counted on was an inherent yearning after Jewish knowledge, the possibilities of building up a large scale system of adult Jewish education were very slim,” the speaker asserted.
“The moment, however, participation in Jewish activities is carried on in a spirit which sends the participants in search after knowledge of their people, a normal and enduring interest in things Jewish is aroused.
“This is the proper method as applied to adult education. It is the only method that can work with adults, and the only way in which we can ever hope to overcome the prevailing am-ha-arazut, the abysmal ignorance of the most elementary Jewish facts on the part of the majority of Jewish leaders.”
Professor Louis Finkelstein declared “it will become the duty of the Jews in the next fifty or sixty years to preserve human ideals and laws of art and science and education and civilization.”
“It is quite possible,” he added, “that the history of civilization 500 years from now will depend on what you and your children do, as medieval civilization depended for its preservation on some Jews in the ghettos of Babylonia and a few other places.”
Other speakers included Mrs. De Sola Pool, Mrs. Gabriel Hamburger, Mrs. Israel Davidson and Dr. Sholom Spiegel. The classes are under the joint auspices of Hadassah, Ivriah and the Women’s League of the United Synagogue of America.
The same evening that Antonio Jose da Silva died at the stake at the hands of the Inquisition, one of his operettas was performed at a theatre in Lisbon, the city where he met his death.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
