by Ira J. Wise, R.J.E. Taking A Year Off This past fall many Jewish educators encountered a newish phenomenon. Some families in our religious schools were “taking a year off” from Religious School and in some cases synagogue membership. If these were families whose youngest child recently became Bar or Bat Mitzvah, we might wring our hands and say “Ri-i-i-ight. Taking the year off. We’ll look for you next fall.” But most of these families in my synagogue and in those of colleagues who have told me they have encountered the same conversations have children who are much younger. They tend to be in Gan (K) through Kitah Gimel (3rd). In fact, our enrollment from Kitah Chet (8th) through Kitah Yud Bet (12th) is at an all time high. If pushed, some parents will say it is a temporary … Continue Reading
Seeing Clearly With Double Vision
by Robert Lichtman Why do children learn in parallel rows in the winter and in circles in the summer? The parallel rows are the desks in the day schools. We can demonstrate what day school students learn about the history of our people, Hebrew language and literature, Torah, Israel, holidays, Jewish Peoplehood, culture and folklore. The circles are the depressions in the grass left by thousands of Jewish tushies that sit around camp fires, song leaders or story tellers in Jewish overnight camps. We can demonstrate that campers enjoy celebrating the Jewish experiences of Shabbat, music, dance, community-building, Zionism, and nature. The American Jewish community has developed two brilliant but bifurcated models for nurturing Jewish identity, for invigorating Western Jewish minds, for … Continue Reading
Day School Sustainability: Ours to Achieve
by Yossi Prager I have email alerts that notify me when anyone blogs about “day school tuition” or “yeshiva tuition.” Even Orthodox posters express frustration over high tuitions or, more poignantly, resignation that they will be unable to enroll or maintain their children in a day school. Plainly put, our most effective form of Jewish education is financially unsustainable. Will day schools ultimately disappear, at least outside of the charedi community? Absent some coordinated activity, they might. 2009/10 brought a 3% decline in day school enrollments nationally (outside of the charedi community, where demographic growth fuels huge enrollment increases). The decline was far lower than had been feared given the magnitude of the economic recession. However, with the economic … Continue Reading
The Dance of the Four Children
by Daniel Libenson The Torah tells of four children: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not know to ask. (Passover Haggadah) Jewish education must be a two-step dance: provoke a hunger to learn, feed that hunger. Provoke huger, feed hunger; provoke, feed. But we don’t focus enough on the first step, and our efforts can look more like lurching than dancing. Working with young people during the transition to adulthood brings this issue into dramatic relief (although the same paradigm is relevant at every stage of life). Freed from parental supervision, most university students do not seek out Jewish educational experiences because they do not perceive that Jewish knowledge can feed any hunger that they have. Like the Passover haggadah’s fourth child - the she’eino … Continue Reading
Toward Adult Jewish Literacy
by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer What would it take to radically improve adult Jewish literacy in America? This is a problem long debated, but I believe we face an unprecedented opportunity to make a quantum leap forward during the next decade. A cursory look at Jewish life in America reveals only the challenges to this goal: declining engagement, membership and connection. But below are some of the factors that are playing in our favor. Demand for meaningful education is high. David Brooks termed the demographic that is post-college, pre-marriage/children (if at all) the “odyssey years.” These people are exploring their identity, and seeking meaningful opportunities to engage with sources of wisdom. Jewish sources and study have a tremendous amount to offer, if they can be opened up beyond … Continue Reading
Back to School
The Jewish community has been a-buzz in recent years about its “Innovation Ecosystem,” a term coined by Shawn Landres and Joshua Avedon in their report published in 2008. The report revealed that a substantial number of new Jewish organizations, which think and behave differently from existing, often flailing, Jewish institutions, are cropping up at a rapid pace. These organizations are radically changing the landscape of the Jewish community, meeting its most pressing needs, and providing creative, relevant, and substantive Jewish programming to Jews not participating in pre-existing structures. My question is: Why aren’t more of our creative social entrepreneurs dedicating their energies to re-envisioning, re-imagining, and re-shaping those institutions that, arguably, have the potential … Continue Reading
Securing and Growing Jewish Day Schools
by Rabbi Josh Elkin, Ed.D. What will it take to make sure that Jewish day school education continues to thrive for future generations, even in challenging times? The incredible momentum of recent decades, as day school enrollment increased exponentially, requires renewed energy now. The current economic environment only underscores the need for schools to adapt the most professional management and leadership practices in order to thrive in the 21st century. Our field's growth so far has been amazing and awe-inspiring; the challenges ahead must be met with new solutions. Thirteen years ago PEJE began as a grant maker, seeding new schools financially and through expertise. As our mission expanded to lead the entire day school field as a capacity-builder, we created programs and initiatives … Continue Reading
Making Jewish Meaning
by Beth Cousens, PhD Jerry “Tycho” Holkins and Mike “Gabe” Krahulik have been writing the on-line comic Penny Arcade for goodness knows how long (I’m not cool enough to have been around since the beginning). In a recent entry, Tycho clarifies why he sometimes presents his pieces as “purposefully incomplete.” He explains, “I’d rather you discover your own Why.” Then, he delivers a line so classic, so important, that it’s hard to believe it’s buried in a tech-geek cartoon: “The moment where you seize an idea for yourself is what confers ownership.” In other words, when you realize the idea on your own, when a handful of ideas come together in your head, independent of an external educator - that’s when you “own” the idea, when the idea becomes a part of you … Continue Reading
Expanding Jewish Education in Challenging Times: Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat
by Maggie Bar-Tura Although myths about Jewish wealth and power persist, the truth is that many Jewish families struggle to make ends meet. The income inequality that characterizes American society has not passed over the Jewish community. According to the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Study - almost a decade before the onset of the Great Recession - over sixty percent of Jewish households in the US were earning less than $75,000 a year. An estimated 250,000 households in that income bracket were families with children. Las Vegas, one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the U.S., is an interesting case study from which we can learn about challenges and trends in emerging Jewish communities. The 2005 Jewish Community Study of Southern Nevada included a Jewish Children’s … Continue Reading
How We Can Fund A Vibrant Jewish Future
“Health Care Reform” for the American Jewish Community: How We Can Fund A Vibrant Jewish Future by Kim Hirsh Here is a conundrum of the American Jewish community at the start of the 21st century: We have a sickness that threatens our very survival: rampant assimilation. We have discovered the most effective preventive medicine: day school education, Jewish camping, and Israel experiences. (Extensive research has shown that these childhood experiences lead most effectively to committed Jewish adults.) We have the capacity to pay for the curatives: We are more wealthy and powerful than ever in the history of the Jewish people. One highly conservative estimate puts philanthropic giving by Jews at $400 billion over the next 50 years.* We are smart, well organized, pragmatic, and … Continue Reading
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