Ha'Madregot - a Proposal for an Educational Program of the "Bnei Akiva" Movement in Lithuania - the Only Copy in ...

Ha'Madregot - a Proposal for an Educational Program of the "Bnei Akiva" Movement in Lithuania - the Only Copy in the World
Ha'Madregot (proposal). Booklet A. By Yosef Dubitzky. Written on behalf of the head office of the "Torah Ve'Avodah" movement in Lithuania. Printed in Kovna (Kaunas), 1934. Published by the leadership of the Religious Scouts "Bnei Akiva" in Luthianai.
An extremely rare booklet, which was printed several years before the Holocaust. Despite what is written on the jacket – "Booklet A" – we do not know of additional booklets that had been printed.
An exceptionally rare booklet. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only copy in the world. It is not listed bibliographically and does not appear in libraries in Israel. An important discovery in the history of "Bnei Akiva", whoch was founded several years earlier (in 1929) by the members of "Ha'Poel Ha'Mizrachi".

The name of the booklet, "Madregot" (Stairs), was printed on the jacket in the shape of stairs, each letter under the previous one.
An interesting, picturesque booklet. At the beginning of the booklet, an interesting introduction by the editor Yosef Duvitzky, describing the necessity of determining an educational program for the movement in Lithuania "when the fate of the nation forces us to row against waves of assimilation and sail on an original Hebrew flow to the sheltering shores of our future…"
The booklet details the educational and instructional guidance for the various age groups of Bnei Akiva, from the age of 10 to the age of 17 and older. The booklet describes the religious and non-religious educational content for each age group and the various trainings the member of the youth movement needs to go through as well as useful knowledge he needs to have.

Following are several citations from the booklet:
• The ten—year-old member should 1. Know by heart "Kedusha" of the days of the week and "Kiddush" of the Sabbath; 2. To alert to danger by whistling; 3. To know the anthem of Bnei Akiva, the songs for Sabbath and songs of Eretz Yisrael.
• The 13-year-old member needs "to understand why our movement is named after Rabbi Akiva"; "to tell in detail the history of the personality after which the group is named and his ideals"; "to be knowledgeable in the laws of Sabbath and the Holidays, Rambam, Hilchot Melicha, meat and dairy, the books of the Chafetz Chaim"; and "to read aloud the diary of Dr. Herzl and the dramas of the Ramchal".
• The 17-year-old member should go through "agricultural or professional training"; "be knowledgeable in the geography of Lithuania and its history"; "we knowledgeable in the foundations of our movement and its religious, social and national conceptions".

Booklets that were printed on behalf of Bnei Akiva in Europe before the Holocaust are extremely rare. According to the catalog of the National Library, only three publications of Bnei Akiva were ever printed abroad. Before us is a totally unknown booklet, the only one in the world, which details a proposal for the educational program of the movement in Lithuania!
The author, Yosef Dubitzky (Divon) studied at the Yeshiva of Grodno, Lithuania. After immigrating to Israel, he served as the principal of the "Moriya" school. After his death, his wife received the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) prize. Authored the book "Yosef Da'at" (on the Torah and the Jewish Holidays), which was printed after his death.
16 pp. 15x20.5 cm.
Condition: Very Good. Blue jacket. A small tear at the corner of the last leaf with damage to three words.