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A project to introduce Hebrew into the curricula of the high schools and the colleges of New York was launched Sunday evening at a conference in the Hotel Pennsylvania called by the Avukah and attended by representatives of the Avukah, Jewish Education Association, Principals’ Association. Teachers’ Association, Agudath Hamorim, Histadruth Ivrith and the Intercollegiate Menorah Association.
Samuel Blumenfield, president of the New York Chapter of the Avukah, was named chairman and charged with the appointment, in consultation with the organizations represented, of two committees to deal with the practical aspects of the problem. One committee will be appointed to undertake to bring about the consent of the Board of Education and the Board of Regents to the introduction of Hebrew as part of the curricula. The second committee will deal with the program which should be sponsored and the means of stimulating interest in Hebrew on the part of the Jewish student body. In neither committee is membership to be limited to the organizations represented at the conference, but rather to consist of those personalities best calculated to carry the project through.
Dr. Samson Benderly, Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education. presided at the meeting. Those who participated in the discussion included Messrs. Goldberg, Richardson, Tausner, Blumenfield, Schwartz and Wise.
The aim of the sponsoring committee will be to introduce Hebrew, not as a religious medium, but purely from a cultural standpoint, both as a classical language and as a renascent modern language.
Hebrew is part of the curriculum in (Continued on Page 4)
It was pointed out that Hebrew courses are offered as part of the regular curricula in Chelsea, Mass., two high schools in Chicago, and one private school in Pennsylvania.
Eleven universities offer Hebrew courses, among them, Brown University, Cornell, Harvard, McGill, University of Missouri, University of Pennsylvania, Radcliffe College, University of Washington, Yale University, University of Illinois and Columbia University.
It was stated, one of the important initial steps toward stimulating interest in Hebrew is the formation of Jewish clubs in the high schools. Dr. Benderly. Israel Goldberg and others urged that advantage be taken of the recent ruling of Dr. William O’Shea,. Superintendent of Schools, permitting the formation of semi-religious clubs in the New York schools.
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