That the Hebrew language should be added to the courses given in New York City high schools and colleges as an elective subject, was the opinion expressed by Magistrate Hyman J. Reit in an interview on Monday. Magistrate Reit is president of the New York City division of the United Synagogue of America and chairman of the committee appointed by the United Synagogue to interest city and state educational authorities in the project.
Magistrate Reit declared that his committee has been assured by the Board of Superintendents of New York City that it will hold a hearing on this matter shortly. A resolution favoring the study of Hebrew in New York City schools was adopted on Sunday by the Long Island Conference of the United Synagogue.
“Our suggestion is made not only for the benefit of our Jewish people, but for the non-Jewish as well,” said Magistrate Reit. “In the first place, Hebrew is an old language, like Latin and Greek, but unlike these two classics, it is still a live language. It is my personal belief that Hebrew as a course would be more popular than Latin or Greek.
“It is only natural, too, that the Jewish people should wish to have their young people educated with a knowledge of the language of their race, for this language constitutes an essential part of the ritual used in our religious services. As it is now, many of our young people do not understand the services and there is a tendency for them to drift away from the synagogue. If they are educated in the public schools to understand the tongue of their fathers, they will naturally be stimulated to a greater and more farreaching interest in their religion,” Magistrate Reit concluded.
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