The Teachers' and Parents' Assistant, Or, Thirteen Lessons Conveying to Uninformed Minds the First Ideas of God and His Attributes
Religious School Education by The American Jewess
With an Introduction by Isaac Leeser. Philadelphia: Sherman, 5605 [1845]. Pamphlet. 8vo. (8” x 5”). 35pp. Original lettered reddish-brown paper wrappers, small loss to lower right corner of front wrapper (1”). Minor foxing, otherwise Very Good Condition.
THE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK BY REBECCA GRATZ
In her preface “Address To Teachers” the author [Rebecca Gratz] makes it very plain that this book “is intended to be used exclusively by the Teacher... The instruction it contains is intended to be used orally, as if proceeding from the mind of the teacher.” This is because the very structure of the lessons is designed to open the minds of children to the idea of God and their place in the universe. These concepts have always been beyond the scope of memorization and study and must begin within the heart of the child.
From: Lesson I. The First Idea of God
"Do you know who God is?
Probably no answer from the child, but a downcast or confused look. After a pause proceed to the next question.
Do you know who made the bright warm sun, and the lovely moon and the shining stars?
The teacher, after giving the child time to think upon this, may, if no answer be made, answer for him: God.”
APPROPABATION BY GRATZ'S ADMIRER ISAAC LEESER:
"Three years ago I had the pleasure of introducing to our community a fellow labourer of rare excellence, who claimed the privilege of contributing the efforts of her well-stored mind to enrich our religious literature. The introduction of Miss Aguilar was favourably received and her name has become familiar to all enlightened Israelites of America, as one who is able to do service to our good cause. I am therefore the more emboldened to introduce a new associate in our confederacy; but this time it is a lady who has drawn her first breath in America, and who is,, despite of the absence of a European education, embued with high thought and deep reflection. All she claims is, to be admitted in the ranks of those who defend and expound the immutable principles on which Judaism is founded, and sure we are that the many who have regarded my own efforts with kindness, will not withhold from my valued friend their meed of approbation". (From the Introduction)
AUTHORSHIP: Leeser also points out in his Introduction that "the American Jewess is desirous of remaining unknown" so that public attention will be directed to the work and not to the authoress. There is no doubt that the authorship of this pamphlet can be no other than Rebecca Gratz, given the contents, the place of publication in Philadelphia (where she lived), the leading role she was playing in Jewish education at the time, and her close relationship with Isaac Leeser who praises her in his Introduction. As an aside, this work was published in the very year of Leeser's Pentateuch (1845), the first American translation into English of the Five Books of Moses by a Jew. Hand in hand, Gratz and Leeser set out to educate a not only a new generation of Jews, but of American Jewry as a whole.
GRATZ DEMONSTRATES (IN HER COMMENTS TO THE PUBLIC) SENSITIVITY TO THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN HER ROLE AS A JEWISH WOMAN EDUCATOR:
“This little book has been written expressly for the benefit for the rising generation of Israel, by assisting mothers and teachers in the duty of imparting to their minds the first ideas of the Deity....the mere fact of its having been composed by a Jewess, for the instruction of Jewish children, will not cause it, if otherwise approved, to be rejected by the Christian community.”
RARE: Rosenbach 578, ascribes this work to Rebecca Gratz. Singerman 92, records only six institutional copies. We are aware of no other copies of this pamphlet offered in dealer catalogues or at auction in the last 25 years.
OCLC locates 8 copies
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