This is a notice published in 1923 for the students of the Roxbury Hebrew School, presenting the school’s rules. The notice is written in Hebrew, Yiddish and English and is structured in the form of the Ten Commandments of behaviour. The students must arrive on time, act in a quiet and respectful manner, refrain from eating and bringing toys to schools, and go straight home after school. The translation into Hebrew is not exactly the same as the English version; for example, in Hebrew the students are warned not to bring toys or knives to school. The notice also discusses a donation from Mr. and Mrs. S. Cabelinsky of textbooks, copybooks (presumably notebooks), and pencils to the school. The Yiddish version (written in Hebrew letters) explains that the 10,000 books are Talmuds, Bibles, and prayerbooks. The text goes on to explain that the students will pay a small fee which will be used for the purchase of materials so that the fund will be able to continue supplying school materials in the future. The Cabelinskys also helped found new synagogue called Shaarei Tefilo, which opened in 1914, offering a more traditional alternative to the already existing synagogue.
Roxbury is a Boston neighbourhood, home to a Jewish community since the early twentieth century.
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Jewish Community of Boston – An organised Jewish community was first established in Boston in the mid-nineteenth century. Prior to that, there had been some individual Jews living in Boston, but they were not welcomed and many left. The first synagogue, founded by recent immigrants from Eastern Europe, was founded in 1843. In 1875, there were 3,000 Jews in Boston but by 1900, 40,000 Jews lived in Boston. The Boston-Jewish community was very committed to Zionism with leaders such as Justice Louis D. Brandeis and newspaper editor Jacob de Haas. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, a leading American Orthodox rabbi, lived in Boston and established the Maimonides School in 1937. Boston is known for its institutions of higher education such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which draw Jewish academics to the community. The Jewish community of Boston is well-established, with more than 250,000 Jews living in the city. The city has many Jewish institutions including many synagogues and Jewish day schools.