Daniel Harrison - June 27, 1985

The Columbus Hebrew School was formally organi ~d and chartered in November, 1922. It was a community school to provide a Jewish education for all the Jewish children in greater Columbus. Hebrew studies were provided by private teachers prior to the establishment of the Hebrew School in 1922. Hebrew classes were hold at the Agudas Achim Synagogue prior to the establishment of the Hebrew School on Rich Street. The community Hebrew School was hold at 558 Rich Street until the Fall of 1947. From 1947 to 1949, Hebrew School classes were held at Fairwood School. There is - tablet at the Jewish Center giving all the names of the people who were the founders of the Hebrew School. (Abraham Goldberg, Nathan Danziger, Hirsh Kobacker, Mendel Pass, Be, Stain, Samuel Blazberg, Joseph SoloVe, Leon Seff, Jacob Yenkin, Wm. S. Cohen, Cliff Furman, and John Thall.)

The founders of the Hebrew School and many other important people in the community rendered a tremendous service to the needs of Jewish education here in Columbus. They worked very hard and devoted many days and many hours to enroll children in the Hebrew School, to raise funds for the school, to attend board meetings, to decide the goals and to solve the many problems that confronted the.. By establishing the Hebrew School on Rich Street, the founders made a tremendous contribution to the needs of Jewish education in this community.

When I assumed the position of principal in August, 1944, after meeting the leaders in the community, particularly those associated with the Hebrew School, it was clear to me that on, of the things that was required was to find a new address for the school. Most of the students attending the Hebrew School lived in the Driving Park are.. We were looking for a lot to build a building that would serve the needs of the Hebrew School. such a lot was found on Livingston Avenue about a block east of Fairwood. Arrangements were made to have necessary plans for the construction of a Hebrew School building.

At the same time that the Hebrew School was raising funds for its building, the leaders of the community were conducting a campaign to build a Jewish Center. These leaders felt that the Hebrew School should merge with the Jewish Center, thereby eliminating the building of a separate building for the Hebrew School and ultimately saving operating expenses as the needs for the Hebrew School could easily be incorporated into the plans for the Jewish Center. After many meetings and discussions, it was finally decided that the Columbus Hebrew School terminate it, campaign for a building fund and give up the idea of building their own building and be included in the plans for Hebrew classes at the Jewish Center. Ultimately, all the funds that were raised for the building were turned over to the Center.

In September, 1949, Hebrew School classes began at the Jewish Center. From September, 1947 to September, 1949, the Hebrew School classes were held at the Fairwood Avenue School for a period of two years. When the-Hebrew School moved into the Jewish Center, it was much more pleasant to be there than to be in the Fairwood Avenue School. The new surroundings were more attractive and better suited for the needs of operating a Hebrew School. The operation of the Hebrew School at the Jewish Center Stimulated more interest, better enrollment and a better attitude towards the school.

The enrollment was increased and we required more teachers. In the process of planning for the Hebrew School, it was thought we would need 6 classes. Hebrew School classes were held from 4 o'clock till almost 8 o'clock, four afternoons a week, Monday through Thursday Children received five hours of instruction a week, each day, one hour and fifteen minutes. We had to have busses to transport the children to the school and take them home. That involved many other problems. As we look back, we find that those were normal problems that all schools throughout the country were confronted with in course of time, the Hebrew School was confronted with many changes and as a result, we had a special committee to draw up by-laws for the Hebrew School. Elections were hold on a regular basis and many other stipulations were included to assure a well organized operation of the school. We had a teacher's code of practice, that was very important to assure the teacher of tenure in his position and increments annually, also, the teaching time a teacher devoted to Hebrew instruction, preparation for classes, attending staff Meetings, etc.

The curriculum of the school was for a six year elementary school. It included learning the Hebrew Language, familiarize with the prayer book, its meaning, the study of the Bible in the original Hebrew, Jewish History and background of Jewish Holidays and teaching the meaning and customs of the holidays whenever those holidays occurred during the year. Of course, we had Jewish arts, current events and also the teaching of Jewish music.

In later years, we were able to encourage the graduates of the Columbus Hebrew School elementary program of six years to continue in a Hebrew High School. The High School program required a student to attend twice a week, each session an hour and a half, for a period of three years. It is gratifying to rate that these student. who attended the High School after six years in the elementary school acquired a very fine Jewish education. Also the students who attended the six year program achieved a great deal of knowledge during the years attended in the elementary department.

In the course of the High School program, we had at one time as high as 33 students. Columbus was, in that sense, the envy of many surrounding communities, for having such a fine program. Our problem was, annually, to recruit qualified professional teachers for our school, and we were, most of the time, successful in getting dedicated and devoted teachers in the field of Jewish education.

The Columbus Community Council, the forerunner of the Columbus Jewish Federation, appointed the principal of the Hebrew School also as the director of the Bureau of Jewish Education. The purpose of the Bureau of Jewish Education was to serve all the schools of Jewish education. The idea of a Bureau of Jewish Education was popular at that time in this country, One of the function. of the Bureau was to arrange workshops for all the teachers in the community, not only the Hebrew School teachers but all those who were teaching in the various Religious schools on Sunday, to schedule teacher's conferences, to arrange for lectures on education as well as various problems that teachers confront in the classroom. The Bureau also undertook to stimulate the idea of the Jewish Music Month in the Community. A number of programs were arranged annually for a period of 3 years and the community was invited to attend. The first program was held at the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts and lzler Solomon, the Conductor of the Columbus Symphony, was the guest speaker introducing the program of Jewish music. For the following two years, we had Cantor Meisels from Cleveland render a program of Jewish music, and another distinguished cantor from New York present a program the following year.

In the Fall of 1949, when the Bab... School moved from the Fairwood Avenue school to the Jewish Center, the Community Council did not find -it necessary to allocate funds for the operation of the Bureau of Jewish Education and accordingly as of 1950, the Bureau of Jewish Education discontinued its operation.