Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/467

419 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

419

The Jewess can not attain to the position she should occupy ami which local custom denies her, unless she becomes the ccjual of the Jew in knowledge ami education. It is conceded that the influence of the schools has been especially beneficial in this direction. In former limes, in certain districts of Morocco, Tunis, and Turkey, girls were married at the age of eleven or twelve; nowadays such barbarous customs liavedisiippean'd, owing to the influence of the schools. The Alliance's schools are free oidy to the children of the very poorest; they are furnished not only with grai nil ous instruct ion and books, but sometimes with clothing as well, and nearly everywhere with a hot lunch at noon. Parents of the more pros perouselasscs pay a school fee, which in some schools These schools is as high as twenty francs a month. are, moreover, open to children of every faith in ISHll, about ;iOO non-Jewish pupils attendi'd them Catholics, Protestants, (Jreeks. Armenians, and Mohammedans. On the slalT of instructors there are also Christian and Mobanunedan teachers, especially for instruction in the several languagi's. Free cour.ses for adults have been opened in many localities. They are attended by workingmen and small tradesmen who, not having attended any elementary school. <'an scarcely write their names, and who recognize the resultant drawl)acks under which they labor. Aftergiving to Judaism a long suecessionof learned and illustrious rabbis, the congregations of the Orient have witnes.sed the gradual decay of

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Rabbinical learningamong llieir spiritual leaders. Seminary. Witheerluin rare except ions, the rabbis of the East and of Africa are devoid modern culture. Their Hebrew and Talmudie knowledge is likewise very sU'uder.and they can not

of

all

write the languag<' of the country at all. The Alliance directed its attenti<]n to this matter long ago, but to introduce the needed reforms among the rabbis was felt to be a rather delicate task. It was necessary first to bring the eongregalions to see the necessity foi- the innovation, and in 1S!)1 tiie move ment took pnl)lic shajie. The Alliance then decided to establish in Constantinople a rabbinical seminary similar to those in Europe. The institution was organi/.e<l in lMi)7; and it soon won the appreciation of the i)eo|ile. Instruction is given by scholarly teachers, one of whom was prepared for this ottice by the This Alliance at the rabbinical seminary of Paris. enterjirise is the crowning achievement of the Alliance in its educational elTorts toward the elevation of Oriental .fudaism.

To

direct these

numerous

.schools

it

was

neces.sary

supply a large stall of teachers. After various experiments the Central Comnntlee deNormal cided to undertake this task too. In IHfi" it founded in Parisanormal school School. for teachers, who are reennted from the countries for which teachersarc re(|uired. The prin to

eipalsof Ibe various schools in the )rient anil in .Africa select their best pupils and send them to Paris, where they nniain in the Normal School for four yi'ars. They are then appointecl to positions as teachers in their own countries. The Normal School of Paris has secured legal recognition from the government, enaliling it to legally receive donations and legacies. Its full title is " ftcole Normalc^ Israelite OrienlaU'." It is located in a liand.some buihling upon a large estate which it owns, and whi<h was imreliascd for Ibis purpose by the .llianee. There were in the beginning from 2(1 to 'i't young nu'U and about 1(1 female stuilenis; but thi'Se niunbers have been eonsiilirably increased since the work of the schools has assumed such vast proportions. Thus, on Dee. HI, |S!I<|, there were !I0 male and JiT fenmlo (

students.

grounds.

Alliance Israelite Universelle

The former have their own building and They come from Oriental and African among them are 16 young Rumanians,

countri<s: who, after sufficient preparation, will become instructors in their own land. Although these schools are adminil)le means toward progress anil imjirovement. the education given III poor children does not always furAppren- nish them with a means of livelihood,

Accordingly, instriu'tion in tradcscamc to be considered by the Alliance as a natural and neees.siiry supjilement to the ordinary schools. Hut the miserable industrial conditions of their native countries, the very limited needs of the people, the jealous exelusiveness of the trailemasters, and the disinclination of children to follow callings of which their parents were ignorant, all made this question very diflicult of solution. ticeship.

Many obstacles and disap|)ointments must, of course, be encoimtered before jiositive results can be looked for. Although not able to overcome everywhere the ill-will of non-Jewish "masters," the Alliance has at least succeeded in removing the prejudice again.st manual labor among Jewish children. Apprentice-schools exist in 2K localities of the East and Africa, and are attended by 700 lads who are taught remunerative crafts. Such trades as tailoring, shoemaking, tinsmithing, and those crafts which are easily learned and are already overcrowded, are not taught to pupils of the Alliance. Oidy those avocations which rei|uire some bodily strength, those which are not yel open to Jews, and those which are well jiaiil. receivi' attention. The trade-school of the Alliance o])ened in Jerusalem in 1SS2 deserves particular mention, both by reason of the service it renders and of its especial organization. The establishment comprisesaseriesof workshops, where the trjides of carpentry. bl,-uksnu'thing. loeksmithing. coppersmithing, metal foiuiiling, and wood-carving are carried on. All the teaehirs received their training in Europe. Theei|Uipmenl and arrangement are suited to thedemandsof each parlienlartrade. These shops are attended by 'JdO ai)i>rentices, oO of whom reside in the building and are snpiiorled by the institution. The organization of these trade-schools for boys necessitated a similar institution for i>oor girls gnidiiating from the schools; this was organized in 1SS4. It is necessiirily limited to a small number of trades by reason of certain eoiiditions peculiar to Oriental life, and especially by llie general ab.senceof all industrial occupations among the women of the East. Classes sewing, and embroidery have brought There are l'> shops where these trades are taught. The expense of the trade-schools is in tailoring, good results.

considerable. The present agitation for the employment of Jews in agriculture was early anticipated by the Alliance.

At a time

Farm-

moment

when no one thought

for

a

of such a demand, the CenSchool in tral Conmiitlee of the Alliance establislied a complete school of agricidture Ja£fa. in a most belated and fanatii-al Jewish This institution (luarter, that of Jaffa in Palestine. received the sigiiilieant name of .Mikveh Israel (Hope of Israeli. The .lalTa mIiooI was established in I.ITO, upon a grant of about (iOO acres generously conceded by the sultan. lis great success is due to the inde scribable devotion of a man whose name is associated with cverylhing useful anil noble that the Alliance has accomplished Charles Netler, For a very long period it had lo struggle against the prejudices of the children, ihe lack of siililcieiil resources, and the diltieully of linding a pro|ier staff. Nothing discouraged Nelter, and lie succeeded in overcoming every

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