ABSTRACT
At first Ashkenazi Jews did not have such a structured form of education as the Sephardim. Most of their schooling was privately arranged. Teachers who were under compulsory supervision by the chief rabbi came to the home, but they often lacked a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, so in 1660 the Ashkenazi congregation set up a school. It was given the same name as the Portuguese school, Talmud Torah, and it was aimed mainly at educating poor children.
