History of Jewish Education from 515 Bce to 220 Ce (During the Periods of the Second Commonwealth and the Tannaim)

HISTORY OF JEWISH EDUCATION FROM 515 B. C. E. TO 220 CE- During the Periods of the Second Commonwealth and the Tannaim by NATHAN DRAZIN. Originally published in1940. PREFACE: The aim and description of this study are set forth in the first few pages of the introductory chapter. Professor Swifts claim that his volume on Education in Ancient Israel to 70 A. D. is the first attempt in English to give education in Ancient Israel any such broad treatment as has long been accorded to that of other ancient peoples stands undisputed. Since the publication of that treatise, another study of considerable merit entitled, The Jewish School from the Earliest Times to the Year 500 of the Present Era, has been offered by Nathan Morris. Both authors, however, undertook too long a period of Jewish history for exhaustive treatment. This study is limited to the periods of the Second Com monwealth and the Tannaim, by which time the Jewish school was fully evolved and tested. It is the first attempt to give a full and comprehensive account of this ancient school system of the Jews. Problems not directly affecting Jewish education of the said periods are avoided. For this reason, such topics as the canonization of the Bible, the origin of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and similar controversial subjects have been omitted. This study was originally prepared and submitted to the Board of University Studies of the Johns Hopkins Uni versity in 1937 as a doctorate dissertation. Since then a careful r