The Education of the Jewish Girl
The saying goes that a woman should be good for everything at home and good for nothing abroad. The woman of to-day has gone outside of her home and is good for something. It is quite useless to argue whether she has done more harm than good. It is an iron necessity that she leave her home for her livelihood and she has made herself at home in the world at large. The fin de siecle woman may toe the mark in ability and success. Yet she loses by her gain in becoming a part of the machinery of modern life. Her ambitions are decidedly material with a leaning toward the ideal in her leisure. The average American Jewess is capable, wide-a-wake, without faith or enthusiasm. The aim of her life, marriage and advancement thereby, makes her education utilitarian. “Give me comfort and leisure” is the cry of the modern woman. No wonder considering the grinding harsh conditions of the working woman’'s life. “Give me art and culture” says the college and society ‚woman. Accomplishments and the ‚graces of life are worshipped to the ex- ‚clusion of all other things.
Culture is the ability to put one's self in another person's place. It is to look at life not for the sake of art but also from the standpoint of humanity. The American Jewess may be educated but is not cultured for the reason that the vital part of her education is left out. One Jewish woman, a teacher in one of the leading colleges, remarked that Jewish matters were of no interest to her.
She admitted that Jewish religion and literature were a blank in her life. Ethical culture is enough and a broad education will do every time. The ignorance of the educated American Jewess of her own people is amazing wlıen we remember that the study of the Jewish religion and people is a part of the curriculum of cvery college. If Jewish Studies do not interest the college woman, they certainly have no attraction for the woman of society. Her emotional force and good nature she works off in philanthropy. What a biessing charity is to the woman of leisure. It saves her from self contempt and distraction. For charity’s sake our American sisterss become schnorers. They will beg'alms from door to door for a good cause. The American Jewess is good hearted and sympathetic. No appeal remains unanswered.
The course of life is not always to sail on a smooth shining surface. Beneath the surface are the gurgling dark whirlpools, ready to engulf the human soul. To every person comes the ringing question of the ancient philosophers—"qui boro." One woman with a home and children said to me, "I see nothing in the world to live for. I have no purpose in life and I would take my life were it not for my children." The mill must find grist to grind without which turning around empty, it would consume itself. She is typical of a class of woman who has fed on dry husks instead of grain. The outward things