Speech on the Hebrew Kindergarten

The “kindergarten” as a corridor to the salon of education,¹ as a foundation for the tower of learning, has received particular attention among all civilized peoples, and all the more so does it deserve this among us Jews. The value of the “kindergarten” is great and important both in its general-human aspect and in its national aspect, the latter dividing into two spheres: educational and academic. What is the educational value of the kindergarten?

In our times, it is not necessary to defend the pedagogic truth that has already been noted by many: that the education of babies begins on the day when the newborn child comes out into the world, and that the best educator and instructor is the child’s mother—and not particularly the [formally-] educated mother concerned with educational “questions,” but every mother in general. For even if knowledge and education are not provided at this point, there is certainly profound love, and this healthy loving instinct delineates and illuminates the mother’s educational path. And just as the mother is the best educator, so too is the father’s home the best of schools. There can be no better tool for a natural and complete education than the immediate and warm environment in which the child is born and raised.

However, changing economic systems and growing concerns over the family’s livelihood mean that parents cannot devote sufficient attention to the education of their toddlers. Young children are left alone or handed over to completely unqualified female educators [ . . . ]

The old regime with its social restrictions had a negative impact on all the professions in our lives, and to an extent we became physically and spiritually handicapped. We unwillingly distanced ourselves from nature, our faithful mother, and our children do not know the secret whisper of the forest, the chatter of the streams, the songs of the birds, the expanses of the blue sky, and the fragrances of wild fields.

And on the other side, we have the big city. The tumult, the constant hustle and bustle, the high walls that imprison human liberty—all these are highly deleterious to the child’s education and development. And furthermore, [in the big city] the Jewish home is emptied of the national spirit. The child no longer sees his mother in the twilight after the Sabbath sitting in the corner softly singing “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” He is not awoken from his sleep by the whispering of the dawn blessings. And on Friday nights he does not feel the angels of peace accompanying his father from the synagogue to his home. The simple, sad melody of the Gemara and the Mishnah no longer comes to the child’s ears in the evening—he grows up without the essence, exuberance, and poetry of Judaism. And this is compounded by the deprived, filthy lives of the impoverished Jews, who dwell in cellars and whose hearts are deprived of any sentiment of beauty or affinity for the order and purity that also ultimately influence the child’s morality.

Aesthetic taste is marred not only among the children of the poor, but also in middle-class and wealthy homes. The garish beauty and poor taste in the homes of the rich cannot satisfy the child’s pure soul. The development of the senses and muscles among most of our people is sorely lacking, and they come to school half-deaf and half-blind—they are unfamiliar with the quality of colors and cannot distinguish sounds. Storytelling and recitation are alien to them; their speech is stuttering and they talk with their hands. Anyone who has seen a Jew hammering a nail into the sukkah will understand the great value of crafts in the early development of the child.

The school cannot rectify all these defects since it is preoccupied with many fields of study. Moreover, we cannot wait until the child’s seventh or eighth year, when he enters the heder. The “kindergarten” was created to rectify these defects.

The kindergarten could correct the education for toddlers before they enter heder. The compassionate mother will be replaced by the devoted Hebrew kindergarten woman-teacher who is immersed in the wellspring of Judaism and loves these delicate children. She will provide her charges with the necessary education in love and affection. She will set in their hearts the beautiful and wonderful world—both general and Hebrew. And so, they will arrive at school accomplished and ready, shaped by the public kindergarten. They will achieve all of this through song and music, gymnastics and dances, and the joys of childhood. The child will spend half the day at home and the other half in the kindergarten. And this will bring great benefits for both sides—for parents and for children. The former will be freed from the yoke of education and from the nuisance of the naughty toddlers, and the children will be free from sitting fixedly on the school bench. The child will be amused—all his knowledge and development will come through playing. [ . . . ]

This is the educational value of the kindergarten.

What is its national value?

The kindergarten aims to fill the gap in the national environment of children whose parents have moved away from Jewish customs and life as it was. To this end, national celebrations and ceremonies are held that instill the love of his people in the child’s heart. National folk songs sung by the kindergarten children provide an immeasurable nationalizing force. This singing is more important than thousands of sermons and speeches for those raised on foreign music who are constantly singing non-Jewish songs.

The original Hebrew legends of the past and future that reflect the soul of the nation are absorbed in the child’s mind and heart, and will leave an indelible mark. Painting and the plastic arts inspired by our lives (i.e., a Jewish man blowing a shofar, a woman blessing the Sabbath candles) and the stories of the Torah and agadah, become familiar and beloved for the children, binding their heart to Judaism. The Land of Israel enjoys an important place in the kindergarten—not only in stories and messianic legends, but also through painting, crafts, songs, and games—inspiring young children with longing for the motherland. Anyone who has seen the children’s eyes flashing as they build boats to sail across the sea to the Land of Israel will understand what a true Zionist is—a Zionist who has never donated a shekel² or purchased a share in the Colonial Bank³ . . . [ . . . ]

A Jewish kindergarten can function only in Hebrew, despite the well-known difficulty this entails. As long as our people has not abandoned this tongue, the kindergarten cannot use any other language. And all this important and difficult work rests on her shoulders—those of the kindergarten teacher. All of our educational institutions bear a sacred obligation to pay attention to this particularly difficult educational profession because she is a “foundation” for their future. Particular attention is needed to the kindergarten teachers’ language skills since they are responsible for teaching the child Hebrew for the first time. And this learning must be natural. Once we have a Hebrew kindergarten, several of the obstacles that face the elementary and secondary schools will naturally disappear. The kindergarten is the foundation of all education. A Hebrew school with Hebrew education is the current battle cry and the commandment of history. Such a school will save us from oblivion.

After all of the above, we must not delay. We must open the kindergartens to all the children of the nation. Let no Jewish child be left outside the walls of the kindergarten, for the whole existence of the [Hebrew] school that follows depends on it. [ . . . ]

However, we currently lack diligent staff, or more precisely, women kindergarten teachers. We need a cohort of educators to meet the needs of the kindergarten.

There is a great need for kindergarten teachers, and we must find a way to expedite the process so that we can meet the great demands we face. Many kindergartens have closed due to a lack of women-teachers.

The question of kindergarten teachers is one of the most burning ones, and heaven forbid we delay in finding solutions. We must establish new institutions for training Hebrew kindergarten teachers worthy of their profession! . . . (Loud applause.)