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.
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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.

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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.

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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.]

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

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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

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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.
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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) Task Force on Affordable Jewish Education convened a conference call of its members last Friday. GAJE asked Noah Shack, CIJA Director of Policy, to provide an update of the task force’s progress.

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Federal Security Infrastructure Program updated

“I am pleased to report that Federal Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale announced Monday (November 21) a number of updates to the federal Security Infrastructure Program that our community has long championed. Expanding the program to include support for internal security measures will have a particularly significant impact for our community’s schools. It would assist our effort if you would take a moment to encourage Minister Goodale to implement further improvement of this crucial program and to thank him for this specific update. As we all understand, expressing appreciation is an effective way of encouraging ongoing attention to the issue. Please take two minutes to thank Minister Goodale for responding to our community’s concerns.

Fair funding for children with learning disabilities

“One of the primary areas of concern raised at CIJA’s Jewish Education Task Force has been a disparity in government support for children with disabilities. Currently, the Government of Ontario provides limited support for a narrow range of disabilities for children outside public school boards. The Task Force will be launching an effort in the New Year seeking to expand the range and scope of government support for children with special needs. Our focus will be on mobilizing grassroots members of the Jewish community to help raise the profile of the imbalance and the impact on children within our community in order to encourage a change in policy. More details about how you can get involved to follow.”

– Noah Shack, the Director of Policy for CIJA.

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A report on CIJA’s second GTA Assembly will be provided in the upcoming days.

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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

Our cause – in meaningful variation – is joined in Detroit

Earlier this month, Steve Freedman, the Head of Hillel Day School in Detroit urged his community leaders to make the beginning years of day school education free. In an article entitled “Why We Need Free Preschools”, Freedman worried out loud for the future of the Jewish community. He suggested the following to ensure the vibrancy of the community’s Jewish future.

“Many programs [focused on Jewish adolescents and young adults] already exist and have proven successful, among them Jewish day schools! These programs need to be expanded to ensure that in 20 years, the Detroit Jewish community will be as strong and as committed as it is today, supporting AIPAC, supporting Holocaust education, joyfully engaging in Jewish life, and possessing the understanding of the importance and relevance of our Jewish values like Chesed Shel Emet.

“This is a huge undertaking that requires the Jewish community, collectively, to provide opportunities for authentic Jewish learning, and positive Jewish experiences, for Jewish singles out of college, newlywed couples, and young families. To that end, I am advocating that our community find a way to offer free Jewish preschool education to all Jewish families — and in return, these families will commit to participating in meaningful and ongoing Jewish family education, and Jewish adult learning…

“The entire community, regardless of affiliation, and including Federation, must join forces to build a vibrant community for young Jewish families, and to provide their children with a Jewish early childhood education. This will hopefully lead to a more sustained and meaningful involvement of these parents and their children in the Jewish community, in Jewish education and in Jewish living.”

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To Freedman’s plea we say: “Amen. Kayn yehi ratzon.” May it be His will as well as the will of Detroit’s community leaders.

(And the will of our community leaders too.)

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The second CIJA GTA Assembly was held this past week on November 24th. The assemblies were created to receive community organizations’ input and guidance on issues affecting the community. One of the two topics discussed at the meeting was that of School Funding. GAJE attended the meeting.

We will provide a report on the discussion at the meeting in a future update.

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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

The single most effective response that all the challenges beg

From time to time, articles appear that attempt to scan the Jewish horizon. One such article, “The challenges facing American Jewry”, appeared last week in the Jerusalem Post. It seeded the ground, so to speak, for the subsequent discussions in Washington, D.C. (Nov. 13 to 15) at the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

The author of the article, Steve Linde, admirably interviewed 12 community activists and leaders in the United States. Each offered a perspective on the pressing challenges and issues that urgently demanded collective communal response. Though the article focused on American Jewry, the observations recorded are relevant for our community as well. Space does not permit highlighting all of the interviewees’ suggestions. We point out three of them.

Linde writes that there is an overall concern among the leaders for what Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, calls “the negative phenomenon of indifference” within the Jewish community.

According to Linde, these leaders “believe the antidote lies in properly educating the younger generation as early as possible about the positive aspects of both Judaism and the Jewish state, and equipping them with the tools to fight antisemitism and anti-Zionism, particularly the BDS movement on college campuses.” Indeed, the rising waves of antisemitism, anti-Zionism and the BDS movement are frequently expressed worries by almost all of the individuals interviewed by Linde.

“Dede Feinberg, the Washington-based vice chair of United Israel Appeal and immediate past chair of JFNA’s executive committee, feels “a deep concern about the decline in Jewish identity, serious religious divisions, a diminishing identification with Israel and an aging population. Our Jewish educational system is sorely lacking,” she explains. “Israel is no longer looked upon in the same positive light as it was in past years.

“Michael Siegal, a top Cleveland businessman who has served as chairman of the JFNA and Israel Bonds, worries about the evolution of American Jewry. “Better education leads to better outcomes in every way,” he says.

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None of the above opinions is new to the discussion about “the Jewish future”. The discussion was launched with considerable public fanfare some three decades ago. Unfortunately the more we merely engage in debate or restart the discussion concerning “the challenges facing American (read North American) Jewry” without actually committing to the single most compelling response that these long ago identified challenges beg – affordable Jewish education – we simply inure each successive generation to the urgency with which we must act. To our everlasting shame.
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We are pleased to report that two focus groups will be conducted during the first week of December. Again, we thank the many individuals who have volunteered to take part in them.

We will, of course, report results.

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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

Revisiting a novel, large idea

Some five years ago, Avigdor Lieberman, then Israel’s Foreign Minister, told The CJN that what Israel needs most from Diaspora Jewry is to raise Jews. By that, he meant that Diaspora Jewry must consider its first priority to be stemming and then reversing the flow of assimilation. He urged leaders of the Diaspora to adopt policies that inculcated in our youth a deep sense of communal belonging to the Jewish people. Of course he was referring to the building up of meaningful, high impact Jewish educational system for Jewish families across the broad spectrum of North American life.

In February of 2012, Minister Lieberman called upon his government to set aside $365 million a year to prevent Diaspora Jews “from assimilating into oblivion.”

Perhaps it is time to listen anew to Minister Lieberman’s plea to Diaspora leaders?

Israeli involvement in Diaspora Jewish education makes sense. Indeed, it was not long ago – when enrollment and demand were higher – that teachers from Israel (shlichim) were a vital part of the teacher contingent for Jewish studies in our local day schools. A new role for Israel in helping secure the future of Jewish education might now be appropriate.

Some two years after Minister Lieberman gave that interview to The CJN and after his funding proposal in Israel, an article appeared on the eJewish Philanthropy website resurrecting the idea the State of Israel openly supporting Jewish education in the Diaspora.

Written by Robert Evans and Avrum Lapin and entitled “Billions For Education?” Should the State of Israel Be a Funder of Day School Education in the Diaspora? the authors explore an idea floated by Yosef Abramowitz, an entrepreneur, philanthropist from the Boston area, who suggested that the government of Israel offer interest free loans for day school tuition to families in Diaspora communities.

The details of Abromovitz’ suggestion are not pertinent for our purpose. What is pertinent is the notion that it is appropriate for Israel to actively take steps to buttress the failing system of Jewish education in the non-Orthodox Diaspora world.

Is it not evident that nurturing the blocks of Jewish peoplehood is also nurturing the foundation of a thriving interdependent, interrelated relationship between the Jews of the Diaspora and of Israel? And is not that relationship the essence of our acknowledgment of the Jewish past and the Jewish future?

It is time to revisit this notion. It may indeed be a great notion.

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We thank the many individuals who have volunteered to take part in the focus groups we will soon be conducting. You will soon be contacted, if you have not been already, regarding the details of the meetings. These groups are intended to provide feedback about some of our ideas to make day school costs more manageable.

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We urge all GAJE members and followers to set aside at least some moments of remembrance at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour today in grateful acknowledgment of the debt we all owe but can never truly repay to the men and women who have fallen in wars and battles over the years protecting us and our way of life.

May their memories always be for blessing.

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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

Relevant but not affordable

Launched in 2007 Jewish communal activists, eJewish Philanthropy attempts to assist communal organizations and professionals “adapt to the continuing changes and challenges of the 21st Century.” It is an independent, on-line publisher, indeed a global bulletin board, providing information, exchanges of ideas, debates and knowledge of current events, developments and innovations in the Jewish community.

Among the news items eJewish Philanthropy publishes are stories concerning Jewish education. In mid-September a story appeared entitled “ANNOUNCING … the Jewish School Census”.

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The article tells of the launch of an initiative to collect data from as many Jewish schools in North America as possible. The aim is to collect baseline data about and of the schools that will help professionals advise the schools in their struggle for existence, let alone relevancy.

The purpose of the information gathering exercise is explained thus:

“It’s no secret that many American Jewish institutions are struggling to remain relevant to modern American Jews. We see this struggle in declining school enrollment and membership dues revenue, even while summer camps and early childhood centers continue to grow. Data can provide Jewish leaders with a baseline understanding of this struggle.

Currently there is no comprehensive census of Jewish schools in North America, though many individual communities do collect information from schools in their area. A baseline census of Jewish schools would be an invaluable starting point for quantifying the struggle for relevancy that we know is taking place. By quantifying the struggle we can better begin to understand and address declining enrollment and decreasing membership rolls. Without an understanding of where we are today, we cannot measure the success of our efforts to improve Jewish education in North America.

The project will initially focus on part-time, supplemental Jewish schools.

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In our community, the struggle for affordability precedes the struggle for relevancy.

It is true, alas, that many Jewish parents do not consider any Jewish education relevant. Irrespective of the cost of Jewish education, they will not enroll their children. We can only hope that their children do not lose the feeling of belonging to the Jewish people.

But many Jewish parents who do view a Jewish education as relevant to their children’s futures cannot afford it.

Our task is to do our utmost to help make such an education affordable to all paretns who wish it for their children.

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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE

Because Jewish education teaches “a worldview ahead of its time”

An openly raw, self-doubting, yet self-affirming article about sending one’s children to Jewish day school appears on the website of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (jewishideas.org). Due to its cutting nature, the name of the author is not provided but it is clear that she has written On Making Peace with Sending My Children to Jewish Day School as much as an explanation to herself as to the general public.

The author writes that she “feels little kinship with most of the parents” who send their children to the school – primarily due to the differences in values, lifestyle and behaviors she seems to perceive in the other families that seem to flow from differences in their respective incomes and financial strata.

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“This is what brings on the stomach pains—the presentation of such a different set of values and the lack of representation of my own values of a simpler, grassroots way of experiencing the world.

“You may ask: Why, then, send your children to this school—or any other Jewish Day School for that matter? Private school is as private school does: It’s private; it costs as much as a salary for many workers in this country; it’s not the “real world.” And I want my children to live in the real world. They do: Their family background is diverse, and they live in a socio-economically, racially, and ethnically diverse neighborhood where they play with neighborhood kids and see the range of human experience around them and in their home. But my husband and I are spiritual people who believe in the value of a religious education and the deep wisdom of the Torah. It is a worldview ahead of its time, a worldview that exhorts each person to actively pursue justice, to subjugate the material in favor of elevating what cannot be seen, to actively remember that we were slaves in a foreign land, and above all, to “walk humbly with God.” To be sure, humble need not mean poor—there is no taking of vows of poverty in Judaism. But humble to me is, very simply put, down to earth.”

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The parental experience the author describes is from a community in the United States, likely, but not conclusively, New York City.

Nevertheless, some parents in our own community might share some of the author’s feelings. But it is important to emphasize – and for this reason we publish – the essence of the author’s reasons for sending her children to day school despite her misgivings over the fact that she feels she does not mesh socially with some of the other parents in the school.

Educating our children about the Judaism that is their true inheritance teaches them “a worldview ahead of its time, a worldview that exhorts each person to actively pursue justice.”

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We thank the many individuals who have volunteered to take part in the focus groups that we hope will provide feedback about some of our plans to make day school costs more manageable.

Details of the focus groups will follow in due short course.

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Shabbat shalom.

GAJE