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The Southern Israelite Paae 1 1 Conference on Jewish Education Steps Taken to Establish Centralized Educational Association ,1 ti. The Southern Israelite) ar< 1 of the United Hebrew i that Jewish education is tal to the future of Jewish life in America, and that i .uu e should be the concern lcuish person in Atlanta, < !it in Jewry must participate :\ition of a policy, the develop- -canization, and the necessary 'iipport. i.aril felt the time ripe for such •\ planning, and that Atlanta t.i take its place of leadership education in the Southeast, representatives of all the mils and organizations were participate in a conference i education, at the Jewish it.d Alliance, in order to Con ner,il problems of Jewish edu- \tlanta. 'reani/ation of a board of Jewish ■ . representing every element e i 'iiunuiuty. continuance of the United School under the control and oim of such a board. i st conference met March 23rd. ' nry A. Alexander was unani- • lected as permanent chairman inference, representing twenty- c.uii/.ations, including all of the nations, kite initial conference marked the first time in the t Atlanta that all congrega- nd organizations have joined : r a permanent movement. Dr. 1-eth-l.ahmy, the Executive Sec- i> ported that out of 2,500 Jewish of elementary school age in 1< ss than 40 per cent were re- 1 - wish education, and concluded i ugh centralized effort a con- ' larger portion could be given ’i m Jewish subjects. \h\ander appointed an Advis- unnittee. which met on March unanimously adopted the fol- ■'commendations, proposed by A ard M. Kahn: *t an Executive Commission be 1 d by the conference, which mdertake details of the reorgan- f the L nited Hebrew School. it on this commission be of- fepresented the United Hebrew with four members. 'at this commission go into Removal of the school from the >th Achim Congregation base- to different quarters. Centralizing administrative and ational control. Auditing the books and records he school. d. Install modern system of office, routine, records, file, and books. 4. That this commission consider the raising of funds necessary to continue the school. HENRY a. ALEXANDER 5. That during the period of tempo rary supervision, to work out details of forming a Hoard of Jewish Education, to which shall be transferred the ad ministration of the United Hebrew School. In the meantime, the Confer ence on Jewish Education will continue to function as the final body of au thority in development of this plan. In order to consider and act upon these recommendations, a second ses sion of the conference was called April 6th. The second session, as the previous one, was very well represented, and the following resolution was unanimously adopted by the conference: “The conference favors the appoint ment, by its chairman, of an Executive Commission, which shall represent the conference and the Hoard of the United Hebrew School, and be charged with the duty of surveying the needs and problems of the United Hebrew School and of Jewish education in the com munity, and take steps in assisting the present Board of the United Hebrew School in carrying on its work.” The Executive Commission met April 9th at the Jewish Educational Alliance. The members of the Executive Com mission were appointed and requested to act by the permanent chairman of the conference, Mr. Henry A. Alexander. The Executive Commission elected unanimous Dr. David Beth-Eahmy as an Executive Director, who would be given full authority to administer the affairs of the school, subject to the control and direction of the Executive Commission, and the representatives of the United Hebrew School Board. It was also decided, upon motion made by the representatives of the United Hebrew School, to remove the school from the premises of Ahavath Achim Congregation and request the hoard of the federation, that facilities of the Alliance be placed at the services of the school, and that if same is granted, that the United Hebrew School be moved to the Alliance. Mr. Alexander appointed immediately a committee on ways and means, to formulate plans of raising funds. "Ibis committee met April 13th and formulated plans in detail, to be pre sented to the next meeting of the Executive Commission. The plan calls for establishing a scholarship fund; scholarships to be solicited from dif ferent organizations, clubs, as well as individuals; formation of a womans di vision of the conference, following the example of the “Ivriah" of the Jewish ■ - DR. DAVID BETH LAHMY Educational Association of New York, and arranging an Annual Jewish Edu cation Dinner, with a prominent per sonality in the Jewish educational field as a speaker. This concludes the formation of an organization well worth recognizing. The public high schools of Saint Louis, Mo., offer a course in Hebrew. Hebrew, like the Greek and the Latin, is a language of culture. It is a langu age in which some of the world’s most enduring literature has been produced. To understand fully the history of civil ization, to appreciate adequately the sources of present-day ethical and so cial standards, and to interpret properly the literature of ancient nations, a study of tlu> languages in which the culture of the past has been expressed is highly important. From this stand point, the study of Hebrew deserves a place in the curriculum of academic pursuits. The offering of Hebrew as an elective study in the high schools of Saint Louis, therefore, gives to the youth of Saint Louis an added oppor tunity for the study of all vital elements pertaining to their social heritage. The young people of Saint Louis avail themselves of this new course. The following are the facts, as sent in by Henry J. Gerling, Superintendent of Public Schools in Saint Louis: In accordance with the action of the Hoard of Education in the meeting of July H, 1930, Pr. Pr. Vol. XXXVII, p. 145, Hebrew is offered in the high school on the same basis as the other languages. 1. Two years credit in Hebrew will be the minimum allowance for gradua tion, as in the case of other languages. 2. Pupils who have had previous work in Hebrew may be examined for advanced standing and given work in accordance with previous preparation, as in the case of the other languages. Credit by examination will depend upon the continuation of the subject. 3. It is suggested that pupils whose programs have already been established include Hebrew as an extra subject, to be assigned and retained upon the ad vice of the principal. 4. As there is only one instructor in Hebrew, the tentative division of his time is as follows, subject to change as circumstances may require. Ncxv York The Board of Education of New York City has been experimenting since last September with the teaching of Hebrew in the city high schools as one of the foreign languages. Two high schools are carrying on the ex periment, with a total of about 200 students. The work so far has been very suc cessful. . . . We also expect the Regents of the state of New York to recoginze and give Regents credit for Hebrew. We also hope to have the colleges in New York City recognize Hebrew’ as one of the subjects for college entrance.