A LIFE NOBLY LIVED 179 



religion. It would indeed tte a sorry departure if this 

 were not the case. 



On the other hand, a more thorough observer, who 

 also visited Woodbine recently for the same purpose, 

 has the following to say about the educational activities 

 of the Jews of that town: 



"While the center of the Bohemian community was 

 seen to be the freethinking society, and that of the Dutch 

 community the church, in the case of this Jewish com- 

 munity the center is the public school. A supervising 

 principal is in general administrative charge. The pres- 

 ent incumbent has held this position some twelve years. 

 Although himself a Christian, he is thoroughly interested 

 in and identified with the community, as are the members 

 of his family. 



"School attendance is excellent, and there is little ab- 

 sence, except on the part of non-Jewish children, in 

 whose case regulations are not strictly enforced. There 

 are a few children of the local native American stock, 

 who are unprogressive and deficient both physically and 

 mentally. Only about 10 per cent of the Jewish chil- 

 dren leave to go to work before completing the eighth 

 grade; of those who remain, close to 90 per cent go to 

 high school ; and of these, in turn, nearly half finish the 

 liigh school course." * 



From the start the influence of Professor Sabsovich 

 permeated every phase of the town development and 

 especially education matters. But he was careful not 

 to interfere with the desire of the people and their free- 

 dom of action, and it was one of the remarkable traits 

 of his character that he knew how to fix the boundaries 

 of his influence. 



1 "America via the Neighborhood," pp. 50-51, by John Daniels. 



