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osli Hasltaiia 5740 Judaism and the
younger generation DIfwtor, DcpartiMnt of JcwWi Education, JewWi Pwterstkn of Omaha In 1730. a European Jew wlio had •tiMttod ratabtnks la Holland and ILaly was awardad the degree of ' of Arts from Harvard CoUeae By this , Judah Monte became the first Jew to receive a coUese degree in North Anartca as well as the only one to earn a Harvard defpee before MOO. Two years latar. wtth the promlae of a faculty aypuimmenl as reward. Monte converted to ClirtaUanity and spent the next forty years teaching Ilebiew at Harvard never tortee atwvc tiM rank of ladaad. It was not until ins that Harvard allowed a Jew to bold tlw rank of full profeaaor MMlIt would be IMl before a J«w oocoplod such a chair ouUlde the area of Jcwiib studlea. , UwHMoi PWiilatlnn at Harvard trUl ! a new buitdklg wMek wtU house Its numerous and far reartilwg proyams As one walks through Harvard Yard, one te struck t>y the sight of many [men wearing yamulkas. A major program to I to endow a center for Jewish studlea has ) fruit. A glaoea ttwoHgH dM catalog of the university's . Many of theae sdMiarB are actlvaly bivolvd to their reHgton and eonalstenUy sMpparttveof tlwlr paapis. Indesd. tfaadean of the CeUags of Arts and adoacas. a deeply coBMnttted Jew. wUI speak at the dedleatton of the new HUlel iNiUdlng Harvard te not the execptlon. Rather, it te a microcosm of renewed Jcwtab tavolvcfBeat anai« the The trend cuts I aadpubdcattans provide evidence of the Within the last 10 years, the number of Jewtsh day schools in the United SUtes has taicreaaed ateadUy. Many of theae schools now go beyond the elementary grades to encompass both Junior and senkM-high day sefMols have tradttiooaUy largepepMlattena. wawy can now be In cases, day school parents themselves
Credits Morris Msins JudHh Marburg Oisne Wbrtroub Cover Photo san of Aryah and GIU VitoMki. a Day School, waa aA Beth Israel l^sgngiio hte friends demonatrated how to read
did not enjoy this form of education Nevertheless, they feel that intensive Jewish learning combined with first-rate secular studies U vital for their chUdren. Ml branches of Judaism have expanded earlier prograou aimed at Intanslve Jewish education and III srtirr fTn Isrgr rsmpiaos fhmiUlioiit tin > nuili j the Lubavttcfasr Oioailrtlni have ealabHihad Chabad • food, classes In I dormitory ^aoe. Their goal te to bring Jcwiah young people cloeer to Judaism the Orthodox movement has expanded religious universities and supplied numerous campus rabbta. Reform and Conservative congregations have striven to maintain strong links with oalla9»-age manberB. while their rniiertJve national tn—nnfi have practice wMcli m wtU mto the I The sucoeaa of such programs has I ' to the dovolad liivai veuwsd of Jewlah Siemaelvea. Several years ago the Jewish Put>l icatlon Society. a major publisher of scholarly and popular Jewlah books, iasued Us first TteJawMb Ca(al(«; te a maaual of Jewlah activity %nitten by several collage atlMtarts. Tke book, uUllztag Ute format of the popular N'ftafe Earth rafaloig. was an outgrowth of its authors' Involvement in a bstnu-ah. a Jewteh ooaHauntty which was founded and led by [people I in the IMO'B. titfa sort of campus acUvlawialBoladtothaBatoWtehnientofoimierous efaairs to Jewteb atttdlao thraoghout the country WMlMat the demand created by Jewteh college neither university *<«fPif«igtraHone nor local I commmitles would have felt the impetus to I anch programs. The Omaha .liwiBliCeMWHaitty has been a major Under the aiMpfeas of the Jewlah Federation of Omaha, ttw Uvtogsloo Foundation, and other organizations, two chairs, one In Bit>lical archaeology and the other in Jewteh studies, have been eatabltehed at the University of Nebraska at Omah^ In addWkm. to the laat three years, an acUve HIIIH organtearton haaamerjad at UNO and Crel^Hon New HOlel activities lor the tarthooming year have already been planned and names of Intereated students are being gathered. Finally, a major new expanatoo of
college activities te now In its preliminary stages The renaissance of Jewish Involvement among the young te not limited to the United Slates In Israel. numarouB ymaliivot (rabbinical academies > have flowered In recent years. While in past Umes these InsUtutions served the needs of those with strong traditional educations attained from childhood, numerous Israeli yvshivot now accept students with little or no background Special educational programs havel>een developed to suit the needs and the lacks of such willing younx people All these accompllshments seem to indicate the successful adjustment of Jews to a free society The quotas and bfaaea which restricted the advancement of Judah Monte Mid numerous others an no longer in place. Yet, Jewlah young people murt face the modem pressures of seductive cults, would-be misstonaries. Intermarriage, and Increastngly virulent and well financed antl-Iarad and anti-Semitic propaganda. In such an environment, the progressively more powerful trend toward Jewiah education and practice among the young bodes well for Jewish surviv'al.
The Jewish Press I weakly on Friday Pv the Jewpish Federation of Omaha StvwRoffmarf MorrteMaHne saMv^vOMt Judhh Marburg Suzanne Richardo Sombarg
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