Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

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THE ELCHA NITE Thirleen CDUR NEXT STEP. Dr. 511.6111-y R. Stiff The Talmudical Academy, the high school of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Thelogical Seminary, was founded nearly ten years ago in response to a need that was both definite and urgent. The authorities of our Yeshiva were then confronted with the difficult problem of what to do with the boys who were completing their elementary school studies and would soon be ready for high school work. Should these boys leave for the public high schools to pursue their secular studies and thereby sacrifice the rich back- ground of Jewish learning which was to serve as the basis for the further understanding and appreciation of the history and literature, the laws and customs of their people and the know- ledge of its Holy Torah? Could othor- dox Jewry stand idly by and see their last hope for a revival of the jewish spirit and jewish learning here in America vanish without making a supreme effort to prevent it? Our di- rectors and leaders answered these questions by founding the first high school in America, the Talmudical Academy, under the complete control and supervision of the Yeshiva, where the spiritual environment is in har- mony with the immortal precepts and truths of our holy lawsg where the Jewish spirit unhampered, is en- couraged to develop to its fullest ex- tent. In this environment permeated by a sympathetic understanding be- tween teacher and pupil and by a close harmony between the atmosphere of the school and that of the home, the bc-st that is in the student has been brought to the surface. XYhen the high school was first es- tablished. cvcn its best friends and well-wishers were none too sanguine as to the outcome. Some openly con- tended that it was an impracticable venture and predicted its early failure and the final abandonment of the en- tire project. Could the proper kind of teaching staff be secured? VVould the State Department of Education recognize the work done and would the colleges honor the credentials of such an institution? These and simi- lar questions preyed upon the minds of the leaders of this movement,-men of courage and definitness of purpose, who did not permit difficulties how- ex er real and seemingly unsurmouta- ble, to thwart them in their purpose. Small wonder that a mere handful of boys, less than two dozen, had the courage to cast their lot with the far- sighted pioneers. llow well their plan has succeeded need harly be dwelt upon here. From about a score of pupils and four teach- ers the high school has grown and ex- panded until to-day the Talmudical Academy has has a register of 350 stu- dents and a staff of twenty teachers. itlore than a hundred students have been graduated from its four year course of study which has been ap- proved and recognized as of high school grade by the State Department of lfducation, Nov. 2-l, 1919, and ac- cepted by the local colleges on a par with that of the city's public high schools. The type of student turned out is at least equal to those of the city high schools, judging by the results obtained in the uniform examinations tliegentsl and the quota of scholar- ships Won by Irlll' boys in open conipg- tltion with lliost' of the city high

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TZ,,L,,l,e THE ELCHANITE . H9 P . A Q ir... eve sr M e To H10 Ycslzimzli High Srlzool Gradzmfvs of 1925 Qur holy Torah is the light which leads us to God and the immortal teachings of Judaism, - justice righteousness and sanctification of life. The very existence of Israel de- pends upon the study and the knowl- edge of the Torah and the observance of its precepts. The light of the Torah always emanated from the Yeshivoth. There the Jewish spirit found its highest and noblest expres- sion. The Yeshivoth constitute the mighty bulwark against all destructive forces assailing us and out of them come our great spiritual leadsr, teach- ers and scholars. Your Yeshiva, molded after the great Torah centers of all ages and dedicated to the intensvie study of the Torah and the immortal teachings of Judaism is a worthy link in the chain of the homes of Torah of al ages. The Yeshivah aims to train a genera- tion of Jews who know and love the Torah and are loyal to its teachings. It also encourages and assists in the establishment of schools of Torah learning in the larger Jewish commun- ities in the country, the able graduates of which continue their studies in our Yeshiva. The Yeshiva, - your spiri- tual home - is contributing much to the transplanting of the Torah upon American soil and brings back to us the glory of the Torah. You know what the Yeshiva and its high school has done for you, It is my sincere hope that most of you will be privileged to continue your studies in the Yeshiva and in the Yeshiva college. The Yeshiva proposes to establish, with the aid of the Almighty. a col- lege of Liberal Arts and Science. This college is not to be a post-graduate school, concerned with the develop- ment oi technical scholars. It will dedicate its energies to the education ot a small number of American Jew- ish young men of promise, who wish to prepare thmeselves for the rab- binate, for Jewish social servcie, for teaching in religious schools, for Jew- ish scholarship or communal leader- ship. Qn the foundation that has been so ardously laid in the several Hebrew day schools in New York and the rest of the country, particularly in our own High School and its branches, a structure is to be reared with the aid of the .Xlmighty, with the double purpose of educating both liberally and Jewishly those who have already been imbued wtih the spirit and sanct- ity of Judaism and its teachings. lt will be the aim of the Yeshiva College to spread the knowledge of our Torah in its widest sense, together with general culture. Young men who consider Jewish learning an indispens- able part of the mental and moral equipment they wish to obtain will have the advantage of such a combined education in the Yeshiva College. Its graduates will be imbued with the Jewish spirit and the Jewish philos- ophy of life and will qualify for that leadership which we now lack and the absence of which is the greatest draw- back of .Nmerican Jewry. XYe rely upon you. graduates of the Yeshivah High School to sanctify the name of our Father in lleaven and to have ,pw :rv 'warm as-Fp 'ri :yn in-i ,mv ry :asm an-tr-n as B. REVEL.

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Fozzrfemz THE ELCHANITE schools. Aside from their truly remarkable scholastic achievements, our students are also doing their full share in ac- tivities pertaining to their social. civic. and physical well being. Various types of athletic activities, school publica- tions, club work, debating socities, a civic organization. a students' aid soci- ety, a sanitary squad, a discipline squad, a students' council and an honor society are their outstanding enterprises. In all its aspects the Tal- niudical Academy has written a chap- ter in jewish education of which its sponsors and leaders have every rea- son to be proud. need for a high school was urgent, the absolute lf, ten years ago, the necessity for a college as part of the Yeshivah is to-day of life and death importance. With every graduation from the high school some of the most promising students, only too frequent- ly the scholarship winners, are lost forever to the Yeshivah and in many cases to the cause of Uthordox juda- ism in America-a loss which both can ill-afford to sustain. The know- ledge-liungry high school graduates are eager and impatient to go on with their secular studies in college, and not having this opportunity in the Yeshi- vali. they leave and register in the col- leges of the city. lYhile it is true that many come back to their spiritual cradle. the Yeshivah, to drink from its fountain of knowledge, and so imbibe its spirit of piety. many of them fail to return. lt is to afford all these young men the opportunity of continuing their secular education in an environment that will preserve their great heritage, nwgg it is to save them from the inevotably alien influence of other institutions- many of them like Columbia and N. Y. U. of a definite, different religious character-it is for this especially that we feel the need of a college in the Yeshivah. In such a college there would be a happy blending of the lib- eral secular education of the occiden- tal world and the depely spiritual wealth of the oriental world. The proposed college is not to be a post-graduate school for the purpose of training along specialized lines, nor is it to he a professional school bend- ing its energies towards preparing young men for the various profes- sions. lt is rather to be a liberal col- lege dedicating itself to educating American Jewish youth in the cultural achievements of the human race, in the fields of art, the, physical and social sciences. The aims of such a college would he: l. To provide Jewish youth with a college education that will meet the standards of the highest educational institutions of America, but will be coordinated and closely bound with the spirit and the tenets of Judaism. 2. To provide a college education under the control of the Yeshivah, which will strive zealously to imbue in American Jewish youth the jewish life-philosophy and to develop jewish ideals. 3. To provide a college education that will tend to develop the future leaders of Othordox Jewry, rahbig in our houses of worship. teacherg in our houses of learning and a laity versed in the Torah and the customs and tra- ditions of our people. ' ED