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Jewish Schools in U.S. Attended by 400,000 Children, Educators Told

May 23, 1955
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There are some 400,000 children of school age attending Jewish schools, a new high in registration, it was reported here today at the annual conference of the National Council for Jewish Education. The report to the 300 Jewish educators of schools representing all trends and ideologies in Jewish life said that 30,000 pupils, or nine percent of the total, attended Jewish all-day schools, as compared with two percent of the total attending all-day schools a generation ago.

A national conference will be held in the Fall to consider the crucial shortage of Jewish teachers, school supervisors and administrators in all Jewish communities, it was announced at the parley by Philip W. Lown, president of the American Association for Jewish Education, the lay body which is meeting with the National Council. Dr. Samuel Dinin of Los Angeles analyzed present-day Jewish life and its effects on Jewish education. He urged a return to the communal day school and lauded the all-day school.

David Rudavsky, president of the National Council, urged the extension of Jewish education to the adolescent years and emphasized the importance of Hebrew, as a second language to English, as a means of maintaining cultural relations with the Jews of Israel. Mordecai Halevi, was honored for his role in Jewish education in the past 40 years. Samuel. J. Borowsky, honorary president of the Histadrut Ivrith of America and chairman of Brith Ivrith Olamith, presided at the session honoring Mr. Halevi.

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