The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago says it has the distinction of being the only Gentile educational institution in the United States to include a course in Yiddish, according to a report in the New York Times. It inaugurated this only recently to teach the students to talk in the modern Yiddish dialect. The course also includes instruction in the Hebrew Bible, similar to that provided in all theological seminaries. But more than this, a course in Rabbinics is included, in which select portions of the Talmud and Rabbinical commentaries are taken up.
Jewish feasts and customs and Jewish history from the time of the Maccabees to the present day are presented. There also is included a course in Messianic prophesy. The instructor is the Rev. Solomon Birnban.
The principal purpose of the course is to help remove racial prejudice, the Institute directors say.
“The establishment of the world school of training on this side of the Atlantic is in keeping with the present trend of the Jewish population to American cities”, says an announcement by the Moody Institute. “There are now three and a half times as many Jews in New York City as in Germany, as many in Chicago as in Great Britain, while the number in Philadelphia exceeds all of France.
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