‘cultural Boom’ in Adult Jewish Education in U.S. Foreseen at Parley

Predictions of a “culture boom” in Jewish education for adults in this country were made here today at the two-day annual meeting of the B’nai B’rith national commission for adult Jewish education.

Principal speakers at today’s session were Rabbi Morris Adler, of Detroit, and Dr. Mordechai Kaplan, founder of the Reconstructionist movement. Rabbi Adler warned that the American Jewish community “cannot rely upon the fact that its Jewish survival seems assured, since the real challenge to our generation is whether we can survive meaningfully.” He urged community support for wide and effective programs of adult Jewish education.

Dr. Kaplan also stressed the role of education as basic to Jewish existence. He proposed a transformation in “the prevailing attitude of the Jewish community from one which attaches primacy to worship, to one whoch would attach primacy to the study of the Torah, as was the case through centuries in the past.” He also proposed the establishment of a three-year course of study leading to the degree of “Ben Torah”–equivalent to a B. A. degree.

Label A. Katz, president of B’nai B’rith, speaking last night, said Jewish “secular” groups that have a religious motivation, such as the B’nai B’rith, have a vital role in developing adult study programs, “particularly when Jewish religious bodies stand apart from each other because of theological differences.” B’nai B’rith’s adult study program, he said, has expanded considerably in the past several years, judging from enrollments and attendance.

The growing popularity of adult study was also stressed by Mrs. Lily Edelman, director of B’nai B’rith’s adult Jewish education program, who reported a “greater community awareness that Jewish literacy is an indispensable requirement for leadership and involvement in Jewish affairs.”

The need for “special efforts” to attract Jewish intellectuals and opinion-makers to serious adult study was urged by Dr. Oscar I. Janowsky of New York, B’nai B’rith consultant on cultural affairs. Motivation for sustained study can be heightened, Dr. Janowsky said, if education programs for adults are made “vitally functional” and are related to contemporary issues, “rather than allowing them to be ornamental, merely to transmit information.”