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RALPH I. GOLDMAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO At the 79th commencement exercises, held June 6, Hebrew College awarded an honorary degree to Ralph I. Goldman Dpl'34, BJEd'36, beloved adviser, Zionist and former chief executive of the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). In his acceptance speech below, reprinted with permission, he credits Hebrew College founder Louis Hurwich for introducing him to Jewish communal service.
I would like to use the time I have, though, to pay tribute to Louis Hurwich, the founder of Hebrew College. Louis Hurwich and his wife, Leah, were partners in the development of transdenominational Jewish education in the Boston area that had an impact on Jewish education throughout the United States. The story I'm about to tell about the establishment of Hebrew College is, perhaps, apocryphal. But it is the story we were brought up with. In the early 1920s, Louis Hurwich persuaded the Combined Jewish Appeal to give him $60,000 for Jewish education. This was 10 percent of the $600,000 that was raised. He could have been an important and highly sought-after individual if he had engaged in halukah, handing out allocations to the various Hebrew schools. They were all in need of money. Instead, he decided to build two major institutions. One was a Bureau of Jewish Education that set standards for the Hebrew schools and Sunday schools. The other was the Hebrew Teachers College, a transdenominational institution that was to ensure the availability of professionally trained teachers for all types of Hebrew schools. He established Hebrew College with the finest of staff, headed by the distinguished scholar, Professor Nisson Touroff. Dr. Samuel Perlman—the dean during my time there—later went to Palestine to establish a major daily newspaper, Haboker. He was succeeded as dean by Dr. Eisig Silberschlag, a poet, who also translated Gaelic and Greek poetry into Hebrew.
We must not forget the janitor, Mr. Joe Garber: his boiler room was the hangout for all of us as teenagers. We all went to Hebrew College after school hours—whether high school or university—from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., or from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. five days a week. We received our Jewish education and our inspiration at Hebrew College. On a more personal note, it was Louis Hurwich who brought me to Jewish communal service. Once again, he persuaded the Combined Jewish Appeal to give him some funds to train people with a background in Jewish studies for Jewish communal service. The only condition placed on us was that we go to the Boston University School of Social Work for two years and do our fieldwork in the Jewish community. Today we talk about Jewish continuity. In those days the term was Jewish content. Louis Hurwich felt it was vital for us to gain a broad education to prepare us for our service wherever we landed. Charlie Zibbell and I were selected for the first group. I worked at Hecht house and Charlie was at the Y. Joe Neipris, z'l, Jackie Hurwitz, z'l, Saul, z'l, and Flippie Florence Richman were chosen for the second year. We received a stipend of $750 for living expenses and tuition, and were given the summers off to work as counselors at Jewish camps. Bear in mind that tuition then was only $300–400 per annum. Today we talk about Jewish continuity. In those days the term was Jewish content. Louis Hurwich felt it was vital for us to gain a broad education to prepare us for our service wherever we landed. So the most innovative element of his plan was that, once a month on weekends, he would bring in scholars like the renowned historian Professor Salo Baron; Lou Kraft, head of the JWB; Graenum Berger et al to tutor us. I opened by saying that Hebrew College shaped my entire life's work. I look back and am thankful for the vision of a great man making that possible for me and for many other young Jews launched by his vision—of a lifetime of Jewish education and Jewish communal service. President Gordis and faculty, thank you for all that you do to build the great tradition established by Louis Hurwich. My wish to this wonderful College is that 70 years from now, another honoree will be here to sing your praises with the same heartfelt appreciation as I do today. Thank you.
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First, I would like to thank President Gordis and the board for bestowing upon me an honorary doctorate from Hebrew College, the institution that has shaped my entire life's work.
Among the teachers Louis Hurwich assembled were Mr. Israel Pollack for Hebrew language, Mr. Jacob Newman for Talmud, Dr. Nathan Ben-Nathan—an economist who later went to Palestine and served as an economist for the Histadrut—for history, and Yohanan Twersky, distinguished author and theatre impresario, for pedagogy and psychology. All the courses were in Hebrew, but when he could, Dr. Ben-Nathan would practice his English on us.