The Teachers Institute of The Hebrew Union College. Graduation of the First Class at the Plum Street Temple, June 15, 1912.

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA).

Cincinnati

1912

Contains order of service, sermons and a closing prayer by Kaufmann Kohler, president of Hebrew Union College.

Apparently unrecorded.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were few paid religious Judaic school teachers. Most were volunteers and many were public school teachers trained for assignments in general education but woefully lacking in knowledge of Judaism. It became apparent that the young American Jew could not be educated in the same manner as years past. Thus, institutions for the training of Jewish teachers developed in major American cities, especially where there were large concentrations of Jews. The Teachers Institute of Hebrew Union College was founded in 1909 by Rabbi Louis Grossmann, successor to Isaac Mayer Wise as rabbi of Congregation Bene Yeshurun, Cincinnati. This publication represents the achievements of the first graduating class.