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Jewish Education in a ChangingJewish CommunityEmanuel GamoranPublished online: 23 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Emanuel Gamoran (1964) Jewish Education in a Changing JewishCommunity, Journal of Jewish Education, 34:2, 87-95, DOI: 10.1080/0021642640340205

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EMANUEL GAMORAN

Jewish Education in a ChangingJewish Community

THE VALUE OF Jewish educa-tion presented no problem in Central andEastern Europe. Jews were quite clearas to its objectives. Children were sentto the Heder, the Talmud Torah, or tothe Yeshivah. The object of the Hederand the Talmud Torah was generallyto develop the child to the point wherehe would become a yodea sejer, if nota lamdan. In the case of the Yeshivahit was definitely intended that he was tobe a lamdan, a man of learning, if nota rabbi. These traditional institutions ofeducation were therefore really supple-mentary to the environment which playeda most powerful role in the educationof the child on its own account. Thetraditional home, with all its observances,prayers either at the synagogue or athome three times a day, surroundingsthat responded continuously to a publicopinion that was based on the intensivelife of a people steeped in Jewishness,conversation, in Eastern Europe usuallyin Yiddish, which reflected a knowledgeof the Bible and its commentaries, spicedwith an occasional quotation from theMishnah or Gemara, were combined to

During his four decades of service in the field,Emanuel Gamoran wrote on various aspectsof Jewish education. It is hoped that his writ-ings will be collected and published in oneform or another. We reprint here an articlewhich appeared in Jewish Education, 23:3 (Fall1952).

create an environment so educative thatif there had been no formal schooling atall children would undoubtedly havegrown up as highly conscious Jews, ableto participate effectively in Jewish com-munity life. The fact is that women,though their education in formal schoolswas limited, reflected this environmentand managed for centuries to participatehappily and effectively in the Jewish lifethat surrounded them.

A radical change took place in the newAmerican environment. The Jewish lifewhich, in the old country, was secondnature to children who grew up into aclosely knit community, was non-existenthere. Formal schooling therefore couldno longer concern itself with the trans-mission of knowledge alone, but had tocreate the very activities which wouldsubstitute for the Jewish home and thesynagogue and the lively Jewish com-munity in Eastern and in Central Europe.The transplantation of the Eastern Eu-ropean institutions to this country re-sulted in (a) The disappearance of theHeder, (b) The establishment of thecommunal Talmud Torah or Hebrewschool, and more recently the YeshivahKetannah, (c) The creation of congre-tional schools of one day a week, usuallySunday or Saturday morning, and twoor three days a week.

With the disappearance of the Heder itfell to the Talmud Torah and to the con-gregational schools to fulfill all the edu-cational functions which had previously

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been performed by the European environ-ment on the one hand, and the highlyconcentrated formal institution of learn-ing on the other. This situation obtainedduring the last generation and to someextent was found even earlier (the Bu-reau of Jewish Education in New Yorkwas established in 1910). We must turnto a consideration of the radical changesthat have taken place since that time.

There were two primary forces whichsustained the Jewish educational life andactivity during the last forty years, (a)the power of religious tradition, and (b)the Zionist ideal.

With few exceptions Jewish educationderived its power and its life force fromtraditional Jewish practices and customs,from the emphasis which old-time reli-gion gave to life in general and to Jewishlife in particular. In the case of the Jewishpeople where deed rather than creedalassent was always the center, the mitzvotmaasiyyot, the many Jewish observ-ances, tended to give character to theJewish school. And in those institutionswhere the spirit of modernism hadtouched rabbis, teachers, and principals,and traditional Jewish observances werenot as strong as in others, the Zionistideal was the strongest motivation bothfor educational activities and for themaintenance of a high cultural level ofJewish life.

We notice a steady falling into desue-tude of the daily observances which func-tioned for many Jews in America. Tradi-tional Orthodoxy, though still officiallyheld by large sections of Jewry, has be-come weakest where one would expect itto be strongest, namely, in the transmis-sion of its heritage to the young. Thephenomenon of young people in Wil-liamsburg walking about with lengthykapotes and long earlocks and attendingJewish parochial schools can hardly beconsidered a natural growth in the Amer-ican environment. They are regardedmostly as curiosities even by their Jewishneighbors and certainly not as examplesto follow. It is quite obvious that such

manifestations of Eastern European cus-toms, even when they reach a stage ofintensity and result in an orthodox Jewishday school, constitute artificial growths,hot house plants, which cannot renewthemselves. Everywhere we meet youngpeople brought up in traditional Jewishhomes (even in those less stringent thanthe ones surrounding the Liubavitcher),challenging their parents and the tradi-tional Orthodoxy associated with theirhomes and school. Where the wrench isnot so great that they leave the fold andbecome entirely indifferent to their heri-tage, they seek to adjust themselves tothe American environment and to findmeaning in Jewish life by achieving amodern interpretation of Judaism.

The other factor, the love of Zion,which served as a most vitalizing agenton the American Jewish scene and whichin recent years made Jewish educationpulsate with vigor, suffered deteriorationat the height of its greatest glory. Theestablishment of the State of Israel whichall would have thought would serve as asignal for a great renaissance to themasses of Jewry who cherished the Zion-ist ideal, resulted only in dimming itsluster. The Zionist ideal, now that oneof its major aims, the establishment ofthe State, has been fulfilled, has lost itsglamour for many people.

It might be of interest to examine thereasons for the departure of this senseof glory. Probably a close analysis of thereasons for this change should be soughtin the fact that for a generation or moreAmerican Zionist activity has becomephilanthropic in its nature and has cen-tered mainly around the problem of rais-ing large funds. Jewish need was sogreat and the Jewish tragedy under Hitlerbecame so poignant that Zionists perforcehad to give their attention to immediatetasks, and these centered—when theydid not concern themselves with politicalactivities to help bring about the estab-lishment of the State—around raising thefunds which would make it possible tobring refugees into the land, to purchase

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land, and to build up the land. Theseprojects were activities which, translatedin the American environment, meantfund raising, and in any event did notbring to the fore the rich, cultural poss-ibilities of the Jewish renaissance. Be-sides, before political embodiment theZionist movement necessarily expresseditself in cultural educational terms. Themost crucial question that therefore con-fronts American Jewry is, How shall weenvisage Jewish life in America in thefuture? And in turn, the Jewish educatoris confronted by the question, How shallwe conceive of Jewish education andJewish culture in America.

W E MUST NOTE at the very beginningthat the overwhelming majority of Jew-ish children in the United States will liveout their lives in this country. Jewish edu-cation then must frankly face the fact thatwe are preparing Jewish children to livein America. Some, attracted by the newState of Israel and seeking to live theintensive Jewish life in a Hebraic environ-ment which only living in Israel can sup-ply, will go to that country. But judgingfrom present indications their numberwill be small and within the foreseeablefuture they will constitute the exceptionrather than the rule. An analysis of whatthe life of Jews in America will be mustbegin, then, with a consideration of thenature of Jewishness from our modernpoint of view.

A Jew is, to begin with, a Jew becausehe is so born. We might well say that aJew is one by birth but does not neces-sarily remain one. For a Jew to remaina Jew means for him to achieve meaningin his Jewishness. Such meaning isachieved mainly through his Jewish asso-ciations, through Jewish experience. Tothe extent that as educators we seek toguide this experience, we think of it as agradual process by which the child issocialized first into ever larger groups,as a result of which he develops an in-creasing consciousness of belonging. To

begin with he becomes conscious of othermembers in the family group and of theirrelations to each other and to himself.Later he achieves common understandingas to the welfare of the small group basedon common knowledge, ideas, and thelike. The next step comes when he formsemotional attitudes toward the membersof the group and toward the group as awhole; and finally when he identifies him-self and his own interests with those ofthe group.

The process is not always an easy one.We know that there are many instancesof Jewish families in America whosedescendants are no longer Jewish today.They have become absorbed by the massof American people. In two or three gen-erations some of them have even becomeleaders in Christian communities, then-Jewish origin no longer known or re-membered. It might be helpful to con-sider the many Jewish associations andactivities which fill the life of a Jew.These begin with the birth of a childand for some years may be performedas a normal involuntary part of his life.However, as he grows older these con-tinue as a voluntary series of activitiesin which the individual engages becauseof the appeal which Judaism has for him.

Since he is born a Jew he has certainneeds which arise for him because of hisJewishness. The process of Jewish edu-cation begins with socialization into theJewish family, and therefore its Jewishbackground must be reckoned with. Aseducators we must think primarily of theneeds of the child, his needs are bothgeneral and Jewish. Jewish educationconcerns itself primarily with the latter.It starts with the recognition that thereexists a sense of kinship among all Jews.This sense is based on common origin,common experience, and what ProfessorGiddings used to call "the consciousnessof kind."

When we look at the Jewish people werecognize further that there is a core, acentral core which we might call spiritual,derived both from the sense of kinship

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and because we also have certain ideasand ideals in common. These are derivedfrom our Jewish experience and fromour Jewish history and literature. Thechild needs to feel that he is part of apattern of Jewish life which is differentfrom those of his neighbors, but becausewe know that as an adolescent he willbecome critical of his home and of hisJewish past, we must fill his social heri-tage with many meanings which criticalintelligence will not reject.

This requires that as educators weundertake an evaluative process. Wemust frankly face the fact that if a Jewis to remain a Jew, his Judaism cannotbe based on the principle that he mustbe different for the sake of being differ-ent. It is normal, to be sure, for peoplesand groups to differ from each other,but insofar as a man seeks to be a rea-sonable human being he like to feel thatthe differences which he reflects haveintrinsic worth. It is necessary, then, forus to recognize that in a free environ-ment the child will engage, once he isold enough to think for himself, in eval-uation of both his own heritage and hisAmerican environment. It becomes thefunction of Jewish education to makeit possible for the child to find meaningin his Judaism while it helps him to growup as a thoughtful human being who isable to exercise critical intelligence onthe American culture and environment,and on his Jewish culture and environ-ment.

When we ask ourselves the question,What will give character to the AmericanJew in the future? we come to the con-clusion that there must be a spiritual,cultural, esthetic unity based on worth-while Jewish values. What will this bebased on?

1. A recognition that the educativeprocess starts with the needs of the indi-vidual, not overlooking his Jewish needs.It is his growth that must be provided for.When we strive to meet the needs of agrowing personality we must of necessitytake into account the dynamic changing

character of life in general and of Jewishlife in particular.

2. A continuity with the significant as-spects of Jewish tradition which wouldtend to give emphasis to those valueswhich we consider worthwhile becausewe appreciate them, because we prizethem. Hence we must ask ourselves,What are the significant aspects of Jewishtradition? Such a dynamic approach tolife will of necessity exclude those whowill be satisfied only with the status quo.It will exclude reactionary status quo onthe one hand and classical assimilationon the other. Once the need of changeis recognized there may be—and thereprobably will be—many variations in ac-cordance with the various groups ofwhich Judaism is composed. We cannotexpect to look for uniformity nor is uni-formity desirable, but we may hope toachieve a certain amount of unity in themidst of our diversity.

F JEWISH EDUCATION must begin withthe life needs of the individual we mustask ourselves the question, What are hisgreatest needs? These are (a) a senseof psychological security in his Jewish-ness;—a feeling of worthwhileness, (b)socialization, which he needs both as aJew and as a human being, into an ever-widening group—the home, the school,the synagogue, and the Jewish commun-ity, and (c) satisfaction in his life as aJew from a spiritual, cultural, estheticpoint of view.

In the home he will absorb cer-tain traditions, customs, and ceremonies.Whereas these may have been considereddivinely ordained in the past they willnow be more often considered worth-while either for their intrinsic worth orbecause they are the means of inductingthe child into a happy group life. Happyparticipation in a Jewish home shouldlead to his socialization into the Jewishschool. Here it should be made clearthat one of the very important elements

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in the Jewish school is the very fact ofJewish associations. They are in them-selves significant and should lead natural-ly to participation in the large Jewishinstitutions such as the synagogue andthe Jewish center.

The synagogue today, the most cen-tral institution in Jewish life, is not func-tioning to best advantage for two reasons:In the first place it has too many super-natural associations. Many people to thisday think of the synagogue as an oldinstitution—which it is—but regard it asone which can no longer function formodern man. They often reject it becauseof its supernaturalism. If we are to beeffective in this institution we must frank-ly accept the effects of modernism in ourapproach to religion. "Once and for allwe should benefit by the experience ofsome of the leading thinkers and philos-ophers, who have struggled with theproblem of philosophy and religion in thelast one hundred years. There was a timewhen the dialectic materialism of Marxand Engels held sway. Later came thepositivist school, led by Comte. Todaypeople are much less certain about eitherof these philosophies. The work of Milli-kan, Planck and Einstein changed ourscience completely. As a result, peoplebegan to think that modern science leavesroom for religion and that they can buildreligion on what science has not yet dis-covered. There are always men of goodintention who like to keep peace withinthe universe of subject matter, but thethinking human being, who seeks to livea life of reason, wishes to be clear, seeksto get rid of such dualism. No one whois genuinely religious likes to think hisreligion in danger every tme the scientistenters his laboratory.

"Along religious lines the Jewish schoolshould, especially on its higher levels,seek to free the spirit of the thoughtful.Upon this depends, in our opinion, ourability to win the loyalty of the intellec-tuals in our midst to Judaism. It is rathersurprising that at this late day, those who

serve in the rabbinate and in Jewisheducation are still shocked by efforts tointroduce freedom of thought in the areaof religion. Generally their fears centeraround the question of the God idea.People on the right fear heterodox opin-ions of the left. It is well to remember,however, these two significant facts.First, there are many differences of theo-logical opinion among believers. Thesecond is that religion made its greatcontribution to the world not throughconformity, but through non-conformity.Prophecy was not conservative; it wasrevolutionary, and to seek to suppressfree thought in the area of theology is tostifle the mainspring of creative religion.On the other hand, to regard theology asa field unworthy of consideration, is todisregard a significant area of life inwhich thinking people are interested andto which they continuously return forguidance."*

Most helpful in this respect might bethe idea that on the whole description oflife, and of its laws, is the legitimatefunction of science. A concern for whatought to be is the proper field of religionand ethics. I am not suggesting this asthe only possible point of departure, butas one that may be helpful to some whoare perplexed. The religionist need nottremble lest his faith, based on whatscience has not yet discovered, cease tofunction tomorrow because science hasmade a new discovery. Religion will growcontinuously as our conception of whatought to be in life, and of the enhance-ment and improvement of life, grows.There have been so many differences inattitude concerning God and the unseenpowers in the past, why should we as-sume that the process of change hascome to an end?

A second difficulty with the synagogueis that it now touches most of the indi-viduals that are affiliated with it only at

*See Gamoran, Emanuel, "The Role ofJewish Education in Developing a CreativeJewish Center in America," Jewish Education,19:1.

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the periphery of Jewish life. It is true thatit is related to them in significantmoments—at birth, at marriage, and atdeath. How does the synagogue relateitself to the individual and to the familyon these occasions? At birth it is a physi-cian who plays an important role. Evencircumcision which was once the pro-vince of a tnohel often ceases to be thetask of Jewish functionaries. A surgeon iscalled in and the rabbi, if invited at all,participates by reciting a prayer and bynaming the child. The role of the syna-gogue is seen once again at a disadvant-age in marriage. Marriage in our day isan insitution sanctioned by the state. Thereligious sanction is, to be sure, addedby church and synagogue. But what arethe ethical implications of marriage?What are the problems that enter intothe making of a happy marriage? Whatmust be done to prepare people forhappy married life? Once again educa-tion, if it is to function, could do some-thing very significant. It cannot do so,however, if education is thought of ina peripheral area as merely performingthe function of sanctioning a ceremonywhich has already been sanctioned by thestate.

Once again in the event of death thereare serious, weighty problems that con-front human beings. Personal bereave-ment, as well as economic adjustmentwhere the breadwinner dies, must befaced. Again it would seem that an in-stitution which genuinely functionsshould concern itself with these livingissues — with educating parents, withpreparing young people for home-mak-ing, with helping those in bereavement toadjust themselves to a new situation.Viewed from this point of view syna-gogue and school become educational in-stitutions in the highest sense of theterm. We, however, rarely think of themin such terms. So religionists see the syna-gogue in terms of worship and peripheralceremonies, and educators see the schoolin terms of a literary curriculum whichsupplemented a highly intensive Jewish

social life in Europe. Here it is the Jew-ish life itself that must be created if wewish to make it possible for our peopleto participate in home, in synagogue, andin Jewish community life.

When we turn to the comumunity weenvisage a program of Jewish activitiesfor wholesome, satisfying Jewish livingas well as for the solution of Jewishproblems in the present.

A program of Jewish living will entail,to begin with, Jewish associations. Wemay take as an illustration the success-ful experiment—now it can no longer beconsidered an experiment — of theBrandeis Camp Institutes. Young peo-ple, some of whom came from assimil-ated Jewish homes, formed positive atti-tudes of Jewish life after four weeks ofcamp activity. What accounts for it?The association with other Jewish youngpeople was valuable in itself, but farmore important was living an active Jew-ish life, working constructively, studyingtogether, singing, dancing together, en-gaging in arts and crafts, preparing tolead children's groups such as YoungJudaea Clubs, and others. There was nodiscussion about Hebrew but participa-tion in Hebrew; no discussion aboutJewish music but singing Hebrew songs;no question about going to synagogue butactually preparing for Sabbath servicesand conducting them. The National Fed-eration of Temple Youth, connected withthe Reform movement, had similar ex-periences at its own summer camp in-stitutes. Here greater emphasis wasplaced on the develoment of creativeservices of worship written by the youngpeople themselves, and a genuine feelingof living in a thoroughly Jewish environ-ment was present throughout. The suc-cess of both projects was undoubtedly de-rived from the emphasis on Jewish liv-ing, much to the discomfiture of theAmerican Council for Judaism, so-called.The emphasis was on experiencing Jew-ish life at its best. Here are examples ofwhere an educational institution, in theseinstances the camp, created an environ-

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ment which was a substitute for the lostJewish environment of Eastern Europe.

If we view our task as one of sociali-zation rather than as one of either per-forming certain ceremonies on the onehand or developing a literary curriculumand transmitting it on the other, wemust interest our young people in a pro-gram of activities in terms of the present.In the local community the local Jewishinstitutions such as the Welfare Fund,the Jewish Center, the Jewish hospital,and the Jewish Community Council willplay an important part, whether throughthe synagogue school or through thecommunal school. Participation in eventsinvolving the helping of Israel, seekingto solve present day Jewsih problems,fighting for liberalism and liberal move-ments, all of these involve living as Amer-ican Jews. The last, fighting for liberal-ism and liberal causes, should be donein cooperation with other Americans.Present day life involves participation inlocal, civic, national and international af-fairs, looked at from a Jewish point ofview. If Jewishness implies a view oflife, that view of life should be reflectedin its spiritual implications for Americanlife as well as for mankind.

The needs of the individual also in-volve the needs of the group since he isa part of the group, of the family, of thesynagogue, or the Jewish community.Since the life of the individual is to beenriched by his relation to the group thedynamic point of view requires that weexercise critical intelligence on our ownJewish tradition, using it as a source butalways remembering that the individualis an end in himself. We are obligated toevaluate our own past critically, and ifcertain traditions require change weshould be ready to change them. It is atthis point that the educator cannot re-main a mere technician, a pedagoguewho has learned of the original natureof man and the laws of learning. Hemust become a philosopher of education.

On a previous occasion we suggestedthat our dynamic society may classify

our Jewish values into two major cate-gories, (a) humanistic values, thosewhich have to do with humane ethicalideals, such as justice, righteousness andpeace, and (b) group survival values.Survival values are those which help thegroup to survive. We took occasion, how-ever, to point out that survival valuesare not all of equal worth. There arethose that have humane aspects andothers which have cultural and ethicalaspects. For example, the Sabbath is agreat group survival value, but it hasmany humanistic aspects. The lighting ofcandles on a holiday is a survival valuewhich has esthetic aspects. The singingof zemirot has both esthetic and culturalaspects.

Before the establishment of the Stateof Israel our appreciation of survivalvalues was very high. We regarded everysurvival value as essential because ithelped to maintain unity in Jewish life.We were then ready to cherish certainvalues which were merely survival valuesbecause they helped to maintain theunity of the people. Now we must frank-ly recognize that we can no longer takethat attitude. Values must justify them-selves because of their intrinsic innerworth, because of their ethical, cultural,esthetic value. Therefore even so signifi-cant a survival value as the dietary lawswill be challenged. To take shehita as anexample, if it should be scientificallyestablished that the slaughter of an ani-may by stunning it first is superior toshehita, it would be our duty to changeour present method, and from a religiouspoint of view we should have to sanc-tify the best method scientifically estab-lished.

If the elevation and sanctification oflife is an accepted principle and one ofthe major aims of Judaism, it must beinterpreted in human, ethical terms notin supernatural terms. Our concept ofholiness must be divorced from its su-pernatural trappings and must be ex-plained in language that modern peoplewill understand and appreciate. Signifi-

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cant ideas such as the Sabbath and signi-ficant values such as the Hebrew lan-guage will retain their worth even if weleave out of account their value as ameans of survival.

In the light of the above, the core ofour Jewish education in the future shouldconsist of: (a) The great intrinsic values—especially those which have been re-ferred to as "value concepts"*—Israel,Torah, God, Justice, and the like, (b)The Hebrew language, (c) Jewish cus-toms and traditions which are of culturalesthetic value, (d) Jewish literature,music, and art, (e) Jewish history inter-preted as creative living on the part ofthe Jewish people, (f) Our relation toIsrael, (g) Our relation to America andto mankind.

Our traditional love of learning shouldbe encouraged and fostered but it shouldbe made relevant, as it will be if we re-late it to our own life and to the problemsof our day. Perhaps what we need to dois to reconsider our plans of extensioneducation so that we include as a mini-mum a rich series of Jewish experiencessuch as holiday celebrations, music, danc-ing, arts and crafts. Perhaps we canachieve more in Hebrew instruction ifwe make better use in the future thanwe have in the past of the entire field ofJewish music.

Such an approach to our problem willnecessitate the establishment of founda-tion schools in which large numbers ofchildren will, during ages four to eight,receive their early socialization into theJewish community. Later they shouldcontinue their education in the publicschools and in supplementary Jewishschools not less than three days a week,two hours a day, if possible, supple-mented by a planned series of Jewisheducation camps or Hebrew-speakingcamps for the summer. For the selectwho wish to prepare themselves for Jew-

* See Kadushin, Max. The Rabbinic Mind,chaps. 1-3. New York: Jewish Theologicalinary of America.

ish leadership there must be establishedenough day schools of a liberal-culturalcharacter that will provide an intensiveJewish education of a high spiritualesthetic quality. These should, in myopinion, serve about 10 to 15 per centof the Jewish population.

In the light of the above analysis notonly our elementary school but youth edu-cation and adult education will have tobe reconsidered and their objectives re-evaluated. Youth education should con-cern itself to a greater extent in thefuture than it has in the past with theproblems which confront young peoplein our day such as the choice of a voca-tion which, though it is a general problem,raises special problems for Jewish youngpeople, for on the one hand they flockto certain occupations which they over-crowd, and are excluded from otherswhich they wish to get into; the choiceof a mate which again is a general prob-lem confronting all young people butwhich has its Jewish overtones if werecognize the Jewish tradition. This isparticularly essential in view of the recentstudies which have shown the rate ofmixed marriage to increase. FurthermoreJewish youth would be bound more close-ly to Jewish life if they would feel that theJewish community is interested in theirpersonal welfare. Above all, Jewish youtheducation should center its attention moreand more on the problem of developing ageneral point of view on Jewish life whichwill be meaningful to the youngsters.

Similarly, adult education should con-cern itself to a great extent with (a) Themaking of a Jewish home, (b) Participa-tion in the synagogue as a living institu-tion, (c) Participation in local and na-tional Jewish community problems andinstitutions (not merely philanthropic)and the recognition that these institutionsare a link in the chain of Jewish life,(d) The solution of present day Jewishproblems, (e) Giving the average adulta bird's-eye-view of Jewish history andJewish literature, (f) Teaching him

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enough Hebrew to be able to participateintelligently in Jewish worship; to readchoice selections from the Bible and frommedieval and modern Jewish literature,and (for the chosen ones) to speak He-brew as a living language.

Finally we must set certain standards inour communities for Jewish educationand culture. At present we have practical-ly no standards for Jewish education. Ifwe set high standards we may achievesome satisfactory results; if we set nostandards we are bound to achieve little.My attention was called to the fact thatforty or forty-five years ago in certaincities in the Middle West the publicschools gave as much as two hours a dayor more to the study of German as alanguage. This was done because therewas a large German population, consciousof its cultural values which they soughtto preserve. No one can take the positionthat the possession of such an additionalculture was a disadvantage to the childrenwho were graduated from those publicschools. Yet today some Jews wouldhesitate to suggest that in a public schoolwhich is 80 to 90 per cent Jewish itwould not be unreasonable to devote anhour a day to the study of Hebrew, notas a religious undertaking, but as a cultur-al medium. If this were done childrenand adults too would see the place ofHebrew in the community as a function-ing entity. The effect on their psychologywould be incalculable. Such action, ofcourse, requires a wholehearted cou-rageous attitude on the part of the Jewishcommunity. No pusilanimous Jewish com-munity would even consider such a sug-gestion as a possibility. However, froma genuine democratic American point ofview there is no reason why such cultural

attainments should not be possible norany reason for assuming that they woulddetract one itoa from our democratic phi-losophy of American life.

Naturally within our spiritual unitythere will be certain diversities. Thesediversities will depend on the point ofview of the various groups which con-stitute the American Jewish community.Group opinion, group philosophies arethe American way. Our differences in thefuture may, however, be less along theline of Orthodoxy, Conservatism andReform and more along the line of in-tensive education and extension educa-tion. Those Jews who feel that Jewishlife in America is to be culturally, esthet-ically significant, if it is to have spiritualmeaning to young people will seek todevelop for them an intensive Jewisheducation.

Summarizing our position, Jewish edu-cation must in the years to come seek togive our children a sense of security bysocializing them into the Jewish home,the Jewish school, the synagogue, andthe community. It must lead to satisfac-tion in Jewish living derived from an ap-preciation of Jewish spiritual-cultural andesthetic values of the Jewish past andfrom active participation in Jewish lifein the present. It must give our childrenthe joy to be derived from an apprecia-tion of the Hebrew language and literatureand from a meaningful understanding ofJewish history and lore, divorced fromexcessive formalism on the one hand andfrom supernaturalism or chauvinism onthe other. In short, by developing intel-ligent creative Jewish personalities livingin America we can help to mold andgive character to American Jewish lifein the future.

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