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re Hebraizing the government school number 4
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[Page 495]
[Page 496]
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Translated by Ala Gamulka
Edited by Karen Leon
I will begin with an apology as is the custom in the world, to show the reader all of the sources that the author used to complete the article. However, the writers of various all-encompassing articles about the history of the Hebrew School in Bessarabia (Avraham Levinson, Shlomo Hillels and Prof. Zvi Shrafshtein) based their studies on articles written by the author of this entry, the former secretary of “Tarbut.” These articles appeared in various forms of the press so the author does not feel obligated to show proof. Also, much of what is written here comes from the memories of those days when the author was deeply involved, for twenty years, in the events concerning the Hebrew school. Fortunately everything was preserved and remains vivid in his mind. The author also used other print sources to explain the history more clearly.
Before the RevolutionUp until the February 1917 revolution, many towns and villages in Bessarabia had, along with the “corrected cheders”, special schools for Jewish children where Russian was the language of instruction. (In the larger cities Jewish children were also accepted into the government-run schools.) These were largely four-year elementary schools that followed government guidelines and were under government supervision. I.C.A. [Jewish Colonization Association] founded some of these schools, for example in the agricultural settlements of Dombrovani, Vertuzhani, Lublin, Markulesht, etc. They were later transferred to the Association of Disseminators of Education in Petersburg. The schools were also part of an educational network in Bessarabia. Some were Talmud Torah schools, which meant that religious studies were taught in addition to the required curriculum. Their budgets came from a special fund of income that was generated through the candle tax, (a tax on the Jewish population for lighting Shabbat candles), and from the meat tax, known as Korobka[1] in Russian.
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The income was often greater than the need in larger cities, so it was used by the local authorities to build fancy high schools. These schools were meant for Jewish children who paid fees. However, in many cases, these schools served the general public and were often nests of anti-semitism among the teachers.
Fights about language and take over by the Yiddishists
The February Revolution broke the grip of Russification that was forced on different nations. The Jewish minority was energized to create their own educational institutions in its own language. This began with the first teachers' committee which also included a few business people. It met in Kishinev in August 1917, with the support of the new authorities, and was formed after the revolution. After a difficult and bitter battle between the two factions, the Yiddishist and the Hebraists, over the language of instruction, the Yiddishists gained the upper hand. The decision, passed with a two-thirds majority, states[2]:
Since the language in school should be in the mother-tongue of the children, the committee has decided that even in the Jewish school in the free state, the mother-tongue language of Yiddish must be used.The teaching of Hebrew language and literature, an essential part of Jewish culture, must occupy an honorable place in the Jewish school.
The reason the Yiddish teachers took over can be explained by the fact that most of the teachers in the earlier schools had taught in Russian, and were not supporters of the national movement. On the other hand, many of the teachers who loved Hebrew, were not at first, drawn to teach in these new schools. They preferred to teach Torah in Hebrew in small groups or through private lessons. The new Hebrew school, Tarbut, was in its infancy, and existed only at the high school level, and its teachers were not yet involved in promoting it. This is how the Yiddishist camp came to be in charge of Jewish education. This was the group that decided the national fate of the 37 government elementary schools and the two public high schools existing at that time in Bessarabia.
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There were 7,000 students in those schools, out of 33,000 in that age group, and Yiddish was the language of instruction.
In addition to the decision about the language of instruction there was also a determination to establish a special seminary for training teachers. In the meantime, short summer courses were available for this purpose. A Jewish School Committee was also formed. This committee was eventually given official government status as a special department within the Education Ministry. It was a regional organization left over from the Bessarabian autonomy and it supervised the curriculum. There were 12 members: 8 were Yiddishists, which included 6 Bundists, and 4 were from the Hebrew camp.
It did not take long for Bessarabia to be annexed by Romania. At first, the new authorities looked favorably upon the schools for national minorities since they helped to remove the Russian language. At that time, on August 14, 1918, the Romanian government issued a proclamation that recognized the rights of the Jewish minority to educate its children in government schools, in their own language. On this basis, the 37 schools were again recognized. The Reali School in Bender, with a large majority of Jewish students, introduced Hebrew as an official teaching language. Yiddish was the language of the 4th Gymnasia in Kishinev.[3]
The second teachers' committee met in August 1918, causing a rift among the Yiddishists and the Hebraists. The Hebraists demanded that the committee again discuss the issue of the language of instruction but their request was not accepted. The Hebraists left the committee and did not take part again until July 1921 when the third committee met. In the meantime, the Yiddishists were drunk with power and continued to serve on the committee alone.
The education committee continued to provide short, summer courses for Yiddish teachers. These courses began in the summer of 1917 because most of the teachers, especially the women, had become completely assimilated. They were educated in Russian and their Yiddish was quite poor. For them, Yiddish was a street language, not a language of instruction. In addition, their knowledge of Jewish history was inadequate.
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The fact that they joined the Yiddish camp, and preferred Yiddish to Hebrew was not because of belief, but because they chose the lesser of two evils. They could not teach in Romanian, so they stayed with Yiddish. Their loyalty to Yiddish ended as soon as the authorities pressured them. This is what I. Bart, a member of the central committee of the “Culture League”[4] said at a lecture during the third annual Culture Committee about the condition of the Yiddish schools in Bessarabia: “the government's policy of Romanization was not opposed by the school. In the past, the clerks did not understand that the Yiddish language was the best way to educate Jewish children. The assimilationist teachers were enemies of Yiddish and of new pedagogical methods. It was a different situation in the public schools which had a higher standard.”[5]
It must be added that the Jewish public did not believe in the Yiddish schools, and so they were abolished after one or two years.
The decline of the Yiddish school and the rise of the Hebrew school
It did not take long for everyone to realize that the Yiddish school could not succeed in Bessarabia. The Jews of Bessarabia, who were mostly lovers of Jewish literature and nationalists, were not prepared to send their children to a school with a weak national component. The school quickly became important only to a few teachers.
Parents wanted a new, modern school that would replace the “old cheder” and the “corrected cheder.” It would serve as a stronghold for Hebrew literature and would educate its students in a national atmosphere and in a language closer to their hearts. The Tarbut Hebrew school appealed to them. The Jewish public was keen to establish a Tarbut school in every town. They wanted teachers who would devote themselves to the school's success so it would become a beautiful center of culture. For many regions it was a step towards the rejuvenation of national aspirations, soon to become true.
In the meantime, the battle between the two groups grew. On the one hand, were
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the Yiddishists, who were at first in control of the committee for Jewish education. They changed all the government schools to Yiddish language. There were about a dozen schools supported by public funds. On the other hand was Tarbut, which began to build the Hebrew school. It must be noted that the struggle was internal only. Both Tarbut and the Central School bureau cooperated outwardly, whether within the committee or not.
The Jewish high schools had existed even before the revolution. They began to change their character and developed a clear Hebrew nationalist outlook. Zvi Schwartzman established Hebrew studies at the high school in Bendery in 1912. The school earned a strong reputation under his leadership. It was, I believe, the only school of its kind in southern Russia. Secular subjects were also taught in Hebrew. As there was a lack of proper textbooks the teachers translated whatever was needed, and these translations later became the basis for actual printed textbooks.
This is what happened in Beltz: In “Ha'am” (The Nation) of 30 June 1917 we find an advertisement by the Parents Committee (signed by the initiator of the project, A. Grafter), written in Russian, seeking special Hebrew language and literature teachers for the high schools. At first, the high schools opened as dual language institutions - Hebrew in lower grades and Russian in the upper ones. The principal was a local non-Jew. The first teachers of Hebrew, and secular subjects taught in Hebrew, were: P. Lagerman, Yakov Reidel and Shmuel-Nachum Kahanovsky, who had moved from Warsaw. Three years later the principal was Boris Solomonovitz Dubinsky. He was a member of a veteran Zionist family from Kishinev. He had previously been the principal of the boys' high school in Kishinev, “Ozrey Hamischar”.
A whole network of Tarbut high schools was founded in 1919-1920. In Akkerman, the principal was Yakov Berger; in Leonova, the principal was D. Chazak-Auerbach, later followed by Raphael Katz; in Markuleshty, the principal was Yeshayahu Tomarkin, and in Soroka, Eliyahu Maytus, the poet, was principal. Even the boys' high school in Kishinev, founded by Kulik, became part of the Ozrey Hamischar network under B.S. Dubinsky, and it gradually became more Hebraic in character. Agudat Israel established the well-known Magen David high school in 1921, whose affiliation was religious-Nationalist. Magen David was presided over by the chief rabbi of Bessarabia, Yehuda-Leib Tzirelson, and directed by Nachum Livon.
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In the same year, a high school was set up in Securany, under the direction of Shmuel Gorin. Most subjects were taught in Hebrew during its first two years. Beginning in 1923, the principal did not fulfill his mission, and bowed to the pressure of Romanization. He was dismissed from his job, but the school did not return to its earlier situation. Yet, Hebrew studies still held a respectable place in the school and were taught by the excellent teachers, Zev Igrat, Hillel Dobrev, Kalman Spector, Nachman Polichtchuk and Mordechai Goldberg. There were also several Hebrew middle schools in Teleneshty, Tatarbunar, Tarutino, Falesht and Pirlitz. However, these institutions could not withstand the pressure to switch to Romanian, and, by 1925, the schools were closed. The exception was in Tarutino, where the school reopened in 1926. Romanian became the language of instruction for secular subjects there, and the principal was G. Rosenthal.
Elementary schools were founded throughout Bessarabia. Parents paid tuition and the community helped with donations. These schools were packed with little space to spare. It was not possible to open new Hebrew schools since there were not enough teachers. The Yiddish schools in the smaller towns were almost empty. Most of the students were girls as the parents of boys preferred to send their sons to the Hebrew schools. The situation became so bad that the Yiddish teachers went from house to house urging parents to at least send their daughters to the Yiddish schools. Tuition was free! In the Hebrew school, however, parents had to pay high fees, except for those who had no means.
Even among the parents of the government high school in Kishinev (number 4), there was an understanding that Hebrew should be the language of instruction. Before that, in 1918-1919, Yiddish was used.
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re Hebraizing the government school number 4 |
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However, the Education Committee, whose members were mostly dedicated Yiddishists at that time, refused to accept the parents' demand. Finally, after the second parents' meeting, when results of a poll conducted by the directorate was announced, the committee was forced to back down. The directorate approved the parents' decision. The following teachers were appointed at this time: Israel Berman and Pinchas Miastokovski for Hebrew studies and Gleichman for Mathematics.[6]
The results of the poll conducted by the education directorate among the students' parents in May1920, clearly indicated their preferred language of instruction. Of the 103 questioned, 92 (96%) voted for Hebrew and only 2 (1.9%) for Yiddish. In addition, Koliav, the high school principal, addressed this matter with Rabbi Tzirelson.[7] This is the rabbi's reply:
After we lost our homeland, we were forced to wander through many countries. We came to have two national languages: Hebrew - despite 1852 years of exile, still belongs to our land and to our holy fathers, prophets, and heroes, and Yiddish, which grew out of our secular life in so many lands. The difference between the two languages is that Hebrew is natural while Yiddish is artificial. It is like the difference between truth and falsehood. Therefore, if the parents demand the truth for their children, it is our pleasant duty to fulfill their request.[8]
The fate of the gymnasia in Bendery was quite different. According to an article in “Der Yid” of Kishinev, dated 31 August 1920, the teachers refused to swear an oath to the new regime. The local authorities changed the school's status to that of a private school without any public rights. This caused a sharp decrease in the number of students. It also encouraged the assimilated aristocracy in town to push for the school to become a Russian language one. This effort failed, but, in the meantime, the Jewish community lost an important educational institution.
Even after the Cultural Committee in Beltz announced with great joy, that Yiddish is the national language of the Jewish people there was no change in the status of the
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Hebrew school. The Yiddish school did not improve and its decline continued. This was all due to the relationship between Yiddish and the population.[9]
Finally, the Yiddishists saw that the parents were not happy with the government Yiddish school and preferred the Hebrew one, despite the financial toll. They became less enthusiastic. After a lengthy discussion between the two groups, they agreed that the schools had to reflect the wishes of the parents, which meant Hebrew. This could not be imposed from above. They also reached an agreement on the composition of the education committee. The details of the agreement became known through the decisions of the third teachers' conference held on 5-9 July 1921 in Kishinev. The original decisions are cited in the appendix (written in poor Hebrew, the document is in bad condition). It shows the steps taken for the decision. No one imagined, at the time, that this agreement would be cancelled a year later. Nothing would remain of this national educational effort.
In the 1921/22 academic year, the education committee broadened its activities by organizing preparatory courses for teachers and a special office to supervise the schools. This office operated under the authority of the district directorate for education and culture. The instructors were chosen on the basis of their knowledge of Hebrew and Yiddish. Assignments for these teachers were based on district, not the type of school. The teacher, I. Sherman from Orgeyev, oversaw Yiddish and Shlomo Hillels supervised Hebrew.
Despite the restrictions on rights, declared, from time to time, by the Ministry of Education, those in charge of Hebrew teaching saw good progress and real achievements.[10]
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Right to left top row: Dr. Meir Avner[a], Dr. Max Diamant[b], attorney Mishu Veissman[c] (Amir) Second row: Dr. Shmuel Zinger[a]Attorney Michael Landau, Dr. Ernst Marton Third row: Dr. Yosef Fisher, Dr. Theodore Fisher, Dr Manfred Reiner[b] |
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Right to left: Natan Lerner[c], Dr. Yakov Pistiner[b], Horaya Karp[a] |
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The main difficulties were the lack of professional teachers and textbooks, but these problems seemed to be temporary, and possible to overcome with some effort.
Soon, Tarbut formed a special instructional and pedagogical unit. Yakov Wasserman and David Ravlasky, leading educators from Odessa joined this unit. They traveled throughout Bessarabia and in addition to their pedagogical advice, they helped to expand the base of the Hebrew School system. The Yiddishists had not been successful in this regard in smaller towns. They managed it only in Kishinev where there were two craft schools for girls (one founded by Dr. Bernstein-Cohen in the previous century) and one elementary school. At that time, the Hebrew school did not receive financial aid from the authorities, unlike the Yiddish schools. The Yiddish schools had replaced the Russian schools and were therefore able to receive funds from the Romanian government.
Despite all this, the Yiddish group still had to struggle to continue to maintain the existing schools, never mind even dreaming of setting up new ones. They were not successful. As mentioned previously, these schools declined and lost most of their students. The few remaining students were mostly girls.
To understand the real situation in the two schools, we can rely on memoirs by the Hebrew-Yiddish author, Shlomo Hillels. At that time, he was a pedagogical advisor for the Education Committee which served both camps. Since Hillels was known to have had a special warm affection for the Yiddish language, it seems his words are authentic. The following are excerpts from his article “Survey on the Development of Hebrew Education in Bessarabia”, published in volumes A and B of “Paths of Education”, New York (December 1942-March 1943).
The first village I visited was Calarash, near Kishinev. There was a Yiddish school there, almost the only one. There was a group of businesspeople who were interested in it and helped in its development. The teachers were, more or less, experts, and devoted to their profession.
The school found an original way to ensure the continuance of both the kindergarten and the elementary school. Since the village was located at the southern tip of Bessarabia, at the intersection of the Prut and Danube Rivers, a large trade in crops had developed there. The town was popularly called the Hamburg of Bessarabia. Huge freight ships carried wheat on the Danube and on its tributaries, to the Black Sea. Yitzhak Agent, the head of the local community, and a native of Braylia, was one of the first Zionists in old Romania. In an unofficial capacity, he instituted an inner tax of 10 Lei for every wagon of wheat brought to the port, used to benefit the school. This is how the school was able to exist without burdening the parents.
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At the meeting I had with them, they spoke of the urgent need to broaden the scope of the Hebrew studies. This was not the case in other villages and towns I visited. I was surprised to see the abject poverty of the Culture League schools, and by how discouraged the teachers were. It was late autumn. Mud reached our knees, and the cold was bone breaking. The government decreased their budget and there was not enough wood to heat the school buildings. The rooms were not thoroughly cleaned. They were cold, moldy, and dirty. The local population was indifferent towards the school and did not rush to enroll their children. Those who did register were from poor families. They were not properly dressed and shod. They were not ready to attend school on cold and muddy days. The principal of the school was honest with me and spoke of his bitter fate. He complained that the parents did not respect the school and did not send their sons there. They felt that if they were only taught “simple Torah” and songs like “On the upper river”, etc., to learn that two times two equals four, it was not worth sending their children to the school for 3-4 years. They could learn all that at home.
The principal complained that out of 45 registered students, only 12, on average, attended on a daily basis. More students came on sunnier days. Our school will be closed, and the students will be sent to attend a Moldovan school.
In most of these schools I found that the teachers were mostly young women who had graduated from public high schools when the Tzar was still alive. They had no knowledge of Yiddish literature or our history. They could not even write in Yiddish. They learned a simple spoken Yiddish at home. It was quite limited. Their knowledge was based on summer courses in Kishinev which lasted only a few weeks. What could these teachers give to their students? That is why the parents, and the students had a poor attitude towards the school and its curriculum. These poor teachers invited pity. They felt inferior to the Romanian teachers, and this depressed them. In one village, even before I reached the school building, I already heard the noise of the students and the yelling of the teachers. When I went inside, I saw the poor teacher running around from room to room saying: Quiet, murderers! Quiet scoundrels! She taught three grades at once in three different rooms. When she taught one class, she did not know what work to assign to the other two.
In one village, I found a young woman who had completed her studies of history by reading a Yiddish book that began with Genesis. Every chapter had questions for the students. She, too, was embarrassed to learn who I was. From the way she questioned the students, and hearing their replies, I realized that the teacher had simply memorized the questions and answers from the book. The teacher, like the students, did not understand the content.
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I tried to reword some questions, but that just confused the teacher as well as the students. Later when we spoke privately, she admitted her lack of knowledge. She had never studied the history of her own people or the basics of the Yiddish language. It was only in summer school that she first heard the names of Mendele Mocher Sforim, Perez and Shalom Aleichem. They, of course, had created wonderful works of literature.
In Russian high school, I learned only about the Russian people, whom I loved, and also general subjects. I always read the rich and broad Russian literature. How was I supposed to know our own history and literature? I learned a little and would like to know more. I do not know if there are textbooks in Yiddish or how to find them, or if there is anyone who could get them for me.
The situation in the Tarbut school, where there were proper teachers, was far better. The curriculum and textbooks were appropriate, and the purpose was clear. The classes were full. The atmosphere in the school was clean and warm. There was also a group of people who cared for the school and supported its existence and comfort.
If the Culture League schools stirred pity and the Tarbut elementary schools brought satisfaction and consolation, I found that the Hebrew high school of Tarbut was blossoming. This fact brought great happiness. The parents and businesspeople, mainly middle class, and good Jews, showed an understanding, proper attention, and commitment to this educational institution. They did their utmost to help it develop and grow. The principals and most of the teachers were highly educated and were qualified to teach the general and Hebrew studies. They were wholeheartedly committed to the spiritual tenets of our people and to the revival movement. In Bendery I found high schools that were taught exclusively in Hebrew. Schwartzman was the director of this school that had a profound influence on the youth. The high school in Beltz was directed by attorney Dubinsky, who was an energetic, active man. A board of directors consisting of the best Zionists in town, helped him to carry out his goal. In Soroca, a lovable young man by the name of Neiditz ran the school[i]. Later, the poet Eliyahu Meitus was appointed principal. Even in the small settlement of Markuleshty, I found the Hebrew high school of I.C.A. under the direction of a young Zionist correspondent from Czernowicz, totally dedicated to Zionism and Hebrew culture. There were many more. In the past few years, I found many graduates of these schools, men and women, among the pioneers. These people were the best, and loyal to our people. They work in all areas of the new life in our country. They are creative, builders, workers, and defenders of their land with their bodies. They give their all for the land, where they have created a whole group of young poets and authors and other cultural contributors.
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Even here, in the United States, I met many graduates of these educational institutions. They teach in Hebrew schools and are dedicated to our language, our literature and our spirituality. This is a sign that the Tarbut institutions in Bessarabia and its teachers sowed the seeds in the hearts of their many young students. It was a good and healthy seed that grew and brought forth excellent fruit.
Publishing textbooks
Tarbut was organized as a central institution with legal standing in early 1920. It had 30 branches in smaller towns. Among its founders were: Eliyahu Ortenberg, Ben Zion Baltzan, Shlomo Berliand, Israel Berman, Asher-Zelig Shokhetman (Al-Yagon), and Yitzhak Shreibman (Shari). Tarbut identified several basic issues in the normal development of a school and insisted on immediate solutions. There was a lack of suitable textbooks, especially for secular studies, and a need for teacher training in these subjects. For this purpose a special pedagogic conference was held on 2 and 3 May 1920. Twenty-five teachers from the larger cities took part, and they worked on a plan to tackle the issues. Zvi Schwartzman of Bendery led the conference. The secretaries chosen were Yitzhak Schwartz of Kishinev, and I. Reidel from Beltz. Several teachers began to write the first new textbooks, based on a Hebrew synopsis, in Hebrew, of what had been taught up to that point. A special educational committee was named to supervise this work. It was headed by the well-known pedagogue Yitzhak Reznikov with Haim Borodiansky (Bar-Dayan) as the secretary. The textbooks were later published by publishers from Kishinev[11] and Beltz)[12].
Picture notes:
Author's footnote:
Original footnotes:
In old Bessarabia it was unanimously agreed that: “the Jewish Cultural Federation recognizes Yiddish as the only national language of the Jewish people. That is why it must be the only language of instruction in the new school.” (Cultur collection, Czernowitz, 1921, page 94. Return
1. Latin language - by Liubomordov S. And Palmer G. Including a Latin-Hebrew dictionary, edited by Oyerbuch (1920).
2.Geography - by Zvi Schwartzman 1921.
3. Botany for beginners - by Netanel Oyerbuch, 1921.
4.-5. Zoology for beginners, Vol. A and B-by the above author, 1922.
6-8. General History, 3 volumes, by Shmuel Gorin and Yitzhak Reznikov (translated by Sh. Veisman), 1922.
9. Mathematics in Hebrew - by I. Reznikov 1922.
10. Geometry - by M. Shaicovitch, A. Rabinovitch, 1922.
11. Latin grammar - by I. Reis, G. Oyerbuch, 1922.
B. Published by Moriah (I. Berman).
1-3. Ancient history, 3 booklets, by Israel Berman, 1921-23. Return
1. Nitzanim, Book 1 after Aleph Bet - by I. Reidel and I. Wasserman, 1923.
2. Nitzanim, second volume for grades 3 and 4 - authors as above, 1923.
3-5. Bible stories, three books, prepared and explained by I. Wasserman and I. Reidel.
6-7. Knowledge of science for elementary schools - by I. Reidel, 1922. Return
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