[ Henry Ford, Coco Chanel, Melvin Dewey. The art of Judeophobia/antisemitism being taught in Christianity for the past 2000 years ]
Dewey described his system in
A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, a 44-page pamphlet with 2,000 index entries, which has grown monumentally since. By popular request, the Library of Congress began to print Dewey Classification numbers on nearly all its cards in 1930.
Copy of title Page of 1876 edition of Dewey’s Decimal Classification and Subject Index.
The Dewey Decimal System, which is currently used in 200,000 libraries in at least 135 countries, was first introduced in Eretz Yisrael by noted Jewish philosopher Gershom Sholem who, after making
aliyah in 1923, worked as a librarian for a few years at the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. Although the system was a logical choice for the large library, it proved problematic because Dewey, whose belief that Christianity was the only true faith, had marginalized non-Christian religions and, in particular, he had assigned only one number (296) to Judaism. The problem was further exacerbated by the fact that the scope of the Jerusalem library, which was far broader than merely Judaism as a religion, included comprehensive materials on the Jewish people, the land of Eretz Yisrael, Jewish history, and much more. As such, Sholem adapted and expanded the Dewey system to meet the specific needs of the Judaica Department.
In 1893, Dewey began to acquire land for the development of a private club in Lake Placid, New York, originally for the purpose of providing an escape during hay fever season. Two years later, he founded the Lake Placid Club on the site as an affordable health resort for educators; as he explained “We wanted to devote our lives to the cause of education and one way of doing this was to help the educators. If we could give them an opportunity to find health, strength, and inspiration at moderate cost, we knew we would be helping them.” The club became an Adirondack mountain retreat for wealthy and privileged WASPs that encouraged healthy eating and good habits; drinking, smoking, and dancing were strictly prohibited.
Lack Placid stock certificate signed by Dewey.
The Lake Placid Club became a great success, as Dewey transformed it into a 10,000-acre complex with tennis courts, golf courses and concert halls, and there were 150 member families by 1904. Like other Adirondack resorts, Dewey’s Club excluded Jews; his promotional literature for the club stipulated that “no Jews or consumptives allowed” and he declared it “impracticable to make exceptions to Jews or others excluded, even when of unusual personal qualification.”
Dewey, who claimed that “personally, many of my choicest friends are Jews” and that “I have some Hebrew friends who are very charming,” was a Judeophobe who refused to eat with Jews and exhibited classic cognitive dissonance by believing in educational reform for the masses as a means to improve society on one hand and exhibiting extreme antisemitism, racism, and sexism on the other hand. Ironically, his strict adherence to his exclusionary policies ultimately led to his downfall.
In 1903, Henry Marcus Leipziger was barred from attending a New York Library Association meeting held at Dewey’s club because he was Jewish. Trained as a lawyer, Leipziger (1861-1934), who earned a reputation as an expert in the field of educational extension activities, founded and led the Hebrew Technical Institute, whose purpose was to give both academic and manual training to immigrant boys. He was later appointed assistant superintendent of
New York City schools and placed in charge of the Free Lecture Series, an
adult education program for working people which he called “the People’s University.” He built up the program to the point that by 1905, more than 1.25 million people had attended more than 3,000 lectures, and he also published
The Education of the Jews (1890).
(full article online)
Although he presented a supremely confident public face, Dewey was deeply concerned that the Regents would fire him. Accordingly, he and his two greatest supporters, Funk and Singer, commenced an ambi
www.jewishpress.com
www.jns.org
forward.com
elderofziyon.blogspot.com
sapirjournal.org
www.jpost.com
www.algemeiner.com
pulseofisrael.com
unitedwithisrael.org
