''Cheder metukan'' ("improved

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

", sometimes interpreted as "revised cheder", "progressive cheder" or "reformed cheder" and sometimes transliterated as ''cheder methukan'') was a type of

elementary education Primary education is the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle schools, de ...

schools for young

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish children introduced by the

Zionist movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...

at the break of the 19th and 20th centuries in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(which at that time incorporated considerable parts of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

) to address the problems of the outdated and inefficient system of traditional cheders. The curricula of the ''cheder metukan'' differed depending on the organizer, but the major distinctive features were introduction of the elements of

secular education Secular education is a system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation of church and state, separation between religion and Sovereign state, state. History Secular educational systems were a modern development inte ...

(such as

history of the Jews Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah, two ...

and geography of

Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions ...

), / "Ivrit veIvrit" way of teaching (using Hebrew as the sole medium of teaching), and education for girls. The conservative circles saw this as a threat to their status in the system of education and in the Jewish society, and ardently opposed the introduction of these schools.

Hebrew through Hebrew

This method was based on the following principle:Прогрессивный хедер в Слуцке
("Progressive Cheder in

Slutsk Slutsk is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District, and is located on the Sluch (Belarus), Sluch River south of the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 59,450. Geography ...

"), a memoir of a teacher *In the development of oral speech, the native language ("mame-loshn", i.e.,

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

) must be completely excluded and the Hebrew words must be associated directly with things or concepts rather that with the words in native language. The grammar must be acquired intuitively, the way as it is acquired in the mother tongue. *The acquisition of material should occur on the basis of imitation and analogy; the meaning of words and grammatical phenomena should be revealed with the help of visual aids (objects, actions, pictures), i.e., without explanations in the mother tongue.

Opposition

Opponents angrily quipped that they were not ''cheder mehtukan'' (), but ''cheder mesukan'' (, "dangerous cheder"). In the autobiography,

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

described the situation as follows:''Trial and Error: The Autobiography of Chaim Weizmann: Book One''
p. 41
/ref>

Notable persons

* Avraham Cholodenko founded the first ''cheder metukan'' in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

was an active supporter of ''cheder metukan'' movement * David Zakai taught in ''cheder metukan'' in the

Mogilev Governorate Mogilev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. The governorate bordered the Vitebsk Governorate to the north, the Smolensk Governorate to the east, the Chernigov Gover ...

*Pinchas Perelmn () (1880-1921), non-Chasidic rabbi of

Yekaterinoslav Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

, founded there a ''cheder metukan'' (where young

Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson ( – June 12, 1994; Anno Mundi, AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an American Orthodox rabbi and the most rec ...

''did not'' go).Chaim Miller, ''Turning Judaism Outward: A Biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson''
p, 12
/ref> * Simon Rawidowicz was a teacher in a ''cheder metukan'' in his young years

Notes

References

{{reflist

Hebrew through Hebrew

Opposition

Notable persons

Notes

References

Further reading