Title: New Method Hebrew School Records
Inclusive Dates: 1924-1964

Creator:

• New Method Hebrew School (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss DC

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of a part-time co-educational Hebrew school for Jewish children, headed by Harry Garfinkel; including minutes of the Parent Teacher Association and of three school youth groups: the Hatikva Circle, Jewish Junior Forum, and Young Children of Israel, and scattered correspondence and applications.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000dc

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Harry Garfinkel founded the New Method Hebrew School in Milwaukee in 1914. Born in Russia in 1897, he immigrated to the United States in 1912. To finance his education, he began giving lessons in Hebrew in Milwaukee private homes. In 1914, he established the New Method Hebrew School as a part-time, co-educational school conducted after regular school hours and on Sundays. The purpose of a Hebrew school was to teach Jewish children enough of the Hebrew language and history so that they can intelligently read their prayer books at religious services. Jewish children normally attend Hebrew school until about age 13 when the community celebrates their initiation into adulthood with the Bar Mitzvah (for males) or Bas Mitzvah (for females). Before the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, Hebrew was considered a dead language which was used only for religious purposes.

Garfinkel's “new method” involved creating a learning environment in which the students were not intimidated by the teacher and in which they felt free to ask questions. Garfinkel evolved this method out of his dissatisfaction with the methods of the more authoritarian rabbis who had been his teachers in Russia. Garfinkel also felt strongly that Hebrew schools should not be a full-time, parochial alternative to public schools because he felt such segregation would stunt the students' overall development.

To supplement the study of Jewish language and history, the school also organized three student groups for children of specific age groups, including the Young Children of Israel (1919), the Hatikva Circle (1924), and the Junior Jewish Forum (circa 1934). These groups provided varied social and educational opportunities for the students, such as weekly debates on current events.

In 1932, the parents and Garfinkel organized a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to bring both parties into closer communication as to the aims and progress of the school and the problems of particular students. The PTA engaged in various activities, such as forming Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops in 1940, and their annual picnic appears to have been an important event for the Milwaukee Jewish community.

When Garfinkel first organized the New Method Hebrew School in 1914, he himself was still studying for his high school diploma. By the time he finished studying at Marquette University and later at the State Teachers' College, where he received his degree in education, the school's enrollment was so large that it consumed all of his time. Garfinkel continued to run the school until his death in 1964, after which it closed.

The records of the New Method Hebrew School consist of correspondence, clippings, financial records, minutes and other papers. They are arranged in an alphabetical subject file.

The largest part of the collection is minutes of the PTA and of three student organizations: the Hatikva Circle, the Jewish Junior Forum, and the Young Children of Israel. These minutes record various activities of the groups and sometimes list officers. Because the minutes of the student organizations were written by pupils, the quality varies.

The remainder of the records give an incomplete picture of the school's organization and activities. The correspondence consists of a few letters between the school and other community organizations and some letters of individuals thanking the PTA for gifts. The folder of applications indicates that some sort of screening process was involved because “accepted” is written by only some of the names listed. The only financial material is an unidentified ledger that might be a record of dues for one of the student organizations. There is no evidence as to how the school was run, what its finances were, what the organizational structure was, or how large the enrollment was.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Harry Garfinkel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 29, 1965. Accession Number: M65-199

Processing Information

Processed by Lindsay Nauen and Eleanor McKay, October 19, 1973.

Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1937, 1955-1961
Box   1 Folder   2	Applications, undated
Box   1 Folder   3	Attendance Record and Report Card, circa 1945-1960
Box   1 Folder   4	Curriculum: Filmstrip Scripts regarding Jewish Holidays, undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Curriculum: Student Projects, undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Financial Materials: Ledger , undated
Box   1 Folder   7	Hatikvah Circle Minutes, 1924-1927; 1932-1935; 1946-1947
Box   1 Folder   8	History, 1946, circa 1965
Box   1 Folder   9	Jewish Junior Forum: Minutes, 1935-1936
	Parent-Teacher Association
Box   1 Folder   10	Annual Picnics, 1960, 1963 (missing)
	Minutes
Box   1 Folder   11	1943-1954
Box   2 Folder   1	1955-1958
Box   2 Folder   2	1959-1963
	Young Children of Israel
Box   2 Folder   3	Clippings, undated
	Minutes
Box   2 Folder   4	1923-1929
Box   2 Folder   5	1929-1933
Box   2 Folder   6	1933-1937
Box   2 Folder   7	1937-1955