IA 47 G64 GOLLANCZ THE RISE OF SCHOOLS INJEWRY(APREALFOR THE BAYSWA1ER JEWISH SCHOOLS) THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE RISE OF SCHOOLS IN JEWRY (APPEAL FOR THE BAYSWATER JEWISH SCHOOLS). A SERMON PREACHED AT THE BAYSWATER SYNAGOGUE, ON THE FIRST DAY OF TABERNACLES, OCTOBER 6TH, 56641903, BY PROFESSOR THE REV. DR. HERMANN GOLLANCZ, M.A., D.Lrr., RABBI. Printed by Request. LONDON : WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., 46 & 47, LONDON WALL, AND CLIFTON HOUSE, WORSHIP ST., K.C. 1903. THE RISE OF SCHOOLS IN JEWRY. j , DEAR CONGREGANTS, In the Scriptural portion read this day, in the twenty-third Chapter of Leviticus, verses 42 and 43, we read the following : - " Ye shall dwell in booths seven days ; all that ar-.- home-born in Israel shall dwell in booths ; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booth-, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt : I am the Lord your God." I have on former occasions dwelt upon the character and significance of the joyous Festival which we are celebrating to-day ; I have explained the meaning of the various ceremonies which are introduced as aids to our devotion during the Feast of Tabernacles ; we have considered the symbolical meanings attaching to the Succah, and to the natural species which are characteristic of this festival. Let us, on the present occasion, regard the tabernacle which, in our text, we are bidden to hand down as a historical memento from genera- tion to generation, in an aspect somewhat different from that in which we have hitherto regarded it. On the face of it, the tabernacle or booth teaches a 2096992 lesson of the protection and security vouchsafed unto the Israelites amid their dreary course through the wilderness ; but it may not be inappropriate, in face of the remarks which I intend to address to you later on, to see symbol- ised in the booths erected in the wilderness and continued to the present day, the protecting influence and security which Education has vouchsafed unto our people from ancient days even unto the present hour. Under the shadow of intellectual progress, the physical emancipation of the people was to reach its climax. Education, the study and practice of the Law, in its widest sense, was to be the direct object of Israel's deliverance from the servitude of Egypt. And this force it was which in every succeeding generation helped to erect walls of defence and a protecting roof about the head of the Israelite helped, forsooth, to preserve him though physically bound by the shackles which bigotry, hate and violence tightened around him. The education of the individual and the instruction of the child formed, through- out the entire course of Jewish History, the only cure for the ills and horrors which seem to be the destiny of our people, reliant as it is upon the protection of One who would fain spread the tabernacle of peace about the inhabi- tants of the world. On this joyous festival, therefore, recognising as we do what a marvellous power the blessings of education have exerted in the midst of our people, let us briefly trace the origin and rise of those scholastic institutions which provided for the training of the intellect, and for the dissemination of the knowledge of God's law among the Jewish people during Biblical and Talmudic times. It is scarcely necessary to state how numerous are the references in the Pentateuch and the Bible generally to the necessity for instructing the youth of the nation in all that appertains to the knowledge of the Divine Word. But this duty is mostly enjoined on the parents themselves ; and no systematic mode of instruction, no pro- visions for public education are referred to in the Bible itself. Such expressions as " Thou shalt teach them to thy children " " Thou shalt tell thy son " are of frequent occurrence and repeated in various forms. " Schools," however, in the sense in which the expression is now employed, did not exist among the Hebrews in Bible times. Even the efforts of the Priests and Levites and the Prophets to diffuse the knowledge of the Law were only directed to the adults, but not to the children of the community. It was not before the first century anterior to the common reckoning that schools for the education of the young were established. Their establish- ment was due to the initiative of Rabbi Simon ben Schatach, Head of the Synhcdrion, who observed how imperfectly the method worked in which the parent was the sole instructor of his child, and in which fatherless children were neces- sarily deprived of any means of education what- soever. He accordingly ordained, in the words of the Talmud, TEDnfrcfcfCfrjn nip 13 VI VJT27 "That the children of the community should receive instruction in common in institutions specially appointed for the purpose." This movement was gradually extended and further developed by Joshua ben Gamla, High Priest about the time of the destruction of the Temple, who had schools established in every town inhabited by Jews. The passage of the Talmud occurring in the Treatise Raba Batlira (21 a), which records this important departure in the history of education among the Jews, may be of sufficient interest to be quoted at length : " May Joshua ben Gamla be remembered for a blessing ! Had it not been for him the Holy Law must needs have died out in Israel. Originally the father was wont to instruct his child, but in consequence of this system the fatherless received no tu.tion what- ever. It was thereupon ordained that elementary teachers be appointed in Jerusalem. But even this 5 plan could not work, for only those who were in a position to travel to the Holy City received instruction, while the poor and those who were unable to get to Jerusalem were left wholly unpro- vided for as regards mental culture. The next step was to appoint teachers for every district. But this did not suffice, whereupon Joshua ben Gamla provided that schools be erected in every town throughout Israel." There is a tradition that in Jerusalem alone there existed 480 elementary schools, and a similar number in Bethar ; and R. Simon, the son of Gamaliel, relates that in the house of his father T,OOO children received instruction, not alone in Jewish subjects but also in Grecian lore. These items, if not to be taken quite literally, go to prove one thing, viz., that in the land of Palestine, after the destruction of the Temple, a vast intellectual movement was at work to multiply schools for the young, which undoubtedly exercised a decided influence upon the future destinies of the entire people. Aye, further, these institutions had taken such deep root in the social system of the people, that after their national independence in Palestine had departed, they transplanted these national institutions to the lands of their captivity as a treasure that could never be alienated from their midst, as a source of comfort and joy ; as the best exponent of their hopes amid their dispersion, amid their distresses and temptations. Herein, in the education of the rising generation, lay the hope of their very existence as a people an idea to which the heathen " sage Eunomos Hagardi " gave expression when he exclaimed : " Close the schools of the Jew, and you annihilate the Jewish people." The well-known sage of the second century, Rabbi Simon ben Jochai, warned his contemporaries against apathy in support of their national schools, saying, if towns be wiped out of the map of Pales- tine, it would only be in consequence of the meagre support accorded to the teachers and schools of that town ; for in the words of Rabbi Judah the Prince, "it is but by the atmosphere in which school-children are reared that the world itself is kept in its place." One of the greatest names connected with the progress of educational work during the third century is that of Rabbi Chiya. This Rabbi Chiya is the same whose profound knowledge of anatomy and medicine rendered him one of the most courted physicians of the time. Then in Babylon there flourished in the fourth century the High Schools presided over by Abaye and others. In very deed, it had already become a fixed rule " that a Jew dare not reside in a place in which there was no proper provision for the education of the young." Who is not acquainted with the suggestive episode adduced in the Midrash, 7 testifying to the high opinion entertained for the teaching profession among the Jewish people ? Rabbi Joshua once sent several Rabbis from Palestine for the purpose of erecting schools and promoting education in such places in which they were required. They came to a town in which no trace whatsoever of teacher or school could be found. Astonished at this condition of things, they turned to the citizens and bade them bring before them those responsible "for the support of the town" as they termed it. In response to their request, the magistrates and civic dignitaries forthwith appeared in full pomp. "These are not whom we call 'the supporters of the town,'" the wise men said. "Who then are?" enquired the citizens, amazed. " Those responsible for the support of this place," replied the Rabbis, "are the teachers the men who train the rising generation in the duties which they owe to God and the world" The strength and support of any people depended upon the manner in which it was trained as wise and worthy citizens. "Nothing short of the strong influence of that system of truth which God has revealed from Heaven is competent so to guide and preserve the balance between the conflicting interests of a state, as to afford safety and support to its children who take shelter under its protection. In this sense it is that the teacher of morality and religion is the true supporter of the state." Were it possible to go into details, it could be shown how nearly all the modern theories on the subject of education are reflected in the pages of the Talmud and subsequent Hebrew literature; how the pedagogic principles of a Comenius and a Pestalozzi are there anticipated by more than a thousand years ; and how (in spite of the lapse of time) the statements of many Rabbis on this head, as set forth in the Talmud, are almost identical with those put forth with an air of novelty in com- paratively recent times by the greatest authorities on the science of education.* But we are this day concerned, not with theories and details, or comparative studies, but with the general statement, that, once started and placed upon a firm footing, the Jewish school flourished throughout various lands and during successive generations; and Jewish learning found a home, now in Arabia, Egypt, and Africa, now in Spain and France, now in Germany and Eastern Europe ; and may a succeeding generation be enabled to add, that even in this happy Isle the Jews of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have proved themselves worthy of the traditions of their ancestors in their enthusiasm for Jewish learning, and in their endeavours to support and strengthen and render efficient, the educational institutions in their midst. * The writer has prepared an article on this subject which he hopes to publish. It is on behalf of one of such institutions, the claims and usefulness of which have never during the past been questioned, that I have been asked to appeal to you this day. Not that the duty of supporting that Institution devolves solely upon the members of this congregation, for the children of our poorer brethren who attend that School come from various districts, such as Kensington, Netting Hill, Kilburn, and Marylebone. But yet there has, for many years past, been a stronger tie between this Synagogue and the Schools to which I refer than has bound other Congregations to the Schools, perhaps for no other reason than that the Institution bears the name " Bayswater Jewish Schools," and that it was founded by the officials of the Bayswater Synagogue. As far back as 1866. a few years after the erection of this Syna- gogue (at the time the only Synagogue for many miles round), these Schools were erected. It is even at present the only denominational school in this district, 320 children being in attendance. The Schools bear an excellent record ; when pay- ment by results existed the highest grants were awarded without examination, a testimony both to the confidence of the Government examiners and the efficient status of the teaching staff. But the Schools have had good friends and supporters from within the community, from within this very con- gregation ; men at the helm who never wearied, by IO means of personal effort and pecuniary help, to steer its course free from the many difficulties which beset denominational schools, free from the shoals involving financial shipwreck. Need I say that I refer to the two former Presidents, both Wardens of this Synagogue, the late lamented Henry Louis Cohen, the warm-hearted friend of the School, and the late ever-esteemed Jonas Bergtheil, genial, kindly, and active in its interests ? And how reassuring the knowledge that the present President is filled with the same zeal and whole- heartedness in furthering the welfare of the Institu- tion, and is worthily following in the footsteps of his worthy predecessors. And yet, in spite of past support and present assistance, in spite- of strict economy consistent with efficiency, in spite of appeals in pievious years, the present financial condition of the Schools is most deplorable. It is the more to be regretted, inasmuch as in May next it is hoped the Bays- water Schools will be taken over by the Local Authorities in accordance with the new Education Act. Funds have, therefore, to be provided to pay the necessary expenditure till that month, and, in addition, it is absolutely necessary that the building itself be put in good and proper repair. For these two purposes a sum of about 1,000 is required. You are to-day asked to contribute your share, your full share, towards this amount. II It should require no heroic effort to raise this small sum, and I need surely not deliver myself of heroics in inducing you to contribute. These two considerations should be sufficient to weigh with you in evoking your ready co-operation : first, the fact that it is the very existence, the continuance of this School as a denominational school, which is at stake; and secondly, the feelings of self- respect which should prompt you members of the Synagogue which first erected these Schools to hand them over to the Local Authorities when the time comes in a fit and worthy condition as regards the building, and unencumbered with debt as far as the finances are concerned. In the brief outline which formed the subject of my discourse to-day, I showed you how highly our ancestors prized education, and what sacrifices they endured in the attempt to train the rising generation of our people in a proper and efficient manner. Your privilege to-day is even a greater one. It is the children of our poorer brethren whom you are asked to succour ; whom you are asked to supply with food of the mind, with that refreshment of the soul which shall help them to grow up worthy Jews and Jewesses, worthy citizens of this great Empire, a credit to the Institution in which they have been reared, and to the names with which that Institution is associated. rintn say our sages : " Take heed of 12 tin- children of the poor," miri S-D zn^ti' out of their midst the Law will go forth " the Law of God, under whose fostering care, under whose sheltering protection we Jews have con- tinued our existence, from the day when we first felt secure under the protecting roof of the Taber- nacle in the wilderness unto the present hour of our ever-varying history. May this protecting power be ever around and about us, may it never leave nor forsake us ! Amen, \\ i K i HKIMI K. I.F.A & Co.,46 and 47, London Wall, and Clifton H< Worship Street, E.C. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 315 liillli A 001 344 023 5