MIMEOGRAPHED AND PAMPHLET LITERATURE |
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| Authors: | Dvora Lapson |
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| Institution: | Director, Dance Education Department , Jewish Education Committee of New York |
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| Abstract: | My first position as a teacher was in 1935 in Buffalo, N.Y. at Temple Emanuel. The rabbi was Morris Adler, a scholarly man and a rising star in the conservative rabbinate. My wife and I were sent as shlichim by the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist Youth Organization to Western New York to organize and train leaders for their branches in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. Specifically our duties consisted of recruiting and educating youth from ages 11 and up for eventual Aliyah. Some of our time was spent traveling between cities, especially on weekends. No budget was allowed. We were expected to find employment and finance our expenses. It is under these circumstances that we accepted positions at Emanuel. First my wife, a seminary graduate, got a job. Rabbi Adler told her that he also needed a male teacher. She described my background to him and he invited me for an interview. He was favorably impressed with my background in youth education, both in Lithuania and in New York City, my fluent Hebrew, my familiarity with the sources, and my positive approach to Jewish traditional practices. I was hired. The salary? Over $600 — for a 10 month year! Thus started my career in formal Jewish education for nearly half a century. |
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