"It is Time..."

"It is Time..."(Zeit ists...) is a short treatise on Jewish learning in the form of a letter addressed to Hermann Cohen. FR begins his discussion with an analysis of the general state of Judaism in Central Europe. He concludes that Jewish scholarship has become alienated from Jewish life. As a result, Jewish religious education has become empty and meaningless. FR then lays out a proposal for and alternative educational program and a means of implementing it in the schools. The "backbone" for the curriculum is the Jewish liturgical year as fixed by the Jewish calendar.

The curriculum is designed so that it restores the tie between the synagogue and the individual. For many Jews who accepted assimilation into Western European culture the synagogue was the only remaining sphere of Jewish life. Instruction begins with the Jewish week and moves on to the yearly cycle of Jewish festivals. The curriculum assumes two lessons per week. On Saturdays Jewish students go to the synagogue while Christian students receive instruction in Christianity. The foundation for beginning instruction is the learning of biblical and liturgical Hebrew. Beginning religious instruction, which runs about three years, is the preparation for Bar Mitsvah. After Bar Mitsvah more advanced study continues with study of the ancient commentaries (i.e. Rashi), the world of the Talmud and Midrash, and Jewish spirituality and philosophy.

The instructors receive training at the rabbinical seminaries instead of the universities. Teacher and scholar must be one. Scholarship carries a responsibility to the people. The scholar must not be confined to the study but must go out and teach. In the opinion of FR, the teacher not only transmits knowledge but is actively engaged in the increase of knowledge. FR's proposal concludes with a plan for payment.

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