Cheders (also known as "Heders", Hebrew: room) are traditional elementary schools or classes teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ...

History

A medieval cheder in Germany

Cheders were widely spread in Europe before the end of the 18th century. Lessons took place at the teacher's house, who was paid for by the Jewish community or by a group of parents. Normally, only boys would attend classes — girls were educated by their mothers at their house. Boys of different ages were taught in a single group. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Boys entered cheder school at the age of about 5 years. After learning the Hebrew alphabet and how to read Hebrew (the common language of northern European Jews since the Middle Ages had been Yiddish), they began stuying the Torah, starting with the Vayikra and the Talmud (Mishna, Gemara, and additional commentaries). Reading out loudly to each other and learning by heart were the main techniques of learning. At the age of 13 or 14, the end of a boy's education at the cheder would be marked by his bar mitzvah. Note: This article contains special characters. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be used in the general sense to also include both the... The first page of the Talmud, in the standard Vilna edition. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, Repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... The Gemara are the Rabbinical commentaries and analysis on the Mishnah, undertaken in the Academies of Palestine and Babylon over a 300 year period to about 500. ... When a Jewish child reaches the age of maturity (12 years and one day for girls, 13 years and one day for boys) that child becomes responsible for him/herself under Jewish law; at this point a boy is said to become Bar Mitzvah (בר מצווה, son of the commandment...

Those who wanted to go on to become a rabbi or sofer had to continue their studies at the yeshivot (Talmud universities). Famous European yeshivoth were located at Worms, Fürth and Prague, which was considered to be among the best. After many Jews had fled to eastern Europe to escape medieval pogroms connected with the Crusades of that time, the intellectual centre of European Judaism moved with them and remained there for centuries. brendan is gay ... A yeshiva (Hebrew, pl. ... Worm can refer to: The worm, a collection of animal phyla. ... South part of the city, seen from the Alte Veste (Zirndorf), 2004 The city of Fürth is located in the north of Bavaria, Germany in the district of Middle Franconia. ... Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... A pogrom (from Russian: погром (meaning wreaking of havoc) is a massive violent attack on a particular ethnic or religious group with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... This article is about the medieval Crusades . ...

Towards the end of the 18th century, the cheder system became a target of critique by members of Jewish orthodoxy as well as by members of the more liberal haskala. Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... This article incorporates text from the public domain 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia Haskalah (from the Hebrew word sekhel, meaning intellect) was the movement among European Jews in the late 18th century that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing secular knowledge, Hebrew language, and...

Orthodox critics argued that teachers were not sufficently qualified. At that time, cheder teachers were paid so badly that at least those living in small villages would often be butchers, singers or even gravediggers to earn their living so working as a teacher was often only an avocation to them. Often, cheder teachers would let pupils advance to the next level of learning too early because advanced pupils had to pay more money for lessons.

An English cheder dressed up for Purim.

Haskala critics, committed to the ideals of the Enlightment, criticized the system as a whole, claiming it resulted in linguistic and spacial isolation and therefore preventing integration and emancipation of Jews. They proposed additional lessons in the language of the country and a more secular and vocational education. These ideas were put into practice since the end of the 18th century by German Jews, who founded Reform schools or Freischulen ("free schools"). This and the introduction of compulsory educating eventually led to the dissolution of the cheder system, at least in Germanophone countries, although it continued to exist in eastern europe as long as until the Holocaust. Purim (פּוּרִים Lots, Standard Hebrew Purim, Tiberian Hebrew Pûrîm: plural of פּוּר pûr Lot, from Akkadian pūru) is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Persian Jews from the plot of the evil Haman to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. ... Reform Judaism (also known as: Progressive Judaism, while in the U.K. Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism, together, make up Progressive Judaism) is a branch of Judaism characterized by: The belief that an individuals personal autonomy overrides traditional Jewish law and custom. ... A Germanophone is someone who speaks the German language either natively or by adoption. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ...

Today

In Western countries, cheders are sometimes attended outside normal school hours while others particulary by Orthodox Judaism operate as full-time schools., while in Israel they operate as full-time schools. Orthodox Judaism is the oldest form of Judaism practiced by Jews. ...