To solve the problem of unaffordable Jewish education it is incumbent upon the community to think of approaches that reach outside the “usual” way of doings, that are new, that have not yet been tried here, that are more revolutionary than evolutionary.

Steve Freedman, the head of Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit has written an article for Jeducation World entitled Does a “Loyalty” Tuition Grant Program Work? in which he describes such a new approach at his Hillel Day School.

He writes, “The school launched a new tuition grant program to address affordability for families who are not eligible for tuition assistance, but who nevertheless worry about the high cost of tuition. In partnership with a major local foundation, the Hillel Tuition Grant program, for first through eighth graders, not only insures that tuition will never be higher than the first year a child enters Hillel, but that it will actually decrease in each subsequent year. Each year, through eighth grade, the value of the grant goes up by $1,000.”

“Those of us who have been working closely on this grant believe that it has made a difference — and that the impact is only beginning. …” Freedman writes.

The key message for us is not necessarily the specifics of the Hillel Day School program, although it commends itself to community leaders here for study and possible application. Rather, the key message is that Freedman’s school in Detroit is demonstrably trying new, innovative ideas. Merely demonstrating to parents of children in our schools that something new is being tried to help them manage their onerous tuition costs will go a long way to encouraging parents who are struggling financially to keep their children in the school to have hope for the future.

“The purpose of the grant becomes more powerful each year,” Freedman continues. “Eligible families, dedicated to Hillel Day School receive a larger grant each year, rewarding their loyalty, and providing families increasing financial relief as their children get older…”

Freedman concludes with a statement that GAJE wholeheartedly endorses.

“A Jewish day school education has a disproportionate positive impact on the Jewish community; we believe that it is in the larger Jewish community’s best interest that Hillel, and other Jewish day schools, in addition to offering financial assistance, develop and sustain programs that assist the middle- and higher-income families that are stressed over maintaining the quality of life they work hard for, while investing in day school education.”

•••

Reminder

The annual Limmud Toronto conference takes place this year on March 19 at St. Andrews Club & Conference Centre in downtown Toronto. The program includes the following sessions:

• Jewish Education: Do We Want it? Can We Afford It? – Jeffrey Stutz
• A Viable Alternative to the Financial Crisis in Jewish Education – Sholom Eisenstat

Other sessions also focus on Jewish education but from different perspectives.

Readers are encouraged to consult limmud.ca for the full schedule of events.

We urge GAJE members to register for the conference.

•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

We draw our followers’ attention to two items that appeared in The Canadian Jewish News this week (Feb. 2, 2017). They can be read in tandem. Indeed perhaps they should be read in tandem for together they describe a perfect storm of converging developments within the Jewish community that portend very worrisome developments for our community.

Lila Sarick wrote an excellent story about the future of the day schools. Under the headline “Dwindling Affordability Puts Day Schools at Crossroads”, Sarick neatly and powerfully explored the far-reaching implications of the dilemma of steeply rising tuition costs. She described day school education as a barometer of the Jewish community’s viability. Of course she is correct. It alarms us to report that the barometer is pointing to a distressing conclusion about the community.

Sarick quotes Rabbi Lee Buckman, head of CHAT, who framed the cost issue quite starkly: “I think the challenge all the day schools are going to face is day school affordability, which is tied to enrolment… That’s a long-term strategic challenge.”

In the page immediately preceding Sarick’s article, Ari Blaff, a master’s student at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, wrote an op-ed essay in which he laments the increasingly radically negative and hostile attitudes towards Israel that are proliferating from many quarters – including from Jews – on campus. Apart from or in addition to the social and academic atmosphere so heavily poisoned against Israel, Blaff points out with painful realization that a great many Jews of North America cannot be counted upon to defend the Jewish case, let alone Israel’s case.

“The relationship between a fading Jewish identity and disinterest in Israel has indelibly framed my view of North American Jewry. Few of my Jewish friends have the conviction or passion to engage in what is perceived to be tendentious politicking. Few will write columns in student newspapers, participate in Israel-related campus activities, or voice their concerns publicly regarding anti-Semitism or anti-Israel incidents. Few are informed… They are fearful of speaking up on campuses, partaking in pro-Israel events or outing themselves with such a cause.”

Blaff concludes ominously that the lack of Jewish knowledge among so many of our youth on campus “portends poorly for the future of liberal Jews in North America.”

As most of us know, the surest, most long-lasting response to this alarming lack of Jewish knowledge and fading Jewish identity among North American Jewish youth is impactful Jewish education.

And so, on this very point, we give the final word on the subject to Jeff Stutz, chair of GAJE’s funding committee, who told Sarick “We can’t give up. [The tuition issue] is too important and we have a community responsibility to fix it the system.”

•••

Reminder:

The annual Limmud Toronto conference takes place this year on March 19 at St. Andrews Club & Conference Centre in downtown Toronto. We urge GAJE members to register for the conference. GAJE will once again be joining the discussion.

Registration details are available at the Limmud Toronto website.

•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

We are reluctant to refer two weeks in a row to insights from the same source. But inasmuch as those insights are relevant to GAJE’s work, we make an exception this week. Thus we again direct members to an idea expressed by Rabbi Marc D. Angel, the founder and head of the New York-based Institute of Jewish Ideas and Ideals. This week’s idea was made in relation to parshat Va’era.

Rabbi Angel offers a compelling insight on proper communal leadership. It is imperative that we keep his observation in mind as we endeavour to mobilize the entire community to make Jewish education affordable.

The problem of crushingly – and for many, impossibly – high tuitions is indeed solvable. We cannot, we must not, lose sight of this or of the sense of urgency we need to find solutions.

(The full text of the commentary can be found at: https://www.jewishideas.org/dreaming-and-working-redemption-thoughts-parashat-va-era)

•••

Focused on the dream of affordable Jewish education

“God taught Moses an essential ingredient in proper leadership. When the public faces a difficult situation, a leader needs to present a grand vision of how the public can overcome the difficulty. A leader must keep focused on what needs to be done, and must gain the support and willpower of the public. But this often takes much time and energy. The public is not quickly aroused from its inertia. People always have excuses why things can’t change: we are too busy with our work, the establishment is too powerful, we don’t want to make things worse by calling for dramatic change, let others take the risk if they want–but don’t count on us!

‘When a leader hears these comments, he/she may lose heart. How can we move forward if the public is not with us? How can we bring about change if people are afraid of change, or if people are not ready to make sacrifices to alter the status quo? The answer: do your job! Keep focused on your ideals and your dreams and your goals regardless of who will or won’t listen to you. This is what God taught Moses, and it is a lesson for spiritual leadership of all generations. The public will one day be awakened to the challenges of the moment, and will rise with all its power to effect needed change. Do your job! Stay focused! Articulate the dream! Redemption will come.”
•••

GAJE is moving forward. We will help bring about change. We are focused.

•••

Reminder:

The annual Limmud Toronto conference takes place this year on March 19 at St. Andrews Club & Conference Centre in downtown Toronto. We urge GAJE members to register for the conference. GAJE will once again be joining the discussion.

Registration details are available at the Limmud Toronto website.

•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

True strength through nurtured inner life.

Rabbi Marc D. Angel, the founder and head of the New York-based Institute of Jewish Ideas and Ideals offers reflections on the rather florid description in this week’s parsha, Shemot, of how the Israelites multiplied and proliferated in Egypt after Joseph and his generation passed on.

“And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them” (Shemot 1:6-7).

Rabbi Angel’s commentary is deeply relevant to anyone who takes seriously his or her sense of belonging, commitment and responsibility to and for the wellbeing of the Jewish community. In other words, it is deeply relevant to GAJE’s mission.

We offer only an abridged version of Rabbi Angel’s commentary. (The full text can be found at: https://www.jewishideas.org/article/core-matter-thoughts-parashat-shemot-rabbi-marc-d-angel)

•••

“We do not know the names of any Israelite leaders in the generation immediately after Joseph’s death. We know nothing about the Israelites’ communal organization, religious life, or social structure. The Torah gives us just a brief glimpse of that generation, and it only speaks of quantity: the Israelites multiplied tremendously… “the land was filled with them.”…

“In describing that generation, the Torah speaks only of quantity, not quality. It uses many words to tell us how numerous the Israelites were; it says nothing about the inner life of the people….

“The message: the Israelites saw themselves in terms of quantity, not quality. They were affluent; they were successful; they filled the land with their presence and their influence. As they became self-absorbed with their material status, they lost sight of their spiritual foundations. When a nation defines its success by its numbers, when it forgets its spiritual content—it is a nation on the verge of disintegration.

“Sometimes, we see nations or communities or institutions that appear so very strong. They count many members. They erect great buildings. They issue glitzy press releases in praise of their numeric strength and their wealth.

“But these same nations, communities or institutions have lost sight of their raison d’etre. While their founders were idealistic and courageous, the new generations have lost that spiritual dynamism. …They appear strong—just as the numerous Israelites appeared to Pharaoh. But they are internally very weak. They produce no visionary leaders to guide them; they produce no courageous leaders to wage their battles. They simply have forgotten why they came into existence in the first place…and they fall into slavery all too easily…

“The Torah reminds us not to judge success or strength by external numerical standards. The Israelites were not strong even though they multiplied in prodigious numbers…No nation, community, institution or individual can be deemed to be strong unless the inner life is healthy.”

•••

GAJE believes that wide, affordable access to Jewish education is the surest way to ensure the health of our community’s inner life.

•••

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) January 22nd community consultation is full to capacity.

We urge GAJE members to register for the upcoming annual Limmud Toronto conference on March 19. GAJE will once again be participating in the conference.

Registration details are available at the Limmud Toronto website.

•••

Shabbat shalom.
GAJE

Day School education a proven secret

In a wide-ranging exchange of worry and resolve last April in Mosaic Magazine with Daniel Gordis, Martin Kramer and Jack Wertheimer concerning the future of the American Jewish community, former American diplomat Eliott Abrams reflected upon the essential place for Jews of day school education in an essay entitled American Jewry Will No Longer Be the Center of the Jewish World.

Abrams examined the present; drew lessons from the past; and conveyed his hopes for the future. Like everyone else, Abrams does not know the future. However, he is trying to influence it. So should we.

“[S]taring the American non-Orthodox in the face is the prospect of Jewish assimilation leading to Jewish extinction. That being the reality, is it possible that day schools might be re-examined?

“One critical barrier here, even for the moderately affluent, is financial: on top of the other burdens of engaged Jewish life—synagogue dues, summer camps, kosher food, and so forth—day schools are an expensive proposition. Especially in localities boasting excellent public schools, they may seem either beyond reach or unnecessary, or both. And here, to make things worse, the organized community’s priorities are upside-down. Rather than making sure that a day-school education is affordable and available to all who want it—as Jack Wertheimer has tirelessly advocated—Jewish agencies have not only undervalued the relative worth of such an education but have often led the fight against extending any help at all to religious schools in general, even in the form of vouchers, tuition tax credits, or other tax breaks that are clearly constitutional.

“The day-school movement in America is one of the proven secrets of continuing Orthodox strength and solidarity. As Wertheimer has written, a day-school education “greatly increases the chances of children learning the skills necessary for participation in religious life, for living active Jewish lives, and for identifying strongly with other Jews.” One can only hope that non-Orthodox Jews and Jewish organizations seeking to survive in America will reconsider its benefits and relax their visceral and ideological opposition to communal and other forms of support for non-public schools.”

Abrams observations are germane for our effort, worthy of study and of constant reiteration.

•••

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has announced that its next round of community consultations in Toronto will take place on January 22 at 9:00 a.m. at the Lipa Green Building, 4600 Bathurst Street. CIJA invites any individuals interested in taking part in this “grassroots community consultation” to sign up and join the discussion.

We urge GAJE members and all others committed to making Jewish education more affordable to take part. We urge individuals to make their voices heard on the subject. The more that we talk publicly about the crisis in affordable Jewish education the more we help to keep it on the community’s agenda as a high priority issue requiring urgent attention.

Registration for the January 22 consultation is available on the CIJA website.

•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

Warning ahead: Take note!

The annual Limmud Conference in Toronto will take place on March 19. As it did last year, GAJE plans to participate in the conference this year as well.

An interesting – if provocative though not necessarily shocking – news item emerged from the recent Limmud Former Soviet Union (FSU) Conference held last month in Eilat, Israel. It is important that GAJE members be aware of it for it touches upon the reasons we are so committed to the cause of making Jewish educational more affordable.

The story appeared toward the end of December in The Times of Israel.

Returning to a subject he repeatedly addressed when he was Foreign Minister, Avigdor Liberman, now Israel’s Minister of Defence, warned the assembly that “Whoever saw the last surveys by the Pew Center, the rates of assimilation, the connection between the new generation in the United States to Judaism — not just Israel –” ought to be concerned. The picture [that emerges from the survey] is very grave. If we don’t pull ourselves together, in a generation and a half, there will be nearly no Jewish people in the Diaspora, apart from Orthodox communities. We are fighting for the future and the survival of the Jewish people in the entire world — outside of Israel, outside of Orthodoxy,” Liberman proclaimed.

Jewish Agency chairman, Natan Sharansky, reinforced Liberman’s warning about the future of the Diaspora. But Sharansky spoke in even starker terms.

Sharansky believes that American Jewry is the most endangered Diaspora community.

“Pointing to intermarriage and assimilation rates, Sharansky maintained that if current trends persist, regardless of which definition of Jewishness one uses – whether a Jewish mother, or eligibility for the Jewish Law of Return, or any other definition of Jewishness – we will be “losing” Jews at rates of “hundreds per day,” he estimated.

“It starts on campus, he continued, when Jews are confronted with anti-Israel hostility and are taken to task over the policies of the Jewish state. Understandably, many students choose to keep their opinions — or their Jewishness — to themselves and bury themselves in their studies, he said.”

•••

The irony of the observations should be lost on no one. Jews from the FSU, whose Jewish identities were forcibly suppressed for generations by their government are now expressing fear for the future Jewish identities of their co-religionists, especially in the U.S., who have always grown up in free societies, unrestrained in their right to choose to be Jews.

GAJE believes, of course, that more widely accessible Jewish education, i.e., more widely affordable Jewish education, for as many Diaspora Jews as possible, will help arrest the disheartening figures pointed to at the Limmud Conference by both Liberman and Sharansky.

Sharansky was not simply being cavalier or provocative when he described American Jewry as the “most endangered” community in the Diaspora. He spoke from sad, worrisome, first-hand, personal experience traveling throughout the campuses of the America last year.

•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

Looking back. Looking forward.

As calendar 2016 draws to its close, we must truthfully admit that we cannot yet point to the progress for which we had hoped at this stage in our efforts to make Jewish education more affordable.

But as we look forward to calendar 2017 we must also truthfully admit, that we are not daunted. For we can indeed point to progress in advancing the cause even though the pace of that progress is slower than we had imagined it might be. Moreover, communal institutions this year also adopted a higher public profile on the subject of affordable Jewish education. CIJA created a task force to tackle the problem of affordable education and the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto also publicly reaffirmed its urgent commitment to making Jewish education affordable.

In a recent interview with The CJN, (December 29, 2016), Adam Minsky, president and CEO of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, referred to Jewish education as “the backbone of our community.” Of course, Minsky is correct. He also said that Jewish education “is a priority for us. When I talk about the strategic plan, this is at the forefront of our efforts.”

Minsky’s statement about Jewish education augers well for the community.

Seeking a sense of community

Rabbi Jennifer Goldsmith, the managing director of Congregational Learning for the Jewish Education Project, has written a thoughtful article for Jeducation World,  Prioritizing Jewish Life from the Very Beginning, in which she reflects upon parental hopes and aspirations for their children’s attachment to the Jewish people.

Rabbi Goldsmith explores the positive identity-building results for families that can arise by a positive geometry of cultural, educational and spiritual inter-connections by belonging to various communal Jewish institutions.

“Ultimately,” Rabbi Goldsmith writes, “parents also want their children to feel a sense of community, belonging and excitement about Jewish life that starts early and has enough staying power to inform their life choices as they grow into independent decision-makers – and hopefully, someday, grow up to make these choices for their own families.”

Rabbi Goldsmith has meaningfully articulated the objective we seek for Jewish families within the broad beautiful collectivity of the Jewish people.
•••

Shabbat shalom. Chag Urim samayach!

And a happy, healthy, prosperous 2017!

At this time next year, may we be able to say – in the words of Rabbi Goldsmith – parents can start to feel more confident that they will be able to instill in their children a sense of community belonging and excitement about Jewish life for affordable Jewish education is now clearly on the horizon.

GAJE

Parents provide positive feedback: Report on focus groups

GAJE recently conducted three focus groups over a short period involving twenty families of parents of school-aged children.

The purpose of the focus groups was to raise and discuss potential funding alternatives for Jewish school tuition and to gauge parents’ willingness to consider these alternatives.

All of the families attending the focus groups want to send their children to day school. Some had children who were about to enter the system. Others had children already in the school system. The parents believed in the day school system, the education that it provided, and the sense of connection to the Jewish community and Israel that day school education engendered. Nevertheless, all of the parents had significant concern about continuing to send their children to day school because of the cost.

At the outset, it was acknowledged that there must be a significant and sustained effort to reduce and control the operational costs of day schools. At the same time it was also acknowledged that even if the costs could be reduced by 20%-30%, cost would still be financially difficult for most parents.

Some alternative funding proposals provided for deferred payments. That would entail parents committing to pay the unpaid balance of tuition fees for their children at a later date rather than paying the full amount while the children attended the school. Other proposals revolved around purchasing insurance payable to the schools to fulfill the payment requirements or arranging for life insurance that would pay the unpaid balance.

The reaction among all three groups was positive. Most of the parents liked the alternative approaches and, if available, would consider using the option most suitable to their respective abilities. The parents were interested to receive more information about one of the scenarios that involved an insurance policy-related component to making tuition payments more affordable.

A recurring theme among the three groups was the conviction, given the wider importance of Jewish education, that it was a community responsibility to keep the fees at a reasonable level, even if that level could not be achieved through cost reductions and efficiency.

Especially heartening was the positive attitude about the day schools expressed by parents whose children were already in the system. One parent in particular, while acknowledging that no school can be perfect in every respect, and lamenting the steep cost of the tuition and fretting for her family’s ability to continue paying the fees essentially made a plea to parents sending their children to non-Jewish private schools. She said they should consider sending their children to Jewish “private” schools. The “bricks and mortar” may not be as impressive as at the non-Jewish schools “but the (overall) education and the possibilities for the students’ future success are second to none.”

The focus groups provided excellent feedback to GAJE’s funding committee’s ideas and suggested further paths to explore for finding payment alternatives for families wishing to send or to maintain their children in day school.

More research is needed to refine and ultimately present alternative tuition payment proposals. GAJE is undertaking that research.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Chag Urim samayach!

GAJE

Affordability is a community-wide concern

GAJE’s efforts are aimed with laser-like focus on helping make Jewish education affordable for every family that seeks it for its children. Many components contribute to the very high cost of tuition. They must all be tackled and resolved if we are to truly succeed in our aim.

Ultimately, we can – and will – succeed if the community at large and community leaders view the crisis in affordability as one that cuts across organizational loyalties, requiring urgent, comprehensive, new-approach, novel-thinking attention.

This, in turn, will happen when we understand that a thriving, diverse Jewish community in the future is best assured by making Jewish education – in its widest sense – affordably available to as large a number of our children as possible.

It is therefore gratifying to read so many writers turning their attention to the myriad questions surrounding Jewish education including what constitutes an excellent Jewish education.

Communities throughout North America are struggling with the same questions.

And that is good.

•••

The True Purpose of Jewish Education

Dr. David Bryfman, chief innovation officer at The Jewish Education Project, recently published an article that appeared on the eJewishPhilanthropy website, entitled “When You’re Happy and You Know It – The True Purpose of Jewish Education.”
It is an engaging essay that is both provocative and inspirational.

We do not agree with all of Dr. Bryfman’s observations. His remarks seem to be directed to the more uniform, classically Yeshivah-like pedagogical methods of former times. It appears that he approaches Jewish education as if it were a finite, time-restricted, narrow-window process. But we know, it is not.

Still, we commend Dr. Bryfman’s article to anyone interested in bringing as many people as possible to the excitement and the possibilities of Jewish education. He touches upon the vital heart of the purpose of Jewish education. And his views are important to read.

For example, he states “For Jewish education to be successful, it must hold at its core, the mission to make people happy. If we don’t strive for this, Jewish education – and by extension living a Jewish life – will remain irrelevant for the vast majority of Jews today.

“If nothing else Jewish tradition should help people to answer four of life’s most existential questions:

1. Who am I?
2. Where do I fit in to this world?
3. How can I live a more fulfilling life?
4. How can I make the world a better place?

“The majority of Jews will only engage in Jewish learning when they can directly see how our tradition and heritage will help them to thrive, flourish and above all, be happy.”

[Dr. Bryfman, of course, is referring to the majority of non-Orthodox Jews.]

•••
And isn’t this – the objective as articulated by Dr. Bryfman – the one that lies in all our hearts for our children?
•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) recently convened its second GTA Assembly in which it consulted with various community agencies, organizations and institutions. GAJE asked Madi Murariu, Associate Director, Ontario Government Relations and Public Affairs, to report upon the discussion at the assembly.

•••

CIJA targets inequity in provincial funding for children with disabilities

The recent CIJA GTA Assembly touched on a few main issues of concern to the community, mainly affordability of education and the next Provincial Budget in Ontario, as well as the BDS movement and what our community can do about it.

The issue of affordability of education has been a concern to all families in our community, and it is a concern CIJA is constantly seeking to ameliorate. Through our Education Task Force working group, we have reached out to key members of our community to find problem areas we can tackle that would reduce the overall cost burden on families and institutions in our community. To that effect, CIJA will be working in partnership with other communities across Ontario in the New Year to tackle the issue of inequity in distribution of coverage for children with disabilities.

The new campaign will be launched in the New Year. We are looking for community participation and partnerships to strengthen our position. The goal of the campaign would be to demonstrate to the Ontario Provincial Government the need to support all children with disabilities equally and not just children enrolled in the public education system.

– Madi Murariu, Associate Director,
Ontario Government Relations and Public Affairs, CIJA

•••

The last of the three funding focus groups was held this week. We thank everyone who participated. Your comments, observations and reactions will help us move further toward the ultimate objective of making Jewish education affordable.

In the coming weeks we will report the focus groups’ main conclusions.
•••

Shabbat shalom.

GAJE