|
Mr. Editor:—You may remember, that
I addressed a
communication a few years ago to your journal,
earnestly recommending the establishment of a Jewish
College at some central position, and even offering
to embark in the project myself, so convinced was I
of the pressing necessity of such an institution, by
the by increase of our people in every part of the
United States. We are, however, a business people;
every person is occupied in either procuring a
living for his family, or increasing his capital;
and although I have never found an unwillingness on
the part of any Jew to give his children a good
education, if he has the means of paying the
expense, still they had not the time nor the
inclination to embark in the project of establishing
a Hebrew college. Dr. Lilienthal has ventured upon
the experiment alone, and after surmounting many
difficulties for the last four years, I have every
reason to believe that he has at length succeeded in
establishing a collegiate institution, which must
necessarily increase, and which embodies all the
principles recognised in the best collegiate
establishments in the <<425>>country.
He
has, in the first place, a large and handsome house,
fronting Tompkins Square in this city, in a highly
respectable neighbourhood, and a very healthy, airy,
and open position:—an important point in affording
the boys a safe and ample playground for gymnastic
and other exercises. His teachers are all
well-educated men, and the boys enjoy the great
advantages of learning the French and German
languages, which are invaluable in whatever pursuit
a young man may select for himself when his
education is finished. His English teacher is a good
grammarian, and is every way qualified to impart to
the student a substantial English education, to
which is added music and drawing—Dr. Lilienthal
instructing in the Hebrew and the principles and
doctrines of our religion,—the entire expense of
tuition and boarding and lodging, with the exception
of music and drawing, being but $200 per annum.
There are a number of our people who are living in
the Far West, and who would gladly pay for the
education of their boys, if they were aware that a
school, combining so many advantages as that of Dr.
Lilienthal, was established in this great commercial
city. I have sent a son of mine, a little over ten
years old, to this school:— he is an apt but a wild
boy, not over-attached to study, and fond of playing
in the street. I have been pleased and gratified
with his improvement in less than a quarter. He
speaks many German and French sentences, and is
required to speak in those languages to his
teachers; he has improved in his writing, reads
Hebrew fluently, and learns rapidly to translate it;
he is perfectly satisfied with his position, and is
every way contented. The boys have ample time to
play, have plenty of substantial food, and every
appearance of enjoying entire health. There is a
physician attached to the school, and the moral and
personal deportment of the scholars is carefully
attended to.
This institution, Mr. Editor, approaches nearly to
what you and I have been long endeavouring to see
established, and from the number of scholars who are
about to join the school, in addition to its present
number, the Doctor will be under the necessity
shortly of enlarging his establishment. Parents
should be advised to send their boys as early as at
seven years, in order that, without forcing various
studies at so tender an age upon a boy, a proper
system may be commenced with him; and, as parents
desire to place their sons in some active employment
at thirteen or fourteen years of age, it is
impossible to bestow upon them a complete education,
if they are sent at eleven or twelve, and remain but
two years. There are some scholars of seven, who are
quite apt and promising. I propose to send another
boy about seven, <<426>>who expresses a great desire
to go.
The companionship, amusement, and instruction, are
always attractive, and in such a school, the minds
of parents are easy and comfortable in relation to
the destiny of their children. The less they go home
the better:—the indulgence of home destroys the
discipline of school.
I
recommend this school of Dr. Lilienthal’s with
entire confidence to my co-religionaires on this
continent and in the West Indies, as one of the best
under all circumstances that we can expect to have,
and believe that every confidence may be reposed in
the fidelity and character of the Doctor, for the
improvement and comfort of the children entrusted to
his care.
M.
M. NOAH. |
