Back to the School – The Jewish way: A Look Back on 120 Years

There are not many uplifting moments in Jewish life more than the first day of school. From the Yeshiva to the Kibbutz, from the Americas to North Africa. Eastern Europe or Middle Asia, In Israel or the United States to ghettos and communities living under oppression – the child’s education is an encompassing experience of Jewish life.

So, congratulation to all children and parents returning to school, and in particular to all the first graders out there – שלום כיתה א!

First Grade Pupils in the Primary School in Ariana, Tunisia, 1959

Jenny and Erich Mendeshausen first day at school. Nienburg, Germany, 1897

Marmesbury Road Infants School, London, England, 1935

Girl students in the first grade in the Gymnasium in Kovno, Lithuania, 1930

Meta Koenigsthal on Her First Day at School, Karlshafen, Germany, 1920

First graders learning Torah in a Heder, Jerusalem, israel, 1950s

Jewish children learning the Torah in a Talmud Torah school, Fez, Morocco, 1919

First graders dancing at the courtyard of the Hebrew School, Dzierzoniow (Reichenbach), Poland, 1948

Inauguration to First Grade in the Jewish Kindergarten, Belem, Brazil, 1966

Talmud Tura at Garbiaa, Mazaab, Algeria 1956