ABSTRACT
The only available test of the education of a people is the proportion of persons who can read and write. In a community where the public schools are available or even compulsory for every child this would certainly give a fair index of the education of the people, or at least of their desire for education. But the vast majority of contemporary Jews live in countries in which the public school system is not general, and even the schools which are available for the Christian population are more or less closed to the Jews, although they are obliged to pay taxes for the maintenance of schools. Algeria is an excellent example of the effects of educational facilities on the Jews. The most widespread of the Jewish dialects is Yiddish, which is the vernacular of about three-fifths of all modern Jews. During medieval ages the Jews in Germany spoke the same language as the Christians in that country.
