As we have been advising our readers these past weeks, GAJE is now approaching the final stage of our single-purposed effort to help make day school education affordable to as many families as possible.  

Ontario is the only province that fully funds the education of the adherents of one faith alone within its public education system. Moreover, it is the only province outside Atlantic Canada that does not contribute any funding whatsoever to the general studies portion of its independent schools. And so, GAJE has retained a superb team of lawyers headed by the renowned human rights advocate and constitutional law specialist, David Matas, to try, finally, to bring an end to Ontario’s discriminatory educational funding policy. The team will attempt to have the court re-assess and reconsider the 1996 Supreme Court decision on which Ontario relies to justify its antiquated, unfair funding.

Much has changed in Ontario since 1996, indeed in Canada itself, regarding educational funding. Polls suggest a majority of Ontarians are in favor of more choice in their children’s schooling. There have also been subtle changes in the development of the law that suggest an attempt to re-examine the 1996 decision is worthwhile.

Our lawyers are donating much of their time and expertise. The cost for prosecuting the case, from the trial phase to the end of an appeal in the Supreme Court is in the range of $250,000. Thus far we have raised about a quarter of the funds needed. We need your help to raise the rest. We know that you are frequently called upon to contribute to worthy causes. Our request, however, is not simply another worthy request in the constellation of other worthy requests. It is a foundational request aimed at ensuring the permanence of all the schools and thereby improving the lives of our families for all time. Moreover, it is a one-time request to cover legal costs, as we have stated, through to the outcome at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Please join us in making this happen! And please tell your friends to join in our effort.

This is our generation’s opportunity to correct the educational funding injustice that has wounded so many families in Ontario for more than 25 years.  If we do not try to end the injustice, who will? Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada.

To donate to this important cause, please click here.

If you wish to obtain further information, please contact Israel Mida at imida1818@gmail.com

•••

We thank and acknowledge…

…with deep gratitude the Boards of Directors of the Bnei Akiva Schools, Leo Baeck Day School, Eitz Chaim Schools and Netivot Hatorah Day School for distributing our letter to day school parents, appealing to them directly for assistance in our legal effort. It is our fervent belief that the struggle for educational affordability is the cause of the entire community. Substantively and symbolically, however, it is the parents who are in the vanguard of this struggle. And as we wrote above, if it is not we who try to end the injustice, who will do so for us?

Again, we thank these four schools.

•••

Be safe. Be well.

Thank you.

Shabbat shalom.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

July 2, 2021

…to students, parents, extended families, teachers and administrators of all our schools for arriving at the conclusion of the second pandemic-affected school year. The discipline, commitment and work for everyone involved across an entire school year are always laden with challenge. The Covid challenges were unimaginable two years ago. Now they are part of the base of experience that will be incorporated into educational advances in the years to come. Once again, congratulations.

Because of our desire to bring more children to Jewish education we repeat our call of last week.

Please help us

As we advised readers last week, we are now approaching the final stage of our single-purposed effort to help make day school education affordable to as many families as possible.  But we need your assistance to achieve our aim.

As you know, Ontario is the only province that fully funds the education of the adherents of one faith alone within its public education system. Moreover, it is the only province outside Atlantic Canada that does not contribute any funding whatsoever to the general studies portion of its independent schools.

GAJE has retained a superb team of lawyers headed by the renowned human rights advocate and constitutional law specialist, David Matas, to try, finally, to bring an end to Ontario’s discriminatory educational funding policy. The team will attempt to have the court re-assess and reconsider the 1996 Supreme Court decision on which Ontario relies to justify its antiquated, unfair funding.

Since 1996, much has changed in Ontario. Polls suggest a majority of Ontarians are in favor of more choice in their children’s schooling. In addition, there have been subtle changes in the development of the law that suggest an attempt to change the law is worthwhile.

Our lawyers are donating much of their time and expertise. The cost for prosecuting the case, from the trial phase to the end of an appeal in the Supreme Court is in the range of $250,000. Thus far we have raised about a quarter of the funds needed. But to help us raise the rest, we turn to you. Please help us.

We know that you are asked to contribute to many worthy causes. Our request is for the sake of securing the future of all day schools in our community for all time. It is not simply another worthy request in the constellation of other worthy requests. It is a foundational request aimed at improving the lives of our families and ensuring the permanence of all the schools. Moreover, it is a one-time request to cover legal costs, as we have stated, all the way through to the end of an appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Please join us in making this happen! Please tell your friends to join in our effort.

This is our generation’s opportunity to correct this long-standing injustice. If we do not try to end the injustice, who will?

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada.

To donate to this important cause, please click here.

If you wish to obtain further information, please contact Israel Mida at imida1818@gmail.com

Be safe. Be well.

Thank you.

Shabbat shalom.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

June 25, 2021

Barely two weeks remain in school year 2020-2021, although to refer to these past months as a school year stretches the true meaning of the term. The pandemic put paid to most in-class learning. And yet, schools were always open “electronically” and “digitally”, teachers taught and students persevered. Since mid-March of 2020, the Jewish Educational Infrastructure adapted to pandemic restrictions and developed a new base of teaching/learning experience from which to take the best components to incorporate into new, evolving educational structures.

Though the summer has not yet arrived, it is not too early for parents to start thinking about their children’s Jewish education for the fall of 2021 and to think about starting the related conversations with their children.

GAJE’s key purpose, of course, is to help make Jewish education affordable for all families who seek it for their children. But as readers of this weekly update know, it is also our purpose to champion meaningful Jewish education and encourage families to enrol their children if it is possible for them to do so. There are many valid reasons keeping youngsters out of Jewish day school classrooms such as finances, geography, and family “dynamics”.

And so, in this vein, as GAJE has done in the past, we call readers’ attention to ADRABA as a possible educational venue for high school-age children who will not or cannot find themselves in a day school in the fall. ADRABA incorporates the best digital tools and web-based resources into its teaching model.

Serving communities in the GTA, Kingston and Hamilton, the school launched three online Ontario approved credit courses last year. ADRABA also established partnerships with 15 congregations across Ontario. In 2021, their courses will become fully integrated into the post bat/bar mitzvah learning track for these congregations.

ADRABA has been described as a “dynamic, engaging, exciting and innovative”.  That the students earn high school credits in the process is a compelling bonus.

ADRABA’s promotional material says that the school “fills a critical and acknowledged gap not only in the trajectory of Jewish educational opportunities for teens but also and especially for smaller Jewish communities that lack access to Jewish resources.”

GAJE’s over-arching purpose is to bring more Jewish children to Jewish education. If that education cannot be in day school, we urge parents to explore ADRABA. For more information about ADRABA go to its website: adraba.ca or send an email to: info@adraba.ca

•••

Be safe. Be well.

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE, June 11, 2021

In the days preceding Pesach 17 years ago, a rash of vandalism broke out in the GTA aimed at Jewish institutions and cemeteries. Such outright miscreant behaviour was relatively rare in our community then.

Not surprisingly, many people at the time attributed the vandalism to the spillover of emotions from the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The choking dust from the suicide bomber “intifadah” unleashed by Yasser Arafat was settling by then. But Israel’s resilience and determination to fight back irritated as many people then as it does today. The same network of journalists, diplomats, celebrities, and accusing others as today inverted the moral register of the fighting. Defending against terror was cast as aggression. Unwillingness to submit to terrorism was cast as disproportionate oppression.

As was the case over the past few weeks, the accusers of Israel then also let loose a dangerous onslaught of hatred toward Jews. At the peak of the emotional distress, Prof. Marty Lockshin of York University, (today in Jerusalem) told a large gathering of high school students how to find a path through the clutter of our confusion and rage.

“No one should believe that anti-Semitism is caused by Jews,” Prof. Lockshin told his young audience. “While we Jews are the targets of anti-Semitism, it is the non-Jews who are affected by the illness. It is the non-Jews of conscience who must lead the, fight against the illness that affects non-Jewish society.”

After the diagnosis however, Prof. Lockshin also provided the prescription: “The proper reaction of Jews when we see swastikas in Thornhill or homicide bombers in Jerusalem, is for us to do more Jewish things and to dream of new ways to protect and manifest our Judaism.”

That prescription, of course, brings us inevitably and always back to Jewish education.

As GAJE has written repeatedly during these past six years, Jewish education does not mean becoming “more religious.” Nor did Prof. Lockshin likely mean that when he urged the high schoolers “to do more Jewish things.”

By Jewish education, GAJE intends, and perhaps Prof. Lockshin did as well, for our children to learn who they are as Jews, to learn the remarkable power of the heritage of 4,000 years of Jewish history that stands behind them, and how that power can be adapted and applied today to make the world a better place.

There is a deeply poignant scene in this week’s Torah portion (Shelach Lecha) from which we can – and must – learn. Ten of the twelve scouts appointed by Moses to reconnoitre the Promised Land prior to the people’s entry, provide a negative report of what they saw. They were overwhelmed with self-doubt and fear that the task at hand was unachievable. In sad, even pathetic, self-deprecating language they explain to Moses that the inhabitants of the land saw them (the scouts) as “grasshoppers”, small inconsequential individuals.

But far worse, the ten scouts saw themselves as “grasshoppers”. “We were as grasshoppers in our own eyes.” (Numbers 13:33) One need not be a psychologist to understand the defeat that will inexorably result from such low self-esteem. If we see ourselves as tiny, incapable, weak, flimsy and frail, others will too.

Whether standing up to the haters of the Jewish people and the disparagers of Israel or trying to ensure that Jewish education is affordable for all who seek it for their children, we emphatically do not see ourselves as grasshoppers. Nor will we allow others to see us grasshoppers.

Failure is not an option.

•••

Be safe. Be well. Shabbat shalom.

GAJE, June 4, 2021

Only the guns and the screams of smashing rockets are silent in Israel and in Gaza. But public spaces on the streets and on the internet here and abroad are overwhelmed with a waterfall of shrill, disgusting expressions of hatred against Israel and Jews.

Though we feel rage and outrage, we know that our emotions are but the starting point in marshalling the proper individual and communal response to the attempt by the haters to take control of our society and of our lives.

Bari Weiss, the writer, thinker and author of How to Fight Anti-Semitism succinctly tells us how to respond in situations such as the one so many Jews throughout the western world face now. In an article she wrote in 2019 entitled “To Fight Anti-Semitism, Be a Proud Jew”, she wrote:

“There has not been a single moment in Jewish history in which there weren’t anti-­Semites determined to eradicate Judaism and the Jews.…

“But the Jews did not sustain their magnificent civilization because they were anti-anti-Semites. Our tradition was always renewed by people who made the choice in the face of tragedy that theirs would not be the end of the Jewish story, but the catalyst for writing a new chapter.

“The long arc of Jewish history makes it clear that the only way to fight is by waging an affirmative battle for who we are. By entering the fray for our values, for our ideas, for our ancestors, for our families, and for the generations that will come after us. This is not an exhortation to embrace religion in all its strictures. It is a reminder that Judaism contains multitudes, and that those who point the finger at other Jews as a way to keep the target off their own backs — insisting that the real problem are those with their kippot or their Zionism — at once distorts our history and the fact of our peoplehood.

“In these trying times, our best strategy is to build, without shame, a Judaism and a Jewish people and a Jewish state that are not only safe and resilient but also generative, humane, joyful and life-affirming. A Judaism capable of lighting a fire in every Jewish soul — and in the souls of everyone who throws in his or her lot with ours.”

Weiss has written a profound formula for how to wrestle with the monster. To take her clarion words to heart – that we build a Judaism and a Jewish people and a Jewish state – requires that we know our Judaism. To know our Judaism, in turn, requires that we teach our children what that is. And to teach our children requires a system of affordable Jewish education.

Jewish life always returns to its irreplaceable core: Jewish education.

•••

Bob Dylan celebrated his 80^th birthday this week. After the First Lebanon War in 1982 he released a song called the Neighborhood Bully. It is generally regarded as Dylan’s paean to Zionism and to the right of Jews to our own sovereign life. Although Dylan is generally considered to have a somewhat opaque relationship with his Judaism, Neighborhood Bully shows that he could see with laser precision the true nature of Israel’s situation.

A review of Dylan’s life appeared this week on the website of The Jewish Insider. As the article notes, Barry Shrage, a professor in the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University and the former president of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, said Neighborhood Bully is “so right for this moment, with the whole discussion of Israel being totally hypocritical.”

The following is the song’s quasi-chorus. It a meaningful response to the self-righteous critics of Israel or to the critics who try to hide their malevolence toward the only sovereign Jewish state on earth.

“The neighborhood bully just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully”

•••

The words of Neighborhood Bully can be read at:

•••

Be safe. Be well. Shabbat shalom.

GAJE, May 28, 2021

As these words were written, the genocidal regime in Gaza was still sending rockets and other missiles at the villages and cities of Israel, hoping to kill as many people as possible. Israel, of course, was still fighting back, hoping to spare as many of their people as possible from the deadly onslaught.

When Israel fights back, however, a great many people are offended. Noisily and en-masse, they take to the streets to protest and march with a festoonery of revealing flags, signs and placards, while chanting and shrieking nasty variations on the same murderous theme: “Free Palestine”, which of course means replace the Jewish State with a non-Jewish State, which of course means the Jews have no right to sovereign existence there, which of course means…..

As long as the marches and protests are without violence, the ugly screaming and hateful shouting are part of the heavy freight we carry for living in a free, democratic society. The demonstrations however, are infuriating because they are never advocate for Jewish-Arab coexistence, or inter-ethnic tolerance, or mutual national respect, or peaceful territorial compromise. They simply express vile calumny toward Israel.

And thus, what saddens as well as enrages us, is the participation in these plainly vicious anti-Israel demonstrations of many well-meaning, but not well-informed – young Jews. It leaves one to ask: if they knew more about modern and ancient Jewish history, would they shout such ant-Israel bigoted bile? Would they understand the horrific implications of the slogans they shouted?

The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), an independent, non-profit, professional policy planning think tank based in Jerusalem provides a powerful insight that bears upon these questions. In commenting upon The Pew Research Center’s new study of American Jewry, 

the JPPI points out that the greatest sense of shared commonality among and for other Jews is felt by Jews who affiliate with one of Judaism’s modern streams.

In relation to a sense of commonality felt by American Jews for Israelis, JPPI observed: “How many American Jews say they have “a lot in common” with Israeli Jews? One in five (19 percent). And how many say they have “something in common” with Israeli Jews? Another two-fifths (40 percent). A total of 60 percent feel some commonality with Israeli Jews. And it’s notable that Orthodox and Conservative Jews feel a marked sense of commonality, while the Reform feel it a little less, though still strongly. But those not affiliated with any religious stream, or who self-identify as Jews “not by religion,” are at the bottom of the commonality scale. Of the latter, only a third feel some kind of connection.”

We do not know and therefore cannot comment on exactly who – among our sons and daughters here and in the USA – are volubly and publicly joining the anti-Israel ranks. But we can justifiably speculate that youngsters more aware of their people’s “story” – our history, literature, traditions, and faith – that is, having benefited from affordable Jewish education would be less likely to believe, let alone chant, “Free Palestine.”

•••

The JPPI article can be read at:

http://jppi.org.il/en/article/the-jewish-camp-of-the-nine-percent/#.YKaS4C-caYU

•••

Be safe. Be well. Shabbat shalom.

GAJE, May 21, 2021

Dark times require light, some form of illumination.  Thus, pandemic requires a heightened sense of responsibility for others. And, assault on Israel (read Jews) because they are Jews, requires us to champion our Judaism. Thoughts and prayers are necessary but never sufficient.

So, we point out again and ever, the irreplaceable importance of Jewish education. There is no better way to champion our Judaism – during these dark times and indeed always – than by teaching the young generation who they are, where they come from and how they too might make their own unique contributions to improving the world for the next generation. And the eve of the festival of Shavuot is an ideal moment to recall this millennial, permanent, people-sustaining relationship.

In the summer of 2018, Rabbi Allan Zelenetz, published an essay in Conversations, The Journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, entitled Born in Another Time. It is a wide-ranging reflection on the essence of Jewish education. Although Rabbi Zelenetz writes ostensibly about Yeshiva Day School education, his thoughts provide a template for all (affordable) intensive Jewish education. His ideas are applicable to all schools whose aim is to instill in their students the knowledge of how to “be” and how to “do” Jewish.

“[T]he ideal Jewish Day School is an organic unity within whose walls our younger generations… learn to live as whole beings whose Jewish identity is at the same time intrinsically bound up with their intellectual, spiritual, and social-emotional growth, with their studies in the liberal arts and sciences, and with their positive participation in society at large” Rabbi Zelenetz wrote. His definition may be a bit cumbersome. But it hits home.

Our tradition tells us in language intended to penetrate the soul as well as the mind that we – all Jews – were present at Mount Sinai for the Giving of the Torah (the origin of Shavuot). Unlocking the memory of having been there is the purpose of Jewish education. And then, just as we did some 3,500 years ago at the foot of that small craggy desert mountain, we will be standing in common purpose alongside each other.

•••

Rabbi Zelenetz’ article is available at:

https://www.jewishideas.org/article/born-another-time

•••

Be safe. Be well. Shabbat shalom. Chag Shavuot samayach.

GAJE, May 14, 2021

The discussion reimagining Jewish day schools continues in the wide educational community with pointed debate.  Ideas and counter-ideas fill digital screens and travel through the invisible fibre-miraculous pathways of cyberspace with unabating frequency.

We are monitoring this discussion only insofar as it reinforces the essential core principles of the key importance of intense Jewish education for maintaining a diverse, knowledgeable committed Jewish life. We are not commenting on the different design speculations for schools of the future.

Thus, we wish readers to a succinct restatement of core principles by Lindsey Bodner, the executive director of the Naomi Foundation whose mission is to support innovation in education in the US and Israel and the academic study of Yiddish. 

In an essay posted on eJewishPhilanthropy, Bodner commented positively on a redesign proposal for Jewish day schools by Hillel Rapp, Director of Education of the Bnei Akiva schools in Toronto. Rapp’s suggestion is indeed innovative. Bodner endorses it. In the course off providing her stamp of approval on Rapp’s blueprint, Bodner reiterates the following three principles of wide agreement among all the discussants on the subject of modern day-school education.

• The importance of day school education for Jewish continuity – Even controlling for other factors like the religiosity of the family, the most reliable way to ensure long-term engagement with Judaism is sending children to Jewish schools. 

•The unaffordability of most Jewish day schools – The burden is particularly acute for middle and upper middle-class families (as opposed to those in financial distress who receive full tuition coverage or the very wealthy who don’t need it). 

• The Jewish community has a responsibility to make education more accessible to families who are interested in sending children to Jewish day schools and greatly benefits from doing so.

Thankfully, we can confidently say that the lay and professional leadership of the Jewish community of the GTA also agree with these principles.

The struggle for true affordability is not yet won. But with the above principles as an agreed-upon community-wide foundation, the path to true affordability is steadier, if not yet certain.

•••

Bodner’s article is available at:

•••

Be safe. Be well. Shabbat shalom. 

GAJE, May 7, 2021

The prolonged Covid virus crisis, the need for day schools to adjust to the dread effect of the virus and the successful manner in which many schools did adjust – especially in the GTA – has led some educators to reimagine day schools of the future. With lessons from the pandemic pivot fresh in their minds and the ever-present concerns of affordability and sustainability always part of the structural architecture, many educators are establishing new day schools – at least in their minds.

Jonah Hassenfeld, Director of Learning and Teaching at Schechter Boston and Ziva R. Hassenfeld, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at Brandeis University responded to some of the “blue-sky” suggestions for future schools. Piqued, and with a traceable sense of worry, they reminded the well-meaning re-imaginers of day schools that economies of scale and creative staffing models should not be sacrosanct over-arching principles of redesign and restructure.

In an essay entitled The Silver Bullet of Jewish Education is Teachers, the authors remind us that the inestimably most important feature of any day school is the quality of its teachers- their substantive excellence and goodness.

The Hassenfelds write: “One place that we should never compromise is in the development and support of educators. No, they won’t be able to wear every hat, or teach every subject, in every language, but with the right leadership, culture, and opportunities for development, they will help develop kind, curious, and knowledgeable young Jews.”

The authors have written a truth we should never forget. Teachers – and the lay and professional infrastructure that support them – are the true and key shapers of our collective Jewish future. Families, parents, grandparents reinforce through example and love what our teachers impart in the classroom.

God bless our teachers not only during Covid, but always.

•••

The full article by the Hassenfelds is available at:

•••

Be safe. Be well.

Shabbat shalom. 

GAJE, April 30, 2021