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

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THE ELCHA NITE F zflcwz on the Tair a rr Peter llYliL'7'Illililx', Editor fmuislz ilforn- ing j0ItVHtlI The Yeshiva, to my mind, presents a daring attempt by the hopeful and resourceful jews of America who cling to traditional Judaism, to suc- ceed where others have failed. The various instiutions which were found to educate rabbis versed in the vernacular and equipped with modern knowledge, all failed for one reason: the preponderance of secular studies which meant the neglect of rabbinical learning. lt was the same trouble, though not always in the same degree. From the Rabbinical schools which were established in VVarsaw in 1826, to the Rabbinical schools which were established in VVilna and in Zhitomir in 1848, down to most of the semin- aries of Central Europe, the Conistoire of France. lews College of England. our own H. U. C. and to some degree even the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. None of them brought out, or is bringing out real lam- donim acceptable orthodox rabbis plus modern education. Success in that effort will give the Yeshiva real historical importance. The second generation of immi- grants from the Slavic countries, the American descendants of the C Jstju- denf' have inherited a healthy preju- dice against the liefo in in religious matters. They looli to the Yeshiva for that proper blending of real hluda- ism and intt-llcctual iXm.-ricanism which must be found in our spiritual leaders of the near future. The young generation is hungry for leadership of the right kind, and the great sacrifices which are now brought to place the Yeshiva in a position to provide such leadership, demonstrate the eager an- ticipation of such beneficent results. 24: at :ls The emnience of Babylon was unique and inherent. The glory of Palestine descended on that single great jewish center of the many cen- turies in which the Jews of other countries amounted to very little, spiritually or numerically. Neither cm the Gaonate be fully understood without its secular counterpart: the Exilarchate, the headship of a semi- autonomous Jewry. Both institutions rose. and ultimately went down to- gether through a combination of his- torical events which none of us like to see repeated. XYhat we ought to, and have a right to expect here is rather a parallel to the conditions in Spain during the Golden Epoch of early Klohammedan rule, when ,lews and Gentiles worked tcgether for the advancement of sci- ence and philosophy, and prominent Talmudists were famous as leaders of thought. XYe may all hope that the Yeshiva will become the .-lim.: .lluffcr of intellectual giants, but such exclu- sive authority as the Yeshiva of liaby- lon exercised is neither probable our desirable in our fret' Republic.

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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

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S ixteen THE ELCHANITE Dr. P. CHURGIX, Pl'I'1It'Iif l1l of H16 Tcurlzrfs .lil1SfIiflLlC of tlzc Ycslz1'z'alL Hebrew owes its endurance to the veshivah. XYhen invincible circum- stances threatened it with utter extinc- tion the Yeshivah came to its rescue. Aramaic, the tongue spoken by the neighboring peoples in Palestine, broke upon Judea and dispossessed Hebrew. The Jew ceased to speak his national language. lYas Hebrew to be saved by its use in the worship? Certainly not. Neither was Summerian saved from annihilation by its retention in the Babylonian religion, or Latin by the Catholic Church. But Hebrew was to continue its life. It was taken to the seat of learning, and thus became the tongue of learning and the learned. Our sages and Rabbis delivered their discourses in Hebrew. Thus Hebrew outwitted its doom. It has been awarded a distinguished existence. He- brew has become the tongue of the aristocracy, of the spiritual nobility. Spoken by the pious intellectuals it has become purified. Instead of the usual growth in volume, Hebrew grew in beauty, delicacy. and gracefulness. In the llishna and Agada. Hebrew has manifested its hidden and rich resourcefulness. Hebrew was retain- ed in flourishing life. A community in which the institution of the yeshiva had not exsited, Hebrew was dead. So it happened in the Jewish-Hellen- istic communities. In Alexandria where Jewish wisdom thrived, Hebrew was little learned and known. But in Babylonia. which supplanted the centers of learning of Palestine it was a living tongue. Hebrew was thence transported to Spain where it passed ii new epoch of rejuvenation. It was the tongue in which Rashi taught his great disciples. The former was a new exponent of the Hebrew lang- uage. His style is graceful and full of charm. It is true, Hebrew occa- sionally suffered a setback. In Baby- lonia Aramaic pressed hard upon it even in the yeshivah. Then came the Arabic conquest, and Arabic with its allurenients was dangerously menanc- ing Hebrew. But invested with that spiritual force fostered in the yeshi- vah, Hebrew crushed its foreign in- vaders. Many are the Jewish works which vanished because they were written in Arabic. The Tibbons who translated the liuzri and More-Ne- buchim into Hebrew were singnalling warning of eternal oblivion to authors who would give their thought away to a foreign aggressor. The revival of Hebrew had its origin in the yeshivah. The founders of the modern Hebrew literature and the pioneers of the Hebrew movement came from the ranks of the yeshivah students. Had it not been for the Yeshivah, this Seventh Vvonder, the complete restoration in life of a tongue that was not spoken for thousands of years, could never have taken place. Now the movement over- stepped its former boundaries. But if Hebrew is further to occupy its eminent position, the yeshivah is to take the lead in the revival of Hebrew. 1. L. H1-ill, The frrvzlrlz Daily News The Yeshiva has become an integral part of American Jewry, and to-clay is a dominating factor in fostering and preserving Judaism and Jewish learn- ing in this country. It has been re- peatedly asserted that traditional Judaism, such as is taught and prac- ticed at the Yeshiva, can have no place in America, The most emphatic refu- tation of this statement is the Yeshiva itself.