The School years

An extract from the book Amol in Rassein (Once Upon a Time in Rassein)

(C) 1976 - George M. D. Wolfe. Reproduced here with permission

"The single school room was occupied by 30 or 40 boys, aged 4 to 8, mostly seated around three or four oblong wooden tables reciting, reading aloud, babbling, shouting. The school day began at about eight and lasted until five or six with two breaks for dinner at about 12 and supper late in the afternoon. When weather permitted the entire student body rushed outdoors at a signal from the head teacher or his helper to play in the small fenced yard adjoining the school. The outdoor play was active, sometimes rough and involved no equipment except an occasional rubber ball, the forbidden sling shot and perhaps a home-made whistle. The ten minute walk home for dinner and supper was a welcome change from the many hours of sitting and "learning" the Torah (the Pentateuch) slowly and painfully by rote. There was always the temptation to linger on the way back from home but the return to school in darkness during the fall and winter months was scary trudging through unlighted streets, frequently in deep snow or mud, and sometimes beset by dogs, drunken citizens and an occasional wandering man or woman obviously mentally ill. I was supplied with a candle burning lantern and sought companions for safety, but mostly walked by myself.

The rote method, practiced by small groups of pupils with occasional instruction from the teacher, was apparently effective enough to teach me to read the Torah with some fluency by the time I was six or seven. This was probably the chief accomplishment of the first three years of schooling in the cheder.

There was some informal practice in writing the Hebrew alphabet and an occasional exercise in writing short sentences from Genesis. Mainly I remember the endless recitations of biblical phrases, sentences and paragraphs, many in some way related to synagogue readings and prayers and all of which merged easily with the school exercises.

I attended cheder six days a week, except for holidays. The only vacation from school was enjoyed during the half day attendance during the eight days of Chanukah. It was almost impossible to play hooky since one's absence from cheder  was observed by family and townspeople who were prepared to report the fact to my parents or the teacher. Discipline in cheder  was maintained more or less by shouted commands, the active involvement of the teacher and his aide who did not hesitate to use some form of corporal punishment. I was not spared the customary treatment, but was nevertheless aware that I had a privileged position because of my family's standing in the community and synagogue and the presentation of a loaf of sugar to the teacher a day or two before Passover. This perhaps protected me from being harshly disciplined for the infraction of some unwritten rule, fighting or staying in the yard longer than permitted."

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"The cheder and more advanced Hebrew schools in the town were privately operated and did not seem to be under the supervision of the Jewish community authorities. The Russian town administration did not supervise the Jewish education of the children, but more or less required boys and girls to attend the Yevreiskaya Uchilische (Jewish School) several mornings a week beginning at age eight. Those who qualified were later admitted to the two gymansia for boys and girls. The Jewish School was municipally operated and located on the second floor of a prominent brick building in the center of town. I attended this school from 1912 to 1914 and studied Russian, arithmetic and geography. The atmosphere of the school was quite different from the primitive cheder. There were two large classrooms with individual school desks for perhaps 150 students. We were supplied several text books and asked to bring notebooks and pencils and erasers. There were several teachers (non-Jewish) who presided from large desks backed by black boards which were used extensively in the teaching process. There were class recitations, individual and occasionally class examinations. There were maps and photographs of the Czar and Czarina on the schoolroom walls. From time to time the classes were led in singing Russian popular and folk songs. In contrast to the drabness and chaos of the cheder the Jewish School seemed to me exciting and opened educational opportunities previously unknown to me."

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"Returning to the cheder in the afternoon was always a disappointing experience, for I would have been happy to study in the Jewish School all day, every day. But I knew that my "studies" at the cheder would soon be over and that I would be transferred to a more advanced Hebrew school, whose teacher, a younger man living not far from our home, conducted his "modern" school in the living room of his home. He had the reputation of being something of a nar (fool) who was unable to maintain discipline, but had a great interest in Hebrew as a spoken language and lent his books to pupils who were interested in reading modern Hebrew. Except for attendance at the Jewish School several mornings a week, the hours at the "modern" school were the same as at the cheder. The atmosphere was less oppressive, most of the time the pupils seemed to be in control, Bible and Talmud study was more advanced (I was especially interested in the sections of the Talmud dealing with law, ethics and family relationships) and, above all, the teacher interested me in the study of Hebrew as a modern language.

In studying the Talmud I made an effort to observe how well the legal and ethical precepts were actually practiced in my home and community. One Talmudic section, dealing with the employment of workmen, their compensation and promptness in paying for their services, impressed me especially since so many of the townspeople were poor and depended for their livelihood on day labor. Knowing very little about the status of the Jewish community in relation to the larger world, I regarded the Talmud and Bible not so much as works of history or philosophical discourses, but as guides to everyday living. 

Thanks to the teacher of the new school, I was exposed for the first time to “literature”. Until I was 10 or 11 the Bible was the only book I read extensively. I regarded the Bible not as a religious work, but as a kind of anthology of historical narratives, short stories, poems, proclamations of a nationalist character, laws and biographical information about fascinating men and women. Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Esau, Joseph, Pharoh, David, Saul, Solomon, Deborah and the many other Biblical figures were very real people to me, whose adventures, relationships and ultimate fate interested me intensely.

The story of Jacob, Isaac and Esau ("The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hand is the hand of Esau"), Joseph at the court of Pharoh ("There came a time when a Pharoh did not know Joseph"), David fleeing from the wrath of Saul (David takes refuge in the tent of the chieftain and pretends to be mentally ill, but the chieftain is not impressed since he has a mentally ill daughter and tries to discourage David from staying by telling him that he already has enough meshugoim), Saul caught in a tree branch in his hasty flight, Deborah and her defiant Song of Deborah, the story of Samson and Delilah, David and the Philistines - these constituted my reading and stimulated my imagination. The teacher dramatized our Bible reading and began to interest us in Zionism, Palestine and Hebrew as a living language. Every Friday afternoon he offered us a choice of several Hebrew short stories to read at home and I eagerly accepted them. The stories, dealing mostly with some historical incident in the Diaspora seemed to be a continuation of the Bible. Two stories in particular impressed me very much. One dealt with the adventures of several Jewish boys who had been kidnapped by gypsies with whom they lived for a number of years but eventually escaped, and another told of the chapers (catchers) who shanghaied Jewish young men for military service when the community was obliged by the Czar's authorities to deliver the proper quota of men for service in the army. When I had shown sufficient proficiency in reading Hebrew, the teacher gave me the prize of his small library, Robinson Crusoe, which I read in one day and later borrowed again.

Attendance at the new Hebrew school was interrupted for a short time following the German occupation. When I resumed my education attendance became sporadic due to the exigencies of the war and occupation, a prevalent restlessness, the relaxation of discipline both at home and school, the many distractions offered by the military (such as movies several times a week, parades, outings) and the requirement that I assist in our store on busy days. I "graduated" from the school when I was fourteen, but pursued my education with private tutors in Hebrew, Russian and what might be called "science". Some of my tutors were paid for their services and some volunteered to help me together with several of my friends." 

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"Bar Mitzvah, the religious ceremony by which a Jewish boy becomes a formal member of the community when he reaches age 13, was, in contrast to contemporary practice, a simple and muted affair, at least in war-time Rassein. My preparation for the synagogue ceremony required little time and effort since I knew Hebrew and had witnessed the traditional rite many times in the synagogue. Perhaps another reason for the lack of special attention to the experience was my father's grave illness and the fact that our family synagogue was being repaired at the time. My father was too ill to attend the celebration, my uncle Azriel Ziff, taking his place, and the affair took place in a private home which served as a temporary synagogue. I was ill at ease during the ceremony and few people present paid much attention to it. There were no presents, but my brothers and my father wrote messages of greeting in a small album. I did not feel any different after the Bar Mitzvah and continued my formal and informal education in the community as before.

In retrospect it would seem that the educational system for Jews in Rassein, and probably in most of the small towns or shtetlach of Eastern Europe, was not directed at any kind of vocation or profession (with the exception of the rabbinate), but to the acquisition of knowledge, language arts, traditions, ethical precepts related to Juadism and to the Jewish past. Education in general subjects - Russian, mathematics, geography – was provided in the state administered Jewish schools. Those who qualified were admitted to the gymnasium, one for boys and one for girls, with little or no hope of going on to the University in one of the larger cities of Russia. Had the war not occurred I would probably have attended the gymnasium and then emigrated to America, or possibly Palestine. As it was, the War and German occupation both interrupted and enriched my education by exposing me to German and German literature and Kultur and to the many other by products - social, cultural, sexual - of the German presence for more than three years."

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In addition to the several forms of "formal" education, self-education and help from tutors, the environment of my home, the community and the turbulent times shaped my development and attitudes toward the larger world. I listened intently to the conversation of adults at home and in the synagogue and was attracted by anecdotes, recollections and bits of humor".

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"Although they were not known to me then as "proverbs", the speech of some adults in Rassein frequently contained these short, pithy sayings in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Polish and German. My mother was especially fond of quoting proverbs in her infrequent conversations with the children. One of her favorite sayings was the Polish, "What is cheaply bought is dear." Others, in Yiddish, were, "Two cadavers a-dancing go," (referring to two ineffectual persons); "Spirited, healthy and crazy," (a comment on the contradictory behavior of young people); "One dies, is buried and it is unfashionable to revive the dead," (a realistic acceptance of the finality of death); "What the sober one retains in his lungs, the drunkard shows in his tongue;" "When one sleeps with dogs, one awakens with fleas;" "Purim is not a holiday and a cold is not a disease;" "One wants to live, but they won't let you," (I always wondered who the "they" were, and finally concluded that it referred to anyone and to no one in particular); "What a pity, the bride is too pretty;" "One cannot dance at two weddings at the same time."

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"I have no recollection of having had friends until I began to attend cheder at the age of three or four. Until then I was tied very closely to home and immediate neighborhood and probably played with children my own age and still out of school. Upon entering school I was plunged into a noisy, restless and mischievous group of perhaps 30 to 40 boys ranging in age from four to eight, most of whom I had never seen before. Although accompanied by my mother and shown special consideration by the teacher, I remained watchful and fearful during my first days in school. Slowly and hesitantly I began to make friends among the less aggressive boys, most of whom it turned out later came from families with backgrounds similar to mine. The friends I made in cheder remained my companions as we moved to the "modern" school when I was eight, to the Jewish School maintained by the Russian authorities and later to the German School. This intimate group of friends consisted of perhaps five or six boys, whose friendship called for sharing of small belongings, gifts, "secrets", gossip, news heard and overheard, sex lore, rudimentary social and political ideas and plans for the future, such as they were. Our parents were all merchants in one way or another and we probably had a sense of "class" which separated us from the very poor, who generally did not attend school at all".

Navigation between the chapters:-  Use the side bar, or the links below

Cover     :     Early Memories of Rassein     :     Jewish Rassein      

Schooling    :    Making Matzoh    :   Whats in a name        

Household Chores    :    The Sabbath, Holidays and Holy Days  

Amusemenyt and Diversions   :   Trade and Commerce   :     Clothing