Chedars in the Shtetls
Jewish elementary schools were often run down and/or part of a synagogue or at the teacher’s home. Sometimes the rabbi and his family lived in the same room that the lesson were taught in. Melameds, who were the teachers in these schools, had unquestioned authority and often beat the children. According to Sholem Aleichem, a Yiddish writer, chedars can be accurately describes as thus: “Chedar. A small cottage on chicken legs, covered with straw. Most often slightly leaning towards one side…only one window, Without window panes. Instead of a window pane, they’s stick a piece of paper on the window pane.”
Aside from basic arithmetic, the curriculum was almost entirely religious. Boys began their religious studies at age 3-4 and went to school five days a week from 8 AM to 6PM. At secondary level, students bent over their books for the entire day and sometimes fell asleep on the benches only to wake up the next morning and commence their learning. Chedars are mostly full of poor Jewish boys whose parents just can’t spare anything to pay for a “proper” teacher.
Melameds were looked down upon by the whole community and not even considered a learned person. It was generally assumed that melameds teach little children because he has no other choice and is inept at every other profession. in addition, according to Zborowski, melameds seldom has any “pedagogical ability or interest”. Hence melameds barely manage to get by with the small tuition they receive from parents.
Children’s memories often consisted of beatings by melameds but complaining at home was no use because the father was likely to have been brought up the same way and the mother has no power whatsoever.
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