The Book of *Deuteronomy (ch. 6:7) stipulates that the commandments of *God must be taught to children and by the era of the Second Temple, an elaborate system of education had been set up for boys. Attached to *synagogues were elementary schools (‘Bet Sefer’, *‘Heder’) and community schools (*‘Bet ha-Midrash’).
In the *academies of Babylon and Palestine, famous *sages taught their students and *yeshivot were subsequently established throughout the Jewish world. The tradition of *Bar Mitzvah ensured that every Jewish boy could read the Hebrew text of the *Torah and the prestige of scholarship guaranteed the survival of Jewish learning. In modern times *rabbinical seminaries, teacher training colleges and *Orthodox and *Progressive day schools have been established. Although in the past, girls only received an elementary education and were largely taught domestic skills at home, in this century they have had similar opportunities to boys. (See also *BET HA-MIDRASH, *HEDER, *RABBINICAL SEMINARIES, *TALMUD TORAH, *YESHIVAH).
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