Bernard Semel Warns Against Sacrificing Jewish Religious Education to Other Needs

A statement charging that some Jewish leaders have, at this crucial time, “failed to understand the place and importance of Jewish religious education” was issued yesterday by Bernard Semel, honorary secretary of the Jewish Education Association.

Analyzing the situation of the Jewish religious schools as they have been affected by the economic depression, Mr. Semel finds that, in the main, the parents of the pupils and in most cases the directors of local institutions have “remained at their posts,” but that in “the higher circles of Jewish leadership” there has been a “dismal failure” to grasp the fundamental importance of religious education and a readiness has manifested itself to sacrifice it as a luxury to what are regarded as more primary necessities. Mr. Semel raises the question whether those who “fall so far short of a true understanding of Jewish tradition” are entitled to a place of leadership in Jewish affairs.

“In the history of American Jewry,” Mr. Semel’s statement reads, “and particularly in the part that will deal with our communal and institutional life, the past year will be recorded as one of sufferings and trials, of fears and alarms. It will be recorded, also, as a year when movements and activities were put to an acid test, so that only those which public sentiment regarded as most indispensable were able to survive. But let us face the fact that not only have Jewish communal affairs been so tested, but Jewish leadership has also undergone the same acid test.

“The 250 religious schools designated as the Jewish educational system have

depended for their existence and progress first, on the parents of their pupils; second, on local groups of public spirited men and women who assumed responsibility for the establishing and proper functioning of these institutions, and third, on certain central communal agencies who provided not only financial assistance but guidance and stimulation as well. The third factor is represented by such an agency as the Jewish Education Association. The latter has drawn its resources almost entirely from that group which may be described as the Jewish communal leadership, so that its capacity for service has depended primarily on the responsiveness of the men and women making up this group.

“How have these different groups behaved in the present emergency? While a final answer is not yet possible, certain tendencies are apparent that offer food for serious reflection. It is already clear that the parents have stood the test best of all. That fact is exceedingly encouraging to all the friends of Jewish religious education, for the parents represent the most important source of interest and revenue. Of course, the number of parents unable to pay tuition fees has increased, entailing additional burden on the schools themselves. It is also true that some parents have withdrawn their children from the Jewish religious school till the advent of better times; but the great majority of Jewish parents who sent their children to the Jewish religious school before the depression have continued to do so and they have continued under great stress to pay the tuition fees.

“The second group— the local leaders of Boards of the various schools— show a wide variety of response. There are no doubt instances of surrender and desertion; a few have abandoned their responsibilities, but in the main the local leaders too have remained at their posts.

“Nor will the picture be complete if the teachers of the Jewish religious schools are left out. At least 50 percent of our schools would close today if it were not for the pertinacity and sacrifice made by the teachers.

“With the groups that have been mentioned loyal to their obligations, Jewish religious education would have little to fear from the present economic upheaval if all of those who are in positions of higher Jewish leadership had an equally true understanding of the cause that is so fundamental to Jewish life. But the false idea has also gained prevalence among them that Jewish religious education for our children is a sort of luxury that should be dispensed with in times of depression.

“This is a time when we sorely miss the leonine voice of Louis Marshall, who had the courage to declare as far back as 1920: ‘I regard the extension of religious education as the most vital need of the community; more important even than hospitals, orphan asylums, homes for the aged and all other philanthropic institutions, however valuable I consider them to be.’ Let us at least give heed to the voice of the President of the United States, who only recently quoted the so-called Children’s Charter, which was adopted at a White House conference on problems of children. The first clause of this charter reads: ‘For every child, spiritual and moral training to help him to stand firm under the pressure of life.’

“It is essential that the men and women who occupy positions of authority and influence in Jewish life shall not fail the cause of Jewish education at this time. Otherwise, in saving our lives, we shall sacrifice all that makes life worth while.”