|
We invite
the special attention of our readers to the subjoined proposals of
Judge Noah of New York, for the establishment of a collegiate
institution for the education of the children of our persuasion, from
the age of six years and upwards; and we express only the heartfelt hope
which we have long entertained, when we say, that we wish the amplest
success to this useful enterprise.
Every reflecting Israelite must long since have
been cognizant of the evil tendency of sending his children to Christian
boarding-schools, or to colleges in towns where there are no Jews, for
their education. Let them have been trained ever so strictly, no sooner
are they there than they must habitually violate all the dietetic laws
which our religion prescribes. We hardly think that in their hearts
there are many among us who consider this not a very great evil, since
as believers they must look upon the whole Scriptures as equally
operative, and consequently they ought by no means to lose sight of the
domestic ordinances. In addition to this, the parents cannot permit
their children to be taught the religion of their teachers; and
consequently the young Israelites educated [away] from home must grow up
without any belief at all, or if they have any, it will be what they
insensibly imbibe from those whom they are taught to regard as their
instructors, even admitting that they do not resort to the collegiate
church, and attend at religious instruction. There may be children whose
principles are so fixed by an early home education, that their minds
cannot be biased by what they see or hear abroad; but they are few
indeed, and it would be almost a miracle, were they to remain free from
taint, should they day after day mingle with those persons only who
entertain opinions opposed to their received religion, without being
more or less influenced by them. The only remedy for all this is an
establishment like that proposed by Judge Noah, where sciences are
imparted as the support of religion, and where this is taught by precept
and example, in the manner in which we have received it from our
forefathers.
There is no sectarian feeling connected with the
idea of Judge N., since the proposed college will be open for pupils of
all denominations, and we only desire to see its success, in order that
children of Israelitish parentage may have an opportunity of
participating in the acquisition of a classical and refined education,
without injury to their spiritual welfare. We therefore invite all our
friends to give the subject the serious reflection which it deserves,
and to communicate to us or Judge N. their ideas upon it, cheerfully
offering the Occident for its public discussion.
We learn in a private letter from the projector,
that an eligible situation for the college has been found at
Poughkeepsie, Duchess county, New York, immediately near the Hudson,
being a mansion forty feet in front by eighty in depth, with a large
garden enclosed with an iron railing, which could be fitted up with all
the furniture requisite by the first of November; and as it is
desirable that there should be no delay in the execution of the plan,
we trust that those who feel disposed to aid therein will embrace the
earliest opportunity to declare their intentions as above.
We could say a great deal more, but the full
exposition presented by Judge N. precludes the necessity of our saying
again what he has set forth so well. Moreover, it would be needless for
us to say any thing of the merit of a man so well known among us; and
who, if he should devote the energies of his capacious mind to the
furtherance of the project, will be able to render justice to the cause
of our blessed religion in this land. The Judge is a gentleman of the
kindest heart, of ample experience both in the political and literary
world; and we confidently believe, that should the plan be carried out,
he would be able to rally round him teachers both morally and
scientifically able to be of the utmost service in their calling to the
youth of our people.
For the present we take our leave, to resume the
discussion in a future number, and in the meantime allow Judge N. to
unfold his plan in his own words.—Ed. Oc.
MR.
EDITOR,—For several years past my friends have urged me to
organize and propose a plan for the establishment of a Hebrew College in
the United. States, pressing the necessity of such an institution as
specially desirable to the Jewish population, and referring to the
literary establishments of other religious denominations throughout
the Union, as an incentive for us to make a similar experiment.
Hitherto
my occupations have prevented that attention to the subject which its
importance demanded. Having now leisure to reflect upon a plan which may
finally be successful in carrying out the wishes of our friends, I avail
myself with pleasure of your kind permission to publish the details in
your periodical which; having an extensive circulation, will reach those
who are particularly interested in the successful issue of the project.
The
great increase of the Jewish population in our country, and the
facilities and advantages which our free institutions hold forth to our
co-religionaries throughout the world, the success they have already met
with, and their general spirit of enterprise, warrant the belief, that
in a few years the Jews will constitute a large portion of the freemen
of this Union. It becomes therefore necessary to consider, what steps
are required to improve their condition, and enable them to assume and
maintain a proper rank among their fellow-citizens, and consequently, to
secure for themselves and their posterity that consideration and
respect, which a sound education and a high moral bearing cannot fail to
achieve. Independently of emigration, it is also proper to know, that
the native born Jewish population is rapidly on the increase, and it
remains for us to ascertain what can now be done, to elevate their
character as a separate and distinct people, and place them on the road
to honour and preferment, in common with their fellow-citizens of other
religious denominations. With this object in view, it is desirable to
establish a HEBREW COLLEGE, where children of the Jewish persuasion can
obtain a classical education, and at the same time, be properly
instructed in the Hebrew language; where they can live in conformity to
our laws, and acquire a liberal knowledge of the principles of their
religion.
The
difficulty of obtaining the necessary funds for the endowment of a
college, for the purchase of a library and philosophical apparatus, for
the salary and maintenance of professors, would present almost
insurmountable obstacles to this experiment, situated as we are, having
no government to appeal to, no nation taking an immediate interest in
our welfare. Individual enterprise, therefore, is the only mode by which
this desirable object can be accomplished; some one must embark his own
means, and enlist his own energies in carrying out this important
project, provided parents, who have the inclination and ability to pay
for the education and support of their sons, will second this enterprise
by committing their children to the care of such a person, and thus
laying the foundation of an institution, which may hereafter be carried
out on a broader and more extended scale.
I
have long lamented the necessity of sending Jewish children to Christian
boarding schools, not from any illiberal feelings towards schools of
that denomination, but on account of the manifest injury to them in a
religious point of view. Jewish parents who have a sincere attachment
and regard for our holy and venerable faith, are naturally desirous that
their children should be educated as Jews. However liberal they may
justly feel towards all religious denominations, however anxious they
may be to see their children grow up with enlarged views and tolerant
feelings towards other sects: still they wish them to be Jews, to
understand their religion, to be able to explain its principles and
defend its divine origin. It is difficult to attain this desirable
object in Christian colleges and boarding schools. The Jewish scholars
are compelled to live in daily violation of the Mosaic institutions, to
neglect the Sabbath, and attend church on Sunday, in conformity with the
regulations of the school. The consequences are, that our sons, having
finished their education, return to the bosom of their families, well
instructed it is true, but retaining only the name of Jews, unacquainted
with the principles of their religion, perfectly indifferent to its
obligations, and probably with prejudices against it, the result of
other and early impressions, and if compelled by the urgency of business
enterprise to go abroad, forgetting in a short time, that they were born
of Jewish parents, and marrying in other. denominations and communities.
The successful establishment of a Hebrew College may, and I think will,
remedy these evils, and relieve parents from a responsibility which at
all times is peculiarly painful. In such an institution, under proper
government, sons of Jewish parents can acquire a classical education,
all the accomplishments taught in other schools, all the exercise
necessary for the promotion of health and comfort, while devoting a
reasonable portion of their time in acquiring a thorough and grammatical
knowledge of the Hebrew language, going through their daily prayers,
attending worship on the Sabbath, and becoming practically acquainted
with the ceremonies and obligations of our holy religion, a religion
which only can be properly estimated by those who have enjoyed the
benefits of a liberal education.
In
proposing to establish this institution several eligible positions have
presented themselves, each holding out certain peculiar advantages. The
college should not be in the immediate vicinity of the city; as students
might be induced by its amusements and attractions to spend more time in
it, than would be beneficial either to their health or morals, nor
should it be so remote as to
exclude
early intelligence of what is going on in the commercial metropolis. I
should prefer Newport, Rhode Island, from its healthy position, from
there being a Synagogue at that place liberally endowed, and from its
having formerly possessed a congregation distinguished for great wealth
and respectability. The difficulty might be in finding at Newport
suitable buildings ready for immediate occupation. In the vicinity of
this city, we have Flushing, a place of great celebrity for education,
and New Brighton. On the North River, we have the advantage of water
prospect, and its atmospheric influence, combined with pure mountain
air. Poughkeepsie, Mount Pleasant, and Tarrytown, very pleasant
villages, each present great advantages of location, in their daily
communication with the city, in their already established literary
institutions, and each having spacious buildings which could be procured
forthwith. This point, however, would be reserved for future
deliberation.
Our
object and intentions should be to secure for this institution a
reputation which will bear comparison with any college throughout the
Union, by the employment of competent classical teachers in every
department, by guaranteeing a thorough scholarship its every branch of
study, by a high moral and intellectual training, a love of truth and
justice, a veneration for religion, an honourable high-minded feeling, a
self-respect, and all those just, generous, and amiable feelings,
calculated to establish the character of an honourable well-bred man.
The
classical department should embrace a course of study of Latin, Greek,
and Hebrew, Ancient History and Mathematics, the English department, one
of Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, Penmanship, History, Moral
Philosophy, Elocution, Composition, and Book-keeping, together with
French and Drawing, each branch applicable to the age and capacity of
the pupil, advancing each by degrees, until attaining every department,
and dividing the hours of study and recreation, so as to ensure a steady
progress, while not neglecting that exercise so conducive to health.
The
principal, scholars and teachers, should constitute one family, eating
together, and sleeping under the same roof. The Hebrew professor should
at the same time be the Hazan and Shochet, read daily
prayers, also on the Sabbath and holidays in the Synagogue, which should
be in the college, and it would be the duty of the principal
occasionally to deliver an English discourse on religious and moral
obligations. There should be two vacations—one of two weeks during the
Passover, and one of four weeks during the fall holidays.
Such,
sir, are the mere outlines of a plan to establish a Hebrew Seminary,
which is every way feasible of execution, requiring only the cordial and
prompt co-operation of our friends to carry it into effect. If a person
possessing the entire confidence of the Jewish population can be found,
with adequate means to carry out this enterprise, and lay the foundation
of an institution which hereafter may do honour to our religion, I will
most cheerfully assist in carrying the plan into successful execution;
but such is my confidence in the successful issue of the project, that
if no proper person can be found to embark in the enterprise, I am
willing to commence it at my cost and risk, and thus give an earnest of
my sincerity in carrying out this interesting experiment. I believe that
parents may rely upon my declaration that the treatment of pupils will
be paternal and liberal—the management firm and kind, and the moral
and physical training sedulously regarded. The entire expense of each
scholar, including boarding, lodging, tuition in every branch of
education, with the exception of music and drawing, will be two hundred
and fifty dollars per annum; no children admitted under six years of
age. I invite my friends to communicate freely with me—to interchange
opinions, and to take an interest in carrying out this useful and
important project. If a reasonable number of students shall offer from
different parts of the Union, and the West India Islands, to commence
with, I think I can say that all the preparations will be completed for
their reception by the first day of November next.
M. M. Noah.
New
York, August 18th, 1843. |
