Kol Habirah, a Jewish newspaper serving the Greater Washington and Baltimore Jewish communities, has published the third and final instalment of the series by Gabe Aaronson examining the crisis of the high cost of Jewish day school education. Part 1 explored how the high cost of a day school education affects the Jewish community, and what supports local schools and institutions currently have in place. Part 2 identified some of the different challenges faced by Orthodox versus non-Orthodox schools. The third and final part of the series offers a number of practical options for easing the financial burden on families while sustaining diverse day school options.
The various tactical options enunciated by the author are familiar to the many individuals in the GTA striving to achieve the same objective. Nevertheless, we commend the article to readers as a refresher of the basic parameters of the problem that most North American Jewish communities face. Moreover, the article also validates the work being undertaken here to try making Jewish education affordable to the large community of young parents who wish it for their children.
One of the key conclusions by the author that warrants repeating is:
“The idea of a community fund is that all community members, not just parents, should support local Jewish schools by donating to the fund.”
The truth of the statement stems from the fact that the collapse of a broad, diverse day school educational system inevitably augurs the collapse too of a thriving, broad, diverse community and its communal infrastructure.
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Shabbat shalom and gmar chatimah tovah.
Be well.
GAJE
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 