Jewish Community Urged to Make Israel Central to Jewish Educational Curriculum

America’s Jewish community was called upon today to make Israel a central part of the Jewish educational curriculum to bring about the revitalization of young people’s interest in their identity and study of Judaism. Some 500 community leaders and educators from the U.S. and Canada at the quinquennial meeting of the American Association for Jewish Education were told that such a change in emphasis would help in reversing the assimilationist process of many young American Jews. A number of delegates at the meeting, however, cautioned that Israel should become “a” not “the” central part of the Jewish educational curriculum. A statement adopted by its Governing Council called for special courses in the elementary and high school grades and relating Israel cultural in the teaching of music, dance and crafts. The statement criticized the paucity of texts available on the teaching of Israel; recommended that new materials be created to meet the need; recommended that the learning process be accompanied by personal experience; and urged that youngsters be sent on part-time study programs to Israel, especially those of high school age, who should spend at least one summer in the country.

The Association statement declared “Israel represents not only the recreation of a political entity, but the restoration of the cultural, religious and spiritual integrity of the Jewish people.” Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, of Englewood, N.J., a lecturer on Jewish history at Columbia University in New York, said “Israel today represents a major concrete, dramatic live element in Jewish life, providing the type of idealism and aspiration young people seek today.” He also called for a revolutionary change in the present structure of pedagogic methods in Jewish education–“by using Israel to teach about the Jewish past rather than teaching about the past and then relating it to the present.” Rabbi Morris H. Finer, Director of the Community Service Division of Yeshiva University, N.Y., and a leader of the Orthodox Jewish community said that he would hate to see Israel become “merely a gimmick to teach young people about Judaism by relating it to a contemporary entity.” The Association recommended familiarizing Jewish students with the basic similarities between the democratic ideals of the United States and the State of Israel; relating them to the Jews of Israel in firm bonds of kinship; tying Jewish students more closely to the Jewish people throughout the world; and teaching modern Hebrew as the living language of the Jewish people.

ARNOW URGES $250,000 STUDY OF DAY SCHOOLS INVOLVE ALL MEMBERS OF JEWISH COMMUNITY

The AAJE also approved undertaking a $250,000 scientific study to determine the residual effect a Day School has on the religious practice, communal involvement, and Jewish identity of graduates attending such educational institutions. Members of the Jewish community are disturbed at the assimilationist trend of America’s almost six million Jews, particularly among the younger generation, the meeting was told. Newly elected president of the Association, Robert H. Arnow of Scarsdale, N.Y., President of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said “Since the Jewish Day School is the most intensive type of school, it is plausible to assume that it is the most effective educational instrument. At the present there is no objective scientific evidence to support this assumption.” Mr. Arnow said, “Therefore, it is in the best interests of all those concerned with the Day School – parent, child, and community – to determine objectively the residual effect such education as compared with part-time religious school instruction.” He said that the new study would involve all members of the Jewish community including representatives of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism, as well as social scientists, educators and community leaders.

Irving Stone of Cleveland and President of the National Commission on Torah Education urged the new study, saying “I am convinced such a study will show the remarkable success of the Jewish Day School.” He cited the achievement of the Day School in his own community which, he said, has already resulted in the graduating of 75 Jewish teachers currently working in Day Schools throughout the United States. The study was also endorsed by the educational heads of the denominational commissions representing the three branches of Judaism. The present school system suffers from financial difficulties, and an acute shortage of qualified teachers and curriculum materials. Leaders at the Association meeting acknowledged that the establishment of a larger Day School system would place a major financial burden upon the Jewish community. The Association maintains a strict policy against any funds from government sources. Mr. Arnow, who was elected as the new president of the American Association for Jewish Education, succeeds Isadore Breslau of Washington, D.C. The new Association president is the secretary of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York and a member of the UJA’s national Campaign Cabinet, serves on the board of the Joint Distribution Committee, and participates as a member of the board of Temple Israel Center in White Plains.