The Jewish population spread to other Estonian cities where houses of prayer (at Valga, Pärnu and Viljandi) were erected and cemeteries were established. Schools were opened to teach Talmud, and elementary schools were organised in Tallinn in the 1880s. The majority of Jews at that time consisted of small tradesmen and artisans; very few knew science, hence Jewish cultural life lagged. This began to change at the end of the 19th century when several Jews entered the University of Tartu and later contributed significantly to enliven Jewish culture and education. In 1917 the Jewish Drama Club was founded in Tartu.