|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 9
To have a scholarly son or son-in-law was the best passport to the
highest circles, a means of rising from the lowliest to the loftiest
station in life.
It is no wonder, then, that schools abounded in every community. At the
early age of four the child was usually sent to the heder (school;
literally, room), where he studied until he was ready for the yeshibah,
the higher "seat" of learning. The melammedim, teachers, were graded
according to their ability, and the school year consisted of two terms,
zemannim, from the first Sabbath after the Holy Days to Passover and
from after Passover to Rosh ha-Shanah. The boy's intellectual capacities
were steadily, if not systematically, cultivated, sometimes at the
expense of his bodily development. It was not unusual for a child of
seven or eight to handle a difficult problem in the Talmud, a precocity
characteristic to this day of the children hailing from Slavonic
countries. Their 'illuyim (prodigies) might furnish ample material for
more than one volume of _les enfants c�l�bres_.
Nor were the children of the poor left to grow up in ignorance. Learning
was free, to be had for the asking. More than this, stringent measures
were taken that no child be without instruction. Talmud Torahs were
founded even in the smallest kehillot (communities), and the students
were supplied, not only with books, but also with the necessaries of
life. Communal and individual benefactors furnished clothes, and every
member (ba'al ha-bayit) had to provide food and lodging for an indigent
pupil at least one day of each week. The "Freitisch" (free board) was an
inseparable adjunct to every school. Poor young men were not regarded as
"beggar students." They were looked upon as earning their living by
study, even as teachers by instructing. To pray for the dead or the
living in return for their support is a recent innovation, and mostly
among other than Slavonic Jews. It is a custom adopted from medieval
Christianity, and practiced in England by the poor student, who, in the
words of Chaucer,
Busily 'gan for the souls to pray
On them that gave him wherewith to scolay.
For a faithful and vivid description of the yeshibot we cannot do better
than transcribe the account given in the pages of the little pamphlet
_Yeven Mezulah_ in which Nathan Hannover, mentioned above, has left us a
reliable history of the Cossack uprisings and the Kulturgeschichte of
his own time.
I need bring no proof for the statement that nowhere was the
study of the Law so universal as in Russo-Poland. In every
community there was a well-paid dean (rosh yeshibah), who,
exempt from worry about a livelihood, devoted himself
exclusively to teaching and studying by day and by night. In
every kahal, many youths, maintained liberally, studied under
the guidance of the dean. In turn, they instructed the less
advanced, who were also supported by the community. A kahal of
fifty [families] had to provide for at least thirty such. They
boarded and lodged in the homes of their patrons, and frequently
received pocket-money in addition. Thus there was hardly a house
in which the Torah was not studied, either by the master of the
house, a son, a son-in-law, or a student stranger. They always
bore in mind the dictum of Rabba, "He who loves scholars will
have scholarly sons; he who welcomes scholars will have
scholarly sons-in-law; he who admires scholars will become
learned himself." No wonder, then, that every community swarmed
with scholars, that out of every fifty of its members at least
twenty were far advanced, and had the morenu (i.e. bachelor)
degree.
The dean was vested with absolute authority. He could punish an
offender, whether rich or poor. Everybody respected him, and he
often received gifts of money or valuables. In all religious
processions he came first. Then followed the students, then the
learned, and the rest of the congregation brought up the rear.
This veneration for the dean prompted many a youth to imitate
his example, and thus our country was rendered full of the
knowledge of the Law.
What became of the students when they were graduated? Let us turn once
more to Hannover's interesting narrative. The "fairs" of those days were
much more than opportunities for barter; they afforded favorable and
attractive occasions for other objects. Zaslav and Yaroslav during the
summer, Lemberg and Lublin in the winter, were "filled with hundreds of
deans and thousands of students," and one who had a marriageable
daughter had but to resort thither to have his worries allayed.
Therefore, "Jews and Jewesses attended these bazaars in magnificent
attire, and [each season] several hundred, sometimes as many as a
thousand, alliances were consummated."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|