assemblies by the sea: the jewish chautauqua society in atlantic city

Transcription

ASSEMBLIES BY THE SEA:
THE JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA SOCIETY
IN ATLANTIC CITY, 1897-1907
Peggy K. Pearlstein
The JewishChautauqua Society (JCS),founded inPhiladelphia in 1893
by Reform Rabbi Henry Berkowitz,
evolved from an organization
dedicated
topopularizing Jewishknowledgeamong Jewsto one devoted to teaching
on Chautauqua
Institution, the Society
non-Jews about Judaism. Modelled
a
School
established reading circles,
for Hebrew Sunday
Correspondence
children
the
schools
School
teachers, religious
of Jewish farmers,,
for
published textbooks,and, beginning in 1897, held annual assembliesfor
more
than forty years.
Since 1939 theSocietyhas beenunder thesponsorshipof theNational
Federation
of Temple
a lay Reform
Brotherhoods,
organization.
It ex
panded theprograms of theJCS, and todayprimarily supports rabbinic
residentlectureshipson Judaismat colleges and universities throughout
theUnited States, an outgrowthof universitylecturesthat theJCS began
its inception, the JCS has sought to combat anti-Semitism,
?
a
through education about
dispel prejudice, and create understanding
American
society.
minority and religious ethnic component of
in 1909. Since
Background
The following quote from theMenorah Monthly, describes the
response
to a lecture on American
Jewish History
given by Professor
JewishPolitical Studies Review 10:1-2 (Spring 1998)
5
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Peggy K. Pearlstein
6
Richard
Gottheil
at the Jewish Chautauqua
Assembly held inAtlantic City in 1901:
Society's
Fifth Summer
He created one of the few spirited discussions
of the summer
the
with
when he looked at things through Zionistic
glasses,
to that kind of ocular
result that several persons who object
There was
tried to break the glasses.
considerable
assistance,
dust in the air for some minutes
albeit of a brilliant crystalline
kind.1
A look at the Society's
assemblies
by the sea provides
insight into
a segment of the American
in which
the ways
Jewish community
to Jewish life at the turn of the
innovative
made
accommodations
to inform and enrich Jews about their past and
century as a means
their present and thereby ensure the future of Judaism in America.
in 1893 in
The Jewish Chautauqua
Society, or JCS, was founded
a
Reform
Rabbi
member
of the
Berkowitz,
Philadelphia
by
Henry
in
Hebrew
Union
first class of rabbis ordained
1883.
by
College
in
of
the
forms
the
Institution
New
upstate
Emulating
Chautauqua
York, the Jewish Chautauqua
Society created home reading courses
and published
for the study of the Bible, Jewish history
guidebooks
Its four decades
of annual assemblies ?
literature, and Hebrew.
?
held first in Atlantic
the study of Judaism, dis
City
promoted
current issues such as immigration
cussed
and anti-Semitism,
and
a basis of Jewish
Hebrew
School
teachers
with
provided
Sunday
em
and modern methods
of pedagogy.
These activities
knowledge
and
tools and appropriate
the Society's
belief that with proper
could
become
and gain pride
about,
Jews
settings,
knowledgeable
in, their heritage.
In the second decade
of this century, the Society broadened
its
to
educate
schools
the
children
of
scope by establishing
religious
Jewish farmers in southern New Jersey and the Dakotas,
by creating
a Correspondence
School
for Sunday
School
teachers, and by pub
itbegan itsmost ambitious
lishing teacher's texts. In the same period
a
endeavor which
is its hallmark
today:
university program
through
which
rabbis teach about Judaism to Jews and non-Jews on college
the country.
campuses
throughout
In 1939, the
came under the
of the National
Society
sponsorship
a
Federation
of Temple
Brotherhoods,
lay reform organization.
Since then ithas also provided
rabbinic visits to Christian
camps and
more
than fifty documentary
and spot
schools, produced
private
a series of interfaith institutes for
films, created
clergy, donated
more
than 120,000 volumes
of Judaica
to college
and
libraries,
bodied
The Jewish
ChautauquaSocietyinAtlanticCity, 1897-1907
funded more than two hundred
institutions.
academic
Launching
resident
lectureships
on Judaism
7
at
an Assembly
In his address
to colleagues
at the Sixth Annual
of
Convention
of American
Rabbis held in Rochester, New
the Central Conference
the creation of an assembly
York in 1895, Rabbi Berkowitz
proposed
to provide
for the combined
"some opportunity
and
in
science
under
of
advanced
studies
Jewish
pursuit
systematic
some practical means
for the better prepara
direction;
competent
in our religious
of
and the promulgation
tion of teachers
schools;
and
school
to interest his colleagues
further attempted
Berkowitz
Judaism...."2
in the concept of a Chautauqua
complimen
assembly by obtaining
the CCAR
tickets for rabbis to visit the site during
tary excursion
3
convention
the university
between
His
carefully
distinguished
proposal
was
nature
in
and
educational
which
extension
purely
society,
a
broader
toward students, and the Chautauqua
directed
assembly,
relaxation and recreation. Berkowitz
incorporated
enterprise which
a Jewish assembly
similar
to create a religious environment
wanted
In addition
to
the Chautauqua
atmosphere.
permeated
summer
as
a
that
Berkowitz
hoped
imparting Jewish knowledge,
This
sembly would mold new behavior patterns among participants.
as
summer
he
"the
he
what
called
solve
Just
Jewish
problem."4
might
idleness at summer re
found card playing among Jews offensive,
him. He disapproved
of his co-religionists'
sorts also aggravated
on vacation
them of "often turning recreation
and accused
behavior
run to weed;
into dissipation;
throwing off all
letting their minds
worse
than
the Sabbath,
sense of religious
neglecting
obligation;
He
Sabbath."5
Christian
the
of
the
sham
game
observing
playing
were
not
resorts
where
disliked
welcome,
they
seeing Jews frequent
it
need apply."6 Moreover,
itwas openly stated "No Hebrews
where
at the
classes
that the Bible, the basis of so many
irked Berkowitz
to that which
the Jews
was a Jewish book about which
assemblies,
were so
ignorant.7
a promotion
for an assembly
conducted
Berkowitz
again in 1896.
he
about
the
a
to
wrote
Hebrew
In
letter he
the American
appeal,
as
to
resorts
a
other
site
the benefits of
stressed
country
opposed
such as Atlantic City for an annual gathering.8
Itwas expected
The next summer, the JCS held its first assembly.
in its
from the almost eight hundred members
to draw participants
Chautauqua
themselves
Peggy K. Pearlstein
8
of its Board. Religious
thirty-one reading circles and from members
and others
boards of directors,
school
teachers, rabbis, synagogue
a
received
be
also
the Society
whom
interested,
thought might
the
The
the
diverse
for
JCS
meeting.
hoped
geographic
prospectus
ensure an assembly
that was more
than
reach of the Society would
as the Society had
a local gathering
of Philadelphians.
As much
to a school
to imitate Chautauqua
and "bring large numbers
wanted
in a remote place,"
it seemed best to "carry the school to a
located
The
the people were wont to gather in large numbers."
place where
was
resort
the
beach
of
Atlantic
City.
place
popular
The first assembly
in 1897, and each of the three following,
for two weeks.
The next five assemblies
three
became
convened
were
to
four
shortened
week affairs, but as attendance
declined,
they
in
sessions
1906.
day
beginning
The Atlantic
offered
for everyone:
something
City meetings
sessions
for members
of home reading circles; popular
lectures; a
on
Institute for Sunday School
Teachers'
staff; Special Conferences
as
as
the
such
Stu
and
such
Jewish
University
topics
Immigration
services that took place at Beth Israel synagogue;
and
dent; worship
as
entertainment.
While
the
served
evening
congregation
headquar
in several
ters for the assembly,
took place
locations.
meetings
never exceeded
were
two
there
and
often
hundred,
Registration
only
a dozen or so
in each class, but hundreds more came to
participants
Reform Rabbi Emil Hirsch's
lectures in
special events. Prominent
1903 drew a crowd of 1,000, similar to the attendance
at Hirsch's
sermons
in his own Temple
in Chicago.9
Sinai
Theodore
weekly
more
in 1900 drew the largest audience:
Roosevelt's
than
address
at the Steel Pier to hear the future president
of the
5,000 appeared
United
States speak on "Americanism."10
Popular
Lectures
The popular
lectures and the Teachers'
Institutes best exemplify
Berkowitz's
efforts to bring American
Jewry together on a
to
devoted
culture
and
education.
Reform Rabbi
Jewish
platform
Rabbi
Kaufmann
Kohler's
lecture
in 1902,
"The
Attitude
of Christian
to
claims
refute
Jewish Literature,"
attempted
several
Christian
scholars.
Kohler
contended
Judaism by
against
that no Christian
could comprehend
with
fully the New Testament
out a thorough knowledge
of the Talmud
and the Midrash.
Further,
an examination
of the Jewish sources would
lead, in his
inevitably
to a better respect for Judaism by non-Jews. Kohler
stressed
mind,
Scholars
Toward
The Jewish Chautauqua
Society inAtlantic City, 1897-1907
9
to develop
in order
needed
to provide
scholarship
to
Christian
responses
adequate
scholarly
theologians.11
In that same year, Reform Rabbi Martin
A. Meyer
based
his
as the
to the JCS upon his year's experience
"Palestine"
addresses
at Jerusalem.
to the
Fellow
of the American
School
According
as
to
Baltimore
when
he
referred
the
Jewish Comment,
Jerusalem
a
murmur
amazement
of
distinct
the
swept through
'"Unholy City/
audience."
Meyer drew a dark picture of poor Jews who struggled
concern
to earn a livelihood.
He expressed
the
about
particular
that Jewish
uneven
in the diaspora
of haluka, the monies
collected
of Jews in the Holy Land. He also described
the
as
con
in
the
missionaries
"bold
and
Jerusalem
by
proselytizing
inmany Jewish converts
to Christianity.12
resulted
stant," which
introduced Dr. Solomon
The 1902 assembly
Schechter, President
distribution
for the support
of America,
of the newly reorganized
Jewish Theological
Seminary
as a popular
lecturer. He spoke about his findings from the Cairo
a letter written
a
Genizah
and showed his audience
by the
sample of
In
Moses
medieval
Maimonides.
Schechter
1904,
brought
philosopher,
of the Hebrew
Genizah
book, The
fragments from the manuscript
known only through a Greek transla
Wisdom of Ben Sira, previously
tion.13
aware
the de
that the defense of Americanism
required
Fully
Chinese
fense of other minorities,
the JCS invited Wu Ting-fang,
to the United States, to speak in 1901 about the Ameri
ambassador
can laws on Chinese
The ambassador
also told his
immigration.
were
because
audience
of 2,500, that both Jews and Chinese
despised
were
not
which
but
virtues.
shared
similarities
Both
vices,
they
groups, he said, were clever,
and able businessmen.14
industrious,
economical,
persevering
Although Rabbi Berkowitz's 1896 study guide, The Open Bible,
on higher biblical
the
discussion
included
criticism,
already
to agitate
and its leaders
the Jewish community
subject continued
lectures in 1903
after the turn of the century.15 Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch's
were
on this subject and on evolution
and comparative
religion
had
supposed to enlighten Jewsabout the compatibility of new findings
Judaism, to alert Jews about attacks on Judaism stemming from
to
them with an adequate
response
higher criticism, and to provide
critics.16
Christian
of the
at that time Assistant
Dr. Cyrus
Adler,
Secretary
a lecture on
inWashington,
Institution
Smithsonian
D.C., delivered
American
Jewish history at the same assembly. Adler
implored his
and communal
from local synagogues
listeners to gather records
to publish
their findings in journals and books, and to
organizations,
the
them
with
Library of Congress.17
deposit
with
Peggy K. Pearlstein
10
to Relieve
the special conference
that summer on "How
the
the
Inhabitants
of
Our
Cities,"
Jewish
Larger
Among
Congestion
and physician Dr. Maurice
Fishberg
spoke on "Dis
anthropologist
eases of the Jew," and the "Health Problems
of the Jewish Poor."18
in the importance
Because
Rabbi
Berkowitz
believed
of the
to
the
the
of
Hebrew
the
Jewish people,
unity
language
Society
offered elementary
Hebrew
lessons at each assembly
and in year
to lecture at
round study. The JCS also invited Dr. Samson Benderly
in 1904. Benderly,
at that time Director
of the
the summer meeting
an account of his
in Baltimore, presented
Board of Jewish Education
as a living language
success
in teaching Hebrew
through daily
as the
of the "Ivrit be-Ivrit" method, which used Hebrew
sessions
of
instruction.19
language
Zionist
leader Louis Lipsky, who urged in-depth study of Jewish
scoffed at the class size of twelve
history, culture, and language,
at one assembly.
He said itwas no
students
that studied Hebrew
a
more
or
"in any small town
effective
heder
than
starting
important
a
cents
week
receives
from
melamed
who
each pupil."20
per
by
fifty
for
Isaac Hassler,
the
He
JCS Secretary,
organization.
responded
to create Jewish
noted that the Society had not come into existence
scholars only, or to insist that Jewish study be a continuous,
life-long
to eat of thewhole
loaf
process. The JCS, he said, "wants the 'masses'
of Jewish knowledge;
but it believes
that the half loaf, or even a good
slice is better than starvation ?
until the appetite has been properly
At
stimulated."21
Hebrew
At
School
Sunday
Education
the end of the nineteenth
theHebrew
School,
in
century, the greatest
impediment
from the lack of good texts, was the
in the smaller communities.
especially
aside
Sunday
lack of qualified
teachers,
Most
teachers were volunteers;
customs
history,
The
and
they knew little about Bible, Jewish
or pedagogic
ceremonies,
principles.22
to offer teachers several ways
to
attempted
JCS assemblies
both
their Judaic knowledge
and
their teaching
skills.
Teachers
could attend the daily popular
lectures on Judaism,
the
on current Jewish concerns, and the sessions
for
special conferences
The Teacher's
Institutes offered lectures on
reading circle members.
for use in the classroom,
Jewish subjects geared
lessons,
practical
a
or
a model
teacher
rabbi demonstrated
to a class
session
whereby
increase
of children
classroom
for just such purposes,
gathered
school organization,
management,
on
presentations
involvement,
parent
and
The Jewish
11
of
goals. Many of these activities brought awareness
were
in
secular
education
that
for
the
developments
appropriate
education.
of religious
enhancement
the Society introduced
For example,
the use of special materials
in public and Christian
to Jewish educa
available
Sunday Schools
in 1899, it initiated an annual exhibit of its own
tors. At the assembly
?
tsedakah boxes, models
of
teaching "appliances"
pictures, maps,
the Ark and the Tabernacle,
and steriopticon
slides. The Department
and Synagog
of School
of the Union
of American
[sic] Extension
the
Central
Hebrew
and
Conference
of
American
Congregations
at their own conventions.23
such displays
later adopted
Rabbis
to teachers and school superin
The lectures geared
specifically
tendents included one by Mrs. Rebekah Kohut in 1897 who spoke on
and curriculum
"The
Between
Bond
parents
to become
the School
Kohut
and the Home."
in their children's
religious
involved
implored
education
by joininghands with the school and bringing a religious spirit into
Szold lectured the same summer on "Knowl
in the Curriculum
of the Jewish Religious
Spirituality
textual learning,
She argued
that traditional
including
the key to a
with new pedagogic
insight was
coupled
their homes.
edge Versus
Schools."
Henrietta
Hebrew,
the best guarantee
that would
successful
Jewish education
provide
for the next generation
of American
Jews.24
Miss
Ella Jacobs, principal
of both a Philadelphia
elementary
school of Reform Congregation
school and the primary
Rodeph
the first summer. While
lesson on Passover
Shalom, gave a model
the Egyptian
the classroom with pictures of Moses,
she decorated
sacrifice, Jacobs also hung up large por
slaves, and the Passover
colors.
traits of Washington
and Lincoln draped with the national
of
the American
and fourth
revolution
She compared
July with
a
as
leader against slavery. Jacobs
and Moses with Lincoln
Passover,
a complete
Seder table to illustrate her lesson, and
arranged
in every Jewish home.25
that the Seder be observed
suggested
Reform
Calisch's
In 1899, Richmond,
Rabbi Edward
Virginia
comments.
on
Critics
heated
51st
Psalm
the
model
lesson
generated
was
too
that his language
that Rabbi Calisch
rambled,
suggested
another psalm
that he should have selected
difficult for children,
with more applicable
content, and that he employed
higher criti
that some, like educator
cism, a method
Julia Richman,
thought had
also
no
place in the Sabbath School.26
on the content and conduct of the
and disagreements
Discussions
of the differences
Institutes gave evidence
sessions of the Teachers'
to Jewish religious
instruction and reflected both ten
in approach
the Jewish community.
and from within
sions from without
Peggy K. Pearlstein
12
At the 1901 Assembly,
the Society created an Educational
Coun
revision of the methods
of Jewish
cil. Its lofty aim was the "complete
in the United
to be undertaken
education
States,
by the Jewish
to be
The
Council
Educational
JCS
hoped
Chautauqua
Society."27
the
of
the
Hebrew
School
the
with
come,
Union,
cooperation
Sunday
in
would
that
stimulate
To
education.28
Jewish
organization
unity
to give
this cause, the Society invited Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch
advance
a series of talks at the 1902 assembly on "The Aim,
and
Method
Scope
of the Jewish Religious
School."29
lectures, a
Inspired by Hirsch's
a curriculum
to prepare
committee
formed
for Jewish religious
at the following
In 1903, the
to be presented
schools
assembly.30
to Jewish
part of each of the three weeks' meeting
Society devoted
In
educational
their
lectures, rabbis advocated
problems.
creating
courses
on Judaism and
teacher's
classes,
developing
sequential
a knowledge
of Judaism and Hebrew,
and
pedagogy,
giving teachers
a
them
with
of
transmit to
Jewishness
imbuing
spirit
they could
students. Rabbi Abram Simon ofWashington
Hebrew
Congregation
described
the curriculum
he had devised.
Those who
discussed
which
Simon's
classical Reform Judaism with
mirrored
curriculum,
on God and ethics, praised
its emphasis
to
the new graded approach
the criticism that the curriculum
omitted mod
learning. However,
ern Jewish
the
history and concerns about oppression,
immigration,
rise of Zionism,
and anti-Semitism,
reflected the recognition
that the
even in Reform synagogues,
to
needed
curriculum,
Sunday School
move
toward the cultural participation
of Jews in Judaism rather
to focus on belief in God
than to continue
and moral
lessons as
a
for
education.31
Jewish religious
adequate
Decline
and Reformulation
of the Assemblies
Efforts to attract more participants
to the Teacher's
Institutes did
In 1900, the Reform Advocatehad
that summer
suggested
schools for teachers be located elsewhere
and the American Hebrew
noted
that "it is with a sense of shame that we note the lack of
not succeed.
interest...on
the part of the teachers of our religious
schools, even in
New York."32 At first, the switch to a shorter one-week
in
assembly
1906 drew praise for the
An
in
editorial
the
American
Hebrew
Society.
stated that, "Instead of attempting
to teach the crowd, the directors
of the Chautauqua
this year determined
to teach the teachers." Yet,
the newspaper
continued,
method
of training."33
"Jewish
education
still lacks
texts and
a
The Jewish
13
The Society's
assemblies
forwomen
however, were early venues
to participate with men as speakers and as discussants
about Jewish
as experts in the field. The educa
and to gain recognition
education
tional programs
of the JCS summer assemblies,
like church Sunday
School
teacher meetings
and state public school conventions,
pro
tomeet together for
vided thewomen who attended
the opportunity
to advance
their own Judaic and pedagogic
fellowship,
knowledge,
and to express their ideas before both men and women.
The speeches
of prominent
of a number
lecturers ?
Henrietta
Szold, Rebekah
?
in
Richman
the
Kohut, Lillian Wald,
Julia
appeared
Anglo-Jewish
broad
press. These women, most of them either single or widowed,
ened Jewish women's
traditional
roles and led the way
for other
women
to speak before mixed
At the same time, their
groups.
were
to
limited
educational
and
social welfare
themes,
presentations
as nurturers.
extensions
of contemporary
views of women
They did
to speak about Judaism.
not challenge
rabbinic authority or propose
The Society thus brought American
practices of education,
including
as teachers, principals,
the expanded
role forwomen
and speakers,
to the Jewish community without
the existing separate
jeopardizing
men
women.
of
and
spheres
continued
to be the advice of
"Remove
the Jewish Chautauqua"
In 1905 it criticized
the assembly
for lack of
the American Hebrew.
a weak
The
and
that
program.
newspaper
again argued
speakers
Berkowitz
dealt with indifferent Jews; he should not waste his time
in an attempt
to interest them in Jewish education.
the
Instead,
on
editors of the paper suggested
that the JCS should concentrate
a
convene
summer
circles
and
for
reading
building
assembly
only
involved in year-round
those members
study.34 Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch,
who
also
the Reform Advocate,
edited
the national
Jewish weekly,
as
same
in
the
vein
1900 he said that,
for
As
change.
early
argued
a
as
not
the
do
"Serious
and
thrive,
rule, under
study
thought
summer hotel."
In later years, Hirsch
of a fashionable
incandescents
went against the
also argued that the whole concept of a Chautauqua
grain of the Jewishway of life. Inhis opinion, instead of looking for
a
to return
Jews needed
spiritual Judaism thatmirrored Christianity,
not
words.35
to the original precepts which verified faith by deed,
was
the first na
the Jewish Chautauqua
Nevertheless,
Society
to have offered interested adults a unified scheme
tional organization
an annual
and pub
of Jewish study through meetings,
assembly,
an opportu
The Atlantic City assemblies
lished materials.
provided
issues
in study in a relaxed setting. Critical
nity for Jews to engage
were
and identity, and anti-Semitism
of religion, Jewish education
both
the
leaders
from
well-known
and discussed
debated
openly by
liberal and conservative
wings
of the community.
However,
neither
PeggyK. Pearlstein
14
eminent Jewish scholars nor reading
circle work, neither confer
nor government
ences on pedagogy
officials who spoke pn immigra
seemed to create enough spirited discus
tion and Americanization,
a
to Atlantic
sions to bring a sufficiently
City for
large audience
to attend a Jewish summer assembly.
commitment
of several weeks
of the estab
the members
lectures were well attended,
While many
were
the
middle
who
lished German
class,
Jewish
major
partici
to Bible reading and
to prefer rest and recreation
lessons during vacation.
Jewish identity for these individu
rather
als hinged on a sense of loyalty and service to their people
of Judaism. The assemblies
lacked appeal
for
than on a knowledge
of
Eastern
the more
traditional
Jews, many
European
background,
pants,
Hebrew
seemed
of
who were quickly emerging as a potent force in the revitalization
existed
life.
of
that
had
The
Jewish
among promi
cooperation
spirit
nent scholars who spoke from the early platforms,
such as Schechter
to ebb as the lines of demarcation
between
and Kohler,
began
more
and
became
marked.
Orthodox
Reform, Conservative,
Jews
The
rise of other groups, notably
the American
Jewish Committee
to
issues facing the
of American
address
Zionists,
a
summer
to
lessened
the
also
of
Jewish community
assembly
impact
concern
current
issues
before
American
of
bring
Jewry.36
and the Federation
Since the majority
of the middle
class did not take the opportu
on
a popular basis ?
to
not even the
Jewish knowledge
nity
acquire
?
the JCS had to change the scope,
"slices"
offered at Atlantic City
the season for its assemblies.
The American
the site, and eventually
that the JCS "forced itself on the attention of a class
Hebrew observed
as far as
of our people who have hitherto been intellectual
sluggards
were
matters
The
noted
concerned."37
Jewish
Jewish Chautauqua,
was
were
the newspaper,
to
who
divert
other
"compelled
people
to the need of Jewish culture,
wise
cultured
and fully informed,
Jewishknowledge. Ithas foundmany of our people so thoroughly
Americanized
that they were blind to everything
Jewish, whether
a
from
conscious
desire to be ignorant or because
of lack of oppor
the newspaper
did urge support of the organi
tunity."38 However,
no other
zation because,
except for the Jewish Publication
Society,
to the Jewish community.
Jewish group offered outreach
Due
to flagging attendance
and the weakened
at the
programs
summer
the
shortened
its
Jewish
gatherings,
Chautauqua
Society
meetings to four days and limited its offerings to pedagogy and
in the Hebrew
curriculum development
It continued
Sunday School.
to focus on the moral
lessons of Bible stories and the celebrations
of
as
means
to
the
inculcate
This
Jewish allegiance.
holidays
agenda
was
to continue
annual
assemblies
the
strong enough
throughout
same
for
another
At
the
the
time,
Jewish
country
quarter century.
The Jewish
Chautauqua
Society began new ventures
to popularize
15
Jewish knowl
edge, both within the Jewish community and in the surrounding
culture.
Notes
Abbreviations
AH-American Hebrew (New York, NY)
AJYB-American JewishYearbook (Philadelphia, PA)
CCARY-Central
Conference
of American
Rabbis Yearbook
(Cincinnati,OH)
JC-JewishComment (Baltimore,MD)
JE=JewishEncyclopedia
JEXP=JewishExponent (Philadelphia, PA)
MEN=The Menorah Monthly (New YorK, NY)
MODJUD=Modern Judaism (Baltimore,MD)
RA-ReformAdvocate (Chicago, IL)
1901):158; AH, 19 July 1901, p, 242; Jewish
(August
Chautauqua
Society, Assembly Record, 19 July 1901, p. 4, SC Box 215,
Klau Library, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio
(hereafter
cited as Assembly Record).
1. MEN,
2.
3.
"A Jewish Summer School and Assembly,"
CCARY, 5 (1895):44-51
(hereafter cited as "A Jewish Summer School"); JEXP, 19 July 1895,
pp. 1-2. Professor Max Margolis of Hebrew Union College suggested
a plan of advanced studies for rabbis and others interested in Jewish
science, AH, 7 September 1894, p. 563.
CCARY, 5 (1895):14. Only four years earlier, Rabbi Gustav Gottheil
In 1909, a delegation of
became the first Jew to address Chautauqua.
in
the
Buffalo, New York, visited
JCS assembly
sixty people attending
the
Chancellor
for
John
Heyl Vincent welcomed
day.
Chautauqua
them, gave them a tour of the grounds and served them dinner at one
of the hotels. Chautauquan Daily, 10 July 1909, p. 5 and 15 July 1909,
p.
4.
5.
6.
31
7.
12 July 1901, p. 216.
1894),
(Philadelphia,
Henry Berkowitz, "A Jewish Summer Assembly"
Klau Library, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio
(hereafter
cited as "Summer Assembly").
AH,
"A Jewish
Henry Berkowitz "Summer Assembly"; Henry Berkowitz,
Summer School, pp. 44-51; Henry Berkowitz, "The Jewish Summer
Assembly," AH, 28 August 1896, p. 419.
16PeggyK- Pearlstein
7. Henry Berkowitz, "A Jewish Summer School," p. 48.
8 AH, 3 January 1896, p. 263; 28 August
1896, p. 419. The JCS had
convene
an
at
to
Lake
Vincent
assembly
Chautauqua.
attempted
to
with
the offer
of
December
Berkowitz's
22,1896,
request
responded
to permit the Society to have a headquarters
at the assembly for the
could not "change our policy to intro
summer, but that Chautauqua
duce anything in theway of class exercises and lectures which might
a denomina
seem to have, however wisely theymight be managed,
tional bias." All lectures had to be under Chautauqua
auspices.
Vincent continued: "...the same reply thatwould be sent to Presbyte
a similar
or Roman Catholics who proposed
rians or Methodists
to
to Vincent, 22 December
1896 and Vincent
plan." Berkowitz
Berkowitz, 20 January 1897, Chautauqua
Institution, Chautauqua,
New
9.
10.
York.
AJYB, 4 (1902-03): 120.
to Jewish Chautauqua,"
"Gov. Roosevelt
1900, p. 1; "Governor Roosevelt Before
MEN, 29 (August 1900):117-121.
New York Times, 24 July
the Jewish Chautauqua,"
Kaufmann Kohler, "The Attitude of Christian Scholars Toward Jews,"
33 (August 1902):91-101.
12. MEN, 33 (August 1902):128-133; JC, 11 July 1902, pp. 8-9.
13. "The Uses ofHebrew Manuscripts,"
"The Life and Times of Ben Sira,"
MEN, 33 (October 1902):268; JC, 18 July 1902, p. 7.
11.
MEN,
14.
15.
16.
JC, 26 July 1901, p. 7; AH, 26 July 1901, p. 262.
Naomi W. Cohen, "The Challenges
of Darwinism
and Biblical Criti
4 (1984):121-157.
cism," MODJUD
The lectures appear in a different form inDavid Einhorn Hirsch, Rabbi
Emil G. Hirsch, theReformAdvocate (Chicago: Whitehall Co., 1968), pp.
63-86.
17. MEN,
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
35 (August 1903):108-109.
17
JC,
July 1903, p. 2; 31 July 1903, pp. 8,13; AH, 31 July 1903, pp. 335
336; 7 August 1903, pp. 372-374.
"The Study of theHebrew Language," RA, 18 July 1904, pp. 588-589.
See Nathan H. Winter, Jewish Education in thePluralist Society: Samson
Benderly and Jewish Education in the United States (New York: New
York University Press, 1966), for the far-reaching impact of
Benderly
on the
of Jewish education in the United States.
development
Louis
Lipsky, "Jewish Education; A Criticism of Its Aim and Other
5, no. 1 (July 1903):34-38; no. 5 (November
Things," Maccabaean
1903):307-310.
Isaac Hassler,
"The Chautauqua
and Some Articles
in 'The
Maccabaean
Maccabaean',"
5, no. 5 (November 1903):307-308.
Arnold
G. Kaiman,
"The History of the Hebrew
Union, 1886-1905," Term Paper, 1957, Miscellaneous
Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio. Berkowitz was
Sabbath School
File, American
a
delegate to the
17
The Jewish
firstmeeting in 1886. He wrote "How
for the Hebrew Sunday School Union.
23.
toOrganize
Sabbath-Schools"
10th Summer Assembly,"
Jewish Chautauqua
Society, "Prospectus,
and Jewish Chautauquan
1, no. 3 (March 1908):8, SC Box 215, Klau;
MEN, 35 (August 1903):95-96.
24.
Rebekah Kohut, "The Bond Between the School and theHome." AH,
13 August 1897, pp. 433-434; Henrietta Szold, "Knowledge Versus
Spirituality in the Curriculum of the Jewish Religious Schools," AH,
3 September 1897, pp. 517-518; 17 September 1897, pp. 573-575; 23
September 1897, pp. 625-626; JEXP, 27 August 1897, pp. 1-3; AH, 30
July 1897, pp. 380-381, 384-387; 6 August 1897, pp. 409-411, 413-415,
419.
25.
AH, 6 August 1897, pp. 414-415.
AH, 28 July 1899, pp. 376-377; Assembly Record, 28 July 1899, p. 2, Box
SC 215, Klau Library, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio.
26.
31 (September 1901):245-246;
(November 1901):401-402.
In the United States in 1900 therewere 291 religious schools attached
to congregations with 1,127 teachers and 25,000 pupils; therewere 27
Jewish free schools with about 11,000 pupils and 142 teachers, JE, s.v.
"United States"; see Julius H. Greenstone, "Jewish Education
in the
United States," AJYB 9 (1907-08):119-120,
forDr. Samson Benderly's
analysis of statistics on Jewish education.
27. MEN,
28.
"Jewish Chautauqua
Assembly, July 6th to 27th 1902," pp. 7-8, Box SC
215, Klau.
30. MEN, 33 (September 1902):212.
31. JC, 24 July 1903, p. 5;MEN, 35 (August 1903):93-108.
33
32. RA, 13 July 1900, p. 228; AH, 16 June 1900, pp. 499-500; MEN,
1902):272.
(September
33. AH, 17 August 1906, p. 261.
29.
35.
AH, 21 July 1905, p. 206; 25 August 1905, p. 345; JEXP, 26 July 1907,
p. 4; AH, 16 July 1909, p. 277.
RA, 18 August 1900, pp. 750-751; 17 July 1909, p. 676.
36.
Howard
34.
37.
38.
M. Sachar, Course ofModern
Books,
1990), pp. 705-708, 715.
Vintage
4
AH,
July 1902, p. 180.
Jewish History
(New
Ibid.
York:

assemblies by the sea: the jewish chautauqua society in atlantic city

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