Sholom Eisenstat, co-founder of ADRABA, the Jewish school for online, high school accredited courses, sent GAJE the following text last week dealing with the irreplaceable importance of Jewish education for the youngsters we hope to raise into fine, Jewishly-knowledgeable, caring, involved, confident Jewish individuals.
We reproduce Eisenstat’s text. It makes a very important point.
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“Consider the following thought experiment. Imagine if we had decided 150 years ago that a Grade 8 math and science education was “enough” for Canadians. Would we have insulin, pacemakers or handhelds today?
“Now imagine a Jewish community where, for 75% of our teens, a Grade 8 Jewish education is deemed “enough.” What would that community look like? You don’t have to imagine. We are living it right now.
“And yet, our community is anything but teetering on the brink. We are well educated. We are well established. We are the most prosperous Jewish community in the history of Canada. And yet, by other metrics, our community is hollowing out. I could call upon dozens of Jews in my contacts to help me navigate a legal issue or get sage medical advice. I don’t know if I could find as many to explain the difference between kiddush, kaddish and kadosh or why we have a Second Adar in the Jewish calendar.
“These concepts and questions are not necessary for success in Canada. They are building blocks in understanding key concepts and trends in Jewish history and culture. Knowing our history and traditions and literature are key to our success. Those building blocks enable us to live through both good and bad times.
“Our survival as a viable community is dependent on quality, engaging Jewish education. Better awareness of our history, literature and tradition leads to better community leaders. It’s fundamental to building Jewish community, locally and globally.”
Of course, Eisenstat sent the text to bring ADRABA,’s mission and work to our attention. It is part of GAJE’s message to our community that Jewish education – in all its forms – is vital. Thus, we are happy to share Eisenstat’s missive with our readers.
Eisenstat added, “in its small way, ADRABA is working to create opportunities for Jewish teens across the province to acquire those building blocks – and more. Our online courses, for high school credit, are modelled on the Ontario high school curriculum and enhanced with quality Jewish content, interactive media, and challenging ideas. We add Jewish content infused with the best technological learning tools to deliver engaging and informative, live, interactive lessons and assignments. And we deliver it to teens from Cambridge to Kingston, and from Spadina Avenue to Sudbury.”
To learn more about ADRABA, visit their website https://www.adraba.ca
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GAJE is planning to go to court to try to bring an end to Ontario’s unfair, discriminatory, educational funding. We await the green light from our team of lawyers.
If you wish to help underwrite this lawsuit, please click here.
For further information, please contact Israel Mida at imida1818@gmail.com
Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.
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Shabbat shalom.
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE),
January 28, 2022
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 