"What does the Hebrew Institute do to develop the life of the ghetto Jew?" I asked Mr. Seman. "The Hebrew Institute helps to elevate the social conditions of the Jewish communities in Chicago," answered Mr. Seman. "This institute is much unlike all other similar institutions for immigrants. We not only teach them the American language and American history, but we acquaint them as much as possible with the general spirit and atmosphere of America. This institute molds the social life of Jewish immigrants. Here you will find Jews from various countries and cities; among them arises the sort of friendship which lasts a lifetime. In this institute the activities of the Jewish community is being improved continually. They organize their own clubs and entertainment evenings and create their own atmosphere.

"The Hebrew Institute," continued Mr. Seman, "is perhaps the first institute that not only throws its doors wide to everyone who wants to develop his capabilities, in the short time he has left after a days work, but develops the self-respect of all those who attend the institute, because the numerous activities are being directed by various club members who pay for what they get. Naturally things are arranged so as to enable anyone for a very small fee to attend any class they may choose. After all the Hebrew Institute is not exclusively an immigrant institution. When a Jewish immigrant enters he immediately acquires the feeling that he is not excluded from the rest of the world. He finds Jews of various colors and hues, he sees before him Americanized and native born Jews who, like himself, make use of the institute. It is easy to understand that this has a favorable effect upon the newcomer who has so much before him to go through in his new life. This attitude of democracy, which he finds in this institute, instills into the heart of the immigrant life and hope for better and more fortunate times."

"What does the institute do for the practical life of the Jewish community?" I asked Mr. Seman. "The institute will in a short time do a great deal to improve the economic condition of the Jewish people in Chicago," answered Seman. "We will open for that purpose a large commercial department, where young fellows and girls will have the opportunity to learn bookkeeping, typewriting, and the business world in general. "It is a known fact that many are studying medicine, dentistry, and law, because they are under the impression that these professions are the best and most practical, but as a matter of fact, at the present there are many doctors, lawyers and dentists who do not earn enough for their subsistence, but the Jewish youth is still strange to the business world. When a Jewish boy or girl graduates from high school and if he or she possesses good business abilities, they will do much better as managers or expert bookkeepers.

"I know from my own experience," continued Mr. Seman, "of a large Jewish business house, where the manager receives three thousand dollars a year. The owner would much prefer a Jew in his place if there were a possibility of obtaining one.

"Our commercial department will not limit itself with this. Our main task will be to give the Jewish boy or girl, who must go to work in an office or a store, an opportunity to receive the necessary experience, to enable them to make money from the start. The Hebrew Institute will, in the near future, also open an agricultural department with a laboratory. The task here will be a double one. First it will encourage every young man to learn agriculture, which is a very useful and healthy study inasmuch as it will bring the city Jewish youth in closer connection with nature. After studying several months in the agricultural department, each one will know whether he likes that department and whether he is capable of understanding it. Naturally many will choose this as their profession, and then continue learning it in some college.

"Second the mature Jew, who will want to buy a farm, will have the opportunity to learn farming in the Hebrew Institute. This alone is sufficient to enable everyone to understand that the Hebrew Institute is of practical value for the Jewish community. Here the spiritual as well as the physical strength of the Jewish community are being developed.

"The institute also plays an important role in the Jewish home, inasmuch as new departments for women are constantly being opened. Everyone knows that the Jewish girls who work in the shops and factories can never learn to cook nor sew clothes for themselves. They simply don't have the opportunity to see their mothers cooking, as they work all day. It is possible that one of the most tragic features in the modern home is that the wife cannot cook, does not know of economy in food. But if the Jewish women will be given the possibility to learn cooking, this will improve the Jewish home. In the kitchen of our institute we do not teach how to make pies or other fancy cakes, but just to cook home cooked meals.

"Beside this it is important to know that our institute teaches women to sew their own clothes and clothes for children. It simply is cheaper and more practical for the mother and wife to sew clothes herself rather than give it to a dressmaker. This work will be a great help for the Jewish home. We also have many clubs which teach Yiddish reading and writing. The young Maccabees is a club consisting of seventy-five young Jewish girls who even write their minutes in Yiddish. The singing college has also become a part of the institute and their task is to spread Jewish songs and Jewish melodies among the Jewish people."