The Bilingual Program In The Jewish Nursery School

It all began in the second decade of the 1900's. I was then a pupil in an old-fashioned cheder. Mr. Louis Hurwich, of blessed memory, was invited by the Associated Jewish Charities to make a survey of Jewish education in Boston preparatory to the establishment of a Bureau of Jewish Education which he headed as superintendent for many decades. He visited my cheder and selected me as one who should learn Hebrew as a spoken language. He convinced my parents to transfer me to a Hebrew School which used the Ivrit B'Ivrit method of teaching. I made the transfer though this meant a long daily walk of several miles. Upon graduation, he encouraged me to attend the Hebrew Teachers' Training School which was the precursor of the Hebrew Teachers' College, now called Hebrew College.