Hunter Chundak
1-23-2009

A New Vision: The Jewish Education Commission in 1948
Jewish history is marked by resilience.  From its ancient origins in Judea and the Roman Empire to new beginnings in America, the Jewish tradition has learned to cope with the obstacles of changing times and new world orders.  When the largest migration of Jews to the United States began at the turn of the century Jews faced old challenges, Anti-Semitism and coping with new societies that lacked the means of practicing Judaism.  This led to the degradation of the Jewish identity in certain corners of the United States, including California.  The first Jews came to California during the 1840s during the Gold Rush; residents included prominent Jews like Sutro and Strauss, important 19th century entrepreneurs and economic figures.   It was after World War II that the Jewish American population began to move from urban areas in the North East to the Sunbelt cities of Florida and California.  Following the war California had the fastest growing Jewish population, and within the state the fastest growing cities were San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.   In 1948 there were as many Jews in San Diego as there were in Detroit.   In fact, by 1948 San Diego had left its frontier town roots behind and held a blossoming Jewish population of 6,000.
Many places in the United States used education as a tool to reestablish the Jewish identity in adult and young Jewish Americans immersed in new societies.  In San Diego, strong competent community leaders rose to the challenges facing the adolescent San Diegan Jewish community by establishing San Diego’s first Synagogue, Beth Israel, in the 1880s.  Even so, as of 1948 San Diego was the only community in the United States with a Jewish population over 4,500 that delegated zero public funds to Jewish education.  In this study of San Diego’s burgeoning Jewish community, the establishment of the Jewish Education Commission in October of 1948 will mark a turning point for the local Jewish community.  The vision of the Jewish Education Commission would become the uniting factor for many, as the commission took advantage of an environment desiring change to establish itself as the governing body of San Diego Jewish education. 
With the leadership of the Jewish Education Commission, San Diego was able to confront issues facing the Jewish community.  The Jewish Education Commission was specifically created to strengthen San Diego’s Jewish community and reestablish a solid Jewish identity.  By interpreting archived manuscripts, letters and ephemera, this paper will analyze the social climate leading up to, the establishment of, and the course taken by the Jewish Education Commission in order to characterize the revitalization of the Jewish people in San Diego.     
A proper understanding of the Jewish experience requires a brief background and historiography.  Treatment on the Jewish topic reveals compelling trends in study, which are: constant relocation, assimilation and education.  Works like Sidney Goldstein and Alice Goldsmith’s 1996 book Jews on the Move: Implications for Jewish Identity, explore the demographic qualities of American Jews.  Their study is anchored heavily in census data and interpretation of population numbers and trends.   Moreover, their study includes brief descriptions on how education has rooted Jews in their communities and given them the mobility to move into other communities around the United States.  Since this paper studies the effects of a shifting population, studies like Goldstein and Goldsmith’s are vital to understanding why Jews were on the move and the troubles they faced in new communities.    
Jonathon Sarna’s 2004 book, American Judaism, takes Goldstein and Goldsmith’s study a step further and places the Jewish experience into a compilation of microhistories.   Sarna’s book argues that the Jewish experience in the United States is one of adaptability, and that the survival of sacred traditions relies on the ability to maintain traditions in new environments.  As a compilation of microhistories, Sarna’s book is able to not only address the various experiences Jews encountered in America but also cross examine their solutions and success.  Education is thematic in Sarna’s book, and the establishment of the Jewish Education Commission in San Diego is an example of the adaptability to which Sarna’s book often alludes.  This is because the Commission was designed to have the flexibility to respond to changing issues, but rigid enough to remain faithful to time honored traditions.  
American Jewish communities relied on educational institutions to preserve traditions, and the ability of education to sustain Jewish traditions is evidenced throughout history.  The establishment of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati by Rabbi Wise as the first Reformed Rabbinical Seminary exemplifies a community strengthened through education and its adaptability to changing issues.  Hebrew Union College shows that Jews were willing to find ways to appeal to modern concerns like commercialism and availability (or lack thereof) of traditional materials like kosher foods.  Chicago is a more modern example of education being used to combat the changing values of the world.  The Board of Jewish Education in Chicago not only served as an example of Jewish studies revitalizing the Jewish identity at the community level, but also played an accessory role to the establishment of the Jewish Education Commission’s flagship institution, the Institute of Jewish Studies in San Diego.       

An Environment Ripe for Change:  Interest, Money and Leadership
            Since California held the fastest growing population of Jews after World War II, it may very well be that the community leadership in San Diego was ill prepared to cope with such an influx of population.  Albert A. Hutler, in a letter to Ray Solomon (editor of the Southwestern Jewish Press), expressed concerns that sum up the mood of the environment prior to the establishment of the Jewish Education Commission.  The Southwestern Jewish Press was considering suspending operations as a result of a lack of capital and monetary contributions from the community, and in response Mr. Hutler expressed that “lack of cooperation from many members of the community is an indication that San Diego still does not have a truly Jewish community.”   Although Mr. Hutler’s sentiments were less than flattering, the atmosphere in San Diego among its Jews was ripe for change.  A rise in activity among younger Jews, like the establishment of Hillel at San Diego State College, expressed a growing interest in Jewish studies.  The presence of a structured organization like the United Jewish Fund provided a strong monetary foundation from which projects aimed at revitalizing the Jewish identity in San Diego could be spearheaded.  Finally, religious and cultural leadership from all three of San Diego’s Synagogues gave local agencies a unified base from which to launch their endeavors.
The first signs of a change in the community could be found with local college students showing an active shift towards participation in Jewish groups.  At San Diego State College in May of 1947 fifty students met with community leaders to discuss the possibility of establishing a chapter of Hillel at the college.   Hillel is a student-centric organization that aims to bolster community leadership through Jewish studies.   Mr. Hutler spoke at this meeting as a former student director of the Hillel chapter stationed at the University of Illinois campus.  Also in attendance was Rabbi Cohn, the Western Regional Director of Hillel.  Rabbi Cohn summed up the mission of Hillel at San Diego State College as the getting of students to recognize the benefits of Judaism.   A near unanimous vote favored the establishment of Hillel at the College in the fall.  The atmosphere Mr. Hutler once accused of being lethargic had begun to change and show the potential to reach new heights.  
Mr. Hutler was an influential force in the San Diego community.  Aside from his long standing interest in the success of the Jewish community in San Diego, he was the executive director of San Diego’s United Jewish Fund.  The United Jewish Fund is a vital asset to the advancement of the Jewish community in San Diego as it is responsible for financing cultural projects, local agencies and launching campaigns to acquire funds from the community.  A strong monetary platform not only provides the means for organizations to operate, but also provides the security conducive for innovation and the birth of new ventures.  As an entity that so many organizations are dependent upon, the United Jewish Fund requires strong internal leadership and must always retain a proactive stance in the community. 
In March of 1947 the United Jewish Fund elected a new president, Eli Levenson (a highly competent, well respected lawyer and war veteran) to skipper its operations in San Diego.  Mr. Levenson was a very active community member who, only two months later, would also be elected to the Executive Committee of B’nai B’rith and the chairman of the Community Relations Advisory Committee of San Diego. His extensive community involvement, legal expertise and understanding of the San Diego community proved Mr. Levenson to be exactly the kind of leader the San Diego United Jewish Fund needed in order to exert its influence on the advancement of the Jewish community in San Diego.
Mr. Levenson’s first major step as president of the Fund was a large campaign for nearly $350,000, which in 1947 and even 2008 is a rather exceptional amount of money.   The money raised was to be allocated to no less than 35 local and national agencies, and no doubt to be a target of the Jewish Education Commission in 1948.  The campaign was to be done in collaboration with the Joint Distribution Committee, a financier of domestic and international Jewish projects.  The success of this enterprise is evidenced by the $190,000 raised to be used for local and national agencies by May of 1947.   The bulk of contributions were given by community members through their respective congregations.
Availability of funds was vital for the potential to change the local Jewish community, but religious and cultural leadership was and still is a prerequisite for any real progress to be made.  San Diego had three established Synagogues in 1947:  Tifereth Israel, Beth Israel and Beth Jacob.  Beth Israel is San Diego’s oldest Jewish congregation with its history dating back to 1861.   The resident Rabbi of Beth Israel at this time was Rabbi Cohn, the Western Regional Director of Hillel.  Beth Israel has a long established timeline of community involvement dating back to 1886, and the establishment of San Diego’s first Hebrew Benevolent society to aid the disadvantaged.   Beth Jacob, founded in 1939, and Tifereth Israel, founded in 1905, are relatively young compared to the Beth Israel congregation.   While Tifereth Israel was established approximately forty two years before Eli Levenson’s election to the presidency of San Diego’s United Jewish Fund, Beth Jacob had only been in existence for eight years.   Even so, the three Synagogues continue to form a strong religious and cultural union in the San Diego community.  Beth Israel and Tifereth Israel have both been operating long enough to have an established membership base, and Beth Jacob represents a small but vital portion of the community: the Orthodox population.
San Diego in 1947 was a transitioning Jewish society, and it may not have been prudent to call it lethargic and untrue.  Rather, the Jewish community in San Diego was only beginning to blossom into an important American Jewish community.  To be sure, the San Diego community was able to utilize its desire for a strong cultural identity, strong monetary foundation and well established cultural authority.   Thus, the sentiments of Mr. Hutler in his letter to Ray Solomon were merely symptomatic of a community that had the potential but not yet the coordination to be a fully united entity.   

The Founding of the JEC:  The Birth of a Vision
A response was needed from community leaders and on September 28th 1948 the Rabbis of the three synagogues- Rabbi Cohn of Beth Israel, Rabbi Levens of Tifereth Israel and Rabbi Stern of Beth Jacob- along with Mr. Hutler, met in the study of Rabbi Cohn to discuss the community’s needs for a commission to preside over and coordinate Jewish Education in San Diego.   San Diego had a fast growing Jewish community and the social tools to heighten the community’s Jewish identity but lacked a focused coordinating body to direct these institutions in an efficient manner.  The September meeting suggests that those in attendance all agreed that coordination of Jewish education in the community was needed; moreover, that it would be the prerogative of the Jewish Education Commission to work toward and “all looked forward to the day when the community will be completely united.”   Mr. Hutler added that this was an issue that the United Jewish Fund would be interested in, but that there were obstacles that needed to be addressed.   For instance, since the Rabbis could only express their own opinions and not that of their congregations, the support of the congregation’s presidents and of Eli Levenson needed to be assessed, as both were preconditions for the success of their vision and the San Diego Jewish community.
Even in a preliminary meeting it is clear that a lack of Jewish identity among the adult populace and the need for cultural education were seen by the founders of the Jewish Education Commission as the primary issues faced by the San Diego Jewish community in 1948.  Nearly every discussion the men entered into in the September meeting focused on adult education; further, adult education was agreed to be the best method for the Jewish Education Commission to use in order to revitalize the Jewish identity.  The founders believed that education of parents and other adults would cultivate a strong Jewish identity among the core of the Jewish population and nurture a strong Jewish identity in the future of the Jewish community.  Accordingly, the establishment of an adult Jewish education institute became the purpose of the Jewish Education Commission. 
Those in attendance of the September meeting understood that a firm direction had to be established and pursued in order for the commission to accomplish its goals.  Unity is an important theme throughout this meeting as evidenced by a tone that suggests a mood of collaboration and participation.  It was made clear by Rabbi Levens that even though the community was ready to change, and they had a commission ready to govern and a fund ready to invest, none could do so effectively without participation from the other two. Thus, it was the position of the Jewish Education Commission to unite and revitalize the Jewish Identity throughout the San Diego community by encouraging active participation of community members and organizations, beginning with the Presidents of the Rabbi’s respective congregations and President of the United Jewish Fund.
The Rabbis and Mr. Hutler agreed a subsequent meeting should be held.  In a meeting a few days later on October 1, 1948, two attitudes toward the potential of the proposed Jewish Education Commission were revealed: the supportive attitude of the Synagogues and the realistic attitude of the legal minded Mr. Levenson.  The presidents of the three sponsoring synagogues, Beth Jacob, Beth Israel and Tifereth Israel, all concurred with the proposal of the three Rabbis and Mr. Hutler, agreeing that a coordinating body would benefit the Jewish community by focusing efforts on specific issues .  Their positive attitude toward a coordinated education system shows that support was readily available from the community leadership.  Mr. Levenson found reason to be critical of the proposal in that there was no evidence, as of yet, that indicated the community not only wanted a strong coordinated Jewish education system, but were willing to participate in it.   Mr. Levenson did agree that a well coordinated system would do well for the community, but he established the position that the community may not be ready for such an institution.  Essentially, if the goal of the Jewish Education Commission was to unite and identify the Jewish community with each other and their roots, then the community must be willing to support the Jewish Education Commission. 
The goals and visions of a proposed governing body were outlined during the September 28th meeting, but it was during the October 1st meeting that the mission of the Jewish Education Commission was validated by the support of the community’s religious and cultural leaders.  Thus, the culmination of these preliminary meetings was the conditional establishment of the Jewish Education Commission, pending the submission of plans to establish and administer an adult institute of Jewish study.   The newly formed Jewish Education Commission wasted no time in attempting to reach the benchmarks recommended by Mr. Levenson, such as the drafting of a model curriculum.
While the Rabbis worked to create a curriculum, the success of the Jewish Education Commission’s preliminary efforts could be attributed to the competency of Mr. Hutler.  Mr. Hutler’s experience in executive administration appealed to members on the Board of Jewish Education in Chicago, and he was able to acquire materials to supplement the establishment of an institute in San Diego.   A letter from Mr. Hutler was warmly responded to with curriculum materials from the institute in Chicago.   Letters were also sent to prospective members of the Jewish Education Commission.   By the date of their first meeting, November 1st 1948, the Jewish Education Commission consisted of fourteen members, including, Dr. A.P. Nasatir of San Diego State College, Chairman, Mr. Hutler, the Rabbis of the sponsoring congregations and a sampling of professors and members of the Jewish community.  By the end of the month there would be established the Institute of Jewish Studies, Dr. A.P. Nasatir, Dean.               

The Institute of Jewish Studies:  December 1, 1948
The establishment of the Institute of Jewish Studies is the sum of many parts.  Mainly, it is the culmination of the coordinated efforts of the Jewish Education Commission and the United Jewish Fund.  Just two months after the Jewish Education Commission was established, it had captured the community’s interest and was holding registration for its first semester on December 1, 1948.  The requests the Jewish Education Commission received to establish an institution is the beginning of a change in the attitude of San Diego’s Jewish community.  Enrollment estimates had expected up to 180 Jews in the community to register. The community that Mr. Hutler had once asserted as being untrue as a Jewish body was now showing the willingness to take a proactive and positive approach to re-identify with its heritage.  By looking at enrollment numbers and courses from the first semester and those of the second semester of the Institute, the success of the Jewish Education Commission is clear.  It is even clearer that the Jewish community would look to the Jewish Education Commission to expand their efforts as the community expands their presence.
The idea behind the Institute of Jewish Studies was to reunite San Diego’s Jewish people with a better “understanding of themselves, their cultural heritage and the problems of our world,” through traditional scholarship and the day to day life of the Jewish experience.   Dr. Abraham Nasatir, a well respected and highly qualified member of the Jewish community, took the helm of the institute.  Between 1921 and 1926 Dr. Nasatir earned the A.B., M.A. and Ph. D degrees through the University of California at Berkeley.   Dr. Nasatir was also the head of the Department of History at San Diego State College.  He would later serve as the President of the United Jewish Federation of San Diego, a philanthropic organization directed at improving the lives of Jews worldwide. As a model Jew and San Diegan, Dr. Nasatir was a well suited leader for an institution designed to reignite Jewish culture in San Diego.
Adult education continued to be the focus of the Jewish Education Commission.  The schedule was designed to appeal to adults, 18 years and older, and classes were offered once weekly on Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 10:30 at Temples Beth Israel and Tifereth Israel.  Going further, the courses were offered in ten week semesters.  The first semester’s curriculum was a series of courses designed to introduce San Diego Jews not only to their heritage but also to the practice of Judaism; these courses were tools to educate Jews as well as guides on how to be an active participant in the Jewish tradition.  Courses like “It’s easy to read Hebrew” and “Meeting the Talmud” were listed as introductory courses to Jewish culture and religious observance.   Some classes were focused on the cultural practice of Judaism, like “What’s Cooking in Judaism,” a study of holiday cooking.  The sense one gets from examining the courses offered at the Institute is that they were geared towards parents.  Course material included books titled “The Parents Manual” and “The Mature Mind.”
The first semester of the Institute met with marginal success.  Perhaps the courses offered were too basic and underestimated the current status of San Diego’s Jews.  One document shows that of the estimated 180, only about 85 actually registered.   Given that this document only accounts for eleven of the thirteen classes offered, with an average class size of seven students, it shows a large margin between the estimated and actual participation rate.  However, by 1950, following the registration of 170 community members, a report of the Jewish Education Commission stated, “(The Institute) had met with the approval of the community.”   The San Diego Jewish community had changed.  It was no longer a small frontier Jewish community, but one that rivaled larger urban Jewish populations.  In 1950 the institute changed with the burgeoning population.  Mr. Hutler wrote, “San Diego’s Jewish community, once called immature by many, is beginning to mature as seen by many examples of community cooperation.”  
Mr. Hutler’s changed attitude toward the local Jewish population is itself an example of the Jewish Education Commission’s success.  Now that the Jewish community was maturing, the Jewish Education Commission matured with it.  The Institute’s course content changed and began to take on descriptions like “Mental Hygiene Problems of the Jewish Family” indicating a marked change in ability of the Institute to offer more difficult and conceptual courses.  The curriculum was shifting from introducing Jews to their heritage to tying them to it.   Courses were now beginning to focus on the humanities, like Jewish music and art and showing “The contributions of Jews throughout the world and a strengthened Jewish Consciousness.”   Moreover, more advanced classes in Hebrew and Talmud reading could be found in the catalogue.
The Institute of Jewish Studies was the logical action the Jewish Education Commission needed to take in order to truly organize the community into a united body.  Although the community was not yet a truly cohesive organization, the tools to achieve that goal were now being focused at specific objectives.  The community now looked to the Jewish Education Commission to expand its operations.  Requests were being made by the community for the Commission to establish a Hebrew school for Jewish youths and classes focusing on “Problems Confronting Jewish Youths” were held at the Institute.  Additionally, the Jewish Education Commission was asked to establish a committee on establishing a community Talmud-Torah, a true symbol of a united entity the Rabbis and Mr. Hutler had desired on September 28, 1948. 

Final Thoughts: A Legacy Defined
The transition of the San Diego Jewish Community between 1948 and 1950 is a prime case study in how action and participation are beneficial to taking a budding young society into full fruition as an important cultural community.  The Jewish Education Commission really becomes the knot that ties much of the community together, but it is not an entity that stands alone because the Jewish Education Commission is a collaborative body.  It was never designed to be a governing body that exerts itself over San Diego’s Jews; rather, it was, from its beginning, created to be used as a tool to coordinate efforts between some of San Diego’s most important entities, like its three established Synagogues, San Diego’s United Jewish Fund and the blossoming community.
The establishment of the Institute of Jewish Studies was the defining chapter in the story of the Jewish Education Commission.  It was basic in its origins, but the practical and novice nature of its original curriculum allowed Jewish community members to smoothly transition into a greater sense of Jewish identification.  The Institute’s faculty blended well seasoned educators, like Dr. Abraham Nasatir, respected religious authorities, like Rabbis Cohn, Levens and Stern and ordinary members of the community such as Mrs. Neumann, in order to construct a well rounded curriculum designed at introducing San Diego’s Jews with their heritage in traditional and modern terms.
However, the Jewish Education Commission owes it success, as most organizations do, to the people, for its success depended solely on their participation.  First it is vital that the Commission have the support of community leaders, like Mr. Hutler and Mr. Levenson as well of the presidents of Beth Israel, Tifereth Israel and Beth Jacob.  If it weren’t for the competency and high regard of these men and the sponsoring congregations, the Jewish Education could have gone bust.  The system of education from its modest roots of synagogue day schools and Hillel at San Diego State College has since turned into a legacy, one that followed in the footsteps of remarkable American Jews and transformed itself into a vast network of educational institutions.  Places of Jewish study can be found in every community in San Diego, from summer camps to day schools and the Lipinski Institute at San Diego State University.  1948 marked an important transition for San Diego’s Jews, from a time when Mr. Hutler remarked that the Jewish community there was lethargic to a time when he called it a great maturing society.  San Diego’s Jewish community stands today as a viable force in the preservation of Jewish culture.