The Denver Jewish news., 1920-07-07
Young Judaea the Chill
dren Organization
THE AMERICAN JEWISH CHILD
AND HIS EUROPEAN PARENTS
THE YOUNG JUDAEA MOVEMENT
--INTERNATIONAI. IN SCOPE
THE PRESENT CONVENTION.
BY n. NJ. BoTWIN.

great Jewish immigration to the United
States. there was very little attempt
at real adaptation to the new environ
ment. The sudden change from the
semi-medieval Eastern European civil
izations that enslaved the Jew ecGno-
nicnlly and politically, nut neverthe-
less gave him almost complete free
dom in his own cultural sphere. tn
the modern, inStitutionnliZed America.
that strove for the complete cultural
absorption of the individual. caused
tremendous upleaycl i'm his social
life. The Jewish settlers felt these
powerful forces at work. Understand
them. or analyZe them, they could not.
Seeing their children estranged from
them, and beholding the vast sea that
was beginning to separats the old from
the young.-a sea whose distant shores
We're becoming DINNER aid DINNER
they often in their bitterness even
cursed "trciphc" America.
What attempts did the Jewish i'm
migrants make at adaptation? What
did they do to bridge the gap between
the old generation and the new? For
themselves they established synagogs.
lodges and Landsmanschaften. based
upon local, provincial European af-
filiations and interests = institutions
that could not appeal to the youth that
had never seen and was diSintcreste'i
IN the old European communities
Some attempts We're mads- at the dup
lication of the European "Heder' or
Hebrew school for the children with
its aged teacher-who taught because
lie could do nothing else. The East
orn European bred parent could not IN
GerStand the craving for outdoor life
and athletics of his young son. and
called him "Shegetz'' when he found
him playing ball. Almost all the ear
lv efforts at reconciling the Jewish
> child ami at influencing him to drink
spontaneously from the cultural springs.
&C his fathers failed. because the needs
of the child and the peculiar conditions
of America were disrega. dcd.
In the last decade. more successful
attempts have been made. For the
present / wish TO limit myself to just
one of these-thc Young Judaea move
ment which is now holding its annual
covetion at Long Branch. n. ].
A little more than ten years ago the
Young Judacn modestIy bowed before
the Jewish community of New York.
II need not be so modest now. During
the decade or so it has spread to thir-
freight American states. to Canada.
South Africa, Holland. Egypt. England
and many other lands. Not all of these
organizations, altho similar in aim ana
activity. are directly affiliated with
the central organization, however.
The aim of the Young Judaca is to
ipstil in the Jewish child love for
and an appreciation of the religion
culture and traditions of his people. 1t
attempts to accomplish this thru the
medium of the club. From the very
inception of the movement. it has been
tlc policy of the clubs to celebrate the
Jewish holidays in fitting manner.
Chanukah. Purim. and other Jewish
festivities that lend themselves TO drh-
mntization. are presented on the stage
with the children themselves as the
octors. This fills the Jewish child
with the beauty. romance and poetry
that may be found in his own holidays
and removes the tendency TO celebrate
tie Christian holidays.
Last Sunday morning the first scs-
sion of the Twelfth Annual convention
Of the Young Judaca began. Greet
irgs were read from Supreme Court
Justice Louis ID. Brandcis Judge j..
Nack. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. and the
president of the Young Judaen, DIR.
David DeSola Pool who is now in raj
cstine. Messages of Fluctuations were
received from the Young .Iudaea of
Canada. from South Africa, Holland
and Egypt In the afternoon the Coh-
yention was addressed by the Jewish
mayor of Long Branch. Meyer Haus-
man. There were delegates from every
section of the United states. and it
was most inspiring to hear their en-
thusiastic reports. 1t seems that ire
movement is spreading rapidly among
the Jewish children of the country in
spite of the difficulties which are pre-
sented by the lack of funds and OF
trained leaders.
Some of the chief problems before
the present conference are the working
out of plan for practical work i'll
Palestine. the training of club leaders
and the relationship of tho Hebrew.
speaking clubs to the central organi'
zation. There are at present seventy