10
CANADIAN  JEWISH   REVIEW
September 25, 1959
History And The Baron de Hirsch Institute, Deeply Rooted In
The Life And Feelings Of The Community
BY DAVID WEISS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BARON DE HIRSCH INSTITUTE AND THE JEWISH CHILD WELFARE BUREAU OF MONTREAL
In Canada, this year a milestone will be observed in the two-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Jewish community. The bicentenary celebration sponsored by the Canadian Jewish Congress brings to mind the unique history of the Baron de Hirsch Institute, which really tells a fascinating story going back more than one hundred years. The story of the Baron de Hirsch Institute is inextricably bound up with that of the Canadian Jewish community; in many ways it is bound up-with t^he whole-living history of the Jewish people and its way of life. This is the year also when a sister community's welfare organization celebrated its ~cehteh-^ nial, that of the Jewish Board of Guardians, of London, England.
The history of an individual, family, community, nation or people has many uses. It can instruct and inspire. It can serve as guide-lines for the present and future. It can be a source of understanding of the meaning of one's own life-time in terms of the
twined with every human being, considering the world and human situation.
For the Baron de Hirsch Institute, looking back at its own history is like driving a car with attention to the rear-view mirror. For to drive safely, to understand the demands of the situation, a driver must look both ahead as well as backwards in order to be safe flJid reach his destination. At this time the Baron de Hirsch Institute is taking a deep view backwards in order to assess its
tute. The history^ bOhe~Thstitute is rooted in ancient Jewish tradition, though it has its own visage based on the same historical and contemporary features which have interacted in the growth and development of the community it serves, namely, you and I, our predecessors as well as those who are yet to come.
Jewish law considers charity really as social justice. "Tzedakah" is really another aspect of "Mitz-vah" and "Torah". The idea of philanthropy or charity is synon-
-modern and future services, and�ymous with the social ideas which
to do so it is helpful to understand its roots, its early years, in order to understand its past, ^resentr" and future contributions in serving a viable Jewish community.
To understand the history of an organization which is truly, as Emerson said, "the lengthen-
are contained in the Bible and early Jewish history. Originating in ancient times as mutual aid and assistance, charity and social -justice have become imprinted in Bible, Talmud, the Midrashim and other religious classics.
In the 12th century, the great Jewish   philosopher,   Maimonides
ed�shadow" ~of-i;he�individuals-�summarized charity (a term bor-
involved in it, one must understand the meaning of Jewish tradition and Jewish folklore and experience. Let us look at some
rowed from the non-Jewish world) by classifying donors into eight different groups, the highest honour being reserved for those'who
and his idea of the "Uhamber of the Silent" is intrinsically involved in fund raising. During the Middle Ages, philanthropy continued with no lessening of the strong religious undertone as well as method of administration. Mutual aid and charity were not abstract notions, but actual ways of life followed by those of the Judaic and Christian religions. In the medieval Jewish community, relief was a major activity, especially in the aid of poor travellers and the victims of mass expulsion*.
The early Mishnaic customs required of the rich man in the community to extend hospitality to travellers and to the poor.- Later on there arose in_ Jewish comnro--nities the institution of the Traveller's Inn. As the community developed a sense of its obligation to its members, and as needs developed, various charitable societies^
roots and sources of one's origin,�of the factors which flow togoth-�aided the poor to support them-
development, and growth. These are days when history is inter-
er in the heritage and history selves. We find this concept in of an agency such as the Insti-    modern  social work  prevention,
came into being in support of the poor, educating orphans, providing dowries for girls, visiting the sick, burying the dead; each being prototypes of many existing agen-
cies in our own time.
(Continued on Paeje Eighty-Thru)
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