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Page 25 Th e Southern Israelite \\ hen Grown-ups Want Judaism DR. LEON MONES, Director \ru jersey IS'or mat School for Jewish Teachers and Jewish Social II orkers our ye ars ago Rabbi Foster broach- t he subject to me. I have been planning for some he >aid. “ to organize a normal p f,the training of Jewish tr'achers. 1 should like you to help me.” p would be dignified to record that I hesitated and considered. To tell the L. !h , though. 1 didn’t. The fact is that ;mped at the idea, for school work profession and Judaism my S, we sat down to consider. Did N.wark need such a course? We be- \, wark did. Certainly the state f N.-w .Jersey needed professionally trained teachers for its Jewish re- . schools. Would pupils come? Well, we hoped somehow to persuade fifty students to enroll. Could we c- • financial support ? Leave that to the i. (Incidentally, I’ll tell the world we did. • And we were off. We called conference Mr. Franzblau, Prin- ; pa I of the Hebrew Union College hool for Teachers in New York, and laid our plans. Our feeling was one ■f enthusiasm somewhat tempered by usirivings. What if pupils wouldn’t ■me? Hut we took turns cheering one • 'her up. If fifty wouldn’t come, we'd teach thirty. If we couldn’t corral thirty, we’d start with twenty. And we would have taken less. Then the Rabbi approached a num- r of Newark Jews who were genu inely interested in Jewish education. They responded with an assurance of financial support for the first year. Next we invited a dozen cultured and i a; able men and women to comprise Hoard of Trustees. With the help : these we selected our faculty, a body Ten long trained in the fields they "' r> - engaged to teach. A lawyer mem- "f the Board was authorized to orporate the school and obtain from tr.' State authorities the right to grant teacher s diplomas. Temple B’nai Jes- run generously offered the use of ; -plendid school equipment. And we jed <»ur catalogue. In it we defined 1 ur a >nis as follows: ’ - ’' ! "I • • ff !; HUNTSVILLE STEAM i; laundry ^ ! >IIES YOU NEW YEAR GREETINGS Hi N rs\ II.LE. ALABAMA ■.. Jewish Education for the Adult PURPOSES: 1. To provide systematic training in Jewish studies for competent students who wish to become teachers in Jewish Religious Schools. The courses are professional in de sign and students upon graduation re ceive Normal Diplomas as qualified teachers in Jewish studies. 2. To interested persons who desire to increase their knowledge of Jewish literature and religion, permission may be granted to enroll as Auditors. Audi tors may pursue any one course or the completed course of study. Should they complete the full course and desire the Normal Diploma, they may earn it by passing the course examinations and submitting proof of entrance qualifi cations. 3. The school will likewise provide periodic lecture courses, open to the general public, on subjects of Jewish cultural and educational interest. 4. More broadly, the New Jersey Normal School for Jewish Teachers aims to fill a need long felt in our community and state by providing systematic instruction in Jewish stud ies. Then we waited for results. Here’s what happened: The community be came eagerly interested. The newspap ers asked for more information. The libraries posted our catalogue. Re quests for registration blanks came with each mail. And on registration night three hundred and thirty stu dents came prepared to enroll. Now we were really enthusiastic, for this was an entirely different story. We had meant to start a modest course of instruction for potential Jewish teachers. Instead we were being faced by a proposition with the dimensions of a small university. So we took a census. Here is what we found! Of the three hundred and thirty stu dents who came to register, all were at least high school graduates, for we had made high school graduation a qualification for entrances into our school. Some seventy-two were college and university graduates, among them some lawyers and a physician or two. Over one hundred were teachers in the public grammar schools. Over a score were married women. About a dozen Christians, among them a Lutheran i j clergyman enrolled for courses in He brew. Some of our pupils knew no He brew at all and some could converse in modern Hebrew. Some had a thoro ugh orthodox Jewish education and some were astoundingly ignorant of anything pertaining to Judaism. Two hundred were desirous of taking a complete course leading to a diploma in Jewish teaching, and the rest want ed individual courses in Hebrew, or Jewish history, or Jewish ethics. Showing Continued Growth And this is how we started our school and it is continuing in a way that pleases us. For it is much more than a teacher’s training school. At every session auditors are welcomed, and men and women of our communi ty come to sit in and learn about Juda ism. It is a sort of open university, its classes welcome to all. So that at the end of two years we graduated forty- nine Jewish religious school teachers practically all of whom are now' em ployed in Jewish religious schools. At the end of our third year we graduated thirty more. We have awarded gold medals and prizes to students of out standing proficiency. All this is natu rally a source of delight. But we are equally delighted in our general appeal to our Jewish communi ty, in the men and women who came to listen in as auditors. These do not come for diplomas, they do not respond (Continued on Page 26) Farewell at the Station Son: Adios, folks, I’ll write home every week. Father: Oh, my goodness, son, try and make your money last longer than that.—Arizona Kitty Kat. NEW YEAR GREETINGS J. F. Hummel & Sons PRACTICAL WORKERS IN STONE MONUMENTS, VAI I.TS, CURBING ANI> VASES, III II.1)1 NG STONE. EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR Phone Sit HUNTSVILLE, ALA. 186b 1929 THE W, R.jRISON BANKIN' *THF. GIBRALTAR OF IMPANY NORTH ALABAMA" Extends the SEASON’S GREETINGS TO OUR MANY FRIENDS AND PATRONS A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR II. M. Hlicit, President Ashford Todd, Cashier I. W. Walker, Asst. Cashier New Year Greetings To All Our Friends Crystal Drug Company CORNER CLINTON AND JEFFERSON “Where ihe Car* Meet” HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA t f H Telephone Ire Plant 6-J Telephone Coal Yard 6-W GREETINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR HUNTSVILLE Ice & Coal Co. Manufacturer* of Pure Spring-Water Ire Wholesaler* and Retailers of Coal IIunt»ville, Alabama ■ rrrrrxnrrrrrr rrrrrxr mr rrtrr