Chicago Jewish Academy - Memoirs Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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I Upon the occasion of the 300th amuversary o Iewzsh settlement ln Amencaj The first brlght hue of dawn revealed a small speck on the horizon It seemed to be maklng great effort to surmount the perilous waves For a moment tt dlsap peared behind the ragmg torrent which refused to relln qulsh its mastery However each battle brought lt nearer to nts destined goal the peaceful seaport of New Arn sterdam The usually bustlmg town was lymg sleepxly in the early mormng sun Any drowsy inhabitant who chanced to gave through the dewy wmdowpanes on that cool September morning in 1654 would have hurried eagerly to the wharf for the arrlval of a ship any ship was an exutlng event ln the monotonous life of these sec luded pioneers But would this ship be welcome? That was the foremost question ln the mmds of the hopeful llttle party on board the St Catarxna Thls group of Jews had fought persecution and death and had beaten these foes but it was a bitter victory for they had em erged poxerty stricken and possessed nothing but the clothes upon thelr backs They had battled with the elements of the sea storm and famine and had over tome them bow the group was preparmg for IIS final battle the battle for equality and freedom Would they find tt here? Alas' Matters dld not proceed so well for the 1m poverlshed travelers because of the brutal actions of the St Catarlnas captam Jacques de la Motthe demanded full payment for the miserable accomodations alloted their inability to meet his claims had them thrown mto prison Thls unhappy incident was luckily soon stralght ened out but before the Jews could enjoy their new free dom mlsfortune struck again The goyernor of New York Peter Stuyvesant was a harsh stern man who refused to allow anything or anyone to questlon hrs authority YVhen any matter displeased hlm ln the colony he Immediately disposed of lt The settlement of Jews m has colony was partlcu larly disagreeable to htm Because of this feeling h proceeded to send a mlsslve to his employers The Dutch East lndla Company urging the expulsion of the Jews Howexer he had not reckoned with the lmlnclble Splfll of this mconquerable group To the great astonishment of the governor the reply was not what he had so smugly anticipated The com pany ordered hum to allow the Jews to settle ln New Amsterdam because of the considerable loss sustained by the Jews in the taking of Brazil and also because of the large amount of capltal which they have invested ln thls company' ' lmagme the exuberance and joy with whlch this hxth erto homeless communlty recelyed these heaven sent words' Now at last this wandering people had found a home There was nothmg the gruff Peter Stuyvesant could possibly do to harm them Naturally after so many years of looking down upon the Jew as an outcast of society the Christians of New Amsterdam would not immediately accept their Jewlsh neighbors as equals This was evident ln their attitude ln refusing the members of another rellglon to serve ln the Burgher Guard This small settlement ln the midst of the wilderness was exposed to frequent attacks by hostile Indians Spaniards and pirates therefore lt was the duty of every male cltlzen to stand watch over the town The Chrlstlans demanded a compensatlon for the exemption of the Jewlsh settlers from this duty smce ll was considered incredible for a Jew and Chrlstlan to stand guard together However the first taste of freedom tasted so sweet to the thlrsty lxps of this oppressed people that xt aroused their desire for complete equality with their neighbors With an assured but fearless volce so different from the cowerlng terror of his tyranmzed forefathers Asser Levy demanded full rights for his people as citizens of New Amsterdam Any able bodled man whether Jew or Chrlstlan should be allowed to defend the town that had become his home Agaln the governor and council had to concede victory to this unconquerable group Asser Levy had won the battle Wlth the coming of the English ln 1664- the Jews fought agam against mtolerance and won complete re llgl0US freedom The Implicit mstructlons of James II were to permit all persons of what religion soever quietly to inhabit w1th1n the government and to give no disturbance or dxsqulet whatsoever for or by reason of their dlfferlng matters of rellgxon This decree saw the establlshment of the first syna gogue on the North American contment lll 1728 The congregation assumed the appropriate name of Shealrlt Yisrael The Remnant of lsrael for thls small rem nant separated from thelr persecuted brethren IH Europe had found a new home The clty of New Amsterdam m the future lnlted States of America opened its doors to them extending them the liberty and equality which they had sought for centuries This fragmentary group con tmued to struggle and battle against hostlle enemles but neyer relmqul hed the field Through their relentless ness their stubborness against oxerwhelmlng odds this group was not defeated The Remnant of Israel became the Umanqulshed Community -the free American Jewrv of today ADA BABAD rmyfw . . 9 . ' - ', , ' . v. , . ' . n O , 7 9 K . , . . . Y . . V S f- 7 9 T 2 y . ' , , : , 7 . 7 ' 9 Q . 9 ' 9 Y . ' , .. , . - T ' ' a Q' u ' 1 T ' V . x . . . 5 L l ' . y , , . i . . ' U h to his uncomplaining passengers, and upon perceiving Q n , 0 u . T ' I ' , . x 9 ' . , - , - I . . . . - ' H . . . v ' , 9 Y 9 9 I V . . . . . . ,, l . ' 9 ' - - - y ' . l , I ' , e . ' ' . as ' - ' , ' ' ' - 77 as as . Q u n T , T . Y, . . .. , 5 , , 7 . , V . I. V Ay y L . ' U ' ' , V '. , , - 1 , . I , , , . . a , . y I ., ..... , , , , , Y Y . . . V V . 7 I., . . , -

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74a Day Sedan! Educating the Jewlsh chlld has been one of the most important problems confrontmg American Jewry smce the arnval of the first Jews to thus country The fallure to solve this problem successfully has perhaps been one of the mam causes for the gradual decline of orthodox Jewlsh hfe ln the Lnxted States Why has the Amerlcan Jewlsh educatlon system not met wlth great success? When the Jews began to 1mmx grate to thus country they were carrxed away by the 1dea of democracy After hundreds of years of persecution the Jews finally were destlned to be on an equal status wlth their fellow Amerlcans They therefore strove to be more democratlc than the natxve Amerlcans and ln so domg they abandoned thelr rellglous practlces not re alxzlng that one of the most outstandlng prlnclples ln a democracy IS the prlnclple of freedom of rellgron and the rxght to be dlfferent In thelr attempt to become oriented with the Amerlcan way of llfe they neglected the Jewish educatlon of thelr chlldren As such there was no understandlng of the mltzvot and the chlldren were maturmg wlth no rellglous phllosophy whatsoever Yes the parents would remem ber how much they and thelr ancestors had sacrlficed m the name of rellglon but would their chlldren of the second generation? Is It any wonder then that the number of observant young Jews was rapldly on the dCCllIlC9 The sltuatron was grim Intermarrlage was steadlly lncreaslng A solutlon had to be found The Jewlsh people began to look about them The Cathollcs seemed to be able to keep their youth and were even galnmg strength Why had they succeeded with thelr youth whereas the Jews had faded Apparently thelr strength lay 1n thelr parochlal educatlonal system After decades of experxmentatlon wlth the late after noon Hebrew school the Jewlsh day school appeared to be the only solution Some argued that the day school was undemocratlc and agalnst the prmclple of free edu cation To whlch other replied Must we be more d mocratlc than the rest of America? Durmg the past ten or fifteen years the day school movement has spread rapldly and extended to c1t1es all oyer the Umted States It has become the mam project of many Jewnsh commumtles and synagogues The reasons for the growth of the day school moye ment are many Parents who believe ln the tradltlonal way of Jewish llfe realize that only ln such a school can thelr child recelye a complete Jewlsh education Certainly the Hebrew school whlch convenes for an hour or two eyery day cannot posslblv accomplish that which the day school can ln seven hours The Hebrew school lacks adequate tlme to teach those subjects necessary ln rellglous educatlon Furthermore the day school teaches not only by mstructxon but much more effectlvely by practlce The child knows that each mormng he yolns wlth hrs classmates m Tfilah or that after eatmg they wlll all bentch torether These are but two of the many lelmous obseryances whrch are the natural thmff lll a day school Throu h these practices as the chnld ma tures he gams an understandmv and an appreclatxon of that which he obseryes By attending one school for both rellglous and secular tudres the child reallzes the equal Importance of both whereas lf he attends Hebrew school after sxx hours of public school his sense of yalue already tells hlm that hls I'CllglOllS educatlon IQ consldered secondary to his secular studles Moreover the problem of soclal relationship whxch has been one of the most acute problems that the Jewxsh parent and chxld have had to face has also been solved ln a measure by the day school By helng surrounded w1th Jew lsh friends the student even when enterlng teens where thls problem IS most serlous has no need to seek social companlonshlp ln non Jewrsh clrcles Thls ln turn would tend to decrease the number of mtermarrlages Day school educatlon IS argued by many to foster segregation and thus leave the child unaware of other types of people and other rellglons The truth 1 how ever that the child who recelyes lnadequate JCWlSll tralnmg understands l1ttle of hrs own relxglon and will therefore not understand and IS not ready to understand the rellglous beliefs of others On the other hand by studying the prmclples of hls own rellglon he becomes more adequately prepared to evaluate other rellgxous bellefs ln general the student m the day school usually comes m contact wlth non Jewlsh teachers and certamly wlll become acquainted with many non Jewlsh nelghbors ln the communlty lt IS further contentlon that Amerlca has a public school system which teaches no rellglon 1n keeplng with the constltutlonal prlnclple of spearatlon of church and state As such what harm can posslbly come to the Jewish falthr' It IQ mevltable however especlally durlng the seasons of Chrlstlan holldays for the chlld not to feel the strong religious Chrlstlan spxrlt Because he IS aware of the enthuslasm of the other children at these tlmes and because he wants to be one of the group he auttomatlcally becomes attracted to their hollday splrlt and lts customs The txme element too must be considered Parents have found that their chlld receives both rellglous and secular education ln approynmately the same number of hours that the would recelye just the secular educa txon ln the public school Thr FIXBS the chlld more time for 0UlSld8 actlyltxes Perhaps lt may be thought that because the program IQ so condensed the standard of the day school IG lower than that of the publlc school Statistics howeyer proye thls to be absolutely untrue The day schools rank amon the hlghest One of the mam reasons for thls IQ whereas the publlc schools are so oyercrowded the day school classes are small and therefore the teacher has more time for the lndnldual pupll The mere fact that the enrollment 1n the day school IS rapldly lncreaslng and that more and more day schools are heme founded IS the proof of the success of thus moyement We can look forw ard to the future lkll0Vtlll0' that such chools wlll bun, '1 harp Increase Ill the number of both rel: nous leaders and laymen NIILLICENT FASMAN Fifty three . I D , . . . . I . ' S , c . I . I. . I . . . . . I . I - I. 7 I . .I II N . III . . . . V V V V v I . VI I I II I. . . ' ' ' , c ' , . . . . , I . I , .. I. I. . I . . I . . . . . ., c, , , I . . . . . . . V . .., . . . ' ' V V I . ' . I . . , , I . . . I I . I . . S, , I . I . I . . . . . . . . , , . . . . I . . . ' v ' ' V . . I . . . , I . . . . . . . . , I I . . . . . , ' ' I . I. I . . I I I I I I I. . . I I I. . . . . . ' I ' . . - ' , . . . '. - v 7 I . . . . . . . ' - 9 9 I I I . . . . V . c . , II ,I I I . . . . . . . 9 1 . ' . ' - v y I I I I II . I I I I . . . . . . . . C . ' . , . ' , . ' . . . . . I I . . . L . I . X . I S U V . . ' I . . . 5 T , . ' , I l ' ' c ' . . ' . ' . ' V V' . ' ' ' I I I , ' I I I ' . c, V - - I . , . II I I I U . . I I I I E - . , , , , I . . . . ' N ' I Y 1 - . g L I I I . . . I. I I . . I N I I - y .. I' c , ' I I . I I . . . . I , I . . J . T . P ' L ' ' ' V f - s L - s ' v . . c I- as I -9 . . . . U - -f 1 ' ' I, . ' s' . ' ' ff . s ' ' . K C' ' r r U ' fl . . I' . ' - U 1 . I . . E .. , - I

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7 Spmzagfde 741mm lt IS almost all 11nposs1b1l1ty to convey to one who IQ 11ot llllllSClf a student of th1s remarkablv volummous and complex work the Talmud, wh1ch took centurxes for 1ts completlon an ldea of llS nature and character At best we can only vet a n11nute gl1mps of 1t The f1rst thmg whlch smgles out the Talmud as a unlque work, d1st1nUu1sh1ng 1t from other llterarv endeavors 1 the breadth of 1ts scope It IS not mere l1terature where only an 1nfltes1mal port1on of human l1fe 1s reflected but a whole world unto ltself The var1ed currents of centur1es of the l1fe of the ,Iew1sh people flow Slde by s1de 111 lts volumes and at tlmes mmgle and cross one another lt IS qUllC true that the Talmud IS the opus magnum of ,lew1sh law The law contained therem IS not the hard ened law of the court and lawyer but It IS the l1v1ng law of every dav ex1stence of the Jew 1n hlS soc1al rela t1ons 1n hls home hls synagogue, and school Perhaps the term law IS a mlsnomer, for lt IS 1n realltv a com IJl'Cl'lCIlSlWC f'u1de to ,lew1sh conduct and llilllg The Talmud deals wlth the llfe of the Jew 1n all of ltts varlous phases fron1 a halach1c po1nt of vlew ln Hddlllllll the emotlonal and psychologlcal aspects of llfe are not overlooked 1n the Talmud It deals often wlth a host of quest1ons wb1ch 1n lxfe are lmked dlrectly and 1nd1rectly wlth the feelmvs of every day man expressed 1n adaves proverbs maxlms and eplgrams Several factors are co11tr1buted to the all embraclveness of thc T1ln1ud The first was the polltlcal dlld econo1111c cond1t1on of the Jews 1n Baby lon1a Thev had ln a great measure of autonomv 1n the1r mternal affalrs as exemp llfled bv havmf' thelr own exllarc hs KNDWJ 'WXTJ a11d thelr own Cltll courts Thelr mternal llfe was so well orvamzed that they were able to w1thsta11d the 111 llue11ce of forelf ll culture They felt 111o1eover that the B3lDXl0IllEiIl and Perslan cultures were on a lower level ll lllPlI' own er suc 1 ea co11 1l1o11 1 1 wonder that jew 1sh l1fe was able to create uch a 10111 ptehenslve work as the Tal111ud The econd factor wa the concepuon of Torah SShlLll they c'ons1dered to be the very center of .lewlsh culture and sp1r1tual llfe Th1s conceptlon has 1ts twofold a pects Flrst Torah was concelved as the sum total of all good wlsdom as reflected 111 the words of the Tanna 1n P1rke Avmh .-:1 xuwx 1:1 vm nn 11-. Study 1t agam and agam, for evervthlnv IS to be found ln It Secondly the Torah was regarded a the 117 1 the wav of llfe for the 1nd1v1dual and the ffroup Lndcr such Lflfldlllfllli the studv of Torah was both a means md a11 end Thls vlew of Torah was responslble for the educat1on of the laymen ln the tlme of the Tal1nud a cond1t1o11 unlque IH the anclent world Men of trade and worldly to1l took to the study of the Torah 'Vlen of all profes s1ons and vocatlons flocked, especlally durmg the perlods of Kallah to the great schools of learnmg at Sura and Pumpedlta to exchange op1111ons and to dlscuss sp1r1tual questlons There they brought thelr dally expenence of trade and avrlculture and utlllzed th1s store of knowl wonder that the Talmud, bemg an exte11s1on of Torah ffrew and developed lIll0 1ts present for111 A th1rd lmportant factor was that studv was oral A such 1t knew no llllllli and had no bounds There was but one stronv and clear purpose an1111at1ng the students of the Taln1ud namely 'l1'Y8'I51 FI't1h 5 r1f17 to Ulorxfy the Torah and make lt ffreat Due to the 11ature of the oral dl5tl13qIOlt9 IOPILQ whlch seemed super flc1ally to be u11related are lnterwoven 1nto a mosan pattern In lhlg 1na11ner the Halacha and Affadah portlons of the Tal111ud were co11s1dered to have been mtegratecl Thu the Talmud co11t1nued to flourlsh w1tb each gen erat1o11 makmg 1ts co11t11but1on to the sum total of knowledge e above th1cc factcns mc '1 lllllllllllff' cf o 91 l1 nc co11tr1b11ted 111 1 large de frce to tl1e poc1t1o11 uf lhf- llalmud a u1 gf'Il6I'IS DAVID LEHRFIELD Flfty flVE I C . B . N. . . , b 1 b y .g S A . 4 S . I . b .- I 5 . ' . . L M . . . ' . h . M . 4 S- . D . V . . i 4U - y 4 I . 4 N K s v ' ' .w c- ' ' I D V ' ' - '- g 4 ' 1 ' , .' r - 1 -r,, . . . . . . , - as 4 - - - Y 4 - - K 5 - , ' V1 5 . . 1- . . . - - sv ff V y I A .. c ' . I' ' L ' , 1 ' ' 5 N . . . . .M h v ,,D , 'V - ' ' ,- , V ' . , , ' . Y I u n . l ' . Y.: . . . .M 4 4 4 i . 7 L . . . . . . 55 ev ' -' A -.M k' 4 i I ' -Q ' ' . a I 0 - ' l . , s I . Y I v Y . - . 7. ' ' .' . ' . . . l l l l . M at 19 c ,L Y,, . . . . . . 4 - y .V . V. . ' . I. ' 7 ' ' ' . H- M ' ' C '. I s v u V. u ' I C .D , . . . M I' G y ' H D H 4 . edge in the Halachaic and Aggadaic discussions. No . . rv ' l . - . . T . T . f l l h V N .V I ' S - r. ' D f ' ' 1 I . V . . v n I Q T l V N' N P -1 l su - -v -4- . ' ' 1 I' '- 5. v 1, Ill' ' 1'l' ' , . . . ' ,' , U ' . - es L t. ' --. L- F . 4 1 2 . - 'Q : - - 'r ., '-, N . 14 . . . . H V - ' 5 I F 4 S . l .-. A lm . . . 4 M S. D . .5 4, 7 - . P U . . 4 3 Y. . 5 n -Y u ' ' v ' . U ' . tha ' ' . l'11d . 'h 'd l ' d s 't 's no Th ' ' z l . ' l 1 th 's . S ' . N . . - V S , , ' i 1 - I ' E I 1 :' ' . ' N .44 - - as - x ' - x , s 5 .