Jewish Educational Institutions in Palestine
THE history of the Jewish educational institutions of Palestine is a history of progress and evolution. But while, as a general rule, weaker and less efficient institutions give way to the stronger and more efficient, the Jewish educational institutions of Palestine have formed an exception to this rule. The weaker and less efficient; the relatively old fashioned and unfit institutions are still living side by side with the stronger and more efficient, with the modern up-todate school. This will be understood if we consider whence comes the financial support of the schools and the motives and tendencies of their supporters.
The educational institutions of Palestine depend for their existence on the help which they get from the different countries of the Goluth.
It is certain that, in the essence, the promoters of these institutions were actuated by a latent spirit of national self-preservation. The degree and conception of nationalism, however, and the obligations imposed by this impelling spirit are inversely proportional to the distance which separates these people from Judaism and the Jewish masses. Each one believed that through his love for his people he had evolved the only true way of serving his Jewish brethren and as a result refused to cooperate with those who were striving to reach the goal along different lines. Besides, the influence of the "ma yomru hagoim" blight was so strong upon them that they insisted on catering to local patriotism by tinging the institutions which they founded in Palestine with the color of their various countries.
Thus, the French Jews were naive enough to think that by teaching the Palestinians manual labor and the French language and culture, and also some ritual Judaism they were doing their duty to the Jewish race, or as they say, to their co-religionists, and the French nation as well. The results we know. There is no country save Palestine where you do not find the Palestinian disciples of the Alliance Israélite Universelle.
The German Jews coming chronologically after the French Jews had a deeper understanding of the situation and their duties because of greater intimacy with the Russian Jews. They thought to effect a compromise, that by teaching a program of general subjects in the German language and Jewish history and literature in Hebrew they would do their duty to their co-religionists and to the German Empire. The result we know. In spite of themselves they opened the eyes of their disciples to the dualism of their souls, and it did not take long before their own pupils deserted them in the great struggle for the Hebrew language and Hebrew spirit which began on December the tenth, nineteen hundred thirteen.
There were and there are only two kinds of relatively independent educational institutions in Palestine, namely, those of the native orthodox element and those of the Zionists of the new Yishub. I say, "relatively independent" because, although they are dependent for their financial support on the Goluth, they enjoy complete autonomy as regards their programs, their methods, and language of instruction. The men of the modern Yishub who came over to revive the land of Israel and resuscitate their own spirits, adopted without reservations the revived language of Israel. They came over to Palestine determined to graft western civilization on the many branched tree of Judaism and to cause the plant of history to flourish on Jewish soil. Their relation to foreign languages is the usual world relation to foreign lan-
guages. The languages of the Orient are included in their programs for practical reasons.
The result of this system of education is known. We have heard of the progress and high standing of Palestinian Hebrew schools, of the self-sacrifice and self-respect of their teachers and students, who possess dignity both as men and as Jews.
These are the general aspects of the various educational movements of Palestine. We shall now attempt detailed report in order to classify and consider each institution from a national standpoint. Let us first consider the institutions of the old Yishub.
II.
The educational institutions of the old Yishub, are the Heder, Talmud Torah, and Yeshibah. There is no rival secular school, and the great majority of the parents will not let their children go to the Missionary School, which is anxious to receive them. Modern subjects are altogether ignored. The attention is centered on instilling a thorough knowledge of Rabbinical literature into the pupils. Finally, little provision is made for the teaching of girls in this type of school. The language of instruction in the orthodox schools. is a jargon, either the German jargon (Yiddish) or the:Sephardic (Ladino), except in those where Arabic is used. In only one school, the language of instruction is Hebrew, and that is the Bokhara school. The reason for this exception is that there is no other common language of intercourse between the Bokhara pupils and their Sephardic Hahamim (teachers). None of the schools have a pedagogical program of instruction, neither do they have any school calendar for vacations and legal holidays. The curriculum of work is very simple. It includes in the following order: The alphabet, Sidur, Humash, Tanach, Rashi, Gemara and finally Tossefoth and the other Talmudic commentaries.
In spite of all the cramming which the Yeshibah Bachur lives through, the standard of scholarship in the Jerusalem Yeshibah is far below that of a Russian Yeshibah or a Polish Yeshibah. It is a significant fact that when a Chief Rabbi is to be appointed in Jerusalem, they look for him all over eastern Europe, but never in Palestine. While Yeshiboth such as the "Valozhiner Yeshibah," foster idealism, nationalism and scholarship of a high degree and develop noble characters and produce such geniuses as Samuel Mohilever, Ahad Ha'am, and Bialik, the Jerusalem Yeshiboth foster fanaticism and dullness, and make their students into parasites and beggars.