ABSTRACT
Jews have always taken education seriously. According to rabbinic tradition, there were schools at the time of Abraham. Some scholars believe that, apart from the synagogue, the school is the most original institution created by post-biblical Judaism. The early rabbis taught that an ignorant Jew was a contradiction in terms, and that Jerusalem was destroyed because its children were in the streets and not in schools. Modern Jewish education dates in the main from the end of the war. Jewish day schools have sprung up all over America, maintained by Orthodox and Conservative groups. In Britain there has been a steady growth of day schools in all cities and towns which have a sizeable Jewish community. Nevertheless, only about 17 per cent of Jewish children attend these schools. Every Jewish day school devotes an amount of time for Jewish studies. This would include Hebrew language, both classical and modern Hebrew; Jewish history and religion.
