Ottoman Attitudes toward the Modernization of Jewish Education · 23on the material and moral cooperation of the local communities or, at
the very least, on the support of some leading elements within them.
Also crucial was the attitude of the Ottoman authorities. In spite of their
strong French cultural orientation, the AIU schools were set up as local
community institutions. Although many of these schools enjoyed close
relations with French consular agents wherever those were located, un-
like foreign schools in the Ottoman Empire, legally they were not under
the protection of France or any other foreign power. Furthermore, their
curricula stressed modernity, patriotism, and loyalty to the state. The
Ottoman authorities saw them, therefore, as complementing the work
of the state schools. During the Tanzimat period, the modernizing and
often French-speaking Ottoman bureaucratic elite had been supportive
of modern education in general, in the belief that such education would
help create a secular enlightened citizenry, dedicated to the ideals of plu-
ralism and Ottoman patriotism.^25
Midhat Pasha, the well-known reformer and “father” of the first Ot-
toman constitution of 1876, is a case in point. After he became gover-
nor of the newly organized Danube province in 1864, he supported the
establishment of a Bulgarian printing press. Midhat, who admired the
French language and French culture in general, sent four Muslims and
two Bulgarians to study in France. He established the first official pro-
vincial newspaper in the empire, published in both Turkish and Bulgar-
ian, and supported the foundation of a municipal library in Rusçuk, the
provincial capital.^26 Above all, Midhat was a strong believer in secular
education. He was concerned about Bulgarian separatism encouraged
by Russian influence. To counter this threat, Midhat devised a plan to
establish mixed schools for Muslim and non-Muslim children. The plan
encountered strong opposition from both Muslim and Christian leaders,
however, and in the end it was not realized.^27 Still, Midhat’s dedication
to secular education is reflected in the following statement he made in
1867: “In forty or fifty years people will not build churches or mosques
anymore, but only schools and humanitarian institutions.”^28
In his dealings with the Jewish community of Rusçuk, Midhat urged
its leaders to establish a modern Jewish school. Indeed, Midhat’s efforts
to develop modern education in the Danube province paved the way for
the establishment of AIU schools in Rusçuk after his departure, for boys
in 1873 and for girls in 1874.^29 When he became governor of Baghdad in
1869, Midhat was instrumental in developing and expanding the local