The Odessa “Lovers of Zion” Association maintains Kindergartens in Safed, Tiberias and Jaffa; schools for children in the colonies of Chederah, Bir Jacob, Wadi el Chanin, Artuf, Moza and Kastinie; and schools at Tiberias, Haifa and Gaza. It contributes also to the support of the Tachkemoni and the Handicrafts School attached to the Talmud-Torah (religious school) at Jaffa, and of the Bezalel at Jerusalem.
The “Free Association for the Defence of the Interests of Orthodox Judaism” at Frankfort supports a number of schools in the colonies, which have also accepted Hebrew as the language of instruction. To this category belong the Talmud-Torah schools at Petach-Tikvah, Rishon Le’Zion, Ekron, Rechoboth and Haifa.
The Jewish Colonization Association maintains almost all the schools in the colonies, but the management of the schools is left to the colonists themselves. As we are confining ourselves mostly to “Lovers of Zion” and Zionist work, we refrain from giving full statistics of these schools, which are important from the standpoint of numbers as well as from that of efficiency. To mention just a few of them, the schools in Upper Galilee (at Rosh Pinah and other colonies) are excellent, both from the pedagogical point of view and in the teaching of living Hebrew, which is the language of instruction.
The Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris has a long and important record of school work in Palestine, and the Hilfsverein der deutsche Juden has also established a large number of schools, etc. In 1913 the Alliance requested its schools in Palestine to give more attention to Hebrew. The Evelina de Rothschild School for Girls of the Anglo-Jewish Association, under the headship of Miss Landau, is doing very useful work.
Mention should be made also of the numerous religious old-fashioned schools and colleges (Talmud-Torah schools and Yeshiboth) for boys and young scholars at Jerusalem and in the provinces, in which thousands of Jewish children are educated in knowledge of the Bible and the Talmud. In spite of its defects, the old Jewish settlement in Palestine was instrumental in paving the way for the new colonization, and in this respect the old schools, notwithstanding their out-of-date methods, deserve the highest appreciation for having preserved in the children the knowledge of religion and ancient Hebrew literature. Gradually the new spirit is penetrating into some of these schools, as, for instance, into the Cheder Torah (founded in 1906), where the Hebrew language has been adopted as the language of instruction.
In connection with the ever-increasing and extensive work of national education in Palestine the “Union of Teachers” (Merchaz Ha’morim) calls for mention as one of the most important organizations. It was established some years ago for the purpose of fostering educational development in the new Jewish settlement, of providing means for the further training of teachers, and for completing the education of those engaged in school work, by such means as holiday courses, lectures, excursions, research work, discussions and debates dealing with the curriculum and methods of instruction, and so on.
The Merchaz has also established the nucleus of an Education Museum, with sections for history, pedagogy and hygiene.
The “Language Board” (Vaad Ha’lashon) at Jerusalem (including D. Yellin, E. Ben Jehuda, Dr. Maze, Sutta and others) plays an important part in the national awakening. The rebirth of the Jewish nation being impossible without the rebirth of the national language, the work of modernizing and enriching the national language is as essential and as indispensable for the realization of Zionism as the purchase and cultivation of land or the financial arrangements for that purpose. To unearth the treasures of our ancient language, to reveal to our people the wealth of our national intellect, to broaden national thought and to guide it towards clear expression in its own way—this is fundamental Zionist work. Prosperous and happy nations have established academies for this purpose, which are maintained out of public funds; our more unassuming task is still in a preliminary stage, although much useful work has already been done. The “Language Board” is publishing a series of pamphlets containing suggestions for new idioms, etc.
The good work of the two last-named institutions has earned the appreciation of the Zionist Actions Committee, which has decided to provide them with the necessary means.
The Public Hebrew Library “Bait Neeman,” “Midrash [♦]Abrabanel” and “Ginze Joseph” at Jerusalem, founded by Dr. Joseph Chazanovitsch of Bialystok, is also worthy of record. It is the only big library in Palestine which is of use to scholars, and it is therefore of immeasurable value for the revival of Palestine. (There are also collections of rare Hebrew books and MSS. in some Sephardi Yeshiboth, and a Hebrew Library, “Shaar Zion,” founded in 1891 by the new Jewish settlers at Jaffa.) It is far from being adequate—it requires extending and systematizing—but this beginning must win the admiration of all those who fully conceive the immensity of the Zionist task.