modern Educational Ideal wholly (l
synthesis of the Greek, the Roman, the Middle Age and the mod-
ern democratic struggle? What do modern educators mean when
they speak ol Heart-culture, Character building, spiritual training,
or the preparation of the individual for life? Do these not hark
back to the Bible, to the fundamental concepts and principles
therein contained? Can we escape the conclusion that the stress
and sweep of modern education are intrinsically about the heart
of Israel, about the old Biblical Ideal -of Religious Culture?
Is not Religious Culture, then, not only the contribution of
Israel to the treasure-house of education, but also the Principle
which evaluates all other gifts; or, changing the Sgure, is it not
the conviction which is forming and transforming all theories to a
necessity (or the cultivation of character and life?
II.
What is the Specific Farpose of Education In the Bible?
It is not difficult to understand the purpose of Education In
the Bible. The Bible is the world's oldest text-book on racial and
individual training. The people who wrote the Bible are the clas-
sic pedagogues of civilization. The Hebrew was the only one whc
ever built up an educational program on religion. Its theory called
for a levelling-up process of the people to the standing, dignity,
piety and learning of priests. While learning was not the posses-
sion of all, theoretically it was the privilege of all. Israel's ideal of
"a kingdom of priests" called for the educational art which could
give reality to such an ideal. Floating before the minds of all
Hebrew educators was this inspiring message, "Surely, this great
nation is a wise and understanding people." (Deut. IV. 6). There
is nowhere a statement that education Is an exclusive prerogative.
In how far culture In ancient Israel was general It Is impos-
sible to say with any degree of deQnlteness. It is a fact, however,
that Israel in Egypt, In Canaan and In Babylonia, was In the midst
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JEWISH EDUCATION
of a nation of superior intellectual and political culture. The
geniuB Of the Hebrew (and later on of the Jew) lay in hla master-
ful absorbing function by which he transformed and transfigured
the products thereof in the alembic of his soul. Whatever served
this instinct was utilized and sublimated. He "Israellzed" the
Osiria of Egypt, the Baalim of Canaan and the Ormuzd-Ahriman
of Persia. He ethicized their gods, their myths, their institutions
and their ceremonies. He reliBionlzed everything Anally Into an
fthical monotheism and preserved it Immortally in a Book and,
with hla pedagogical Instinct, made his holy God the World's Edu-
cator. Thus, the Hebrew, hia God, his religion and his Book stand
together as the Biblical contribution to the learning and the peda-
gogy of the human race.
The method adopted for the perpetuation of his first fruits
is Inherently the best. God, Home and the Torah are the three
classic and organic units. Education in the Bible begins with
obedience to parents, centers in reverence for God and ends in
the discipline and consecration of life. Israel laid his greatest
burden on the home as the educator of the race, and sanctioned
the fifth commandment as Its divine guarantee of perpetuity. From
early morning until nightfall the day brought Its lessons and warn-
ings, Its prayers and Its sacrifices. Daily and Insistently the In-
struction revolved about the love of God and Hia choice and train-
ing of Israel for his divinely set and priestly-charactered mission.
"Out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice that He might In-
struct thee. Upon earth He showed thee His great Are and thou
heardest His words out of the midst of the Are. And because He
loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them and
brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt.
Know, therefore, this day and consider it in thy heart that the
Lord Is God in the Heaven above and upon the Earth beneath.
There Is none else. Thou shalt keep, therefore, His statutes and
His commandments which I command thee this day that It may go
well with thee and with thy children after thee, and that thou
mayest prolooR thy days upon the earth which the Lord, thy God,
giveth thee forever.*' (Deut. IV, 3G-*0). Love God and do Hie
commandments, (or this Is the whole duty of man. Religious
training, then Is for personal and social righteousness. To know
God is to be conscious of His existence and of our relation to Him.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
To know God la lo do right. To do right is to be pious. Piety is
learning. The knowledge of God is for the consecration of lUe,
"Know God In order to live godly," this la the purpose of Educa-
tion In the Bible. Know God, not for the Intellectual aatlsfactlon
Involved, but In order to love Him! I^ove Him, not for the mere
diBcharge of emotional energy but that you may iivel Live, not
lor a mere satisfaction of the instinct tor existence, but in order
that you may consecrate it! In other words. Religious Cnltnre is
the educational Ideal of the Bible. ■
III.
Wbat was the Standard of General Culture in the Biblical Era?
What do we know of the level of culture In the Biblical Era?
What subjects were taught the children in the home or the adults
In the profeBsional schools or in the Synagogs? A curriculum Is
out of the question. Something besides religion must have been
taught in a history of fifteen hundred years. Joaephua la proud
to say that Jewish education was so superior to the Qreek or
Roman, in that It was both theoretical and practical. I can un-
derstand that the "theoretical" would include a knowledge of re-
ligion, of the parts of the history as it developed, a training in
ethical duty, in the holidays and in reading Hebrew. But the
"practical" must have been more than a participation in the sacri-
ficial system. Bccleaiastes said "Whatever thy hand flndeth to do,
do it with all thy might;" we would be using a cheap homlletlcs
to make this bolster a plea for industrial education. However,
there was training in war. All over twenty years must have
served some apprenticeship and profited by its physical training.
II Sam. I, 8, has the training of the men of Judah la the use
of the bow.
Strong as are the words against sloth and idleness, yet the
Greek conception finds no clear enunciation until the beginning of
ihe Maccabean era.
Music was certainly taught to the upper classes. The travel-
ing prophets in Samuel's day no less than the priests In connec-
tion with the temple of Solomon and of those who returned un-
der Ezra were teachers of music, though their music was essen-
tially for worship. (I Chr. XXV, 8b; 11 Chr. XVII, 1; Prov.
XXV, 5).
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JEWISH EDUCATION
Nor do we know of the eclencee which were taught. The He-
brew displayed no aptitude In the gathering and collating of scien-
tific data. Some priests may have known something of medicine,
hygiene, astronomy, but we do not know ol science as subjecta of
education. Toy, in hla notes on "The Book o( Proverbs,*' p. 531
suspects that tlie words, Chapter XXX, 18 and 19.
"Three things are beyond my ken
And four I do not understand
The way of the vulture In the air.
The way of a serpent over a rock.
The way of a ship on the high sea
And the way of a man with a woman,"
are lessons in natural history and physics. So the words, wisdom,
intelligence, knowledge, doctrines, counsel, understanding, guid-
ance, Torah, teaching, sagacity, discretion, the way, often finely
drawn In the Bible, may represent crude divisions of general cul-
Was writing taught? We touch debatable ground.* We may
not be far from wrong In allowing a fairly common accomplish-
ment in this direction before the Exile. Words and scenes about
writing occur in every page of the Scripture. In Genesis
XXXVni, 18, Juda's signet ring must have been lettered.
Judges VIII, 14 reveals a young man putting down In the
writing the names of the princes of Suceoth. In Judges V, 14 we
find the words -13c J^ZV "t''^ stylos of the scribe." The ad-
ministrative system of judges and elders under Moses and for
many years later implies the supposition that tbey could keep rec-
ord of names, dates and facts, Deut. XX speak? of C'"m"j sub-
military officers, who kept the register of those wbo served in the
army. I Chr. II speaks of .labez — the home of writing. Deut.
XXIV treats of writing a bill of divorce, while the Mezuza calls
for writing. "Thou shalt write them upon the door-posts," "Upon
the tablets of thy heart," "the two tablets of stone" call for a fa-
miliarity with the art of writing. In 11 Sam. VIII, 7; II Sam. XX,
P: 1 Chr. XVIIl, 16; I Chr, XXIV, 6: I Kings IV, 3, and II Kings
See Basting's Dictionary of the Bible; vol. IV on "Writing,"
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JEWISH EDUCATION
XIX, 2 2, occur the names of Sbeva, Shebua, Shaphan, Shimaya,
Savya, Elisaref and Ahli as scribes under David and Solomon.
Psalm CIX and Proverbs XXX, 11-31 are alphabetic acrostics.
How comes It tbat Amos and Mlcah, two oF the greatest prophets
wbo came from the masses spoke such classical Hebrew, and that
Amos, the dresser of sycamores was the fl-fst to put his sermons to
writing? The Bible itself Is Incontestable proof that the people
had the literary Instinct and paaelon for self expression In stately
language.
Jeremiah XXXVI, 18 uses the word ink. From II Kings XX,
20 and later referred to in II Chr. XXXII, 30 we learn of the great
conduit built in the days of Hezekiah, and Its Inscription now de-
ciphered, is livinK testimony to the knowledge of writing in the
eighth century, B. C.
Yet the Bible is only a remnant o( a great literature which
the writers must have had for reference? Out of the Bible we
draw the proof of the one-time existence of smaller tracts, codes,
histories, epics and dirges. There existed
■'The Book of Yashar" (II Sam. I, 18):
"The Wars of Jehovah" (Num. XXI, 24).
"The Book of the Covenant" (Ex. XX, 20-23).
•'The Little Book of the Covenant" (Ex. XXXIV).
"The Holiness Code" (l.evlt. XVII-XXVI).
"Collections of Dirges" (Amos V, 2; Jer. XLVIII, 36; II Chr.
XXXV, 25).
"Collections of Genealogies by the prophets Shemalyah and
Iddo." (11 Chr. XII, 15; XTII, 22).
Were these tracts and booklets written for private circula-
tion? Were they text-books on religion and history?
Does not Numbers V, 11-23 indicate a separate tract on "The
Law of Jealousy?"
May Exodus XXXIV not have been a catechism in Religion?
The existence of so much writing before the Exile compels ua to
(he belief that writing was not the exclusive possession of the
priests and Levites.
Whether natural history, music and writing were only
taught to the upper classes will never be definitely known. One
thing is certain; after the return from the Exile and for a century
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JEWISH EDUCATION
thereafter so general was education that SccleBiastes could sa; in
Harcasm, aod with truth, "Ot the making of books there is no
end." (Eccl. XII, 12). When we consider this question In don-
nectlon with the further query, "How or where was Instruction
imparted?" the probability ot a wide and general culture becomes
a certainty In post-exilic days. Ancient Israel had no schools in
our sense of the word. The phrase "schools of prophets" (I Sam.
X) means rather a guild or brotherhood than a fixed place of In-
struction. Instruction wae mostly oral and given in the home.
The Levltea, scattered throughout the length and breadth of the
land, came Into close contact with the people and, doubtloBB, served
as the pioneer mlselonarles. The prophets In their peripatetic wan-
derings made every spot a platform, a temporary school for public
Instruction. The perch of the temple was often used; and here and
there, we infer that the wide open places (Prov. I, 20) and cross-
roads, furnished favorable meatlng grounds for the sages and their
But the birth of the Synagogue was the greatest educational
factor In Jewish history after the prophets' voice was hushed. The
word "Mldrash" appearing twice In II Chron. XII, 22 and XXIV,
37 cannot mean school but commentary. The InHtltutlon known
as the "be rah" or "bet rabban" (house of the teacher) or ae thi>
"be safra" or "bet eefsr" (house of the book) 1b supposed to have
been originated by Ezra and hla Great Assembly which provided a
public school in Jerusalem to secure the Education of fatherless
boys ol the age of Bliteen years and upward. (Jewish Ency..
Vol. XII, p, 37). The growth of the synagogue was so rapid that
by the second century B. C. E. there was scarcely a town which had
not at least one synagogue. There was no conflict between the
Temple and tne Synagojcue. Tbey nourished side Dy side, per-
forming complementary functions. The Temple was for sacrifice
and worship; the latter tor Instruction. The former had a cer-
tain aloofness: the essential nature of the latter was democratic.
It was the "People's Institute." The Synagogue was the public
high school where the Law was read and expounded, where prayer
and praises were offered, In the latter the services were con-
ducted by the elders and the priests, while the instruction was in
the bands ot the lalty, the sages. In addition to the popularizing
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JEWISH EDUCATION
of knowledge ' In the Synagogues, the private homes were alBO
turned Into welle ot Instructlbn bo that Jose ben Joezer of Zeredah
could a&y truly, "Let thy bouse be a meeting-place for the wise;
sit amidst the dust nCthetr feet 'and drink their words with thirst."
Everywhere, little bands of nlen sr^uped themselvea together for
instruction in the law and ta higher studies, offering the earliest
form of study circles. By the Maccabean Era, elementary educa-
tlOD was accessible to all, eo that we can appreciate the conclusion
of Wellhausen, "Whoever could not read was no true Jew," (ler. u
Jud. Gesch., 159). With the Maccabean Era, the synagogue felt
the Impress of Greeli philosophy. When Jew met Greek, it
was a clash of Jewish against Greek pedagogr. religious versus
secular culture. Both ideals are dominant In the modem Educa-
tional Ideal. The problem of the future is the taslc of harmoniz-
ing them.
IV.
Uow and by Wltom was Heli^oaa Education Imparted?
By whom was this exalted ideal of religious culture devel-
oped? The teachers in the Bible are' (a) the parents, (lb) the
l^evites, priests, psalmists, (c) the prophets, (d) the scribes'. <e)
the sages.
(a) The parents are the first teachers (Ps, CXXVII, 3;
CXXVIII, 3). They follow a curriculum born out of a rich fund
ot domestic experience, tradition and love. We can follow the
babe as it was washed in water, salted and swaddled (Ezek. XVI,
i); how, If wealthy, it was turned over to nurses (Gen. XXIV,
59) ; how, If a boy, It was entered Into the covenant of Israel on Its
eighth day and was named. (Luke I, 59; II, 21). The fortieth
day called for an offering In his name, while the girl's was brought
on her eightieth day (Lev. XII). Then the babe was weaned at a
family feast (Gen. XXI, 8, and I Sam. I, 24), during all of which
time the Cull stamp ot the loving parental soul was being Impressed
upon it.
What can express the duty and method of parental educa-
tion so clearly as these words, "Thou shalt teach them dillgentlv
unto tfiy children and thou shalt speak of them when thou sittest
in thy house, when thou waikest by the way, when thou Host
down and when thou risest up?" And what can express the abso-
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JEWISH ■ EDUCATION
lute duty of the child so eucciactly as the classic fifth commaad-
meat and its law of reward? Surely the entire Sh'ma, the great
Ten Words, the holidays, tbe forins aud meanings of Hacriflces,
the choice of Israel, God's love, protection and promises to him
are the most essential elements in the earliest education ol the
child. Doubtless, too, the children were deeply impressed by their
visit to the Temple to hear the reading of Deuteranomy by the
King (Deut. XXXVI. 10-12). , .
The strongest religious influence was the personality of the
parents and the atmosphere of the home. The instinct of imita-
tion (asliions the sights, souDds and hourly experiences Into habits
and modes of conduct. If to the parent, the command "Ye shall
be perfect as the Lord your God. is perfect" is the '"Imitatio Dei,"
to the child his hourly home-life brings the law of ■'Imitatio Par-
entis" (Tien. XIII, 1, and Deut. II, 26).
No days furnish more favorable occaatons for parental in-
structlos than do the holidays. Here the parent has his oppor-
tunity. Home-ceremonies arouse the curiosity of children
and win from them numerous questions. And the parent is to wel-
come such interest and inquiry and never say "Wait until you are
older before I can explain to you the Exodus from Egypt or the
Giving of the Law." Your welcoming the inquiry calls for your
exercise of pedagogical common-sense. Fit your answers to the
needs and mental capacities of your children. Exodus XII, 26
presents such a recitation-hour during the Passover service.
"And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you,
what mean ye by this service, then shall ye say, 'It is the sacrifice
of the Lord's Passover.' " So in XIII, 8, "And thou shalt show thy
son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of that which the
Lord did unto me when I came forth from Egypt,' " So in verse
14 and Deut. VI, 20 shall the children be thus trained to con-
sider themselves as part of this people and to feel the responaibii-
Ity thereof.
The parents must seize the symljols as valuable pedagoglt
pegs. For the Passover (Ex, XIII, 9 and 16), "Shall be for a sign
unto thee upon thy hand and for memorial between thine eyes,"
So the Sh'ma adds the lesson, "Thou shait bind them as a sign
upon thy hand and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes."
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JEWISH EDUCATION
The frequeot recurrence ot these phrtuee indicates their use and
ttieir function in the home- training.
These symbols teach through the avenue ol the eye; yet It
la the heart "whence flow the Issues of life" (Prov. IV, 23)
and upon which Is lavished all the wealth ot care. The law la to
be "loved with all your heart and aout." The child must recog-
nise the equal authority of father and mother and its very high-
est obllgatloiL of obedience. "My son, keep thy father's command-
ment, and forsake not the law of thy mother." (ProT. VI, 20),
But this duty ought to be a heart-duty and an unforgettable duty.
''Bind them continually upon thy heart and tie them about thy
neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest It
shall keep thee. When thou wakest, it shall talk with tbee."
(PrOT, VI, 21). Surely, the Influence of the mother must have
been Immeasurably great. In addition to the religious training,
she taught her girls weaving and spinning (Ex. XXXV, 25) and
the domestic rounds of accomplishment of those days. A mother's
instruction is still preserved for us In Prov. XXXI, "The words of
King Lemuel, the prophesy which his mother taught him," and
the description of the Ideal woman la a tribute to hia own mother
and to Jewish womanhood in general. Doubtleas, she also taught
prayers. Deut. XXVI preserves two prayers for us. Isaiah says,
"What avalleth me the multitude ot your prayers?*' What those
prayers were we know not. The word "Amen" abounds so very
frequently and must have been the usual close of prayers In the
early days. We find "Amen" used In Num. V, 22; Deut. V, 15;
XXVII, a dozen times; Neh. VIII 6; Ps. CVI; Chr. XVI, 36; Pb.
XLI, 14; LXXXIX, 53, aa liturgical formula; and It presuppoaes
the existence of short prayers with the "Amen" as Its conclusion.
Its ironical use In Jer. XXVIII, 6, and recurrence in Klnga 1, 36
and Neh. V, 13 as an emphatic expression of assent only argues the
widespread use of the word "Amen."
The instruction was oral, and If attention and good behavior
were not secured, the rod was brought Into frequent use. The
boys and girls of the Biblp days were not "spoiled." Abso-
lute obedience was the prime essential duty of childhood. If
the child cursed his father or mother, (Deut. XXVII, 16; Ex. XXI,
15; Lev. XX, 9) death was pronounced upon him. Death Is the
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penalty for smiting a parent (Bz. XXI. 16), wbile "he that setteth
light by hU father or bis mother" la pronounced accursed," (Deut.
XXVII, 16). If the child was incorrigible a "ben sorer umorer,"
and bad refused perslEtently to obey blB parents, he was to be
brought by his parents and publlcli' arraigned before the elders
of the city and stoned to death. (Deut. XX. 18-21). This is the
real origin of the Juvenile Court, but with an unmitigated BSTerity.
Yet it must be remembered tbat the parent had not, as in Rome,
the power of life and death over tals son. When Insubordination
became Intolerable, he could not take the law into his own bands;
he must appeal to the decision of an impartial .trihuQal. That this .
punishment of the incorrigible could not have been of frequent
occurrence even In the Bible Era ie clear from Prov. XXX, 17,
where disobedience to parents la cited as a thin>; which brings a
man to a bad end, not ae a thing punished by death.
When the parents could afford it, they would entrust the
further and higher education of their children to priests, Levltes
(Deut. XXXI, 9; Joahua IX, 34) or tutors (II Kings X. 1), which,
during and after the Exile, was a very common practice.
(b) Our knowledge of the educational function of the Le-
Tlte, priest and psalmist leaves very much to be desired, and yet
they must have been strong factors in moulding the religious life
of ancient Israel. It is a pity that we cannot know In how close
a contact they came with the home, the parent, the child. I am
inclined to say that their educational work must have been lesn
direct upon the child and the home but more direct upon the com-
munity as a community. I shall omit all consideration of Biblical
criticism on the Indeflnitenesa of the position and relation of Le-
vlte to priest, and of the exaggerated opposition between priest
and prophet. I feel that an institution like the priesthood whose
function became the acknowledged missionary Ideal of a people
must have wleld<d a tremendous force for good and for learning.
Aside from the purely ecclesiastical labors of the Levlte and priest,
such as carrying the ark of the covenant, presiding over sacrifices
and worship, acting as doorkeepers and pronouncing the benedic-
tions, they were administrators, guardians and teachers of the law.
"They show Jacob Thy Judgments
And Israel Thy Law. "^( Deut. XXXIII, 8).
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III Jeremiah vill, S, ttaeira la tbe power to decide in accord-
ance with the prlucjlples at "the law of which they are the guard-
lanfl." in IL Klnga XVJI, 27 the priest 1b the educator. In Jere-
miah XVIli we read "The law shall not perlBh from tbe priest nor
counsel from the wise." 'Haggai II U told by God to consuU the
prleatB. Supervision of leprosy Is in, their hands (Dent. XXIV,
S) ; they are to address the hosts as they go forth to battle (Deut.
XX. 26); tbey ar«! to be consulted In difficult law-suits (Deut.
XVII, 8) and see to the preservation of the laws (Daut. XVII.
18 and V, 26). In the reform work under Jehosaphat the lr>adeni
are priests (U Chr! XVIII). In Leviticus X, 10 we rea-1 "They
teach the law of leprosy." And In Micah III, 11 the nrlests are
scolded for "teaching for hire." "while the prophets divine for
money." Nehemlab VIII recognizes the priests and Lievltes as tbe
actual and practical expounders of tbe Law. That two great
prophets, Jeremiah the preacher of Indlvidusllsm a.nd Ezeklel th^
exponent of Solidarity were also priests, adds Immeasurably to tbe
stature of the ideal priesthood. This ideal priesthood Is stated eT-
qnlsitely In Malaehi II who, after rebuking "the priests who de-
spise My name," says:
"The Law of truth was In bis mouth,
And iniquity was not found on his Ilpe,
He walked with Me in peace and equity.
And did turn many ,away from sin.
For the priests' lips should keep knowledge.
And they should seek the law at his mouth.
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts."
We are moat anxious to know how the priests exercised these
educational functions so that they could turn many from sin, and
how many sought wisdom from their lips. At any rate, enough
proof has been brought forth to show that by the period of the
Esile the priests represented the purely ritual and Intellectual
phases of worship and religion. Naturally, then, tbey were the
conservators of the status and dignity of the religious lite; and
their main appeal was to tradition, sentiment and the In-
violable sanctifies of the Godlike Institutions.
But Is this all that can be said of them? Were they only
sticklers tor the cold majesty of the law, ceremonial or Judicial?
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Had' they notblng to do with the PaalniB, those sweet intimate' dia-
logues Ot the soul wifh God? Prophetic teachings abb'utid In the
Pealma; can It be that the priests were unaffected by ttiem, failed
to appreciate and appropriate them? The' Psalms are tutl of inf-
erence to worship, rltiiai. prayer, feat-l, 8a<ir(flce, sin and. Temple,
all of which represent jprfestly activity s'o that muck of the com
position may be attributed to priests or guilds' of priests. Nor
should It be forgotten that the last Psalins were completed when
tte voice of the prophet could lio longer be heard in the land.
For a thorough appreciation of" tbe "Priestly element In the
Old Testament'* refer to foot' iioie^ The P&'alter Is a Book of
Prayer, a Book of Praise and a Manual of Pec'sonarCofiimunlbti
with (lOd. The late Professor Harper* puts these questions with
reference to the composition and nature 'of the i*saTter, "COiild n
priestly system including as Its cllnias a hymr'ar breathing a 'd'e-
votlon so rich, be wholly formal ind mechanical, devoid of nfe
and of spiritual power? Could such a hymnal have oWed Its
origin to a body of priests who were strangers to the spiritual and
a'ltogether slaves of the formal?" Can we, now, 'ahswer these
questions: 'What was the educational function of th'e priest iri his
many-sided capacity? 'What feelings and Ideas were stirred In the
people as they saw the white-robed priest offlclatlng In bloodv
sacrifice? Did the worshipper construe the sacrifices symbolically?
Was tliere a deepenlns of the sense of sin, a sincere craving for
pardon, a closer drawing to the heart of God? Were the people
educated through the priestly performances? Did the constaiitly
repeated ceremonies have any ethical effect? In what sense was
the Temple a laboratory for developing character and for purify-
ing the communion of the Individual with God? Was the mean-
ing of life heightened by the knowledge of tbe law? Did the ha
bitual doing of the ceremony or its constant sight have a peda-
gogic value? Did the reading of the Psalms familiarize them
with the Psalm of Life? Was tbe appeal altogether to the nation
and not to the individual? Was worship not a powerful tie, a
union and a communion of mutual interests, a strengthening of
•■•The Priestly Element In the Old Testament" (Ch. XTX),
Prof. W. R. Harper, Chicago, 1905.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
the Ideal of the people? Was not the home thereby iolluenced
when for sacrifice it bad a Psalter where religion waa more in-
ward? And thus conatrued, did the many-sided, educating priest
not keep alive the missionary Idea ol Israel as a Kingdom or
Priests and a holy people?
The priest, for this Is my concluolon on this subject, was (1)
the teacher of the majesty and the holiness of Ood and of the
means In sacrifice and In prayer whereby man might draw near
God. (2) He was the teacher of Ood's specific law whereby
man Is to learn to lead the holy and priestly life. (3) He taught
not by the hortatory, objective method of the prophet or the sage.
His influence was the subjective according as each worshipper in-
terpreted the symbol, the ceremony and the psalm. (4) He
taught by emphasts upon the necesalty and Integrity of tradition.
His appeal was not so much to the conscience as to the feelings^
not to the Imagination but to the emotiona. He stood as the ex-
ponent of tradition, the Ilte-htood of continuity and of the spiritual
experience called Faith.
(c) The prophets as educators ought to form a series ot
monographs, and I can only give a few cursory sentiments as to
their power and function In the educational life. "The school of
the prophets," In the technical sense, took its rise In the days of
Samuel.
These prophets were wandering revivalists, enthusiasts an<J
singers, and they did but scant credit to the great masters who
followed them. They formed schools and guilds and located them-
selves In Ramfh O S XIX. IS). Gllgal (H K IV, 3S). Bethel (II K
II. 3), .lerlcho (IT K II. 5), and In Glbeah and Mt. Ephralm. They
traveled from place to place creating what might be called "Cir-
cuit Preaching." They taught music (11 Chr. XXIil. 13), studied
the history or early days and composed songs for special occasions
(1 8 X. 5, 6, 10: XIII, £3: XIX, 18: I Chr. XXV. 8). We cannot
speak with much definlteness about their labors: yet their valu"
lay In the fact that they made possible the emergence of the ma-
jestic figures of Samuel, Nathan. Gad. Elijah and Ellsha. to be fol-
lowed by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezeklel and the minor prophets, the
lordliest band of teachers which any age has yet produced.
Prophecy was an educational movement which Israel called
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JEWISH EDUCATION
out of hlB own heart (or his own direction, tnatructlon, puriflca-
tlOD and enlargement. Like no other force, it has stirred the con-
science witb Its direct, though blunt appeal. It stripped off all
preteace and precedent. Prophecy was the force that always said:
"Thou art the man!" Prophecy was the force of opposition lor
progress' sake; the force of protest for purity's sake. It read out
of the book of universal experience the laws for particular situa-
tions. It had vision, grasp, enthusiasm, faith, power, holiness.
The prophets graduated from no school but took their cre-
dentials from God. Wherever men were, there was their message.
Where unrighteousness lurked, there was their platform. Klngn
and queens, rich and poor, aye, the whole nation went to school to
them. They inaugurated compulsory education for prince and
public. Now they thunder like Elijah and Amos; now they plead
like Hosea and Jeremiah. Now they are poets and mystics; and
again they argue as cold moralists. But one thing above all,
they speak in no abstract manner. The people all know what they
are driving at. They lay down a proposition, or a series of self-
evident truths. They bring Illustrations from Egypt and Assyria,
from Babylonia and Persia. They And vocabulary and symbolism
In court and camp. In farm and altar. They speak out of the tuli-
ness of their hearts: they neither apologize nor await agreement.
Conscious that they are in agreement with Qod and His truth.
they think not of physical or material success. In the enthusiasm
of their cause and in their indifference to popularity they never
lose their sanity.
They are eloquent exponents of religious culture. They be-
lieve in the training of the mind; but the highest knowledge Is ot
the existence of God, of His relation to humanity, of men's duties
to one another. They admire nature, but nature is but God's thea-
tre of daily revelation. They know history, but the comings and
goings of nations and of kingdoms are but the means whereby
God educates the race. Theirs, too. Is an appreciation of beauty,
but beauty of form, of style, of Image is but Incidental to the
"beauty of holiness." Nor do they look askance at strength, but
they do insist, "Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, neither let
the mighty glory In his might, let not the rich glory In his riches.
but let him who will boast, boast of this, that he underatandeth and
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knoweth Me," etc. (Jeremiah IX, 33 and 24). Their philosophy
la the phlloBophy of Life; tor they eay to you and to me:
"What doea the Lord require ot thee?"
But to do justly, and to love mercy
And to walk humbly with thy God."
(Micab VI.)
No platform or book stands between them and their listeners.
They carry their Bchool with them wherever tliey go. They aim
to touch the conscience. They are not guided ao much hy what is,
as by what ought to be. They protest and scold In order to purify
and make religion more Inward, more personal, more righteous.
The dignity of the Individual conscience is as powerful an Ideal to
them as the majesty of God. They know ol the Slthlnesa of sin
but they would have their pupils realize this truth in all Its impli-
cations. They know the necessity ot ceremony but they would
have man go direct to God for forgivenesB. They educate by ap-
peals to the history of the past, by present circumstances and by
the future, sure to follow. They know the law of progress, and
the Inevitable result of Immorality, idolatry, hypocrisy and injus-
tice. They represent the Ideal ot the Orator. They apeak not lor
rhetoric's sake, but as the spokesmen of God. They speak be-
cause tliey must, nor do they hesitate to create a literary vehicle
to present adequately their mesaage. Who will ever be able to
estimate Justly the educational power ot the Hebrew prophets
from Moses to Malachi?
The prophets built upon the foundation laid by Mosas, the
first and the greatest of prophets. Moses' educational work
covers the whole fleld ot personal, domestic, social and na-
tional life. He is the pedagogue par excellence. The tables of
stone with five commandments on each, suggests that Moaea may
have advisedly hit upon a method ot most quickly impressing great
truths upon the mind. The pentad form auggeats at once the Ave
fingers of the hand. Are we going too far In hinting that tble
same scheme may have been the form in which, from the earliest
times, Israel's popular laws were taught? (See Kent's Heroes and
Crises ot Early Hebrew Tradition, p. 193), But his greatest edti-
catlonal asset was his own matchless personality. He taught by
: tht power ot tremendous and impressive example. Moeee was an
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educator, by the grace ot Ood, large In vieton and deep In sympa-
tby, ot inexhaustible patience and unexampled reaouTcetuluese.
Moses was an educator, ideaiiet of the highest order but the sanest.
Bouadest, practical teacher the world has known. Moses was an
educator who fed his people according to their needs and mentU
capacities. He was an educator who knew hU people Intimately,
understood their frailties no less than their strength and led them
slowly but securely to the great, distant purpose he had In mlud.
Hoses was an educator ot the highest moral Integrity, yet never
self-righteous; ot the widest culture, yet never self-oplntated ; con-
scious ot hlB mission and leadership, yet never consumed by the
lust for power and profit. Moses was an educator who, familiar
with Egyptian lore, rejected all the gods of Egypt, and
posited as the Source of all knowledge, the Author ot all Be-
ing, the Fountain ot all Lite and the Inspiration of all morality,
the One, only and alone Jehovah, holy, loving, compassionate.
righteous, wise, the Father and Teacher of the race. He was an
educator who saw the necessity ot such holy Ideal tor the training
of a people and the absolute necessity ot religion tor the develop-
ment of Its life and destiny. He taught them, that the national
ideal must be a patterning after the Ood-ldeal, un marred by
Intermediary and selflsh Idols. He taught that the best place
tor the cultivation and perpetuity ot that doctrine was the home —
and that the best teachers were father and mother, and that the
beat law thereof was the child's happy and implicit obedience. Ha
made the entire machinery ot education, administration, phil-
anthropy, worship, agriculture, revolve as spokes in the hub ot re-
ligious education for the moral and spiritual life of the nation.
Moses was an educator who saw God face to face. He set his
people face to face with the Truth for forty years and thus fash-
ioned a nation. After his death on Mt. Nebo, the mountain ol
prophecy, his name became a household Inspiration, passing down
In enhanced affection from father to son unto the thousandth
generation.
(d) The work ot the psalmists and the prophets might have
been lost to the world were it not for another class ot educators.
called the Scribes. We hear of the scribes long before the siith
century B. G. E., but mostly serving as secretaries or chroniclers.
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Ezra, the prince of BCrlbes (Ezra VII, 6), gave tbeu their new
function. They formed guilds (I Chr. II, 55; I Chr, XXV, 8).
Nelienitah called them "M'blnlm," and they certainly were tile
literati of the period. They were a clasB by themeelyeB and were
largely recruited from the prleets and LeviteB. They were the heat
trained and educated men in their day. The times gave birth to
their new energies. The prophet's voice was growing weaker,
and a new era was at hand. The worlc of Nehemlab, the re-
former, paved the way for Ezra, the ecclesiastic. Ear a
tells us, VI, 10, "For Ezra had prepared bis heart to seek the law
of the Lord and to do It, and to teach In Israel statutes and Juds-
ments," The eighth to tenth chapters of the book oC Nehemiah
present to our view the great educational feature of that epoch,
the promulgation and formal adoption of a new guide. This for-
mal adoption of the Law took place at a public asBembly of all tbe
people and it was In the same method of procedure that the
Deuteronomlc Code was accepted. The Law was read aloud In the
hearing of all. Thirteen Levltes explained the text. The people
understood It all and wept. A deep sense of sin brought the peo-
ple to their knees. A solemn covenant was entered Into by all to
observe the Law, and it was signed by the people's representatives.
A people had willingly, publicly adopted a new Magna Charta.
Educationally, what did this mean? Ezra, standing on the
raised platform, had the largest School In our history. All
Israel sat at bis feet. Henceforth, the new teach^- had a gr<>.at
t«xt-book. The multiplication of this book, thus preserving In
unity the history, the prophets and the Psalms (current up to that
day) was made possible by the Scribes. Thus it happened that
copies of the Law and of tbe nation's hymn-book came Into mora
general use; and thus families obtained poBBession of them.
The birth of the Synagogue added immeasurably to the pop-
ularization of knowledge. The Exile proved that the Temple and
its sacrlflclal altar were not wholly Indispensable. Psalm LXXIV
proves the existence of many Synagogues during the Exile; yet if
this Psalm happens to be post-eslllc the constant references to
bodies of men coming to Ezeklel (VIII, 1; XIV, XXXIII) for In-
struction carries the belief that the people were not homeless dur-
ing the Eille, At any rate, the return of the people to Jerusalem
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JEWISH EDUCATION
found the Temple again tbe center of the sacrificial system but
along side of It flourished the Synagogue. Wherever a few Jews
settled who wished to study the Law a SyiLagogue was organized'
Thus were supplied the religious needs of tbe many Jews scat-
tered in many lands who were uhabie to make frequent visits tci
Jerusalem. Tbe Synagogue was a place for communal prayer
and for study, more democratic and closer to the heart of the
people tban the Tempie. It was In tbe Synagogue that the peo-
ple's religious consciousness and unity could be expressed and
maintained apart from the Temple. I have not the time to enter
Into the new Prayer book which grew out of the requirements of
the Synagogue In course of time. The tremendous educational
significance of the Synagogue can be seen from the sayings of
Simon the Just (300 B. C.) "Our fathers have taught ua threa
things, to be cautious In Judging, to train many scholars and to
set a fence about tbe Law."
The educational significance of tbe Synagogue, then, In con-
nection with the Scribe becomes apparent. It was through Ezra
and the Scribes that tbe Jew became In the words of Mohammed:
"The People of the Book." The growth of the Synagogues com-
pelled an ever-increasing multiplication of copies of the Law; and
the reaction of this upon tbe homes can be seen at a glance. As
the Scriptures became more popular, the demand for teachers
was more insistent. ''The community as a whole became more
unselflsbty Interested In It than In the official hierarchy; the peo-
ple began to raise apt teachers out of Its own ranks." {Monte-
flore HIB. Lectures p. 395). The Rabbla, Schools of Pharisees
and the Talmudtc Bra are children of this pregnant Educational
Era.
Tbe Psalm-Book, the Prayer-Book, the Law-Book became
domesticated and were a more satisfying means of religious as-
piration than sacriBce and Temple. The Synagogue democratized
religion. It Individualized religion; and the latter gained In depth,
Inwardness and clarity. The Synagogue was alive. There was
no sterility there, and lt« religion expressed Itself In many ways.
This same age saw the last of the Psalmist, and the books of
Rnth and Jonah came Into tbe canon. Tbe scribe as an edncator
la the preserver and multiplier of the literary means of educa-
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tloQ. He was a purely literary man. Most of tbe Bible in Its
final touches shows his marks. He collated, reviBed, Interpolated,
copied, and edited. He was the arbiter of literary taste.
(e) Now let ua consider tor a moment a fifth class of men,
to whom tbe word "teacher" In Its specific modern meaning would
apply with more Justice than to any of the preceding groups. Tbe
time was ripe for teachers. Tbe phrase "teacber as tbe scholar"
occurs in I Chr. XXV, 8b. These men are called the scholars
"Chacbamim," tbe wlsemen. tbe sages; and their Ideas, principles
and literary productions were framed In the Book of Proverbs,
Job, Eccleaiastes, and Ben Sirach (though the last named Is not
found In the Bible) . The varied group of educators whom we have
reviewed made their appeal to tradition, emotion, conscience; but
the sages were the first to ask for the recognition of common
sense and the approval of the Intellect. They represented beaut]'
of culture, per se, yet In no wise depreciating the necessity and
tbe prior claim of religious culture. It may truthfully be said that
they came closest to the hearts of the parents and the children.
The calm of philosophy requires a state of political tranquil-
ity for Its successful development. Such an age intervened be-
tween tbe post-Nebemlan age and the time when the danger of se-
ductive Hellenism drew near. This was tbe time tor reflection
and cold moraiism. It was the fittest time for systematic in-
struction, not for the spasmodic teaching of prophet and psalm-
ist. The sage knew tbe message of the home, the priest, tbe
psalmist, the prophet and the scribe. He was a product of all
these forces. Thus, he found bis material in their messages. He
was tbe popularizcr In homely and sententious words of the re-
ligion of the day. He came to the level of the masses and brought
learning direct to their doorsteps. It was the task of tbe sagi^
to bring the minds of the people Into sympathy with thp prophets.
Much of his teaching Is utilitarian and prudential wisdom.
Not held down to any one book they could rely upon their
native tact and talent. They were not burdened by a calling from
on high; they did not need to scold and oppose. They were fa-
miliar with history and literature; and they could find ready il-
lustrations In daliy experiences. They were familiar with the
popular wisdom, Its proverbs and gnomes, and built npon tbeee a
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JEWISH EDUCATION
more stately phlloeopliy. They were moraliBtB, but never degener-
ated Into BophlBta. Tbey Invariably threw their maxims into par-
allellBtlc forms so as to have them more easily fixed In popular
memory. Ben Sirach {XXXVIII, 24, XXXIX) aaaumefl the exUt-
ence of systematic Inatructlon, In which the study of literature
played an important part. So In Proverbs XII, 17-21, V, 13, w-j
divine something of a Bchool organization. Ben Sirach teaches in
hlB epilogue,
"Draw near to me, ye unlearned,
And lodge in the house of instruction,"
Wbat did they teach In these houses of InBtructlon or in the
broad open apacea or prlvAte homes? It should be observed that
they followed all their predecessars in taking a healthy and sane
view of life. Life is a gift from God and yet life is a dlacipllne.
Family life comes In (or special consideration. "Their ideal
of family life Is high; monogamy ia assumed, parents are the re-
sponsible guides of their children and entitled to obedience
and reepect. Woman Is spoken of as wife, mother and housewife.
She Is a power in the house, capable of making home bappy or
miserable. She bas not only housekeeping capacity, but also
broad wisdom. Her position Is as high as any accorded her In
ancient life." (Toy's Proverbs, Int. Crlt. Com. XII). Parents are
tbe first teachers (Prov. I, 8; IV, 1-4; VI, 2 0). They advise pa-
rents to study their children carefully, watch their play and activi-
ties so as to be able to shape their character. (Prov. XX, 2).
The child's nature should be studied (Prov. XX, S), nor need the
correcting rod be withheld (Prov, XIII. 1, 8, 24; XIX, 18). A(,
ter the parents have done their duty it is well to send their chil-
dren to professional teachers (Prov. V, 13) whose words are a
fountain of life (Prov, XIII. 14), and whose greatest joy Is the
pupil's progress.
In general and speclBc terms the sages counsel the need oT
chastity, dlllEence, sobriety, prudence, honesty, justice, loyalty
to the poor, generosity to enemies, capacity for friendship, the
aystematlc avoidance of anger, sloth, malice, folly, perjury and
theft, and in all things to follow the law of God, which Is Wisdom,
the essence of Religion. This law was the Will of God. The law
was alive. It was a personal possession, a personal joy, a lov-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
Ing link between God and man. It bad become spiritualized into
a paBBlon. called WlBdom. Blessed were its teachers and their
profession. So exalted had this teachershlp rlaen that it express-
ed itseir In the warmth and glow of Daniel's phrase, "And they
that be wise shall shine aa the brightness of the firmament; and
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever anil
ever. But, thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book,
even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro nna
knowledge shall be increased." (Daniel XII, 3 and 4).
The only seemingly discordant note in the Wisdom Litera-
ture, to the Joyous optimism of the sage, is strucli by Bccleslastes
and Job. These two are lonely, solitary figures, yet never de-
M.airing. Proverbs and Ben Sirach contain disconnected and
practical reflections and observations. Job and Bcclesiastes are
philosophers. The former two consider the general question as
to what is good and right In life and practice. The two latter in-
quire as to the Chief Good. Tet all four build their message on,
and reach their conclusions in, God as the source and guarantee
of all life, religion and happiness. Ecciesiastes and Job may suf-
fer momentary doubt, but never do they lodge in agnosticism or
God-consrlousneHS is the underlying dynamic and inspiriting
phrase which combines the wisdom of the sage with the righteous-
ness of tlie prophet; the culture of the scribe with the faith of the
priest and the love of the parent. Each age grasped a new
method, placed a new stress, emphasized a new principle of the
fundamental God -consciousness in and for the nation. Yet this Is
the link which binds home and Torah. Temple and Synagogue.
This is the sun that Hoods them all with divine light. It is the in-
terpretive principle In our history. Each age grasped an aspect of
this progressive truth. But the God-consclousneas was not at
an end In itself. Its aim was the pursuit and promise and pledge
of a godly and consecrated life. To achieve this great end is the
purpose of Religious Culture. To attain it parents, priests, proph-
ets, scribes and sages have given themselves to the formation
of its curriculum in 1500 years. It is our educational Ideal. The
testimony of the Bible Is that this is the diploma of the Jew's
teachergblp In the world.
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Methods and Principles Applicable To^Ajt.
Wbat are the principles and methods of education tn our
Bible vhicb admit of modern application? Here we must be on
our guard. Well defined and scientific principles do not exist in
tbe Bible. It is stupid to attempt to translate psychological words
like spirit, soul, mind, fiesh and beart from our Bible into modem
technical terminology. It Is foolish to Inject William James Into
Jeremiah. Wbat we can do Is, by following the course of historical
development of religious culture In the Biblical Era, to frame a
few propositions wbereln all agree.
Were I, then, asked "Wbat is the moral of fifteen hundred
years of Biblical education?" I Bhould embody the same In these
trutbi:
(a) Every child Is educable and baa an Inherent right to
the knowledge and love of God.
(b) Bvery child Is entitled to the rich heritage of bis
fathers as It has been progressively harvested.
(c) The knowledge of God as It has been enunciated, am-
plified and lived out tn history Is for the ennoblement and conse-
cration of life.
(d) Knowledge of God and Consecration of Life are not
two separate but two complementary aspects of one truth.
(e) The attainment of this truth as Religious Culture is the
Educational Ideal of Scriptures.
(f) Such religious culture is eBsentlally domestic.
(g) In this culture, roughly speaking, parents, priests,
prophets, scribes and sages have emphasized the ingredients of
obedience, emotion, conBClence, art and Intellect.
(h) Religious Culture does not mean the rejection but the
asalmllatlon of other cultures.
Accepting these fundamental propositions, there Follow these
principles and methods as answers to the question, "How can wo
beat attain the fullness of Relfgtoua Culture?"
(1) Religious Culture Is primarily home-made and home-
grown. Its moat natural soil Is the soli of domesticity. All are
agreed that the borne is tbe best place, and the parent the best
teacher of life's ideal. There is no need to dilate on this self-evl-
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dent tact. Whatever other nations and races may have said and
done, the Biblical Era has its unanimous verdict on the beauty,
utility and duty of domestic training. Here the child gathers its
flrat impressions, of religion. Here.lniagin^tloii Is stirred, emotion
aroused,, CRnscier.te fluickened and tatjlt formed. Here are living
»«(! ,(la4'?.L^*Sini!iss.to be imitated, and here, God cornea into the
.cbild-c^aiBclousness. The hpme. doing its full duty, leaves no room
(or ft,Rellglous School, save as It Is included In other necessary and
.pro.fessionali jsghools foreitra-domestic instriiction. The Religious
Schotd' is.a jnodern growth,., and is simply a confession of a
];arBntal inefflcienci^ in thl.8 matter. Be it said, hoWever, that
were the Biblical teachers conscious of local conditions in this
century of transition, they would advise additional and suppl&
mentary schools, not to compete with, but to complete the natural
functions of parental teachershlp.
(2) In the horne and in the Religious School we need the
emphasis upon faith and loyalty. The ,parent was helped by the
priest. : C])lIdliiOod needs the blossom ot faith and the bloom of
loyalty. Childhood believes, and faith, aided by fertile Imagina-
tion, Is, its working Intellect. Its faith fills its little universe with
personalities; they exist tor the child and have reality for it.
Teachers must appeal to its strong faith, give It content and sta-
bility, and fill it. with the moving Presence of God. The child has .
a reservoir of emotion. When tte priests came, they filled the
home with tangible objects about which their talth could be en-
twined. Prayer, ceremonial, holiday, sacrifice, temple, these were
their food, Children to-day need this same food, properly admin-
istered.
J But the real purpose o( this faith and feeling Is for the
strengthening of tradition- Only tbe stupid Will sneer at tradi-
tion. The student knows that tradition is the life-blood of Institu-
tions and families. A tradlttonless home Is anaemic. Tradition
js the possibility of progress, the conservation of faith and feeling,
of memories and. heroism and tragedies of the past. Israel
, ,elo.rles In his traditions. Loyalty to, and pride In them, Is the
lesson of Biblical education. Not too early can we begin to teach
Ibis to our children. This Is the keynote of Jewish Consciousness.
One great conviction ties us forever to the Abraham who heard
God's voice thirty-seven centuries ago.
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I nc I den tall 3*. this explains why we Jews do not require the
speclflc training In religion in the public schools. A religious
training that Is not spun on the loom o( tradition is already
threadbare. Tradition la vea-k in Christian homes. Christian Sun~
day schools, and In our pubiic schools. Therefore, 1 am urgent
that this idea of tradition, woven in faith and emotion, shalt be
steadily insisted upon in the home, In the si^hool and In the
puJplt. The Bible and our whole history and our religious in-
atitutionallBm offer splendid and Inspiriting characters and tnd-
denta to give content and direction to It. That reason, and that
primarily, Justifies the retention of Hebrew In our curricula and In
our Synagogal worship.
(3) An excessive harping on this string may produce an
ethical discord. The officialism of the priest Is sure to meet the
rebuke of the courageous prophet. Emotion unchained and un-
directed, faith degeuerating into blind credulity, tradition losing
Itself In a blatant Chauvinism or a stereotyped K ad dish-loyalty are
to be deplored. Thus, home and religious school should be espe-
cially concerned that rellsloua culture should work conscience into
the life of faith. Ceremonialism does not argue sincerity; nor
does religiousness mean cliaracter. "Wash ye, make yourselves
clean," Is the moral bill of health. We must teach religion as a
part of life. We must show that a child no less than a man can-
not be morally bad and religiously good at the same time. Wj
must make religion stand for personal purity, and put conviction
Into our traditions. We must be Jews; but we must know why we
sponsor these teachings. We must acquire the courage to do
right, to condemn wrong; and, at the same time, to put our faith
into our deed. Our religion must pfiint our duties to our fellow
men and make God more real to us. The Bible and our subse-
quent history present magnificent examples of the prophetic ideal-
Tbe heroism of the prophet matches the heroism of the priest.
Religious lulture which is bereft of a strong sense of duty and of
courage to be righteous la utterly devoid of virility.
(4) Oral Instruction is not sufficient In itself to completely
fulfill the demands of love, faith and conscience. The scribe pre-
served law, ijsalmody and prophecy in a written Torah, and since
then the teacher had a text-book. The learning of the ages must
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JEWISH EDUCATION
be crystallized and preserved. This can become an authoritative
guide, If It bear the impresB of divine Inspiration. When tbe Torah
came, education by test-book was Jewlshly JuHtifled. Home and
School are fortunate In possessing the preserved treasures of
Israel's heroic past. They can have no better means for the cul-
tivation of the religious spirit than a ceaBsleas love for the Bible,
an abiding loyalty to It, a hearty compliance with Its laws and a
systematic reading of its pages. If the home and the ReUgloua
School hold to this task the reading of the Bible In the public
school need not be our request. Its literary value, its moral em-
phasis, its spiritual message can be ours at mother's knee. We,
alas, do not handle our Bible; and much of our loving obedience,
faith and conscience lack tbe ballast of consistency, courage and
conviction because of this failure of reenforcement in the home
and school. The spirit of the scribe is dormant In us. And If the
complaint is true that Jews are not devouring Jewish literature,
the reason thereof croucheth at our doors. The art of literature
was once a strong Jewish passion.
(5) Religious culture will not suffer if it receives breadth.
It ought to Include Intellectual stimulus and the joys of wider out-
looks and higher mental reaches. The sage saw real life, and its
lessons were not lost on him. His intellectual grasp of the situa-
tion and his wider reading did not land him in doubt or agnosti-
cism. Our religious culture need not tear, then, the warm breath
of other cultures.
If home and Religious School bring to children and pupils the
seriousneas, yet the Joy of life; its discipline with its rewards; If
they encourage clear thinking on the problems of sorrow, suffer-
ing and death, with sane and healthy appreciation of others' prob-
lems; religious culture will profit thereby. The lesson of the sage
is worthy of our most mature conalderation.
The methods receiving tbe recommendations of the Bible
educators for this training of obedience, tradition, character,
study and Intellect, are:
(1 ) Imitation: A child Is a born mimic. Most of his men-
tal development is what has become habituated by imitation. Set
the child the best examples in your personalities as teachers or
parents, and in the splendid literature at your command! Home
and history are the best guides.
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(2) latereBt: A child will quickest abeorb what intereata
him moat. This principle of Bain has the teetlmony of ceutarles
beblnd It. Arouae the child's Interest In holidaya and tnstltu-
tlona ao that It will Instinctively ask questlona. The asking ot a
question Is a chord upon which a wise teacher will at once play.
Constantly the question Is put by the child: "What means this
service?"
(3) Symbols: The teaching through symbol grips the
child's interest. It creates a picture. Through sight or sound,
the Image and Its attendant lesson becomes fixed la the child's
mind. The moral will find the picture accompanying It; the pic
ture will call up the moral. The Bible sets up stone and pillars aa
memorials. The Passover institution and the sacrificial system,
and the constant reminders that these lesaons be bound as sign
upon their hands and as frontlets between their eyes, are evidences
of teaching by symbol. The offering of "first fruits" taught the
child to dedicate a portion of his possessions to God. In other
words, before a child is ready to grasp the deep things in Ood'a
word, he is learning the lessons of prayer, devotion, reverence,
gratitude and filial aflection.
(4) Study the child's nature. Every wise parent knows the
difference In temperaments, endowments and natures of children.
"Train up a cbild according to its nature, and when it Is old It
will not depart therefrom;" "Eves a child makea himself known
by hla deeds (play) whether he wilt be good or bad," are familiar
sayings of the sages.
(5) Feed the child according to Its ability to digest, it
cannot appreciate the message of the sage unless it has first felt
the throb of the prophet, nor will It understand the prophet unless
the priestly fount of faith has first been opened.
(6) Repetition is recommended. It makes memory possibTe.
It forms habit. The Hebrew says "Thou shalt teach them dili-
gently." The Hebrew word rUff means to teach by repe-
tition through constant digging. Parallelism was used to Hi an
idea In the mind: acrostics had a similar saving grace. A people
which has no text-book and feeds on tradition mnet rely on
memory, sharpened through ages of repetition.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
(7) Story and Song. The Hebrew parent was a splendid
story teller. He had the gift ol the short story. There are no
biographies like those presented in the Bible to Appeal to tha
imagination, to arouse the emotions and to urge towards right-
eousness and holiness. With the aid or song and poetry such as
our Biblical parents must have employed to fix things fn the mind,
we have the greatest educational force in religious training of the
chlld-mliid.
( 8 ) Teit-book education ia less direct than oral. The power
thereof depends mostly on the ability of the teacher. Teach
rather through concrete objects than through theories and ab-
stractions.
(9) Make the child recognize your authority. Teach by
kindness; while exercising unwavering firmness and you will
rarely need to be severe. Ideas must be drilled In by repetition
and often sink in by rebuke. Under all circumstances, obedience
Is the sine qua non of the educative process. The parents taught
by commands,
(10) Above all else, your own personality' aa a living and
concrete illustration of your abiding talth. your spotless integrity,
your literary honesty, your sympathetic philosophy will be the
finest example of the power of God in you for the cultivation of
the religious spirit In others.
The Message of Biblical Education.
I can now sum up, briefly, the message which the Educational
Ideal has for our age. Religion Is a natural need ot the soul and
demands cultivation. The time has past tor apologising for tho
birth, growth and flowering of the spirit that thireteth for the liv-
ing God and His righteousness. Religion is the glow of God In
childhood, and becomes the consecration and guarantee of na-
tional perpetuity.
While religious culture may find its final flowering elsewhere,
its true, natural and best garden is in the home. A rellglonless
home is a misfortune. A religionieBs nation is bloodless. A rell- .
gionless education is one-sided. The State must see that the edu-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
catlonal agency of the home ia not superseded. The State Is mada
up o[ families; and there the affections and sentiments of Individ-
uals receive their hearty support. There life receives its dower
and Ita consecration, and there the State renews Itself.
Truth, beauty and goodneea are the ideals of science, art and
ethics. Religion posits God as the Source of truth, heautf and
goodness. It harmonlzea, It sanctifies them all to human endeav-
ors. It says to these ideals, "Bleaaed be ye In the name of God.
^Ve i)lesa you from the house of God."
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RABBINICAL ERA.
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JBWISH EDDCATIOX IN THE RABBlNIOAIi ERA.
By WILLIAM ROSKNAU.
The Rabbinical Era.
That Israel la a wonderlul people Is not by any means K novel
observation. It has been time and agala uttered and penned with
good reason, not only b; Its friends, but also by Its enemies. For
does not Its history prove an eloquent witness? Cradled In the
Orient thousands of years ago, with naught but barbarism u Its
environment, and scattered over the face of the globe tor welt nigh
nineteen centuries, with proscription and persecution as Its lot,
Israel was never without buoyant hope, noble aspiration, and godly
Idealism. In mankind's struggle upward It proved Itself the mas-
ter-builder. Because dowered with the moral and religions talent.
It did not lose its Interest, and did not sacrifice its co-operation In
any one of the manifold activities making for a better and higher
humanity. Would not any other people, subjected to a lot similar
to that which Israel endured, have long ere this despaired and
passed out of existence? If the Israel of Biblical days de-
serves to be called wonderful, on account of Its survival in
the face of obetacles. struggles and vicissitudes, the Israel living
in dispersion la more wonderful by far. The student cannot help
but notice, that, despite the pressure put upon dispersed Israel
from without, its life within constantly expanded, so that It not
only did not fall behind, but even kept abreast with, and was often
In advance of other peoples in general culture, as well as In re-
ligions and moral thought.
It is needless to enter into details In support of this claim. -
"He that runs may read." We are In possession of text-books on
Jewish history, the perusal of which proves conclusively Israel's
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JEWISH EDUCATION
many-sided and growing activity at all times. Nor Is the proof of
Israel's numerous contributions to civilization tb« purpose of
the present paper. Tbat, with which we are concerned now and
here, is the coDsideratlon of the part Israel has taken from the
dose of tlie Biblical Canon to the beginning of the Mendelssohn-
Ian period, in the development of pedagogy. While pedagogy was
not reduced among Jews to a science In the modern acceptation of
the term, yet proper Intellectual and spiritual guidance and devel-
opment received at the hands of Jews careful and undivided atten-
tion. It has been shown by the author of the previous paper, tbat
In the Biblical period education was an important discipline In oui*
people's polity. No sentiment expressed by ancient teacher lends
firmer conviction to this contention than the words "Thou sbalt
teacb tbem diligently unto thy children." (1) Nor can sight be
lost of the fact, tbat various methods of education were well known
to and practiced among our Biblical ancestors. Taking Into ac-
count, that the Jews of the Rabbinical era ever built upon tbe
teachings and tbe traditions of the Bible, and sought to further
among themselves tbe talent and the mission of their forebears, It
may with Justice be inferred, that education as such, together with
other cultural dlBclpllnes, was not only not neglected, but actually
promoted throughout the Diaspora. In tact, it Is not asserting
too much, when the remark Is made, that Jews, more than others,
were tbe edncators of tbe world. Pedagogy was their natural vo-
cation. Tbat. which they failed to give to the world along the
lines of tbe natural sciences and the arts, was more than equalized
by their earnest and unmitigated endeavors In the field of educa-
tion.
That tbe Jew had manifested marked pedagogical genlns
and skill in the course of his career, Is not generally known. Few
are tbe text-books dealing with the history of education, which
mention the Jew's activity in this direction. This circumstance
Is by no means surprising, when we bear in mind, tbat the Jew
is only now beginning to be properly presented and understood,
and. that the literature on the Jew as educator, Is by no means
any more extensive than the study of tbe Jew carried on from
other specific points of view. In fact, the literature in modem lan-
guages on the subject in question is extremely meager. We can
point to no exhaustive treatise In English. The only material avall-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
able In Engllsb 1b an article on "Education," and another on
"Pedagogy," in tbe Jewish Encyclopedia, while In German three
treatises Btand forth from amidst a number ot brochures. I refer
to "The History of Training and Instruction Among the is-
raetlteB," by B. Strassburger, "The History of Education Among
. JewB," by M. Ouedeman, and "The Method of Jewish Religious In-
atructlon," by S. Maybaum. The thorough and exact acquaintance
witb tbe principles and methods of Jewish education In vogue in
tbe Rabbinical era must remain, therefore, for the present at
least, the privileged accomplishment of those, who have mastered
the dialects in which the Talmudlc and post-Talmudlc literatures
have been written.
The Talmudlc writings are indeed replete with valuable
thoughts on education not found collected tn any one definite
book, but scattered, as in the case of the Bible, over a wide
range; while among the post-Talmudlc writings are found peda-
gogical treatUes like "The Training of the Intellect," by Hal Oaon
(938-1038); "The Book of the Pious," by Rabbi Jehudah, the
Pious, (1166-1217); "The Healing of Souls," by Joseph Aknin,
(1160-1226); "The Balances of Righteousness," by Abraham
Chasdal, (1240); "The Silver Dish," by Joseph EpobI, (1250);
a treatise entitled "The Study of the Law," In the MIshnah To-
rah of Moses Malmonldes, (1135-1204); "The Statutes of the
I>aw," giving tbe educational theories of the thirteenth century;
and parts of tbe Shulchan Arukh. by Joseph Caro (1488-1575).
In giving here, on account of the limited space at our disposal
what can be at best a mere digest of rabbinical pedagogy, we feel
constrained to Indicate first and foremost, the value which the
rabbis of old set upon education. Holding that "the moral order
of the universe depends on the breath of school children," (21
they laid down tbe maxim, "the study of the law is tbe paramount
religious duty." (3) Hence, "one Is forbidden to dwell in a city in
which there la no teacher;" (4) and in the aasignment of causes
which led to the ruination of Israel's state. It is remarked, that
"Jerusalem was destroyed because of the neglect of the children's
instruction." (5) Even for tbe sake "of the rebuilding of tbe
temple, education was not to be set aside." (6) And every father
was exhorted to pay close attention to the spiritual development of
hia child, for "everyone who taught his son the Law was regarded
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JEWISH EDUCATION
as though he himself received the Law from Mt, Sinai." (7) Al-
though the educational burden rested upon the lather, the mother
was not exempt from it. The Ignorance b[ her oC-epring resulted
in the mother's shame, since it was held, that "it Is the merit of
women to enroll their sons and daughters at school." (8) Wltb
sentiments like these prevailing among the rabbis, we can ander-
stand why they should have admonished the people "to train many
disciples." (9) In lact, the duty of making knowledge an unlTor-
sal posseasion had its origin, not simply In the worth of educa-
tion, but also in the desire to see God emulated. With a qualnt-
nesB peculiar to Israel's sagea, the Rabbis asked the question,
"what does God do in the fourth hour of the day?"; (10) and they
replied, at such time, "God sits and teaches the younger pupils."
That schools In great abundance should have come Into exlst-
ence in Jewry wheresoever residing, during the Rabbinical period
ot our history, is. therefore, not at all astonishing. The schools
bore various names. A school was called either "the house ot aa-
sembly," "house of research," or "house of the Rabbi." The
head ot the school was called "Rab," "the master," while In Sora
and Pumbaditha, where prominent academies once flourished, he
was designated "Gaon," "the excellent one." The teachers In the
faculties of a school were known as " 'Haberim," "the associ-
ates," or " "Ha'hmlm," "the wise." And pupils were termed
"Talmtde 'Ha'hmlm," "disciples of the wise." Tracing the his-
tory of the rabbinical schools back to their beginnings, we find sach
nourishing In Jerusalem already two centuries before the disinte-
gration ot the Jewish state. "The men' of the great Synagogue,"
"the school of the Scribes," and the "Synbedrln." should be men-
tioned In this connection, for their function was, as is well known.
the transmlBsion of Jewish tradition In its exactness from genera-
tion to generation. In the year 80 B. C. Simon ben Shetach
founded schools In larger communities, of which afterwards, the
schools of Hillel and Shamai became types; while In 63 C. E.
schools for younger children were founded by Joshua ben Gamla.
It was, however, with the year 70 C. E. when the national life, with
Its Temple service, came to a close, that the activity of Jews in the
establishment of schools became markedly pronounced. Jocbanan
ben Sakkai. having appeared before the Roman Emperor with a
plea for mercy, established an Influential seat of learning at Jab-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
neb, not far from the Holy City. From time to time, new acade-
mleB aroee In Palestine and In Babylonia, wbere, as at all times,
tbe Jew was made a welcome Bojourner. In Palestine we have in
addition to Jabneh, the schools of Bene-Berak, Lydda, (the Deopo-
lla of the Romans), Caesarea, SefTorls, Beth Shearlm, Achbara,
Ttberlas and Kefar-Aziz; In Babylonia we have the si?hools of N^-
liardeii, Mechuzah, Shechanzib, Nisibls, Sora and Pumbaditha.
which closed ItE doors In 1040 C. E.; and Id more recent tlmep of
the Rabbinical era, the 'Heder and Yeshlbah of every Jewish com-
munity. Originally, the schools were often located In humble
dwelHnsVH In tlie heart of the towns, but were for the most part sii-
uoted In the suburbs of the city, so as to free pupils from the temii-
tatloti o! distrsction. The class rooms, to use a modern term,
were so arranged, that the pupils formed a seml-clrcle Ave and
six rows deep, around the teacher, who sat upon an elevated
chair, while they sat on the floor, as la the earlier times, or on
benches, as In the later centuries. Attention was paid to the
number of pupils in charge of one instructor. In the majority of
instances a teacher was appointed for every class of twenty-Bve
students. H the number increased from twenty-flve to fortj, an
assistant was appointed who had to attend the instruction of the
teacher in order to review the lessons with the pupils. Whenever
the number of pupils reached fifty, the appointment of an addi.
tlonal regular teacher was deemed essential.
A boy's education began as soon as he knew how to speak,
hifl father then being obliged to teach him the declaration; "the
law that Moses commanded us, Is the heritage of the congrega-
tion of Jacob," (11) and "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the
Lord is One." The age tor entering school was fixed at six
years. Earlier enrollment was discouraged. The observation
was made, that "he who sends his son to school, before the latter
is six years old, runs after him, but does not overtake him,"
(12) which signified, "that while the father may be anxious to
develop his boy. his boy, because of Inaufflcient physical and
mental strength, will decline."
Instruction vtaa given every day. and during a part of every
evening; Sabbath, however, being set aside only for review. In
addition to Sabbaths, the two months, Adar and Ellul. called
"the months of Aasembly," were in the schools of Sora and Pum-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
badltba, also employed [or review.
The curriculum was carefully mapped out. The foundation
of all Instruction was reading. At six years ot age the pupil was
Introduced into the Scriptures, the study of which began with the
Book of Leviticus, because of Its emphasis of purity and bollneBS.
The Mlshnah was taught to the boy when he reached his tenth
year, and the Talmud when be became fifteen. (13) In the trans-
lation ol texts, what is now called the Hamlltonian method
was used (James Hamilton, 1T69-1S31), and consists of
teaching language by observations made in reading and
not of the study of grammatical rules. The test-hook naed
In history was the "Seder Olam," the chronology of the world,
while [rom time to time, the Midrashim, the Biblical commentaries
of the Rabbis, the Codes and the Kabballstlc literature, (like the
Zobar. Sefer Yezirah and others) were added to the curriculum.
In addition to the religious knowledge obtained from the fore-
going works, considerable secular knowledge was imparted, but,
ot course, only Incidentally. The latter Included geometry, as-
tronomy, the natural sciences, anatomy and medicine. Qrammar,
too, was not neglected, although It was pursued with exactness
and seriousness only from the time that Jews came In contact with
Arabs, and were under the Influence of Arabic grammarians.
The practical In education was always considered more Im-
portant than the theoretical. Consider such sayings as: "With-
out wisdom there Is no religion, as without religion there Is no
wisdom," (14) "not study but practice la the principal duty";
(15) "he that reads and studies, hut does not practice, remains
Ignorant." (16)
In the srheme of Rabbinical education gradual progression
was deemed desirable. In the early days the student had to learn
at least one Biblical verse a day, for the teacher was In the habit
of saying to the pupil upon coming to school: "Tell me thy verse."
For subserving the ends, which education has In view, the
method of Instruction In vogue in the Rabbinical schools Is high-
ly interesting, because unique In character. It proceeded by qnes-
tion and answer. The teacher would propound a query which fre-
quently led to almost Interminable discussion. While the subject
primarily concerned Itself with the exposition of the Biblical or
Talmudlc law, many and various themes, by no means religtouB In
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JEWISH EDUCATION
cliB.rB.cter, were otten Introduced and treated more or less exhaust-
ively In consequence of the aesociatlon of Ideas, The object In
view was always the full unfolding of the mentm and moral fac-
ulties. Memory and reason were carefully deTelo::ed; reverence
and love, [aitbfully cultivated. In the course of the discursive
method referred to, the instruction oft became direct and didactic,
especially In the citation of a fixed law or tradition: or It partook
of the Illustration of a principle by means of story, legend or al-
legory. The former bears the technical name "Halachah," "law,"
and the latter "Aggadah," "narrative," or "allegory." An example
of Halachah 1b such a principle as, "every one Is presumed to
be Innocent until proved guilty." And a specimen Aggadah Is the
following story told in one of the tracts of the Talmud. It Is nar-
rated, that at the time of the revolution under Hadrian, the study
of the Law was prohibited, and Aklbah, one ot the teachers at that
time addreBsed a conterarorary as follows: "A fox went to the
brink of a river and noticed, on looking Into the water, that the
fishes swam nervously to and fro." "Of what are you afraid?"
asked the fox, -'Of the nets of the fishermen," was the reply
of the fishes. Thereupon the fox said, "Come upon the dry land,
and we shall live together peaceably." The fish answered, "Not
without cause do people call you the slyest of animals. Your
couTFel Is ridiculous. If we are not safe in the water, which gives
us life, why should we go where our sojourn would be sure to re-
sult In death." The point emphasized in this story Is plain. It
Indicates, that as the life of the fish depends upon the water, so
the lite of Israel depends upon the study of the Law,
In treating the method of Instruction, attention must needs
be directed to the dialectics employed in the Rabbinical schools,
because of which the powers of analysis and reasoning among our
forefathers became exceptionally acute. In the earlier days, the
laws of logic In vogue among the Greeks, were not known to the
Jews, but In their stead, Jews used certain principles ol argu-
mentation by means of which they arrived at countless justifiable
conclusions and cultivated the mind, Hillel was the first to pro-
mulgate these principles by arranging them Into a category of
1, The inference from n less to a more rigorous case and
vice versa.
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JEWISH EDUCATiON
2. The Inference based on analogy of language.
3. A law deduced from one Scriptural verse.
i. A law deduced from two Scriptural verses.
h. An Inference based upon the relationship of general and
liarticular terms.
6. An analogy drawn from another verse Of the Bible.
T. An explanation based upon the context of a verse.
In addition to these seven hermeneutlcal principles Of UUlel.
increased by Rabbt Ishmael to thirteen, and later by Rabbi Ele&z-
er to thirty-two, a process of reasoning known as "Extension and
LlmltaflOD," attaching special Impoi'tance to particles of the He-
brew language used In the scriptures, was developed by a certain
Rabbi Nahum, and the celebrated Rabbi Akibah; and another sys-
tern known as that of "Juxtaposition." purporting to show that a
law Is often explained by a passage either preceding or following
in the Biblical text, was also frequently called into service, in or-
der to arrive at the significance and intent of an established and
transmitted institution.
Because all the instruction, except that in the Bible, was
supposed to be oral, so as to properly discriminate between the
scriptural or written law. and the traditional or oral law, numer-
ous aids to the memory were invented. Thus, for example, terms
and phrases were formed out of the initials of separate words,
and names were given to treatises or their constituent chaptera
oft taken from their opening passages.
Brevity and conciseness in Instruction met with commenda-
tion. Hence the warning that "one should always teach his pupil
in the shortest possible way." Repetition as leading to thorough-
ness, too. was couDselled. He who repeated a lesson a hundred
times was not presumed to know the lesson as well as the one who
repeated it a hundred and one times. Of a certain Rabbi It
Is told that "he repeated a teaching four hundred times." (17)
While in the main the method remained the same tbrougb-
out the centuries, the character of the instruction reflected to a
great extent the influences to which Jews were exposed at various
times. They could not help but be molded, through Alexandriati
Jews, by Greek educational ideals, in the days of Phllo: by Arabic
tendencies during their solourn with the Moors; and by
the stagnating scholaBticIsm and lassitude of the Church In En-
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JEWISH EDL'CATION
rope during tbe Middle Ages. The more recent 'Heder with its
lack of system, Its narrow scope, Us absence of division Into classes,
Its Instruction by personal attention bestowed upon pupils In ro-
tation, Is the result rather of the medieval spirit, than of the edU'
catlonal ideals native to the Jews. If a trace of the genuine Jew-
ish education existed at all during the Middle Ages, — and' to be
more speclQc, — Just before the birth of Mendelssohn, that trace was
to he found In the Yeahibah, where treatises of the Talmud with
their commentaries were .seriously studied and grammatical re-
jearches made, and where was to be met the "Bakl" well versed
In TalmudlG law, and the ' Harlf" dowered wfth the keen analy-
tical sense.
In the Rabbinical schools, the status of the teacher was a dig-
nified one. The help of a teacher was considered Indispensable for
every man. Although the self-instructed was worthy of commends-
tlon, he, who was taught by a teacher was considered more thor-
ough. The people were told "to learn from scholars rather than
from books," (18), Whereas the teacher was highly neceeeary.
In the proper acquirement of knowledge, wisdom had to be exer-
cised in hts choice. The teacher had to possess personality. Al-
though It Is not deemed advisable "to look at the tlask but what Is
In It." (19) because there Is many a new flask with old wine, and
"many an old Rask that has not even new wine," a teacher, to do
effective work, had to be forty years of age; for, "he that learns
from young people is like one who eats sour grapes, and drinks
■wine from the vat. whereas, he who learns from the old is like one
who eats ripe grapes and drinks seasoned wine," (30) The Hab-
bls do not forget to accentuate the need of the "oacher's. profes-
sional fitness. He must be thoroughly qualified Intellectually,
so as always to be ready with the proper answer. A caution In
point Is: "If one asks of thee a question, do not stammer, but
reply without hesitation." (21) In fact, the more experienced
the teacher, the more desirable he was considered. The Latin
maxim "docendo discimus" finds an echo in the Rabbi's confession
to the effect, "I have learned much from my teachers, more from
my associates, and most from my pupils." (22) The teacher had
to evince also the proper temperament. He had to.be cheerful,
kind and patient. He was admonished to be meek like Hlllel, and
warned not to be Irritable like Shamsl, (23) for "the Irritable Is
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JEWISH EDUCATION
not at to teach," (24) The teacher had to be above favoritism.
Because Moses is supposed to have declared, that he htmsell worlc-
ed for Israel gratuitously, every teacher must devote himself to
hla calling with unselfish motives. The teacher was especteu to
be modest, no matter how profound his erudition, lor "as water,
milk and wine are preserved only In earthen vessels, so the words
of the law endure only with him who Is modest." (25)
However, over and above the profeBslonal fltness was the
moral fltness. "Not every man wae worthy to teach," "He who
drank a fourth of a meoaure of wine could not Instruct." (26)
"Before seeking to improve others the candidate for teaching was
told to eradicate hla own faults." "Every disciple who waa not
inwardly aa clean as outwardly, was said to amount to naught."
(27) "The Ark of the Covt.iant waa overlaid with gold within and
without."
Nor did the Rabbis forget to specify the need of the teitch-
er'g social qualification. Said they: "the youth, the unmarried or
one divorced from his wife ahall not teach," "The ideal teacher is
he, who Indulges in audible study; pronounces distinctly; possesses
understanding and discernment of the heart, awe, reverence, meek-
ness, cheerfulness: who ministers to sages; associates with col-
leagues; discusses with disciples: is sedate: knows the ScrlptursH
and the Hishnah; engages but tittle in buBinesB; Indulges mod-
erately In intercourse with the world, in pleasure, In sleep, in con-
versation and In laughter; who is patient and kind; trusts the wise:
shows resignation In chastisement; knows his station, rejoices In
his portion; puts a fence to his words; claims no merit for him-
self; is beloved; loves Ood, mankind, righteousness, rectitude and
reproof: flees from honor; boasts not of hie learning; and delights
not In giving decisions; bears his neighbor's yoke; Judges him
favorably; and leads him to truth and peace; is calm in bis
study; asks and answers; listens and adds: learns in order to
teach and to practice; makes wise hie own teacher; pays attention
to every teacher's discourse; and reports a teaching on the authori-
ty of him who Is responsible for it." (28)
As It was considered an advantage for the pupil to enjoy th«
guidance of a teacher, this advantage was very much more pre-
clons, if he came under the Influence of many and various teach-
ers. He, who learned the law from only one instructor, was not
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JEWISH EDUCATION
looked upon as having enjoyed the blesBlng o[ education to Its full-
est extent. And white speaking of the number and variety of
teachers, tt was well for one to employ, reference should be made
to the tact, that the teachers In the Rabbinical schools wero oft
given to specialization. There were those who were more particu-
larly prepared for Biblical instruction, and, on the other hand,
those, who devoted themselves altogether to the teaching of tbe
Mishnah and Talmud. (29) Despite the wider range of knowl-
edge, which the secondary school-teacher, whose province lay in
Mishnah and Talmud, had to possess, the work of the elementary
teacher was considered more gratilying. "He who teaches a child
was compared to him that writes upon clean paper, while he who
leaches the Old is compared to him that writes on blotted paper.
(30)
Whatever the specific province ot the teacher may have been,
he was always granted academic freedom for the expression of his
pcraqnal views.
Teachers could also be suspended, but only "on account ot
their faulty instruction or their ignorance." <31) The people
were, however, warned against ''dismissing an elementary teacbei
endowed with sufficient knowledge, for one whose knowledge is
more extensive, but who, because ot his rank, may prove proud
and negligent." (32)
In the Rabbinical schools the teaching staff was masculine
throughout. Women were not eligible tor appointment. (33)
The compensation ot teachers, for services rendered their pu-
pils, differed in the many centuries of the period ot which we
are treating. Because ot the maxim "do not make of the Law a
crown tor self aggrandizement, or a spade with which to dig,"
(34) and because ot that other saying, "he who makes use of the
crown of the Iiaw is destroyed," (35) teachers were not paid In
the earlier days, but piled a trade for self-support. In the course
of time, teachers, provided they had no means ot livelihood,
were supported from the tithe given to the poor. Eventually, how-
ever, the teacher's remuneration consisted ot presents bestowed
upon bim, a practice which found authority in the Talmudlc say-
ing, "he who brings gilts to the wise man. Is as it he had ottered
the first fruits to Ood." (36)
As the teacher was made the subject of careful scrutiny, m*
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JEWISH EDUCATION
that DO one except tbe fltteat could Instruct, ao too, tbe pupil was
carefully studied In the light of bis general and specific needs. Child-
nature was a province, to tbe examination of which, marked at'
tention was bestowed in the Rabbinical scheme ol education.
The Biblical principle "train tbe lad In the way be should go,"
(37) was never abandoned. In order that the pupil might he-
come a credit to hie teacher and hla school, he bad to possess a.
number of very important qualifications. He had to be self-
reliant tor "tbe bashful person cannot learn." \3S) He bad
to seek Information by questions. In order that tbe subjects
taught him should be properly understood. He bad to persevere,
for "everyone who studies and forgets, Is like a woman who bears
children and buries them." ( 39 ) He had to be modest for "if thou
hast learned much, do not consider It to thy credit, because tor
this purpose thou waat created;" (40) "learning Is permanent
only with the meek;" (41) and "everyone, who studies privately,
will be sure to win fame in time." (42)
The difference Id the aptitudes of pupils was not Ignored.
Pupils were likened to "the sponge, the funnel, the strainer and
the sievei The sponge sucks up everything. The funnel allows
things taken In to pass out. Tbe strainer lets the wine pass and
retains the lees. The sieve lets tbe bran pass and collects tbe fine
flour." (43) Another observation on the difference In pupils runs
thus: "there are tour kinds of disciples, one is quick to under-
stand, and quick to forget; another Is slow to understand, ana
slow to forget: a third Is quick to understand and slow to forget;
and a fourth Is slow to understand and quick to forget." (44)
Poverty in pupils was not considered a hindrance to their
education. Apart from the support given them frequently by
teachers, the poor were considered as giving greater promise of
success by virtue of their need, than such who were better condi-
tioned. It was therefore remarked, "be careful of the poor, for from
them comes the law." (45)
Inasmuch as the pupil was carefully studied from every point
of view, by the Rabbis, It Is but natural, that the backward papil
should have received their attention. A pupil was regarded back-
ward who had attended a school from three to five years without
making progress. In such Instance the transfer of the pnpll to
another school was recommended, for tbe failure of the pupil was
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JEWISH EDUCATION
not ascribed so mucb to the natural lack of aptitude In the child.
as to the Uhellhood, that the teacher had not ehown the pupil
Bufflcient Bftnpathy, (46) or, that ttie teacher In his Instruc-
tion was devoid of ayatematic presentation.
Aa the teaching staff consisted of men, so tbe student body
coDBisted for tbe moat part of boys. Girls did not receive equal
opportunitlea of education with their brothers. Their instruc-
tion did not extend into Taimudic literature, but ended with the
Bible. They were, however, in tbe earlier days, taught Greek, be-
cause Greek was looked ut^nn a.s one of the finer accompllahments.
The time set aside for study had to be conscientiously utilised.
The pupil was advised not to say "I shall learn when I have time,
aa later on he might not have the time;" (47) and "if thou ne-
glectest the law, many hindrances may arise to prevent thy study."
(48) fhe pupil was warned "not to absent himself from school
even fur a single hour," (49) for "the day is short, the work is
great.' (50)
Prizes were awarded to the most meritorious pupils. Rabbi
Jehudit ha-Nassi is reported to have given honey to his successful
elementf ry pupils.
Proi lelon was also made for vacations. These were given on
fast days the eves of Sabbaths and holidays, for three days before
the Feast of Weeks, 'Hhanukab week, the fifteenth of Ab and
Shebat.
Tbe discipline of the school was good. It grew out of the
healthful atmosphere favoring the instruction. It was but seldom
that the proper point of contact between teacher and pupil was
not estiil lished. The teacher was accorded tbe pupil's profound
respect, for he was told: "that the fear for bis teacher had to
be like Uie tear for God," (51) and "that one's father is respon-
sible for one's life in this world, whereas one's teacher giving him
knowledge. Is responsible for one's life In the world to come."
(52) Everyone who disputed bis teacher was regarded as one who
disputed Providence. (53)
As respect had to be shown to the teacher by his pupil; so the
teacher was likewise enjoined to pay the proper regard to his
disciple. Tbe admonition "let the fear for thy teacher be like the
ffiar tor God," had the companion warning. — "let the honor of thy
disciple be ae dear to thee as thine own." (54)
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JEWISH EDUCATION
Coi'poial punishment was not looked upon with tavor. When-
ever it was necessary to administer such, the pupil could be chaa-
tised only with a strap. (55) In the case ot grown pupils, how-
ever, corporal punishment was discountenanced, because tbelr selF-
defense could eaaiiy have led to blows inflicted upon the teacher.
Before closing, we shall quote some of the rules of guidance
for instruction laid down by a few Of the teachers of the Middle
Ages, who devoted themselves to the solution of the educational
problem.
Hai Gaon remarks In bis "Training ot the Intellect," "Train
children with gentleness. Hake every sacriSce to purchase books
for them, and to engage for them a teacher. Reward the teacher
generously, for whatever you give the teacher you give your own
child."
Rabbi Jehudah, the Pious, in his "Book o[ The Pious," says
among other valuable things; "Boys and girls should not play to-
gether. No one should punish children In anger. Children are
like their parents, even in the acquirement ot knowledge. Chil-
dren should not receive leHsons too difficult for them. In the selec-
tion of a vocation for his son, the parent should consider the son's
talent. Even girls one should instruct in the leading principles
of religion. A father should not teach his own children, but should
engage a teacher. Interruption in Instruction should not be conn*
tenanced. What one teacher has forbidden his pupils, another
should not allow them. One should not entrust children to an in-
efficient teacher. Well-behaved and incorrigible children should
not be taught together. Exceptionally apt children should receive
a special teacher. A teacher should never ask questions ot a stut-
tering pupil in the presence of his school-mates. Questions should
be put to the stuttering cither In writing or orally after the school
mates have left."
Joseph Aknin in his "Healing ot Souls" advises, that the
teacher should know his subject; should practice what he teaches:
teach gratuitously: treat pupils as though they were his oivn
children: perform all of his pedagogical duties consclentlonsl;; and
should always consider the ability of his pupils, Joseph Aknln re-
gards the following subjects as a necessary curriculum tor the edu-
cated man: writing, reading, the Bible, the Talmud, poetry, logic,
philosophy, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, mechanics, the nat-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
ural edenceB, music, medicine and metaphyelcs.
Reviewing In thougbt this outline o( Jewieh education In
vogue in the Rabbinical era, we muat needs recognize, that vhUe
many principles advocated by our sages are antiquated, a goodly
number, to which they gave expression, despite their age, are
thoroughly modern. It Beems indeed as though some of the newer
departures along pedagogical lines, of which we hear so much to-
day, have been anticipated by the scholars whose sphere of ac-
tivity lay either in the Oriental academies or in the Jewish ichooU
of medieval Europe. It is well nigh certain, that, with the ap-
plication of the methods of Rabbinical education, we conld produce
In our day men, each one of whom would deserve to be called, b^
cause of reasoning power, "a butting ram," like Rabbi Aklbah, or,
"the acute" like Rabbi Jehudab Bar Jecheskel wno, though dead
these many centuries, will shine on "like the stars, forever and
ever."
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JEWISH EDUCATION
REFERENCES.
(1)
Deut 8:5.
<29)
Ned. 8 a.
(2)
Sab. IlSb.
tSO)
Aboth.
(8)
Peat 1:1.
(31)
Chul. 107b.
(4)
Sota 22: a
(32)
B. B. 21a.
(6)
Sab. 119.
(33)
Kid. 4:13.
(6)
Sab. 119b.
U4)
Aboth 4:7.
(7)
Synh. 17b.
(35)
Aboth 1:13.
<8)
Berach 2a.
(36)
Keth. 106 b.
(9)
Abotli 1:1.
(37)
Prov. 22:6.
(io>
Aboda Zarah 8b.
(3S)
Aboth 2:6.
(11)
B. B. 14a.
(39)
Synh. 99a.
<12)
Ketli. 50a.
(40)
Aboth 2:9.
(13)
Aboth.
(41)
Sota 21b.
(14)
Abotb 3:21.
(42)
Moed Kat ISb.
(16)
Aboth 1:17.
(43)
Aboth 5:18.
(16)
8ota22:a.
(44)
Aboth 5:15.
(17)
BTnb. 99a.
(45)
Ned. 81a.
(18)
Kid. Ilia.
(46)
Taan. 8 b.
(19)
Aboth.
(47)
Aboth 2:5.
(20)
Aboth.
(48)
Aboth 4:12.
(21)
Kid. SOa.
(49)
Sab. 83.
(22)
Taan. 7a.
(60)
Aboth 2:20.
(23)
Sab. 30b.
(Bl)
Aboth.
(24)
Aboth.
(52)
B. M. 33a.
(25)
Taan. 7a.
(53)
Synh. 110a.
(26)
Erub 64a.
(54)
Aboth 4:15.
(27)
Yoma 72b.
(55)
B. B. 21a.
(28)
Aboth 6.
i.i.Gt>tiglc
I
THE MODERN ERA.
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THE MODERN BBA.
By ABRAM SIMON.
A complete history of Jewieh Education in the Modern
Era awalte the fuller gathering ot scattered material and thi
development of educational methods still In their lormative state.
Yet enough Is at our disposal to write a connected story by re-
lating It to the larger and contiguous fields of Jewish Emanci-
pation, Reform and Orthodoxy, and the Development ot Hebrew-
Literature.
Xhe Pre-MeDdelssohnian Era.
Concerning the eminent services of Jews to the progress of
clTlUiatlon, Lecky wrote : "While all around them were grovel-
ing In the darkness of besotted ignorance, while Juggling miracles
and lying relics were the themes on which almost all Buropu
were expatiating, while the Intellect of Christendom had sunk
Into a deadly torpor. In which all love of Inciulry and all search
for truth were abandoned, the Jews were still pursuing the path
of knowledge, amassing learning and stimulating progress with
the same unflinching constancy that they manifested in thel r
faith." (1) Along aide this quotation let me present a con-
trasting picture. Naphtali Herz Wessely, one of the most dis-
tinguished friends of Mendelssohn, wrote — "They are Ignoraa':
of the rules ot Hebrew, of the beauty ot its diction and its
poetry. Much less are they acquainted with the languages of
the people among whom they live; some can neither read nor
write them. The construction ot the globe, the events of history
and the principles ot civil law, of natural and scientific philoso-
(1) History of Rationalism, p. 232, Vol. 1.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
phy, are altogether hidden things to them. They are not prop-
orly acquainted with the fundamental principles of their faith,
nor are thsy taught morality or psychology In their BChoola. (1) (2)
What a contrast between the picture painted by a Christian
of the Jew In the Middle Ages, and the one drawn by a Jew
of the intellectual degradation of his people In the beginning of
the eighteenth century!
However true may be the sketch presented by Wessely,
there is always one redeeming feature. There was always some-
one studying somewhere at all times in Israel. LoTe of learning,
however narrow It may have become, never wanted disciples.
Political proscription, social degradation, the deification of the
Talmud and the use of a jargon, left their educational imprlDt
on the Jew. A dead level ol ritual uniformity marked the Jew-
ish culture of the period. Recoiling within himself, he tabooed
all secular books, language and studies. Driven from contact
with the outer world, he found his only aolace in poring over
his religion, and in a slavish study of the Talmud. The People
of the Book was lost In a book. The Bible Itself had sunk into
a place of secondary importance, known largely through its
Talmudlc quotations. The Talmud-Tora (the public school for
the poor), and the 'Heder, (a private venture) were the element-
ary schools for the learning of Hebrew reading, the Five Books
of Moses, the Books of Esther and Lamentations aud the Rashl
Commentary. This type of school abounded throughout Europe.
Boys from sii to thirteen studied there. At the age of thirteen,
the boys were Bar Mitzvah and allowed themselves three months
for the study of their special "portion" which they read from
the Scroll. This was the youth's graduation Into the higher or
secondary school called the "Veshibah." In this latter school
he gained a familiarity with the Talmud, its commentaries and
the Schulchan Aruch. It was a general practice for the higher
(1) "Hebrew Review," London, 18B9.
( 2 ) It is Interesting to note also that Johanes Buxtorf , a not-
ed Christian Hebraist, in his Synngogua Jndalca, "dast tat, Jnden
Scbul" Basel, 1S43, In Ch. III. tells "Wie die Juden ilire Jnnge
Kinder auterziehen zur Gottesfurcht," In "How the Jews R«ar
Their Children In the 'Fear of God.' "
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JEWISH EDUCATION
students to visit various "Yeahiboth." A student thus stocked
wltb learning was a most acceptable son-in-law. The traveling
student found lodgment everywhere. Private purses were in-
variably open to support him. He had the additional pleasure
of a Communal dinner when a certain tractate of the Talmud
was begun or Bnished. Moneyless, he traveled from city to city
to slake hie thirst. He carried out to the letter the Idea of the
poverty-student "Eat bread with salt, drink water by measure,
sleep on the hard ground, lead a life of denial and busy yourself
wltn learning." (Pirke Aboth VI 4.)
In 1753 something of a system was slowly coming to light.
At a conference of the Community of Nlckolsburg, where the
Land-Rabblner had his seat, certain communities were ordered
to support their quota of students. All the higher schools were
tti begin their study of the one tractate of the Talmud at the
same time, so that the itinerant student lost nothing. A Head
Master, (Roah Yeahibah) was chosen to rule for one year. Be-
fore him the student appeared tor examination every six months,
but the weekly quiz was given on Fridays by the local teacher.
A traveling truant ofQcer came to see if the student was indus-
trious.
Discipline In all these schools was unknown. The rod was
the teacher's method of securing order. A droning, monotonous
sing-song by teacher and pupil in varying degrees of loudness
added to the demoralization of the discipline. Classifloation of
pupils was scarcely known. Individual attention was. Of course,
impossible; when one pupil recited, the others read to themselves
audibly. Of course, wealthier families could afford their own
private teacher.
No system of religious Instruction was ottered to the girls.
They learned by absorption. Countless opportunities in the home
were utilized tor gathering the fundamental elements of the re-
ligious and ritualistic life. A vast deal of vfoman's literature
■was developed in that era, containing not only Biblical and Mid-
raachlc material, but stories of Jewish history, fables, romances,
ethical manuals, dramas like the Sale of Joseph, and the Battle
of David and Goliath, Arabian Nights, and fables from the age
of the Troubadours. Girls found most reflection, instruction and
; in songs about the Torah, In a "Ma-aae-Buch" con-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
talning legende, romanceB and travel-talk; In the very popular
"Ze-ena-Urena" with Its quaint homiletlc lore, known as the
l>eutach Chumseh; and in various prosaic and poetic tranelatiODB
of the Prayer Book. All these books were written In the pre-
vailing language of the "JQdiBCh-Deute(^h." The publication h;
Dr. Kaufmann of "Memorlen der GlUckel von Hameln" compels
us to revise our former opinions of the utter religious education'
ai neglect of the girls, at least so far as Hamburg and other
German cities are concerned. Gliickel's piety was doubtless
characteristic of most Jewesses of her era. She did not lay
claim to an education. Her Memoira are written In Hebrew
characters, though her language is the current Judisch-Dentsch.
'■Her father had his children instructed both in things heavenly
and in things worldly." She knew enough Hebrew to read her
daily prayers, and It la roost likely that she went to a •"Heder."
There is no doubt that Glilckei, like her sisters elsewhere, read
on the Sabbath the various lectures on the Peutateuchal sections,
together with some of the edifying literature just before noted,
(1), It is, therefore, no matter of surprise that, when the eigh-
teenth century saw a revival of Jewish culture, the women were
the first to emerge Into the new light, though several of them
were dazed and crazed by it. (2).
11.
The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
The political and cultural emancipation of the Jew led di-
rectly to his emancipation from the old educational meth-
ods and curriculum. To Moses Mendelssohn belongs the
lion's share of credit tor this achievement. With the best
of Hebrew learning which a Bar Mltzvah lad could boast of, this
traveling student reached Berlin In 1743, to become the pupil
of Rabbi Frankel. In a few years he mastered the secular
(1) For literature tor the girls and women, see B. Straas-
burger, "Geschlchte der Brziehung," p. 175. P, P, Frankl "Brbau-
ungslecture unserer Altvorderen" essay appearing In "Monat-
schriff XXXIV, p. 14B.
(2) Abrahams' "Jews In Middle Ages," p. 343.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
knowledge of his day, together with a thorough grasp of Oerman.
L.atin, FrencU and Greek. By bU twentieth year he waa intellec-
tually at home with the world's maatere. God had destined him
to be Israel's redeemer, through education.
The translation of the Pentateuch and Psalms (Etz Cbayim)
into pure German Inaugurated the new era in Jewish education.
Three significant and tar-reaching results Sowed Irom It. (a)
The Jew won bacli his Bible, to hold flrst place in bis atfectioa
and education. The religious consciousnesB was deepened. Tbe
Bible as a textbook came again into its rightful leadership, (b)
The Jew gained a cultural language, implying also an open door
to the secular life, to general social advancement and to the
duties of national citizenabip. Henceforth, all instruction was
to be in tbe vernacular, at least so far as Germany and Aus-
tria were concerned, (e) The Bible translation inaugurated a
great literary and religious era. It gave birth to new literary
and educational energiea, beginning with the authors known
as "Tbe Me-asseflm" (Collectors) and culminating eventually in
the Science of Judaism and tbe revitalizing of Judaism. "Phae-
don," his famous book on the Immortality of tbe Soul, aside
from its tremendous religions influence on his contemporaries,
bad a direct bearing on the method of educational progress.
Patterned after the literary practice of Plato and Socrates, It
brought the dialogue method into usage. The pllpullstlc style
gave way to the Socratic. Tbe sing-song lost its vogue. Reli-
gious education begot a German, In fact, an European character,
and submitted gradually to the pedagogical regime. The Bible
and Phaedon became the manual and tbe new method of re-
llglods Instruction for the young.
The first definite result of this new educational movement
was the founding by David Prledlander. in 1778, of The Free
School, in Berlin, its plan called (or the exclusive use of the
German language, the priority of Bible-study, the teaching, in
the earlier years, of reading, writing, arithmetic, and, later on.
of geography, history and French. In 1779, Frledlander's
"Reader for Israelitisch Schools" appeared. In 1783 Dessau
wrote a manual called "Grundsatze der Judiscben Religion."
A school was started In 1787 by Isaac Herz Samson In Wol-
fenbattel, whence Zunz and Jost graduated. In 1801 the famous
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JEWISH BDUCATIOX
echool o( Israel JacobBOn in Seesen was founded. The Frank-
furt Hebrew School after four years had five classes. In 1810
ii added a girls' department, and In 1S13 was transformed Into
"The Real und Volksschule der Israel ttlscben Gemeinde." Thus
numberless schools aiirang into existence In all of the German
States. Magdeburg witnessed the beginning of the first con-
gregational religious school In 1S30.
Prince Leopold Friedrlch Franz encouraged education
among the Jews in his kingdom and gave money liberally for
the founding of the "Phtlasthropin." The Jewisb families of
the middle classes formed an organization for the training of
their children; they secured a teacher and invited the poor
children to attend, for whose instruction the "Talmud-Tora-
Chebra" paid. The advanced students went to The Fiirth
Veshlbah. Later on, David Frankel. the director of the Frani
Schule, brought Baruch Herzfeld to be the new teacher. The
following most Interesting description of this school is found Jn
the personal reminiscences of Dr. H. Steinscbneider ( 1 ) wbo
attended It as a boy. Baruch Herzfeld secured his learning at
the Beth Hamldrash, in Dessau, and received 60 thalers original-
ly as bis salary. A furnished room was rented, containing two
long tables at which sat twelve boys and eight girls. The girls
started In a year later and left a year earlier than the boys did.
As the number of pupils increased, the boys of six years of age
used four benches which had no back-rest. The teacher used
a chair. The walls were barren. A blackboard, a narrow shelf,
for hooks and a guitar belonging to the teacher were tbe only
ornaments of the room.
School began in summer at eight o'clock, and in winter at
nine o'clock In the morning, lasting until noon. The afternoon
session was held from one to four. The exercises opened with
a German prayer, then with the reading of tbe Schachrlth (morn-
ing) service in Hebrew. The Pentateuch was studied according
to each weekly section. While the one class recited, the others
listened. The Prayerbook for Sabbath and week-days was trans-
lated in one year. Later on they studied the first twenty-flve
-"Die
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JEWISH EDUCATION
PsaliDB and twelve chapters ol Isaiah. Very little of Hebrew
grammar was learned. In pronouncing the letters, they were
accustomed to call them "a. b and g" Instead of "Aleph, Beth
and Glmel." Bible history was not In the curriculum. The use
of the blackboard for Illustrative purposes brought especial de-
light to the pupils. The Bar MUzvah boys were given additional
instruction In putting on the phylacteries and in reading the
Scroll with the Neglnah (Musical accent).
The afternoon session began with a lesson in writing. The
lowest class used the Judlsch-Deutsch, the nest grade both
Jiidlsch and German, the next grade German and Latin script,
while the highest class was taught the use of the Rasbl style
and Hebrew script. Arithmetic, geography and history toUowed
the writing lesson. In the opening session of the early Autumn
the children were instructed in the writing of Roach Hashana'i
(New Year) letters in German to their parents and friends.
Pesacli week was known as the examination season, while Purlm
was celebrated In a characteristic manner with Haman-plays
and recitations.
Discipline was not possible. IiOud talking during recita-
tions and while others were being examined was the common
practice. It is especially Interesting to note that Dr. Steln-
schneider, already In his teens, observed that the Jewish boys
and girls not only learned to speak German very fluently, but
also had a better and a superior accent than their Christian
neighbors. When the State public schools opened their doors
for the Jewish children, this Jewish school closed Its doors in
18-40. With slight changes, this description gives an adequate
picture of the educational methods and status of the Jewish
children and elementary schools all over Germany previous to
1850. In some cities it has not lost its Cull application, even
German emancipation in its widest sweep, though it brought
in its train many dangers and pitfalls. Is directly responsible
for the following great blessing: (a) It witnessed the Renascence
of Hebrew Ijiterature. The loss of the jargon meant the gain
of the German. And the gain of the German, by a fortunate turn
of circumstances, was the regain of the Hebrew. The Intellectuals
who rose equal to the demands of the new cultural regime were
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JEWISH EDUCATION
wise Id seeking io the Hebrew language the means of of-
fense and defense. They founded Schools in Berlin. Ham-
burg and Breslau. As early as 1TS3 Isaac Abraliam Eu-
cbel and Mendel Breeslau issued an appeal to all the
Jews to assist In establishing a Society for the Study
of Hebrew, to be known as "The Chebrs Doresche Leshou
Eber." Two schools came Into life, one called the ■■Blurlsts"
(Commentators) and the other the "Meassetim" (Collectors).
The former defended Judaism against attacks from without and
contributed largely to the dislodgment of Jiidlscb by the spread
o( German. The latter took as its sphere of activity the reform
of the education of the youth, together with the cultivation of
Hebrew. Aside from Its purely literary value, the periodical
'Ha-Meassef" became an engine of propaganda and polemice
furnishing the weapons with which attacks were made against
the strongholds of ignorance In Israel and the enemies without
the camp. Soon a vast library of books and pamphlets on all
conceivable subjects of science, religion, philoaophy and litera-
ture was created, (1).
(b) The ripe fruit of this emancipation was the develop-
ment of Jewish Science. Leopold Zunz is the greatest name
(onnected with this harvest. Israel was beginning to feel that
its own great treasures must be known to be appreciated and
must be known by the Jew before the non-Jew can be expected
to be sympathetic. While still a young man, Zunz joined other
young pioneers In organizing the "Verein (ner Cultur der
Jiiden." Soon a magazine. "Zeltschrlft fuer die Wissenschatt
des Judenthums" was created. Zunz's place in a history of
Jewish education is assured by bis remarlcable contributions.
In his illuminating book "Gottesdienstllche Vortrage." he il-
lustrated admirably the educational task of the Synagogue b.v
the ever-active presence and force of preaching In all the pre-
vious eighteen centuries. Unlike Mendelssohn, Zunz was first
the Intellectual and then the political emancipator. He showed
clearly that Israel's neglect of the sciences was not voluntary.
(1) For a thorough appreciation of this subject, see "The
Renascence of Hebrew Literature," by S. Nahum Slouschz.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
tha,t it was due to the absence of political rights anil
privileges, and that civil freedom and Intellectual progresB,
science and religion required schools and seminaries. Thus,
through the creation of Jewish science, the Jewish Seminary for
the training of Rabbis was founded. The Breslau Semi-
nary In 1S54 was soon followed t)y others in Germany and else-
where, although a few years previous to this M. Velt established
a Teachers' Seminary In 1S40 In Cassel; similar teachers' schools
flourished in Munster, Hanover. Dilsaeldorf, Cologne and Wurz-
burg. In Wurtenberg a society was organized for the support of
religious school teachers. At the Conference of twenty-four Rab-
bis In Cassel. August 1868, a Committee on Schools and Religious
Education was appointed. The real value of this Committee's
work lies In the stimulus It brought to the Leipzig (1869) Synod,
and In the paper presented by Dr. S, Herxheimer, the chairman
thereof. The resolutions adopted by this Synod, so far as religious
education Is concerned, recommended the establishment and
support of good religious schools for the youth of both sexes
by the congregations; non-sectarian schools are necessary in
themselves, and also compel the creation of additional religious
schools. Religious education must Include not only the usual
instruction In Biblical history and religion, but a knowledge of
tbe contents of all the Biblical books, the cultivation of the
Hebrew language and a training in Post-Biblical history ; Re-
ligious instruction must avoid the critical method; special schools
should be instituted for the training of teachers and the grad-
uation ot Rabbis. (1>.
(c) Another Important result of this larger political and
cultural emancipation was the re-lnvlgoration of Judaism. Ortho-
doxy was revitalised, created schools and animated doughty
champions In Its defense. Reform Judaism was the product of
this era of culture and protestation. It is only the educational
aspect of Reform Judaism which interests us here. The educa-
tional character ot this Reform lies in Its aesthetic appeal to
the Individual, In its enforcement of the principle of growth in
Judaism as in all religious and cultural activities, in Its dlgnl-
(1) Philipson's "The Reform Movement In Judaism," p.
419.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
fled oOertng to Ihe girl and lo woman a share of equality in
the economy of Israel, in its realization of the educating possi-
bilities of the pulpit and sermon, in its constant Insistence on
the superiority of the ethical and religious over tlie ceremonial
*ad the purely ritualistic, in its enabling the people to read,
follow and understand the leaehlngs of the Prayer Book, Re-
ligion and History, and finally in creating the distinctive congre-
gational Sabbath School. Thus in Germany to-day, children
and youth, both Orthodox and Reformed, have the beat ot op-
portunities for securing religious education In government and
congregational schools, in Hedarim, Yeahibot and Seminaries.
Jewish education in Austria was lifted out of the mire by
the Tolerance Edict of Kaiser Joseph In 1781, granting the Jews
admittance into the public schools and permission to take up trades
and agriculture. The two who deserve the moat credit for the
direction which religious education took were Herz Homberg
and Naplitall Herz Wessely. The former. Influenced by
Rousseau's "Emite," took up pedagogy as a profession. Re-
turning to Austria, he published a text book called "Ben Zion;"
and in 178* was appointed superintendent of all the German
Jewish schools of Gallcia, and In 1793 was called by Emperor
Francis II to Vienna to formulate laws regulating the moral and
political status of the Jews In Austria. His chief pedagogical
works are "Imre Sefer," a religious and moral reader for young
people; "B'ne Zion," a religious reader for children; "Bea
Yakkir," a book on the beliefs and ethical doctrines for Israel-
itlBh Youth. (1814).
Greater Influence In the Jewish educational line was wielded
by Wessely, He was an ardent advocate of the educational and
social reforms outlined by Emperor Joseph II. He published,
in eight chapters, a series of letters called "Dibre Slialom we-
Emeth" (Words of Peace and Truth), in which he urged a re-
form of the educational methods in vogue. He insisted that
the study at the secular schools would not Interfere with Jewlsii
learning. He insisted that the Quotation "The beginning of
wisdom Is the fear of the Lord" meant in his day that general
culture was not only not Incompatible, but was actually in har-
mony with, and dependent upon Jewish piety. The opposition
to his reforms was bitter. Nothing daunted, Wessely's second
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JEWISH EDUCATION
letter to the Austrian congTegatlone proved clearly that educa-
tion would not mean a detection from Judaism. Only by generaL
culture would the Jews be able to remove the disgrace which
weighted them down. He begged them tu banish the Jargon
and accept the vernacular. He sketched a plan of lostructiou
which the child could follow from the lowest grade, and move
istep by step to a full understanding of the Talmud.
The educational emancipation oC the Jew In Austria was
very slow. In Vienna In 1815 appeared Detmold's First Hebrew
Reader and Baer Frank's "Light of Faith," but no definite re-
aulta are visible until In 1867, General Hayuau, levying a heavy
war tax on the Jews, set aside this vast sum of money for educa-
tional purposes. At the Hungarian Jewish Congress two years
later the tolerant Minister of the Interior, Baron Botvoes, urged
them to elaborate a plan for the tutherance of the cause of educa-
tion. The result was the establishment of belter schools and the
employment of better teachers. Already in 1S52 religious In-
struction In the public high schools was made compulsory. The
chief practical achievement of the Congress was the establish-
ment at Buda Pesth ot the Rabbinical Seminary, while the
Yeshibot at Pressburg became more and more the stronghold
of the moat rigid orthodoxy. The mediaeval character of the
latter was rudely shattered by an edict In 1883 that "all
students entering it must have passed Buccesafully the esamina-
tions of the four lower classes of the public school; that Rahbls
Issuing from the Yeshibot must possess a secular education, etc,"
We pass now to consider the course of Jewish education
in . Qalicla and Russia. The third and fourth decades of the
nineteenth century were relieved by the scholarly researches of
Rahbl Salomon Jehudah Rapaport (1790-1867) and Nahman
Krochmal (1785-1840). Both of these men were offspring of
the Measseflm inspiration. Both agreed with Zuti^ that the science
o( Judaism would be the best guarantee for the full emancipation
of Israel. Both looked upon Hebrew as the vehicle for promot-
ing knowledge among and about the Jews. Both found In the
new emancipation a Justification and a realization of the his-
toric mission of Israel. Scores of writers were stimulated by
them to raise the standard of the masses to a higher level, to
train them to an appreciation of the fruits of culture by a deeipen-
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JBnjViSH EDUCATION
lug appreciation of tbefr own Jewleh genius and Jewish history.
To this scbool of Measseam belonga the credit of having put
forth the greatest effort to Inspire the maMea with a consuming
ideal of Jewish education. But the masHee rematned practically
stagnant.
Lithuania, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, pre-
sented a miniature Judea of ite own. Rabbinical echools flourish-
ed In many citlra; thousands of students were In attendance
poring over the Talmud and gave not only to Russia, but also
to Qermany and Austria, the rabbinical authorities of the day.
The first Indication of the new humanistic awakening came
with the reform projects of Alexander I: and the first literary
expression of it was the pamphlet published In 1803, called "The
Loud Voice of the Daughter of Judah." Wllna became the
home of new Hebrew writers. Abraham Baer Lebensohn's (1794-
18S0) literary etTorta interest us here only as they were weapons
for bis campaign In behalf of emancipation. He felt that the
degradation of his people was due, not only to an absence of
Haskalah, that is, a rational education founded upon Instruc-
tion in the language of the land and the ordinary branches of
knowledge, but also to the Ignorance of the Rabbis and preachers
on all subjects outside of religion. Equally Important for the
larger educational activity of the Jew was Isaac Baer Leven-
Bohn of Kremenetz. "The founding of Jewish elementary
schools, the opening of two Rabbinical seminaries at Wllna and
Zhitomir, the establishment of numerous agricultural colonit^.
the Improvement effected In the political condition of the Jews
and in the censorship of Hebrew books — all these progressive
measures are In a great part, if not entirely, due to the In-
fluence of Levensohn." (1).
The Romantic writers did not help the cause of education,
but the school of Realism, coming at the time of the accession
of Alexander II, created dozens of lournals for the education
of the masses and did not hesitate to castigate the Incompetency
of the Rabbis and the miracle-working saints. The Hebrew
Journal, "Ha-Melitz" the Interpreter, begun In 1860 In Odessn.
. work. As schools were developed by the Govern-
(1) Renascence of Hebrew Literature, p. 123 (Slonschz).
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JEWISH EDUCATION
ment, the 'Hedarim and Yeablbot lost thouxandB of pupils. Judalf
lieon Bordon (1830-1S9'2), tbe' finest incarnation of this realistic
era, Interests us because or hl^ etauncb advocacy of educatlooal
retorms. The old forms of Instrut^tion aroused his Ire. The
children were kept In ignorance. There must come a deeper
pnd a more radical reform. There must not only be a Renas-
cence of Hebrew, but of all culture and freedom. This move-
ment became known aa Haskalah. It Is against the narrow
Ideas of the Rabbis that Gordon burls his bitterest Invectives.
As the band of educated Jews In Southern and South-western
Russia grew Into a fuller appreciation of the need of a radical
reform of Jewish education. "The Society for the Promotion of .
Culture among the Jews" was formed In St. Petersburg. Perez
Smolenskln represents that school of writers who Insist that
emancipation must mean, above all else. Jewish unity, solidarity .
and national aspiration. The Jew must be educated to know
himself and to trust in himself. Smolenskl's literary labors touch-
ed the lives of thousands of men and women whose loyalty to
the faith became all the stronger and deeper. To him the ,
Yeshlbotb are the nurseries of Idealism, the stronghold of the
religion, the buttress of Hebrew nationality. To these students .
In the seminaries the message of this author was the great Jew-
ish and educating force.
Within the past few years some of the elementary schools
have been altered In plan and scope: the old 'Heder has In
many places given way to tlie Improved 'Heder or the " 'Heder
Metukkan" with more sanitary environments, shorter hours and
an incluRlon of some secular studies. In a larger sense it may
be added that the Hebrew tongue Is proving to be the civiliz-
ing Instrument In Russian Jewry which "possesses the nower of
renlenleblna the moral resources of the masses and of making
fheir hearts thrill with enthusiasm for Justice and the ideal, and
Is accomplishing a work of culture and emancipation." What
real progress can the Jew make when the Russian C^ar and
Douma are replacing the pogrom by the strangulation of bla
Intellect and his soul!
The progress of religious Instruction was all the more rapid
in Amsterdam because the best of Spanish and Portuguese
refugees had brought culture with them from the Southwestern
D,g,t,.,.d.i.COOglC
JEWISH EDUCATION
lands ot Europe. Ab early as 1837 the three united congrega-
tiona tormed an institute (Etz Hayyim Talmud Tora). It was
both an eismentary school and a high school, leading Its pupils
from instruction in the Hebrew letters to a thorough study Ot
the Talmud and Commentariea. In addition, elocution, poetry
and philosophy were parts of the curriculum. It was, perhaps,
the first graded school of its kind among the Jews, having sis
rooms to accommodate six grades. The sessions were from eight
to eleven, and from two to five. In the highest grades Rabbis
Saul Morteira and Isaac Aboab gave instruction. These tvo
men, with Menasssh ben Israel and David Pinto, founded the
first Rabbinical college. It is Interesting to note that Baruch
Spinoza attended the Etz 'Hayyim School as a boy. Rotterdam
had an institute called "The Yeshlba de los Pintos," while the
Hague had a Hebrew school in 16S9 where Jacob Abenecer
Vergei was the special teacher. The Hebrew Renascence pro-
duced scholars and literati, such as David Franco, Samuel
Moulder and Gabriel Polak, but none seems to have had a
very direct influence on the course of Jewish education In the
schools. A period of decline set in. The common schools of
Netherlands were closed to the Jews for a time; even the wealth-
ier classes did not think of organizing separate schools tor their
co-religionists. The crowning of King William I (1813) brought
school privileges to the Jews, in 1817 a decree required the
congregations to maintain Jewish tree schools (or the poor. Re-
ligious instruction was entrusted to a commission. Moses
Lemans took steps for the spread of culture. He, with others,
furnished them with Jewish school books, translations of the
Bible and various prayer books in the Dutch language. The
Netherlandish laraelitlsch Seminarlum, founded in 1738, was re-
organized In 1S34. With the separation of Church and State
in 1S4S, the educational interests were re-organized. At present
a flourishing seminary exista in Amsterdam, through the great
efforts of Dr. Joseph Hirach Diinner; and a monthly magazine
of the Society of Jewish Teachers, called "Ahawah," is pub-
lished.
The intellectual vigor of the Italian Jews suffered very lUtl«
impairment. The projected school in 1564 of the David Proven-
zaie did not materialize. The general cultural influence of the
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JEWISH EDUCATION
Hebrew Renascence was inaugurated In Italy by Moses Hayyim '
Iiuzzato, whose great merit lies in "releasing the Hebrew
language from Its slavery to Middle Age forms and Ideas, and
revealing it as capable of expreealng all the manirold complex
feelings o( man." Isaac Reggio translated portions of the Bible
Into Italian. Among the first schools to adopt the reform pro-
jects o( Naphtali Herz Wesaely were those of Trieste, Venice and
Ferrara. The Rabbinical seminary at Padua supplied the Rabbis for
the entire country. Another seminary started in LeRhorn, another
in 1887 in Rome waa transferred to Florence where it flourishes
under the direction of Dr. S. H. Margulies. The disaolution of
the ghetto in Rome brought with it the reorganization of its
Talmud-Tora under the leadership of Dr. Ehrenreich, and later
on of Angelo Fornarl, his successor, as its principal.
The glorious reign of Hebrew scholarship !n France came to
an unhappy end in the expulsion of the .lews by Charles VI in
1384. Four hundred years later a better day started to break
for them. Cerf Berr (1730-1799) led the emancipation move-
ment. He undertook the dissemination of the Pentateuch In
AUace. As soon as the famous emancipation document was
signed by Louis XVI on November 13th, 1791. giving full free-
dom to the Jews, Cerf Berr began the task of educating his
people to a full appreciation of the privileges and responsibili-
ties of French citizenship, "If we ourselves cannot enjoy the
blessings which the new Constitution holds in store, we shall
at least see our children gather the first fruits of this precious
tree!" Religious instruction must be given In French; schools:
must be built where the children ran learn to be good Jews and
good French citizens. No definite Information of educational
progress for several decades Is available, save here and there a
conforting item. The fltty-thousand .Tews in France were dis-
tricted in 1808 into seven consistories, with the highest authori-
ty embodied in the Central Consistory in Paris. From this
body the order was issued that all sermons be preached in the
French language. A Rabbinical College was founded in Metz
(then a part of France) in the year 1S29. and it was recognized
as a State institution and granted a subsidy.
In 1840 the civilized world was startled by an outrageous
attack on the Jews of Damascus, who were charged with Ritual
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JEWISH EDUCATION
murder. Two great Frenchmen, Adolf Creml«us and Solomon*
Munk, tOK«tl)er with Moses Mouteflore, ot England, went to
Damascus to see Mebemet All on a pereonal InveBtlgatlon.
Cremleux realized only too clearly that tlie Ignorance of the
Jews of Alexandria, and Cairo rendered them easy victlmB. Munk
wrote a letter In Hebrew and Arabic to the Jews ol BgTpt, beg-
ging them. to bestir themselves and establish schools wber« tlieli'
children could learn the elements of Judaism and literature, and
secure a secular and a practical education. Soon' Valenslm
placed himself at the head of a Socletty to establish schools and
superintend the. public education' o( hlft people. In Cai-ro two
schools for boys and one (or girls were Instituted. The Grand
Rabbi of Constantinople, the Chacham Basbi iBsued a letter to
' all the Turkish congregations asking all the Jews to learn tbe
language o( the country. Thus we are led up to the year 1860,
when another Outrage ( the Mortara Incident 0( 1S6 S ) gave
birth In Paris to the Alliance Uraellte Universelle, an inter-
national society for the protection and education of the Jews
in the Orient. Of all Its manifold enterprises, Its educational
system has been the most satisfactory and beneOclal. It started
a school In Tetuan (1S62), then In Tangiers, and another In
Bagdad. Since then, as many as ninety-four schools have been
organized under Its authority. In 1867 a school was begun in
Paris for the training of teachers recruited from the Bast, and
It had 127 students in 1899. It must be added that the alliance
was materially aided In its work by the splendid munificence in
1ST3 of one million francs contributed by Baron de Hlrsch. The
curriculum In all these various schools varies according to local
conditions and standards. It ought also to be noted that these
numerous schools have so elevated the moral and social stand-
ards as to raise the age of marriage of Jews and Jewesses In
the Mohammedan countries. The Seminary (or the Preparation
of'Rabbis In Constantinople (1897) Is the crowning achievement
of the Alliance for tbe future elevation of the Jews In the
Orient.
The recent Separation Act has thrown the financial sup-
port of the Jewish education In France upOn the Jews them-
selves, and the result Is awaited with deepest Interest, not only
in the twelve French consistories, but also in the entire world.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
The story o( education Id PalestiDe because of the Alliance
and the birth of Zionism has become very assuring. Tne cultural
movement there Is bound up with the national aspirations. Tue
Hebrew language la used as the vehicle ot Instruction in accord-
ance with the "i'brlth BIbrith" (Hebrew In Hebrew) method.
Here we find kindergartens and a Child's Periodical called "Olaui
Katan" (The Child's World); Talmud Toroth, under the care of
Sephardlc and German authorities; three schools for girls; a
Training School (or Teachers founded in 1907 by the Ezra School;
.a Hebrew Kindergarten in Safed. under the auspices of the Inde-
pendent Order o( B'nal B'rith; a Talmud Tora, a Yeshlba, and
.it Boys' and Girls' School (1. O. B, B.) in Jaffe, and a Confer-
-.ence o( teachers in Jerusalem meeting annually to secure unity
of pronunciation, method, and organization. In addition to ali
these, technical and agricultural schools are doing a noble work
-in training boys and girls for practical life.
Very meager Is the information obtainable ot the progress
of Jewish education In England lor several centuries. An in-
teresting .appendix to Dr. Jpseph Jacob's book (1) attempts to
claim an Bnglisfa source and background for' a splendid code
of Jewish education supposed to be practiced In England pre-
vious to the expulsion in 1290. The English Jewish Dark Ages
emit very little light for the next Ave centuries. Even Mr.
Lucien Wolf's Interesting discovery of the existence ot a small
community o( Jews already established In London previous to
the visit of Menasseh ben Isra«l (2) does not help us, save In
adding Interest to the comment of Israel Abraham that "John
Evelyn (1641) tells us of a Burgundian Jew who displayed
several books or devotion which he had translated into English
for the Instruction of his wife." ( 3 ) . The gradual political
and social emancipation of the Jews, the first reform of Juda-
ism (1840), the creation of the Anglo-Jewish Association (1871)
and the birth of the Jew's College (1856) are the most signifi-
cant events which affected the course and cause of religious
education. In the eighteenth century there was a Betb-Hammld-
(1) Jews of Angevin, England, pp. 342-343.
(2) The Jewish Literary Annual, London, 1904, p. S3.
(3) Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, p. 346.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
rash In connection with the City Synagogue tor the study of
Hebrew Scrlpturea and Rabbinical Writings. In 1841 the trustees
met to remodel It and to train up the youth for offices connucted
with the mlnlBtrattons ol our Religion. The English Rabbis were
o( foreign training, save a lew who received their, eijucatlon at
The Jews' Cree School. The Jews' College was born of both, with
the purpose of training Ministers, Readers and Teachers. Chief
Rabbi Adler started some propaganda work, by Instituting relig-
ious Instruction In the West End In connection wl(h the Jews'
College. In 1ST9 the secular studies were eliminated from tho
curriculum so that the Seminary might be unhampered In Its
purely Jewish atudles. Another forward step was the union of
two minor lastltutlons of similar alms, tbe Aria College at Portsea,
and the Lady Judith Montefiore College at Ramsgate, with The
Jews' College In 1ST4. The Normal training of teachers was
transferred from its course to become The Teachers' Training
Committee of The Jewish Religious Education Board,* foot note.
At present the problem of religious instruction in England
la receiving the moBt serious consideration. The Qovernment's
Education Bill on the one hand and the deepening religious
consciousness and feeling of solidarity on the other compel an
immediate and a satisfactory solution of the problem. To-day
the children receive elementary training in the twelve Jewish
elementary schools largely supported by subscriptions, in the He-
brew and Religion Classes of tbe Provided Schools, In the Volun-
tary Schools of the Religious Education Board, In other schools at-
tached to synagogues. In Talmud Toroth and 'Hedarlm, Independ-
ent of any organizing authority. Besides those, there are the
Beth Hammldrash and the Jews' College. A complete re-or-
ganlzatlon of these schools, a standardizing of schemes of educa-
tion, a creation of a Teachers' Normal School, a widening of the
scope of the Jews' College for a "Teachers of Religion Depart-
ment," and a central representative "Board of Religious Educa-
tion tor the Jews of the United Kingdom." are matters of moat
earnest discussion.
Religious education has made the speediest and most endur-
ing progress In the United States. At the very outset of our
'Jews' College Jubilee Volume. Part I
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JEWISH EDUCATION
history, Jewish Instruction together with secular studies was [ouad
necessary. The rapid development o[ Public Schools meant the
eliminatlOD ol secular subjects Irom, and a healthier growth of,
the Kellglous School as a distinct and etCectlve institution. It
Is Instructive to note that the cradle ot the Jewish Religious
School (known as the Sabbath School) was rocked by a woman.
the tamouH Rebecca Gratz, ot Philadelphia, in 1833. Within
a few years, similar schools, independent of congregationa, were
started in Charleston, S. C, In Richmond, Va.. and in New York
City. Isaac L«eser s Hebrew Education Society, established 1:848,
and still doing excellent work, and the Uainonldes College (which
existed for a (ew years), were founded In Philadelphia. The pro-
jected school for higher education by Mordechai M. Noah in
1840 did not see the light ot day. and the same la true of the
ZiOD Collegiate Institute, whlcti Dr. 1. M. Wise desired to
found in 1S55.
The direction of religious education has been towards the
organization of schools in conjunction with the congregatlona.
These have produced the best fruit. Courses in our Religious
Schools include Hebrew, History and Religion, to be covered in
from three to eight years, according to local conditions, culmin-
ating in the "Bar MItzvah" In orthodox and Conservative congre-
gations, or In thhe "Confirmation" In Reform congregations.
Some schools have addUIonal post-con Srmatlon classes, others
conduct Bible classes, others, too, plan courses of a Normal
Scbool character for their teachers, and still others have in-
troduced a special Children's Service on Saturday morning or
Sunday afternoon. On the whole. It may be said with truth,
that discipline prevails without the use of the rod, that decorum
is generally in evidence, that a system of graded schools Is
rapidly becoming prevalent because imperative, and that a
saner appreciation of the principles of modern pedagogy has al-
ready won the day.
The past few years bear witness to sincere efforts to produce
desirable text-boohs. Individual Rabbis and laymen published
books ot various kinds which have wide circulation. The Sati-
bath School Union (1886) published leaflets on history and
religion, though it has since been merged Into the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations, operating as the "Committee
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JEWISH EDUCATION
on Synagogue and Scbool Extension." The Committee has
Biarted In to do very eameet and succeseCul work In the prepara-
tion of a Union Graded Series of religious, ethical and historical
text-boo kB. Teachers' schools are in active operation in con-
junction with the Gratz College (1893) in Philadelphia. The
Hebrew Union College (1$T&) In Cincinnati and The Jewlah
Theological Seminary (1886) in New York. The latest effort
for the benefit of teacher-training is the promising "Teachers
Correspondence School o[ the Jewish Chautauaua Society," pro-
jected for the elevation of the standard of teaching and In order
to bring the Normal Course opportunities to people even in the
distant or sparsely settled communities.
The general supervision of religious schoolB Is ih the hands
of the Rabbi. There are two rabbinical seminaries in the United
States — the Hebrew Union College; representing the Reform wing
bf Judaism, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of the Ortho-
dox. The recently endowed Moses A. Dropsle College in Phila-
delphia is a PoBt-Graduate Institution for Hebrew and Cognate
Learning. Besides these schools and colleges, one finds the
'Heder and the Talmud Torab in many cities undergoing neces-
sary changes In discipline and organization. The Rellgioua Edu-
cational Work, under the authority of the Kehillah of New Tort
City, has a comprehensive plan of co-ordinating numerous relig-
ious forces, and its work will be watched with deep Interest.
Other institutions which are sharing in the wider range of
the educational "'Forward Movement" are; (a) The Independent
Order of B'nai B'rlth which, in addition to its numerous schools
and benefactions In the Orient, Roumanla, Austria and Germany,
maintains about twenty organizations in the United States; Fra-
ternal Orders, like the Kesher Shel Barzei, Free Sons of Israel,
and Order of B'rlth Abraham; (b) The Jewish Historical Society;
The Jewish Publication Society and the Jewish Press in English
and Jiidiach; (e) The Orphan Asylums, Agricultural and Technical
Schools. Hebrew Educational Alliance, Hebrew Institutes; (d)
Conferences of Rabbis, both Orthodox and Reform; (e) The Jew-
ish Chautauqua Society, Young Men's Hebrew Associations. Coun-
cil of Jewish Women, Zlonistic Circles, State Conferences of Re-
ligious Workers In Ohio. Arkansas and MlBslssippl, Baron de
Hirsch Fund, The National Farm School, the Union of American-
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JEWISH EDUCATION
Hebrew CoDgregatloDS, tbe Union or Orthodox CongregatJoiia, and
(() Libraries.
III.
The OuUook.
The outlook for the future of Jewish education U based
upon the past and the present condltlone which we can review la
the following few sentences. The hlatory of Jewish education
begins with the birth of Israel and follows the circuitous path of
Israel's changing fortunes. In tbe Patriarchal and Prophetic
periods, education seizes naturally upon the home and the par-
ent as the best media for Instruction. The Era of the Second
Commonwealth puts Into the bands of the parent the Bible as
the first and best text-book, to be Interpreted by Bsges and RabtiiB.
The great Dispersion in TO A. C., finding Jewish education grown
to healthy independence, chooses Che Academy of Jabneh as its
means of salvation and continuity. The increase of academies.
synagogues, elementary schools, the Talmud and the later Bible-
reaction of Karaism, enable the Jews not only to hold a firm
front against the proscriptions of the Christian Church, but also
to beep t!ie faith strong and the intellect keen to prepare the
broad highway through which the Moorish and the Christian
Renascence may pass to greater enlightenment and culture. The
Jewish Dark Ages, coming with the sixteenth, seventeenth and
first half of the eighteenth centuries, reflect the social, political
and religlouH degradation of the masses. The Jewish Renas-
cence, beginning in the last decades of the eighteenth century
marks the turning point in the history of tbe Jew. Jewish edu-
cation since then has been taking a decidedly upward, Inspiring
and transforming course. Thus repeating the reply of Dr. J.
Ooldschmitt to Bousset, we see clearly "Das Judenthum Is eine
Schule, nlcht elne Kirche," (1) (Judaism is a school, not a
church.) In short, JudalKm is a teaching Religion.
The outlook and the promises of Jewish Education revolve
about two large bodies of facts:
1. (a) Judaism as a teaching religion sufTered no break
for thirty centuries in its need and appreciation of education as
the builder of character and the conserver of idealism.
(1) Das Wesen des Judenthuma, p. 123.
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JEWISH EDUCATION
(b) The coudition o( Jewish education has beea i
\L1> ioaueaced by the prevailing status of civilization.
(c) The political and cultural emancipation of the Jew
in most lands is a happr accompaniment ol the increaelng ap-
preciation of the power and neceBsity of religious training for
the development of character and good citizenship.
2. Efficiency as the modern evaluating standard In all hu-
man activities is making Its demands on Jewish oducation.
(a) Efficiency Is calling tor the acceptance and application
ol the beet pedagogical methods In curriculum, organization and
discipline;
(b) In the better training of teachers by means ot expert
teachers' colleges.
(c) In the standardizing of the teachings at different
schools-
(d) And In the probable Institution ot Jewish Educational
Boards, — National. State and Municipal.
LITERATURE.
B. Strassburger — "Geschichte der Erziehung und dea Unterrlchts,
etc." Contains a full bibliography to the year 1885.
S. Cohn — "Die Entwicklung des Jildtschen Unterrlchtswesen."
M, Giideman — "Geschichte des Erzlehungawesens und der Cultur
der Juden." "Queilenschrlften zur Geschichte des Un-
terrlchts und der Erziehung bel den deutschen Juden."
Samuel Marcus — "Die Padagoglk des Israel I tlacten Volkes. von
der P atria re hen zelt bis auf den Talmud."
Solomon Stein — "SchulTerhaltnisse, Erzlehungslehren und Un-
terrlchtsmethoden Im Talmud" (1901).
Joseph Wlesen — "Geschichte und Methodllc des Schulwesens."
J. Hamb u rger — ' 'Real-Encyclopadle."
Jewish Encyclopedia — Articles on Education, Pedagogics, Bab-
bath School, Rabbi and Talmud Tora.
Hastings — "Dictionary of the Bible." Article on "Education."
Israel Abrahams — "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages." Chapters
XIX and XX.
A. Berliner — "Aus dem Leben der Deutschen Jnden Im Mlttelal-
ter." Chapter I,
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QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS.
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JEWISH EDUCATION — HISTORICAL Sl'BVEV.
THE BIBLICAL ERA.
Lesson 1. Pages 0-12,
1. What le the difterence between the Science of Education an<l
the Art of Education?
t. Why (toes teaching precede Pedagogics?
3. What factors enter Into our modern educational Ideal?
4. What was the first school In history?
5. What was ItB source of strength?
6. What Ideals have the various nations contributed to the
modem Ideal of education?
7. How can the Ideal of service be used educationally?
8. What 1b the highest objective of all education?
Le«soii n. Pages 12-14.
1. What is the oldest text-book on religious and moral culture?
2. What has the ideal of the "Kingdom of Priesta" to do with
education?
3. What was the religious genius of Israel?
4. What iB the Biblical contrlhutlon of Israel to the culture of
the race?
5. Describe the educational function of the home.
6. Olve the Biblical definition and implication of knowledge.
7. What l9 the educational Ideal of our Bible?
S. Give me your own personal opinion as to the educational
force of the home in modern American Society.
B ni. Paees 14-18.
Does the Bible present any deflnita curriculum?
What proof Is there that music was taught?
In how far waa writing a matter of general culture?
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JEWISH EDUCATION— H18TORICAI. SCBVBV.
4. la there any proof that there must have existed a large body
of "lost" literatureT
5. What doee Eccleslastes mean when he says "01 the making
of hooka, there le no end." Does thla prove anything?
( In what manner, using your own Judgment, dtd the JewUb
book differ from the Egyptian and Grecian forms of litera-
ture?
7. What relation does the birth of the Synagogue bear to the
course of Jewish education?
8. What place would you assign to Ezra as a leador of educa-
tion?
9. What Is meant by the clash between the Oreek and Jevrish
Ideate of education?
liCBSon IV. Pages 18-24.
Describe the method of the parent as a teacher.
What do you understand by, and what la the ethical value
of, "Imltatio Parentis"?
Why should children be encouraged to ask questions? Was
that what Moses had In mind?
What was the child's flrat duty? How was It secured?
What was the mother's first duty?
What do you think la the real value of oral InstrucUonT
What do you consider the educational value of tradition and.
ceremonial?
What was the value and task of the Priest as a teacher In
ancient Israel?
Lesson V. Pages 24-30.
What Is meant by "Prophecy aa an educational movement?"
What was the prophet's text-book?
What was the prophet's method of teaching?
What was the ethical message ot the prophet aa orator?
Describe the contribution of Moses to Blfitlcal education.
Why does the prophet precede the scribe?
What waa the educational necessity of the "Law"?
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JEWISH EDUCATION— HISTOBICAX SURVEY.
What was the educational result o( the "Law"?
Explain the Blgnlflcance of the Synagogue.
In vhat manner can the Scribe be called an Educator?
Lesbon VI. Pages .10-32.
Why was the time ripe tor teachers?
How wan the sage related to the preceding claBees of teach-
Wbat wae the task of the sage?
What books contain most of hia teacblngs?
What did the eagea teach with regard to domeatic life?
What virtues did they Inculcate?
Did they draw a distinction between ethics and religion?
Pick out of your Bible some of the most valuable teachings
of the sages.
What do you understand by God-coEaciousneaa?
How has the Jew, so far as we have gone in our study, been
a great teacher in the world?
Lesaoa VII. Pages S3>3S.
What Is implied In the sentence "Every child is entitled to
the rich heritage of his fathers?"
What is the testimony of history and the Bible as to the
value of religious training in the home? What Is your
personal Judgment?
In what manner does the religious school complement the
What Is the justification tor teaching Hebrew In the modern
religious school?
What is meant by the saying that religion must be taught as
part o( Life?
Why should the Bible be tbe leading tezt-boook in our re-
ligious schools?
In how far does the modem pedagogy Justify the efBcacy of
the Biblical methods of Imitation and Repetition?
What is the educational value of the teacher's Personality?
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JKWiSH EDUCATION — HISTORICAIv Sl'RVBV.
THK RABBINICAL ERA.
Iiesson VIII. Pages 4S>47.
What waB the secret o( Israele strength during its dlsper-
What do you understand by the sentence "Pedagogy was
their natural vocation?"
ludicate the value which the Kabbfe set upon education.
Indicate the relations which the Rabbis bear to the various
classes of teachers mentioned In the previous lessons.
What do you gather From the figurative language "God sits
and teaches the younger pupils?"
What names were given to the schools, tlie teachers and the
pupils?
When were the first schools started?
What Is the great merit of Rabbi Jochanan ben Sakkai?
Give the names of some o( the great Academies.
Do you consider that the limitation of 25 puplis to a claas a.
wise provision? Why?
Lesson IX. Pages 47-ISO.
When did a boy's education begin; what was the first lesson
taught him?
What did the curriculum Include?
Show how the practical was not excluded from the course if
training.
What was the method of Instruction?
In your Judgment, what Is the educational value of the
"Aggadah"?
What influence did the method of Instruction have upon the
cultivation or the Intellect?
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JEWISH EDUCATION — HlSfORICAL SCRVBV.
Do you tbink that your answer gives any clue to tbe intellect-
ual biBtory of the Jew up to the preaeot day?
What are the hermeneutlcal rules? 0( what value?
What did the Rabbis eay with regard to the value or Repe-
tition? '
LesEon X. Pages HO-SS,
In what manner was the character oF Jewish education in
fluenced by the culture of other nations?
How was the 'Heder a product at the dispersion? Do you
consider It a sign of progress?
What was the status of the teacher?
What were the personal qualifications which a teacher had
to posaesB?
Indicate the moral quallflcatlouB.
Indicate the social qualifications.
How do we know that consideration was paid In the Rabbini-
cal Schools to the study of child nature and its educational
needs?
Cite the various mental attitudes noted In their pupils by
the Rabbinical teachers.
What method was used with backward pupils?
Describe the methods used in the Rabbinical Schools to In-
sure diligence In study, regularity and promptness In at-
tendance and proper discipline In the classes.
Name five points you would consider obsolete in the rules of
guidance tor instruction laid down by some of the teachers
of the middle ages. Why?
Name five you wo>ild approve and state why.
Lesimn XI. Pages S3-S7.
Show how the Biblical Injunction "Train up a lad on thf
way he should go" was not abandoned in the Rabbinical
Era,
Were the poor children ignored?
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JKWISH EDUCATION — MISXOKICAI- 81KVEV.
How did the Rabbis provide tor the backward pupHs?
Ib this in line with modern Ideas? How?
Wbat education was given the girls?
What was the pupil's first duty to the teacher; what was the
teacher's first duty to the pupil?
How was discipline secured? Is this any advance over tbe
statements on page 19 of the text-book?
What were some of the guiding rules laid down cy Rabbi
Jehudah?
What was the curriculum which Joseph Aknln suggested In
the twelfth century?
In reviewing the ground covered thus far, wbat Is your gen-
eral Impressio'ii of the educational ideal and method of the
Jews during their dispersion?
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JEWISH BOUCATION'— niSTORlCAL SURVEY.
THE MODERN ERA.
Lesson XII. Pages 01-04,
Does the quotation from Lecky suggest to you any vital con-
DectioR between Jewish learning <n the Middle Ages and
in the Rabbinical Era?
What was the condition ot Jewish education at the openins
of the eighteenth century?
What special reason was there lor this?
What is a Talmud Tora; a 'Heder, a Yeshlhs?
Does the "Traveling Student" remind you of any similar
condition or Institution elsewhere'
What was the character ot the discipline?
What kind of education did the girls receive?
Do you consider this sufficient?
What would you add to It to-day?
Lesson XIII. Pages 64-07.
How does the educational emancipation of the Jew depend
upon his political emancipation?
Does anything In the previous lecture Illustrate It?
Do you find another example in any modern country?
What relation does Moses Mendelssohn bear to the emanci-
pation of the Jew?
What were the great results of his translation of the Penta-
teuch into Qerman?
What were some of the Immediate and practical results of
this translation?
Describe the conditions and curriculum of the school which
Dr. Stein Schneider attended.
Is there anything significant In the statement that the Jew-
ish children had a better German pronunciation?
In your Judgment, what is the educational value of a cul-
tural language to the Jew?
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JEWISH EDUCATION— HISTORICAL SCRTEY.
Lesson XIV. Pages 67-71.
Wtierela was the Renascence of the Hebrew language ^ blesa-
Upon what did Zudz base hla couceptloo of emancliiatloa?
Compare MendelsBohn and Zunz.
Mention two practical results ol the Science of Judaism.
How was Judaism affected by this emancipation?
How is Reform Judaism related to the progress of Educa-
tion?
What did Herz Homberg do for Jewish education In Austria?
What did Naphtali Herz Wessely do for Jewish education Is
Austria?
Mention some of the Immediate practical results of their
efforts.
Lesson XV. Pages 71-76.
What was the attitude of Rappaport and Krochmal to Jew-
ish Education In Russia?
What did Lebensohn and LevensbliD do tor the education of
the masses?
What Is Smolenskl's contribution to the progress of educa-
tion?
In what manner did the Jewish schools give evidence of the
change which had been wrought?
Describe the first graded school of Its kind among the Jews.
Why was Amsterdam prepared for It?
Who deserves the credit tor the new awakening of the Ital-
ian Jews?
Who In France?
What was the great task which Munk set for himself?
Describe the educational labors of the Alliance Israelite Unl-
verselle.
In the light of present day conditions, do you think that the
Separation Act in France Is a benefit to Jewish education?
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JEWISH EDUCATION— HISXOBIOAZ. BUBVEY.
Leflson XVL Paces 77-80.
What Is tbe present condition of education in. Palestine!
Explain tbe reason for tbe meagerness of Jewish knowledge
Id England from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century.
What help would this bring you In estimating Shakespeare's
knowledge of Jews and Judaism as displayed in "The
Merchant of Venice?"
What is the educational situation In England to-dayT
Is this strong Insistence for a Teachers' Training Course p
natural development In the history of Jewish education?
What Is the special merit of Mlaa Rebecca Gratz?
Can you see any reason why the contemplated Theological
Seminaries In 1840 and 1S56 failed to materialize?
Describe the modern congregational religious school.
What are the two most hopeful signs of progress In our
religious schools?
Does the creation of a Correspondence School tor Teachers
fit Into the History of Jewish Education?
Mention some of the most important Institutions in the
United States which are doing educational work.
Lesson XVll. Pages 81-82.
Is It slgnlScant that the course of Jewish education follows
the history of Israel?
Can you connect the school of Jabneh as a saving power
with the Theological Seminaries in the United States?
Is Judaism a teaching religion? Wby?
Upon what political conditions do we base our hope for tbe
future growth of Jewish education?
Would the same apply to our people In Russia?
What does efficiency Imply In its application to modem Jew-
ish education?
What would be gained by a Board of Jewish Education In
the larger cities or States?
Does a bird's-eye view of religious culture In Israel tor the
past three thousand years harmonize with the general
scheme of so-called secular education?
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INDEX.
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INDEX.
Atwaham, creator of Jewish
Consciousness 34
Abrahams, Israel, quoted 77
Abraham Chasdai, "The Bal-
ances of Righteousness" ... 45
Agaddah 49
Alexander 1, reform projects
of 73
Alliance Israelite Universelle. , 76
Amen, use of 20
Amos 16, 2S
Akibah, parable of, 49; dialec-
tics 50
Assyria and the prophets ... 25
Astronomy, priests' knowledge
of IS
Austria, history of education
in 70 seq.
Baalim, and the Hebrew Genius 13
Brain and child education n
Babylonia, its learning exclus-
ive, II ; culture in 12, 25
Bar Mitsvah, in pre-Mendels-
sohnian era, &. 67; in United
States 79
Beauty, prophets' view of 25
Ben Sirach, 30; quoted 31
Berr, Cerf, and emancipation
in France 75
Betk Hammidrask, in Dessau,
66; in London 78
Biblical education, summed up
33 ; message of 38
Bible, text-book on training,
13 ; text-book for training, 35
seq.; in home and school, 36;
translated by Mendelssohn 65
"Binfirij" 68
Bresslau, M 68
Canaan, culture in 12
Capital punishment for diobedi-
Cereraonialism 35
Chachamim 30
See S^es
Character, J. S. Mill, 10 ; build-
ing of, 12; developed in
Chebra Doresche Leshon Ebtr 68
Children, obedience of, 19, 20;
punishment of, 21 ; religious
needs of, 34; nature of 37
Commandments, their pentad
form 26
Community, education of zr
Confirmation, see Bar Mitz-
Coporal punishment, in Bibli-
cal times, 20; in Rabbinical
Covenant, Book of 16
Cremieux A 76
Culture, Biblical and Modern,
12. See Religious Culture.
Curriculum, parental, 18 seq. ;
Hebrew in, 35; of Joseph
Aknin 56
Damascus 75 seq.
Daniel 32
David Franco 74
David Pinto 74
Death for disobedience 21
Democracy, educational move-
Deuteronomic Code accepted.. 2?
Dialectics of Rabbinical Schools 49
Diaspora, education in ....44, 81
"Dibre Shalom we-Emelh" . . . 70
Dropsie College 80
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JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA— INDEX
Fcclesiastes 14. 30. 32
Ewypt, 11; cul'urc of, 12, 251
Jews ill modem 76
F mancipation, results of, 69,
71 ; iti France, 75. in England 7?
KIders conducting services 17
Flijah 24
Lliaha 24
■■F_mile" II
Fiigland, history of Jewish edu-
cation in 77 seq.
Kt-chel, I. A 68
Europe, thrilled by Rousseau. 11
Ezekiel, exponent of Solidarity,
22, 24; solicited for instruc-
tion 28
Rxile and Temple ,. 28
E;:ra. provides school in Jerusa-
lem, 17; as Ecclesiastic 28
Family life 3'
France, history of Jewish
education in, 75 seq. ; Sep-
aration Act 76
Frankel, D 66
Franz Schule, the 66 seq.
Free School, In Berlin, 65; in
Holland, yi ; in London ... 78
Friedlander, D 65
Froebel 1 '
Gahriel Polak 74
Gad, the prophet 24
Galicia, education in 71
Germany, history of Jewish
education in 05 seq.
Girls of Bible, what taught . . 20
Gliickel von Hamein, memoirs .
of 64
God-consciousness 32
God, home and Torah 13
Goldschmitt J 81
Gordon J. L. 73
Oratz, Rebecca 79
Cratz College 80
Greece, 11; Josephus on .... 14
Great Assembly, provides
school in Jerusalem 17
Greek, teaching of 55
Greek. Roman and Jewish edu-
cation compared 14
Hai Ganon. "Training the In-
tellect," 45; quoted 56
Halackah 49
■'Ha-Meliln" 72
Harper, Professor, on Psalter 23
Hoskalah 72. 73
Hebrew, in curricula and syna-
gogue 35
Hebrew Union College ... 80
Hebrews, pedagogues of civi-
lization, 12; genius of, 13. see
Heder, curriculum of 62
Hellenism 30
Herxheimer S. 69
Hezekiah, inscription on con-
duit of 16
High school, synagogue a ... 17
Hillel, and Shamai, schools of
46; hermeneutical principles
of 49 »eq.
Hirsch, Baron de 76
History and prophets 25
Holland, history of Jewish
education in 73 seQ-
Home, as educator, 10; God
and Torah, 13; its curricu-
Hosea as
Hungarian Jewish Congress.. 71
Hygiene, known by priests ,. 15
Ideal, the modern a synthesis,
12; its message, id.
Israel, culture in ancient .... 12
Imitation, influence of ifl. 36
Imitatio Dei T9
Infants, treatment of 18
Ink, use of in Bible times . . 16
Inscription. Judah's ring, 15;
Hezekiab's conduit 16
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JEWISH CHAUTAUQU.\-INDEX
Isaac Aboab 74
Isaac Reggio 75
Isaiah on prayers 20. 24
Italy, history of Jewish educa-
tion in 74 seq.
Jabneh, school of 47, 81
Jacobs, J 77
Jacobson, 1 66
James, Williatn and Jeremiah. 33
Jehosaphat, reform work
under 22
Jehudah ha-Nassi 55
Jehudah the Pious, pedagogic
treatise, 45 ; quoted 56
Jeremiah, uses ink. 16: preach-
er of individualism, 22 ;
teacher, 24; and William
J«"« 3.1
Jewess, Gliickel the typical pre-
Mendelsfohnian 64
Jewish Chautauqua Society,
purpose of, 5 ; Correspond-
ence School 80
Jewish Consciousness, keynote
of 34
Jewish, Greek and Roman
education compared I4
Jewish-German jargon, books
in 6.1 seq.
Jews' College 77 seq.
Jewish Theological Seminary. 80
Jews, history of summed up,
43 ; influence on civilization,
44, 61: in pedagogy, 44; in-
fluenced by surroundings. 50
seq. : in i8th Century 61 seq,
Jews and Christians, religious
training compared 35, 81
Job 30. 32
Jochannan ben Sakkai 46
Jonah 29
Jose ben Joezer, quoted 18
Joseph Aknin, 45 ; curriculum
of S6
Joseph Caro, pedagogic writings
Joseph Epobi, ■'The Silver
Uish" 45
Joseph us and Jewish education 14
Joshua ben Gamla, founds
school for young children . . 46
Judah's signet ring 15
Judaism, character of 81 seq.
Juvenile Court, biblical origin
of 21
Karaism 81
Kehilla 80
Kent's "Heroes — of Hebrew
Tradition" 24
Krochmal, N ?t
I-aw, to be loved, 20 ; expound-
ers of. 22; Ezra adopts. 28:
and Wisdom, .12; see Torah.
Lebensohn, A. B 72
Lecky, Jews' value to civiliia-
Leeser, 1 70
Lemans, M 74
Leprosy, Priests supervise ... 22
Levensohn, t. B 72
Levites, missionaries and pio-
neers of education, 17; as
teachers, 18. 21 ; become
scribes 28
Literati, scribes as 2^
Literature, Biblical rcmnanis
of, 16 : for women. 63 seq. ;
renascence of Hebrew 67
Lithuania, history of Jewish
education in 72
Maccabean Era, 14; elementary
education in 18
Magna Charta of Jews 2?
Malachi on the ideal priest, 22 ;
educational power of 26
M'biniin 28
Meassefim 68, 72
Medicine, and priests I?
Jtenasseh ben Israel ,74
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JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA— INDEX
Mezuza 15
Micah, 16; philosophy of life
of 26
Middle Ages, status of 11
Midrask 17
Mill, J. S 10
Mission of Hebrew stated .. 13
Mohamined, "the people of the
book" 29
Montefiore, M 76
^loorish Renascence 81
Itorals and religion 35
Moses, records of, 15; the peda-
gogue par excellence, z6;
what he achieved 27
Moses Mendelssohn 64 seq.
Mother of the Bible 20
Munk, S 76
Music, teachers of, 14; proph-
ets teach 24
Nathan the prophet 24
Natural history, priests' knowl-
edge of 15
Nature and Rousseau, 11; and
prophets 2$
N'ehemiah and scribes 28
Noah, M. M.p school for high-
er education 79
Obedience, 19, 20; the sine qua
non 33
Old Testament, priestly element
in 23
Oral instruction, 20 ; alone not
sufficient, 35 ; Rabbinical
method of 50
Orator, prophet ideal of 26
Ormuzd-Ahriman 1,1
Orphans, education of 17
Orthodoxy and Reform 6g
Osiris 13
Palestine, history of Jewish
education in 77
Parents, obedience to. 13 ;
as teachers, 18: opportuni-
. ties of, 19; equal authority
Passover, lessons of 19
Pedagogue, Moses the great 27
Pedagogues of civilization, Jews
the 12
Pedagogy, Jews in, 44; Rab-
binical treatises on, 45; Rab-
binical methods of, 47 seq, ;
old and new 57
"People's Institute," syn^ogue
a 17
Persia, 13; prophets and .... 23
Pestalozzi 11
Pharisees, rise ot 2Q
Philosophy of prophets 26
Physical culture, in Bible times,
14; prophets' view of 25
Physics, priests' knowledge of 15
Prayers, mother teaches, 20 ;
value in education 34
Prayer-book, creation of 29
Priest and prophet, 21 ; the
Priests, conduct services, 17 ;
as teachers, 18, 21, 22: meth-
ods of instruction, 24; be-
come scribes 28
Prizes 55
Prophecy an educational move-
ment 25
Prophets, schools of. 17; as
teachers, 18 ; and priests com-
pared, 21, 35 : activities, 24;
methods 25 seq.
Proverbs, Book of. 30; advice
to parents and teachers 31
Psalm-book, institution of . . 29
Psalmists as teachers 18, 21
Psalms and priests 2,1
Pumbeditha 415
Pupils, qualifications of, 54 ;
girls as :.. 55. 63
Rabbinical pedagogy, digest of
45 seq-
Rabbis, birth of 29
Rapaport, S. J 71
Reform Judaism 6g
Reformation 11
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JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA— INDEX
Religious Culture, Biblical aiid
modern, 12; the educational
ideal, 14; and secular, 18;
prophet exponents of, 25 ;
fundamental propositions of,
33; attainment of. 33 seq. ;
and morals, 35 : and other
cultures, 36; methods,.. 36 seq.
Religious School, 34; Hebrew
in curriculum of 35
Renaissance 11
Repetition, employment of 37, 50
Roman, Greek and Jewish edu-
cation compared 14
Rome, 11; Josephus on, 14;
power of parents in 21
Rousseau, his message stated 11
Russia, histoo' of Jewish edu-
catiwi in 71
Ruth 29
Sacrifices, how construed, 23;
prayers take place of 24
Sages, as teachers, 17, 18 :
methods of instruction, 30
seq 36
Samson, I. H 65
Samuel 24
Saul Morteira, teaches in Am-
sterdam 74
Samuel Moulder 74
School, in Biblical era, 14 ; of
prophets. 17 ; largest in his-
Paiestinian, 47 ; discipline, 55 ;
vacations, 55 ; arrangement
of the Franz, 66 ; see Schools.
Schools, founding of Rabbini-
cal, 46 ; status of teacher,
51 ; modern, 73 : in the Ori-
ent, 76; in United States . 79
See under Countries. Abo
'Heder, Beth Hamidrash,
Yeskibah.
Schulchan Aruch 45. 62
Science in Bible times 15
Scribes, stylos of, 15 ; of David
and Solomon, 16; as teach-
ers. 18, 27: under Ezra, 28;
and Synagogue 29
Seminary, founded by Jewish
science, 6g; of Buda Pesth.
71; of Wilna and Zhitomir.
72; first Rabbinical, 74; of
Padua. 7S; of Metz, 75; of
Constantinople. 76: of Eng-
land, 77 seq. ; in United
States 80
Sermons, first in writing 16
Sh'ma. lesson of 19
Simon ben Shetach 46
Simon the Just quoted 29
Sin, and sacrifice. 23; national
sense of 28
Smolenskin, P. 73
Songs, composed by prophets,
24; educational value of .. 38
Sora 46
Spinoza 74
State and education 10
Steinschneider, R.. school
reminiscences of 66
Story-telling, its educational
value 38
Symbols ig, 37
Synagogue, birth of, 17, 28;
place for study. 29; demo-
cratic tendencies of 29
Synod of Leipzig 69
Talmud, teachers of 53. 62
Talmudic Era begins 29
Talmud-Tora 62
Teachers, personality of. ,l6.
38: Rabbinical titles of. 46;
qualifications, 51 seq. ; wom-
en, S3; remuneration of, 53;
respect for 55
Temple, and synagogue com-
pared, 17, 29; children in,
10; for developing charac-
ter 23
Text-books, use of, 38; in
United States 79 seq.
Torah, God and Rome, 13;
part of curriculum, 15; see
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JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA— INDEX
Toy, on "Proverbs," 15 ; on
family life 31
Tutors in Bible times 21
United States, history of Jew-
ish education in, 78 seq. ; edu-
cational societies of So seq.
Wellhausen quoted 18
Wessely. N. H, on Jews of
18th Century, 61 seq. .,70, 75
Wise, I. M., "Zion Collegiate
Women, education of ... 63 seq.
Writing in Bible times 15, 16
Yashar, Book of 16
Yeshiba de los Pintos 74
Yeshibah, 51, 62 ; life of student
in, 63; the Fiirth, 66; of
Pressburg 71
influence
1 Palestine"
SEP 7 1918
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