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Jewish Schools In no other religion does learning have such importance as in Judaism. The reading of the holy script is the duty of a pious Jew. The school lessons up to the 18th century were limited to the instruction of the boys in religious texts, and consisted of learning the five books of Moses and the Talmud by heart. School lessons were held in the synagogue – which is why the synagogue is also called „school“ – or in the teachers room,the „cheder“. In an index from 1732 there are 39 schools listed for german Jews in Hamburg. Since the middle of the 18th century, as part of their general education, the wish of many jewish parents for their children was for them to receive a worldly education beside a religious one. Only a few wealthy families were able to send their children to a senior school or were able to afford a private teacher who taught them mathematics, geography, languages and history. That is why in 1783 the first school for poor jewish boys came into being. 1798 another school for poor girls followed. In the 19th century more jewish schools in Hamburg were founded, beginning with the Talmud Tora School in 1805. They went through quite some reforms and were partly fused together and were often characterized by the personalities of the teachers and head of the schools. According to the high standards of education of the pupils, the jewish schools were able, in the second half of the 19th century to achieve recognition by the state for the final examinations and for the expansion for higher schools. Quite a few jewish schools did not survive the economical crisis at the end of the Weimar Republic and had to be closed around 1930. All other jewish schools in Hamburg were, because of the persecution of the Jews under the National Socialists since 1933, a place of refuge for the jewish children before they were closed down. All school lessons for Jews were forbidden on the 30th. of June 1942. Of the few jewish pupils and teachers who still remained in Hamburg, almost all were deported and killed. Jews in Hamburg - The arrival of the first Jews in Hamburg - Enlightment and emancipation - Jews in the german empire - Jews and the Weimar Republic - Persecution and the holocaust under the national socialist leadership - Jewish Schools - Jews and business in Hamburg - Living conditions and Jewish residential areas - The Synagogue
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