Teaching Yiddish in a Public School


 

Publication Date: January 1916

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Robert A. Hess

Research Area: Culture and religion; Education

Keywords: Education; Religion; Church and state

Type: Other

Coverage: Wisconsin

Abstract:

The author describes the Milwaukee Yiddishe Folkschule, a free Sunday morning school where Yiddish, Hebrew, and Jewish history are taught from a secular perspective. The school recently moved into a public school building and faced criticism from the Jewish community. The author defends the school, arguing that it is possible to teach Hebrew without teaching religion, that Yiddish is a real language, and that there is plenty of Jewish history to teach without teaching the Bible as a sacred document.

Bulletin of the National Conference of Jewish Charities, 6:6