The Denver Jewish news., 1924-02-28
Why the Hebrew
School?
j. Ii. BOuTt'IIER

| the attention Of tire world. l;y some.
the present has been characterized rs
the age of tle child. More and more
the worlds attention is being directed
to teaching and the agencies of teach
ing. In the nOn-scctarian world VAR
ious systems are being evolved Ia
make the tcncher more proficient and
teaching more efficient. Sad Ia state
the scctarinn schools lag behind.
The Jews. especially. are not play
ing the part they should in this gci-
cr;il rrinvigoraiion of education They
have not sufficiently concerned them
selves with the development of the
immature mind. hut have been salts
iicd with any discliar;a. of IL duty that
they conceive as theirs hut slight. They
blame the child, the school, the meth
ods. anything hui themselves when the
Hebrew school appears hut rarica-
tiirc of what it should bc.
In any discussion of this kind the
first question that confrnniS rs Is.
naturally: What purposes. should he
~iiiN'H i'i Nb't Ni''"' W.
tempted by the lew in the sphere of
education: Should they and how can
iltcy supplement the public schools
,primary schools. ! might say because.
any work that * essentially Jewish
must bc taken mp with the vast ma jor-
ity "f children at this timc) II is not
within the province nf this sketch To-
answer the first part Of this question.
Suffice Ia say. that though some mis-
Informed critics have lamcntcd the He
brew School as IL sign of that clannish-
ness and AZ II sinister method of fos-
trrny that clannislincss Of which they
accuse the Jew, yet Icy far the ma jor
ity "f patriotic thinkers acknowledge
that such schools may he II valuable
adjunct in American life.
The old system of tcachng Hebrew.
and Jewish learning. that Is largely In
vogue among our people yet does not
meet the demands Of the American
pupil. And 81 tlsrc has been II break
ing away from the old traditions of
Jewish learning. This is the period of
adjustment 10 new ideas. We are Try
in= tn take what is good of the old nnd
fit 1t into new moulds. \ period of
| transition is always creative of chaos.
| IT is II pcriud Of disintegration and re-
construction.
Tile Jewish Jcshivuh is the symbol
Of the old style teaching, lut the
| A., ,1,y \ .'lpr-
| Ions while II lasted. The .Ic>hivnh
formed AN integral. Indispensable part
Of Jewish life in It's time. and as an
educational institution WIS highly
developed. I;ut today, especially i'll
those communities where more lih-
cr,il attitude is exhibited toward the
| Jew, the rigorous methods of the Jc>hi-
ynh cnnnot he introduced. And mod-
crn research, uiS found easier ind
| more attractive methods of teaching.
| With this present day research into
child psychology and pedagogy there
Is evolving II system universally used
in the public schools that makes II
less scientific system ridiculous to the
/
| the best.
Jewish instruction is therefore N II
low cbh. This has chcapcned its value
to the lnyman, also. and lie becomes
satisfied with pcrfunctory, super
fetal grounding Of his child in Jewish
tcncts. or in some instances ncgleci>
all Jewish training. Such an attitude
of mind is inevitabr--whcrc. rs in the
| present status of the Jewish school.
| it appears that the benefit obtained is
ut the best open TO doubt.
Further. we must remember. that
| the relative value of the courses uf
the Hebrew school in American life are
not ~ great as they were to the Euro
rcan. for instance. As | have said. it
| there formed an integral. indispensable
part of Jewish life. both 10y reason of
the open Anli-Scmitism THROWN. the
| Jews largely on their own resources
| and the grcntcr value attached to jew
ish learning. Here other institutions
have taken over Il great part of lis
| activities and it must confinc itself
to propa.ating other. factors of Jewish
life that come particularly within its
scope When the Hebrew school shall
he placed On II plane that compares
| favurably with the public school, when
| its instructors are men aud women
who have prepared themselves for this
| line Of work. when lis courses are given
with view to meet those requirements
which are TO balance the mental life
of the child, then the Hebrew school
will attain its just consideration among
the Jews.
The school should he an expression