George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious Education in Ontario’s Public Schools
In 1944, Ontario Premier George Drew’s minority Conservative government introduced compulsory religious education into the Province’s public schools. The enabling legislation, the “Drew Regulation,” prescribed two one-half hour periods of religious instruction per week. A response to world-wide godl...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies/York University Libraries
1998-01-01
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| Series: | Canadian Jewish Studies |
| Online Access: | https://cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cjs/article/view/19833 |
| _version_ | 1818736974919368704 |
|---|---|
| author | Martin Sable |
| author_facet | Martin Sable |
| author_sort | Martin Sable |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In 1944, Ontario Premier George Drew’s minority Conservative
government introduced compulsory religious education into the
Province’s public schools. The enabling legislation, the “Drew
Regulation,” prescribed two one-half hour periods of religious
instruction per week. A response to world-wide godlessness
symbolized by Nazi Germany’s crimes, remarkably, the Drew
Regulation remained in place for forty-six years. Over time it
became clear that the Regulation was being used for decidedly
Protestant purposes, and the task of opposing the Regulation
fell to the Jewish community. The Jewish community, sensitive
to the abuses visited on Jewish and other minority children by
this Regulation, was nevertheless hamstrung by its reticence to
assume a high public profile, especially when this meant clashing
with deeply-felt convictions of the general community.
Among the most outspoken critics of the Regulation in the
Jewish community was Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, spiritual
leader of Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple who found himself at
odds, not only with the general community, but also, for various
reasons, with sectors of the Jewish establishment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:45:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-606bb35c2ec64ce2a2215c961e6a5e47 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1198-3493 1916-0925 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:45:41Z |
| publishDate | 1998-01-01 |
| publisher | The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies/York University Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Canadian Jewish Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-606bb35c2ec64ce2a2215c961e6a5e472022-12-21T21:26:46ZengThe Association for Canadian Jewish Studies/York University LibrariesCanadian Jewish Studies1198-34931916-09251998-01-01610.25071/1916-0925.19833George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious Education in Ontario’s Public SchoolsMartin SableIn 1944, Ontario Premier George Drew’s minority Conservative government introduced compulsory religious education into the Province’s public schools. The enabling legislation, the “Drew Regulation,” prescribed two one-half hour periods of religious instruction per week. A response to world-wide godlessness symbolized by Nazi Germany’s crimes, remarkably, the Drew Regulation remained in place for forty-six years. Over time it became clear that the Regulation was being used for decidedly Protestant purposes, and the task of opposing the Regulation fell to the Jewish community. The Jewish community, sensitive to the abuses visited on Jewish and other minority children by this Regulation, was nevertheless hamstrung by its reticence to assume a high public profile, especially when this meant clashing with deeply-felt convictions of the general community. Among the most outspoken critics of the Regulation in the Jewish community was Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, spiritual leader of Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple who found himself at odds, not only with the general community, but also, for various reasons, with sectors of the Jewish establishment.https://cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cjs/article/view/19833 |
| spellingShingle | Martin Sable George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious Education in Ontario’s Public Schools Canadian Jewish Studies |
| title | George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious
Education in Ontario’s Public Schools |
| title_full | George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious
Education in Ontario’s Public Schools |
| title_fullStr | George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious
Education in Ontario’s Public Schools |
| title_full_unstemmed | George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious
Education in Ontario’s Public Schools |
| title_short | George Drew and the Rabbis: Religious
Education in Ontario’s Public Schools |
| title_sort | george drew and the rabbis religious education in ontario s public schools |
| url | https://cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cjs/article/view/19833 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT martinsable georgedrewandtherabbisreligiouseducationinontariospublicschools |