Religious Room (Hachder - Istadh)
Up to 1830' the cheder (Istadh) was virtually the only educational institution
available to the Iraqi Jewish child. It is remarkable that the Istadh continued
to exist until the end of the World War I, when it functioned only as a
preschool morning institution for the teaching of Hebrew. However, in the
days of its prime, the Istadh played a leading role in the education of
children (boys and girls). Girls were not required to study Torah, but some
parents were known to teach their daughters:"As for the girls, the Talmudic
assumption usually applied that they were not to taught Torah and writing,
but sometimes a way was found of permitting them to learn" (Ben-Jacob. A,
1966).
Education of the Children in the Jewish Tradition
The Jewish community in Babylonia considered the education of its children
a matter of the highest importance. What it still more remarkable is that the
matter of study, there were no distinctions between rich and poor; all studied
the same material with the same zeal. In fact, one of the famous Talmudic
saying has it: "Watch over the children of the poor, for out of them will
knowledge come forth". The Torah itself includes the injunctions: "and thou
shalt teach them diligently to thy children" (Dvarim, 6,7), "And you shall teach
them your children" (Dvarim 11, 19). According to the Torah, the main respon-
sibility for the education of children rested with the father (Masechet Kidushin,
29,1).
The first program of study for young children was mentioned in the Mishnah,
and was based on the principle of gradual learning, from the easy to the
difficult: "A five year-old to the Mikra, a ten year-old to the Mishnah, a thirteen
year-old to Bar-Mitsva, a fifteen year-old to Gemara..." (Mishna, Masechet Avot,
chp. 5,21).
The Istadh was in the house of the teacher (stayee), in which he and his family
lived. He put aside a room and he supplied all its needs.This room accommo-
dated up to fifty children, or more, ranging from 4 to 12 (Ben-Jacob, A,1966).
The room was meagre and sparse, stifling dark and damp. The furniture in the
room is plain: low and short benches without back rests. The teacher sat in the
middle, on a chair upon which he placed a small pillow. Before him stood small
table and on it, a siddur and the Chumash, with his special reed pen. Next to
the siddur was a stick that the stayee used to hit the children, when necessary
(sassoon , D.S., M. bennayahu (ed.), 1956).
The stayee would arrange the children into groups and his assistants were in
charge of discipline, helping children who were having difficulties, bringing
them from their homes to the cheder and back. The assistant was called the
"Chalifa" (substitute) in Arabic. One of the means of accepted education and
punishment in the cheder, was hitting the child with strap, stick, or ruler, as
punishment for lateness, or absence, for lack of concentration and chattering,
and more. The parents were also partners in this "educational method".
The Program and Contentsof Study in the Istadh
The program of study in the traditional cheder usually based only on religious
studies. The teaching of the Hebrew alphabet and how to read the syllables,
was done by the stayee with the help of special boards, on which he wrote the
letters along with the dots (Ashtor, 1961).
With the rapid changes that are taking place in the methods of teaching, it might
not be out of place to record here the quaint manner in which the alphabet was
taught to the young. This was the way of picturing each letter:
א- That which has four heads
ב- A window
ג- That which has a wing
ד- A hatchet
ה- She that has her leg cut off
ו - A needle
ז - A pin
ח- She that has both her legs sound
ט- She that has her leg in her inside
י - Your younger sister
כ- A round window
ל- The camel
מ- She whose head in a raisin
נ- A hook
ס- A circle
ע- That which has two heads
פ- She that has a raisin in her mouth
צ- Two heads and is bent
ק- He that has a long leg
ר- That which is curved
ש- He that has three heads
ת- She that has a crooked leg
sources: Sassoon (1949).
In the 19th - 20th centuries, new and more modern frameworks were
established in Babylonia, and this included the"Midrash Talmud Torah"
and the "kol Yisrael Haverim" schools, in which more general education
was given along, with the teaching Hebrew and Arabic. In any event, a
learning framework in the style cheder still exists in the ultra-Orthodox
communities. (Ben Jacob, A. 1966).
