Eszter Neuman, the chair of the school board of Sinai Akiba Academy in Los Angeles, has written a rhapsodic tribute to successful day school education.
“We’ll always have day school” was published this week by eJP. Neuman explores the connection between deeply rooted personal memory (nostalgia) and Jewish literacy (fluency). Through the passageway of her own life, Neuman shows the inter-lacing of both. Each drives the other in a life-affirming recurring, strengthening loop of peoplehood and purpose.
Neuman was inspired to write the article after she heard renowned political thinker and scholar, Dan Senor’s, comments about Jewish day schools, namely that they are vital for building “Jewish muscle memory” and creating a strong sense of Jewish community and pride.
There is no information in the article that the author is an educator. This is one of the refreshing aspects of Neuman’s op-ed. She writes as a parent of day school children and as a child of parents who emigrated from Eastern Europe, who could only dream of, but not actually provide, their daughter the opportunity of an intense Jewish education.
She writes about hope and aspiration. She offers no certainties. Moreover, the article did not stem from the ever-worrying proliferation of street-ugly antisemitism. Rather, Neuman lovingly expresses the hope that her children will ultimately embrace Judaism for the enveloping beauty of the life it can bring and the purpose it can provide – for their own sakes.
We provide two excerpts from Neuman’s op-ed. They are illustrative of the effective way in which she is able to speak in the same voice to her children – the future – as well as to her parents/ancestors (the past).
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“I want to watch my daughter and two sons experience all these things in the present and I hope and pray that one day, they will be able to tap into their own memories and feel the same sense of joy and comfort I do when I recall my memories; but I also want my children to have a level of Jewish muscle memory that far exceeds what I have because I did not attend a Jewish day school…..I want my children to have Jewish knowledge that will arm them on their journey to becoming strong, resilient and proud Jewish adults. I want them to develop the sort of intellect that supports them and gives them identity and confidence in adulthood no matter where they end up in life or in the world.”
“A few weeks before my dad passed away, he asked me a question about what I valued inlife. It was a little heavy, but since I knew time was short and that he knew innately about all the things I could easily list off, I decided to share something I probably hadn’t even yet concretely formulated for myself. I told him — and am now very comforted knowing that he was able to hear it before he passed — that I wanted my children to have strong Jewish identities, to really know and understand their Judaism, to feel committed to their traditions and to have a sense of belonging but also obligation to their community; and that I wanted to feel that way more as well….”.
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We recommend the article because. in soft-spoken terms. it depicts the hard truths of parents knowing they cannot write, let alone enforce, the blueprint of their children’s lives. But guidance is born of hope and wrapped in love. With an understanding heart, and the forgiveness that flows from having worn so many years, that is sometimes the most that parents can provide.
The article is available at:
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GAJE’s legal team will appear before the Court of Appeal at 10:00 on November 21, 2025 to argue that the Divisional Court was wrong, in September 2024, to reverse Judge Papageorgiou’s decision of August 2023 that had allowed our case to proceed.
If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit, please click here. Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of helping to underwrite the costs of the lawsuit. For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com
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Shabbat shalom
Am Yisrael Chai
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)
October 31, 2025
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 