Schooling as a Socio-Political Expression

Of all the religious-cultural expressions in Jewish life in Poland between the First and Second World Wars, education is by far the most neglected. The few studies published in this area are largely limited to the descriptive and the statistical without venturing into an in depth analysis of the various school networks which functioned within the pluralistic Jewish community of Poland's Second Republic. This study, based on published and archival material, seeks to fill that gap. It postulates that education, most particularly that of a minority group, is an expression of communal aspirations for cultural distinctiveness and continuity. The Jewish educational system is viewed in relation to the social, cultural and political dynamics of Jewish life of the period.