Teachers of Hebrew in High Schools Hold National Conference

A national conference of teachers of Hebrew in public high schools and colleges in eight cities was held here yesterday under the joint auspices of the Hebrew Culture Service Committee for American High Schools and Colleges, the Hebrew Culture Council of the Jewish Education Committee of New York, and the American Association of Teachers of Hebrew in the Public Schools.

The conference was devoted to the problem of coordinating the instruction of Hebrew in the junior and senior high schools. Judah Lapson, chairman of the Hebrew Cultural Service Committee and director of the Hebrew Culture Council, reported that 71 public secondary schools in 12 American cities were now offering Hebrew as a modern language. He also said that 10 New York colleges now offered Hebrew courses. Other reports revealed the progress of Hebrew in the schools over the last 25 years, a period which saw a decline in language study in high schools and colleges.

A citation of honor was presented to Prof. Joseph Pearl, chairman of Classical Languages and Hebrew at Brooklyn College. The presentation was made by Rabbi Abraham M. Heller, founding member of the Hebrew Culture Service Committee, who paid tribute to Prof. Pearl for his pioneering in the establishment of Hebrew at Brooklyn College 17 years ago and his furthering the subject since then. Brooklyn College was the first New York college to introduce Hebrew courses.