Z. O. A. National Parley Discusses Plans for Hebrew Education in U.S.

Plans for the promotion of adult Hebrew education and for the encouragement of Hebrew Day Schools in the United States were discussed here yesterday at an all-day national conference on Hebrew education held under the sponsorship of the Zionist Organization of America.

The conference heard criticism of current methods in the teaching of the Hebrew language coupled with proposals for a more basic study of Hebrew through the learning of the deeper meanings of Jewish thoughts, ethics, and literary creations which would influence the student’s everyday living as Jews. Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum, chairman of the ZOA Committee on Hebrew Education and Culture, presided.

Attended by several hundred leaders in Zionist and Hebrew educational activities in the metropolitan area, the conference heard addresses by Dr. Emanuel Neumann, ZOA president. Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld, director of the Department of Education and Culture of the Jewish Agency; Dr. Leon A. Feldman, director of the Department of Adult Education. Jewish Education Committee, New York; and others.

In his introductory address, Dr. Tenenbaum cautioned against “wishful futuristic thinking and urged that “in order to survive, American Jewry must build its cultural environment on the solid foundation of our Hebrew tradition and of the great American dream of a free humanity.” To this end he said that “we must give our children the basic understanding of the glory and kinship of both the Hebraic and American civilizations.”

Speaking of the progress of Jewish Education in America, Dr. Blumenfield urged that special attention must be given to the rise and development of the Hebrew all-day school. He said that unlike the lukewarm attitude toward the day schools on the part of the Jewish community in the past, “in more recent years, due to the devout labors and efforts of the dedicated elements in the Jewish community, the all-day school has found a secure place in the scheme of Jewish education in America.”