(Jewish Center for Adult Education), Jewish educational agency in Germany, active from 1934--1938. The center was founded by the Reich Representation of German Jews after the rise of Nazism in Germany, on the initiative of Jewish philosopher and educator Martin Buber. Its main goal was to give German Jews the opportunity to strengthen their sense of Jewish identity, especially when the Jewish world as they knew it was falling down all around them. This is reflected in the center's slogan, coined by Buber: "arming for existence." It is also reflected in the words of another center leader, who called the center a form of "moral resistance."
The center's main education technique was the Lernzeit, or study period, which was a group study seminar that was held out in the country and usually lasted for several days. Sometimes the seminars were geared towards specific groups, such as youth leaders or teachers, and sometimes they were open to the general Jewish community. Some seminars dealt with one major theme, while others dealt with several subjects at once. Buber was the center's spiritual leader: he chose the seminar themes, usually finding topics in the Bible with relevance to modern times. The center also counseled Jews on a variety of topics.
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Copyright © H.H. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. © Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. All rights reserved.