Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, whom we quoted in last week’s update, has written a thoughtful article – Having the courage to meet our moment

 – in which he reflected upon the ubiquity of manifestations of courage throughout modern Jewish life.

The trigger for his mini-meditation was the closing keynote address by Susan David at the Prizmah Conference last week in Boston. Ms David suggested that “courage is not the absence of fear; courage is fear walking.”

Ms David focused on the prevalence of courage of course, as the response to the uniquely challenging and anxious times in which we, the Jewish people, find ourselves these days.

Bernstein provided a more precise context for the need to summon up courage. “Globally and throughout the Jewish world,” Bernstein wrote, “this is a moment when fear abounds. The scars of a worldwide pandemic are still healing; threats of antisemitism loom large; the State of Israel is under attack; and we live in a dangerously polarized political and social climate. Like all the generations before us, we must do what we can to ensure a better future for the world and for our people — to hold those fears and keep moving forward.”

Bernstein’s statement about ensuring a better future called to mind the axiomatic and profoundly insightful prescription by the late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who believed and wrote: “If you want to save the Jewish future, you have to build Jewish day schools – there is no other way.”

Rabbi Sacks was unambiguous. The Jewish future depends upon the proliferation of Jewish education. “You have to build Jewish day schools,” he said emphatically.

In today’s context, i.e., the context depicted by Bernstein, Rabbi Sacks’ instruction means building day schools despite the fear and the anxiety of our times.

Again, Bernstein provides some detail and some nuance to what such courage might look like.

“When I think about what it means to have courage and Jewish day schools, I am reminded of the relationship that is at the core of learning between teachers and learners. Educators in our schools show up every day, no matter the news headlines or their own fears, in order to continue the task of building a better future. Their courage is worthy of our highest respect. Teachers and school leaders have been and will continue to be the heroes and the role models our students need to eventually replace them as the teachers, leaders and thinkers of tomorrow, seeding generation after generation of Jewish connection, continuity and remarkable contribution both to our community and wider society.   

To Bernstein’s list of “heroic” figures, GAJE adds the young families who enroll their children in Jewish education, despite (and because of) the current anxieties, and despite the heavy cost.

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Bernstein’s article is available at:

Having the courage to meet our moment

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We wish to remind our supporters: GAJE still awaits the decision of the Court of Appeal on our motion seeking leave to appeal the September 2024 decision by the Divisional Court that dismissed our application to bring about fairness in educational funding in Ontario.

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)

February 14, 2025

(This update is dedicated to the memory of Michael Mostyn. He was, truly, a young Lion of Judah, a guardian and champion of Jews – at home and abroad – all of his adult life. He fought from the ramparts of justice on behalf of the inherent dignity and human rights of all peoples, He was a “Shield of David” who brought honour to his people and thus, to his God. Mostyn – the CEO of B’nai Brith Canada – passed away this week after a typically courageous, year-long battle against a mortal disease. His memory will always be for blessing and inspiration.)

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As GAJE has noted in previous weekly updates, it is no coincidence that the brazen manifestations of antisemitism and Israel-hatred on the streets of North American cities since “October 7”, have given rise to increased efforts by Jewish families to find ways to affiliate more directly with other Jewish families. The documented uptick in enrolment in Jewish day schools in various cities has been one example of this new striving for communal affiliation.

Last month Nira Dayanim reported in eJewishPhilanthropy, (eJP), that the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation awarded a $90 million matching grant aimed at strengthening the Jewish day school system in Cleveland. This is an important philanthropic initiative that may potentially infuse $180 million in support of five Day Schools there.

It is neither exaggeration nor overstatement to write that community leaders, especially in the U.S., are experiencing something of an awakening or re-awakening regarding the importance of Jewish education in securing a Jewish future. Some of the official statements that accompanied the announcement of the Mandel initiative are illustrative.

“According to Jehuda Reinharz, president and CEO of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, the decision to make this contribution was rooted in research that highlighted the role the Jewish day schools play in creating a long-lasting Jewish identity. “Today’s day school graduates are tomorrow’s Jewish community leaders,” Reinharz said in a statement. 

Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, hailed the foundation’s investment, saying it reflects a growing interest in Jewish day schools nationwide. “We think that these kinds of investments will have major impacts on excellence, on affordability and ultimately in growing enrollment in the schools.”

GAJE agrees with the above statements. And so do the professionals and philanthropists of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, as overtly implied by Jewish community officials in Cleveland.

As reported in the story, Rachel Lappen, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s chief development officer, said that the Mandel Foundation initiative “was inspired by other community-wide fundraising initiatives, such as the Toronto Federation’s Generations Trust scholarship.” 

Lappen’s publicly-expressed accolade for Toronto’s approach to getting more children enrolled in Jewish day school is deserved and worthy. But, as Federation officials here also acknowledge, more needs to be done to abate even further the cost of tuition.

These days, members of Jewish communities everywhere are connecting the dots of Jewish connection with greater clarity and urgency. Jewish day schools – Jewish education – plays a critically important role in creating a long-lasting Jewish identity.

Dayanim’s article is available at:

Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Supporting Foundation donates $90 million to strengthen Cleveland’s day schools

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If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding in Ontario, 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 underwriting 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)

February 7, 2025

A story appeared last month that slipped under the radar. It deserves to be “flown” above the radar.

It described an initiative by the Israeli government to help strengthen Jewish education in the U.S. The project is the first intervention of its kind by Israel directly trying to buttress Jewish identity and connection of fellow Jews outside of Israel through support of formal Jewish education. And while the initiative is aimed at American Jews, it is noteworthy for our community as well.

Written by Judah Ari Gross, the story was published by eJewishPhilanthropy (eJP) in early December. Gross reports that the Israeli government is investing $4 million in a program called Aleph Bet aimed at boosting Jewish day schools in the United States. The investment was originally meant to be significantly higher – about 10 times bigger – but October 7 and its aftermath intervened to derail the initial plans. Nevertheless, Gross reports, “the individuals involved in delivering the program are saying that it still sends a potent message.”

Those individuals are correct. Israel policy makers have increasingly come to understand that “raising Jews” in the Diaspora is indispensable to establishing and maintaining a strong relationship between Israel and, in particular – young – American Jewry.

Those same Israeli policy makers seem also finally to understand that offering youngsters comprehensive Jewish education is the best way to “raise Jews.”

The investment is being run through the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, and will go toward seven day school-related projects across the U.S.

All of the parties involved described the $4 million donation as being more symbolic than substantive an investment, though a powerful symbol nevertheless, signifying a seal of approval by the Israeli government and a call for the philanthropic community to follow suit. 

It would also appear that the Aleph Beit initiative is intended to be somewhat of a trip-wire for a large, comprehensive effort across North America, still in the planning stages, to bring more children into Jewish education. If events have brought Jewish life, Jewish history to a watershed, Jews need to be become more knowledgeable, more “capable”, “stronger” and more secure in our own storied identities.

Sarah Eisenman, the outgoing chief community and Jewish life officer at JFNA, said: “We believe that now is that moment to catalyze and launch that much larger initiative to grow enrollment. So, for us, this investment is essential. But the beautiful element of it is what it communicates in terms of importance — that this is really important to invest in, particularly at this moment,” Eisenman told eJP.

For JFNA, Eisenman said, this initiative is “one phase” of the organization’s “larger initiative to double [day school enrollment] over the next 10 years.” Gross reports on the tantalizing possibility of a concerted, continent-wide effort among professional and lay community leaders, educators and philanthropists to help “raise” as many Jews as possible.

“Our priority focus will be on growing enrollment in non-Orthodox Jewish day schools. Because… [with] non-Orthodox families, it’s about 9%, 10% who send their kids to a Jewish day school,” she said. “How do we really leverage this moment and take advantage of this moment and serve those families and help them access Jewish day schools in ways that they’ve not been able to access Jewish day schools previously?” Eisenman said.

She noted that in addition to Project Aleph Bet, JFNA is working to establish a North American fund to make Jewish day schools more affordable and is working with Prizmah, which is developing a national marketing campaign to boost day schools.

Following the JFNA General Assembly in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, the organization held an invite-only, three-hour gathering with 100 funders to discuss this issue, Eisenman said.

“We just had 100 funders coming together in D.C. specifically focused on how we might achieve this very ambitious goal [of doubling enrollment] over the next 10 years,” Eisenman said. “So, we had 100 funders in the room — foundations and individual philanthropists from all across the country and Canada — really digging into this question of how can we do this and why now, why this moment is critical in achieving this.”

Eisenman said that JFNA is pushing to establish a large central fund to help make day schools more affordable. But, as we all know, and as experience has taught, achieving the goal requires time and the integrated efforts of a wide swath of individuals, institutions and foundations.

If the Government of Israel remains involved in a possible, continent-wide, comprehensive campaign, we will be able to say, finally, the acknowledgement of a shared past may lead meaningfully to a shared commitment and a shared future.

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The story can be found at:

Israel invests $4 million in U.S. Jewish day schools, with hopes of jump-starting domestic giving

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If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding in Ontario, 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 underwriting 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)

January 31, 2025

More than anything, GAJE’s chief purpose, is to do our utmost to help bring about a secure, fulfilling, meaningful future for our children as Jews. For it is our belief that it is as Jews, that our children will live their best lives and, in the process, help make the world better, if not quite the best that it was intended to be.

The education our children receive at school and reinforced at home are the sine qua non of the foundation upon which their future, as Jews, will stand strong. Day school education is the gold standard for Jewish education, but it may not be the right fit for all children. The key is for parents to enable their children to experience excellent Jewish education, in the manner most appropriate to their family’s circumstances. Nevertheless, we cannot, nor will, deny the increased potential for positive personal outcomes for our children that a day school education provides the youngster.

In this week’s update, we reproduce a plaintive first-person reflection by Cooper Coughlan, a teenager, who attends a day school in Denver. He wrote of his experiences and accompanying emotions in attending a moot-court competition in an entirely non-Jewish milieu. Indeed, his op-ed is entitled “Outside my day school bubble, I felt a surge of Jewish pride”.

We reproduce Coughlan’s mini-essay in its entirety. It is delightfully open and honestly self-assessing. And because they are the words of the youngster himself, they are worthy of our attention. And gratitude.

•••

By Cooper Coughlan, January 17, 2025, JTA

(This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.)

Growing up in Jewish day school, I knew the Western Wall’s significance but I couldn’t grasp its deeper meaning when I visited it for the first time in 2016. Back then, it felt like just another stop on a trip full of kosher McDonald’s and sandy beaches. 

Eight years and one war later, I realize it was more — a place of spiritual connection that planted a seed within me, one that has only now started to mature. This year, that connection resurfaced, not in a synagogue or a Judaics class, but in a hotel lobby in Boulder, Colorado. 

In November, 11 classmates and I traveled from Denver to the University of Colorado Boulder Law School for a statewide moot court competition. This was my second time competing. Both times my school was the only Jewish school at the competition. It didn’t bother me at all the first time, but this year it felt different.

I don’t know if it was because of the war in Gaza and the rise in antisemitism or if it’s because as a teen, I’m still figuring out my identity. But it irks me when people make judgments about me based on things that I haven’t even decided about myself. 

The Boulder trip was only a week after the election and belonging to such a small minority (Jews represent 3% of the greater Denver Area population) during a politically polarized climate, made me feel like a living, breathing representative of my culture. I was one Jewish teen, and yet, I was every Jewish person. It felt like a single action could influence someone’s perspective of not just me, but of our whole religion. 

Despite having the word “Jewish” printed across the front of our shirts provided at the competition, I still found myself tucking my Jewish star necklace under my shirt as I walked into the tournament. It wasn’t logical. Yet, in that moment, it was a reflex. Whenever I go to a public non-Jewish space or event, I hide my star. Jewish kids around the country have been making the same calculations about how to “represent” in public since Oct. 7, and many before that. I don’t want to be a hate crime victim, or invite judgment of whatever political undertones the Jewish star now conveys. 

Nobody at the Boulder competition said anything weird to me, but one of my teammates, Kobi, who made a conscious decision to wear his kippah to the competition, had no such luck. On the first day of the tournament, another competitor asked him “Are you bald under there?” and “Can I try on your Jew hat?” While these comments came across as insensitive or even antisemitic to me, Kobi perceived them as genuine curiosity from an uneducated high school student. He let the other kid try on the kippah and taught him the significance of it. 

“I think the response of trying to reach out and help people understand who we are as a people should always be the first response,” he said. 

I admire Kobi’s grace. The whole team did. It deepened our determination to show that we are not just “some Jewish school” but a school rich in values and purpose. We practiced our arguments, discussed intricate legal questions as the day went on and eventually won half of the six championship spots — for the second year in a row.

The Friday before the competition, my team gathered around a fireplace in the hotel lobby to say Kiddush and Hamotzi. Due to snowy conditions that night, our Shabbat dinner plans at Hillel got cancelled. The dinner that was prepared for us was delivered to the hotel. As we all helped lead Kiddush, we got looks from many hotel guests, none of whom we knew. Some glanced over and turned away, others stared longer with a seemingly annoyed, yet curious expression; needless to say, it felt odd.

I could only imagine what they might be thinking — perhaps we were interrupting their silent revelry or maybe they felt disgust, or were genuinely curious. Eventually I realized it didn’t matter what the hotel guests were thinking, especially as I was uttering the holy words of Kiddush. Instead, I was thinking about how lucky I was to be there, surrounded by my beloved friends, embracing my beloved religion.  To be honest, this was one of the few times I openly expressed my Jewish identity in a non-Jewish space, with an audience present. 

Despite the discomfort, I knew I couldn’t — and wouldn’t — let that dictate what I was feeling. In turn, we persisted, proud of our Judaism. Just as in anything, there were glimpses of light. The hotel staff were kind to accommodate our religious practices and later into the night, hotel guests came and chatted with us as we practiced. 

As we served ourselves from the trays of lukewarm schnitzel in the hotel lobby, I knew this was the moment: the moment I stopped being so self-conscious about my Judaism and started to become self-confident in it. I felt proud that we kept praying and proud of that seed that was planted many years before. 

“It was one of those moments where you realize what you’re doing is so weird, but you love it so much,” said sophomore Julie Steiner, another competitor. “We were exactly where we were supposed to be.”

In Denver, I’m constantly surrounded by a Jewish community — my friends, my school, my family. But the competition brought me out of that bubble and into a reality different from my own. Many times, I question who I really am as a Jew and I’m not quite sure what that answer is yet, but what I do know is that I am a proud Jew. I am no longer afraid of judgement and no longer afraid to wear a kippah. As Jews, we have to stick together and we can’t be ashamed or afraid of what others think.

This trip gave me just that: the courage and faith to do the simple action of wearing my kippah out in public. Now, out in public, I make a concerted effort to wear my kippah out — for pride, for representation and for strength.

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If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding in Ontario, 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 underwriting 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)

January 24, 2025

For its own remarkably rewarding, deeply dignifying and exponentially expansive sake…

For the sake of anchoring Jewish self-identity and a sense of Jewish “peoplehood…

For the sake of the ancestors who preceded us and of the progeny who will follow us….

For the sake of the suffering world…

Jewish education is vital for our children, our families, us and the world.

This is and has been GAJE’s animating credo since we began our efforts, almost ten years ago, to help make Jewish education affordable.  

Since October 7, we have added:

For the sake of enabling our children to be and to “do” Jewish, to boost them in standing strong and firm against the bullying aggressions of the haters of Jews and of Israel…Jewish education is vital. In light of a report published this week by the ADL, the need for the ability to stand against the antisemites – and thus for affordable access to Jewish education – has become urgent.

The Times of Israel this week published the findings of an ADL survey that “nearly half of all adults worldwide (some 46%) hold significant antisemitic views and younger people are more likely to discriminate against Jews.”

“The global survey asked 58,000 respondents in 103 counties and territories if they agreed with 11 antisemitic tropes, such as “Jews’ loyalty is only to Israel” and “Jews have too much power in the business world. If respondents believed that more than half of the statements were true, they were categorized as having “significant antisemitic beliefs.”

The head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, called the situation a “global emergency”.

Attitudes matter, of course, because as Greenblatt explained: “[A]ttitudes lead to action. When antisemitic views are normalized, when anti-Jewish bigotry takes root, it creates an environment where Jews become more vulnerable.”

The level of antisemitism varied widely by country and region. The Middle East and North Africa had the highest levels, with around three-quarters of respondents endorsing a majority of the antisemitic statements. Western Europe was the least antisemitic region, at 17%, followed by the Americas at 24%; Oceania, 20%; sub-Saharan Africa, 45%; Eastern Europe, 49%; Asia, 51%, and the Middle East and North Africa, 76%.

Half of the respondents under 35 held antisemitic views. This was 13 percent higher than among respondents over 50. Only 39% of adults aged 18-34 attested to the truth of the historical depiction of the Holocaust. The rest of the 18-34-year-olds believe the number of deaths was exaggerated, that the Holocaust was a myth, or that they had never heard of it. For the general population, 48% endorsed the historical record; 20% said they had “not heard about the Holocaust.”

Greenblatt proposed the adoption of a systematic policy response – on an urgent basis – for governments and organizations as a way to combat antisemitism.

GAJE’s proposal for combating antisemitism is more modest, yet more personally empowering and no less urgent: wherever possible, we must enable our children to enjoy a comprehensive Jewish education so that, as adults and even before, they can confidently be and “do” Jewish.

(As a related matter, it was surprising to read, given the experiences of our own community since “October 7”, that Canada was among the countries – along with Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands – where antisemitic attitudes in the general population were the lowest, registering at 8% or lower.)

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The Time of Israel article is available at: https://www.timesofisrael.com/global-emergency-nearly-half-the-worlds-adults-hold-antisemitic-views-adl-survey/

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If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding in Ontario, 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 underwriting 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)

January 17, 2025

The aggressive, still mostly unchecked, public and private anti-Jewish manifestations in our society since “October 7” have knocked a large gap in the comfortable spaces that we once mindlessly yet happily inhabited. As GAJE has written in this space and as most of us have observed, that fallout has led many Jews to fill the gap by seeking support, if not also strength, through the company of other Jews. Thus, in many communities, synagogue affiliation and enrollment in Jewish schools have increased.

Will Eastman, a self-described “Jewish community professional” in the US, published an article this week on eJewish Philanthropy in which he “imagines tuition-free Jewish day schools.” Indeed, that is the title of the op-ed. Even though, Eastman writes about the day school situation in the United States, his observations are worthy of our notice. The underlying propositions of his article apply in every Diaspora community where Jews treasure their sense of peoplehood and common history.

He begins the article by celebrating the generous philanthropy by members of the Jewish community in 2024. In particular, he points to the fact that “Jewish philanthropists gave the two largest gifts of the year: Ruth Gottesman’s $1 billion gift to Albert Einstein Medical School, and Michael Bloomberg’s similar contribution to Johns Hopkins Medical School, which made both institutions tuition-free for medical students.”

After noting these two unprecedented acts of charity for the benefit of the public, he poses the question that likely crossed the minds of everyone in North America involved in Jewish education when the news of the Gottesman and Bloomberg gifts were announced.

“What if we imagine similar gifts that could transform the future of the Jewish people? Imagine the impact of tuition-free Jewish day schools?” 

Eastman posits two familiar, unassailable facts that always accompany the discussion. (a) Jewish education has long been recognized as a cornerstone of Jewish identity-building, fostering deep affiliations and connections to the Jewish faith, culture and the State of Israel; and (b) a primary barrier is cost. Jewish day schools are often prohibitively expensive, deterring families before they even consider enrollment.

He provides enrollment figures for some Diaspora communities. In the U.S., only about 20% of Jewish school-age children attend day schools, and 90% of those students attend Orthodox schools. In the U.K., where government subsidies support private education, 66% of Jewish children attend Jewish schools, 40% of whom are from non-Orthodox families. In Mexico, 95% are enrolled in Jewish schools. The government supports the cost of educating the general studies portion of the curriculum. In Australia, where the government provides only limited funding support, 55% of Jewish children are enrolled in Jewish schools. In South Africa, 75% of the Jewish students are enrolled in Jewish schools even though the government provide no financial assistance to the schools or to the families.

By comparison with local numbers, a spokesperson for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto told GAJE that about 33% of the Jewish children in our community attend Jewish day school. An additional 15-20% attend supplementary schools. In any given year, therefore, approximately 50% of the community’s Jewish children receive a formal Jewish education. These figures do not include enrollment in Jewish camp or other “informal” means of Jewish education.

GTA (Indeed, Ontario) enrollment figures attest to the self-sacrifice and commitment of Jewish families and to the financial assistance polices of the organized community leaders in providing and trying to enable formal Jewish education to the community’s children.

The government of Ontario contributes nothing toward the costs of educating children who attend Jewish day schools – not even toward the provincially mandatory general studies curriculum. This refusal by Ontario stands in brazen, shameful contrast to the educational funding policies of all of the Canadian western provinces and of Quebec.

Eastman concludes his article with a fervent dreamy aspiration. “Imagine the possibilities: families choosing Jewish day schools without fear of financial ruin; children more deeply connected to Israel; immersed in Hebrew language, Jewish history and tradition; and a stronger, more vibrant Jewish community for generations to come. Imagine a brighter Jewish future, made possible by a generation of proud and educated Jews. It’s easy if you try.”

Eastman’s dream of tuition-free Jewish education is GAJE’s pursuit. His is an admitted flight of imagination. Ours, however, is a matter of justice and fairness.

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The Eastman article is available at:

Imagining tuition-free Jewish day schools 

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If you wish to assist GAJE by contributing to our lawsuit for fairness in educational funding in Ontario, 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 underwriting the costs of the lawsuit. For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

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Shabbat shalom

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

January 10, 2025

In this update, the first of 2025, we review the course of our cause to date and restate its first principles.

Ontario funds the education, through to the end of high school, of the children of only one denominational community in the province. Although this policy is discriminatory on its face towards the children of other religious denominations, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) determined in 1996 (the Adler case) through a set of complicated reasons, that Ontario’s educational funding policy was legal. The Court, however, did not preclude Ontario from also funding, fully or partially, the education of the children of other religious denominations.

Due to the inherent unfairness and injustice in Ontario’s educational funding policy and in face of the mounting financial hardships upon young Jewish families preventing so many from being able to ensure an education for their children at Jewish day schools, Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE) brought an application in February 2022 – naming both the Governments of Canada and of Ontario as respondents – to have the courts re-assess the 1996 SCC decision as the necessary first legal step in bringing fairness to Ontario’s public funding of education for all Ontario children.

The Attorneys-General of Canada and Ontario, respectively, brought a motion in Ontario’s Divisional Court to have GAJE’s application thrown out of court even before a hearing on the merits of GAJE’s application.

The Attorneys-General’s motion was heard in April 2023.

In a 46-page decision released in August 2023, Judge Eugenia Papageorgiou decided that the application against Ontario should proceed, while the case against Canada should not.

Ontario appealed the decision by J. Papageorgiou in a hearing that took place in June 2024.

In a nine-page decision released in September, 2024, the Divisional Court accepted Ontario’s arguments and dismissed GAJE’s application.

GAJE has appealed the September 2024 decision that dismisses our application, to the Court of Appeal. We are now awaiting the Court’s decision.

•••

It bears emphasizing that the Government of Ontario obstinately refuses to end its patently discriminatory educational funding policy. It also refuses to even allow a discussion on the merits of GAJE’s application, which, at its heart, seeks to discuss in court, the important legal, constitutional, educational, social and human rights policy matters that are bound together in the government’s anachronistic, unjust and inefficient educational, funding policies.

There have been significant legal developments since 1996 – when Adler was decided – that ought to be heard by the court. They bear upon GAJE’s application.

In addition, there have also been significant educational and societal developments since 1996 that bear upon our case. No development has been as profound as the torrent of antisemitism unleashed overtly and even brazenly upon the Jewish community since October 7, 2023,

in public spaces and in many of the institutions and organizations that are relied upon for the orderly conduct of life lived by the norms of democracy.

In the circumstances that have evolved over the past 15 or so months, GAJE’s struggle to assert the rights of the Jewish community in relation to fairness in educational funding is also a struggle to protect the Jewish community.

And as GAJE has often observed, protecting the Jewish community protects our society at large.

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If you wish to assist GAJE and contribute to our 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.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Chag Urim Chanukah samayach

Our hopes and aspirations for a good new year of manifold blessings for our community and for the world… Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

January 3, 2025

Two nights ago, Jews around the world lit the first candle on the Chanukah menorah. In four nights, Jews around the world will greet the new calendar year 2025.

Many themes of Jewish life converge during these days with themes of wider – not only Western – Human continuity. Of course, we rely upon the symbols – and the values underlying them – established by our forebears, to meld these various converging themes to inspire us forward with purpose and determination (in the Northern Hemisphere, for sure).

Such as…lighting candles to dispel darkness, living under freedom rather than under tyranny, the rule of law rather than of might, few prevailing against many, the sanctity of all human life, flame representing the soul of a human being, and all peoples being tasked to try to make tomorrow better than today. And so on…

Our children delight in the tasty, colourful celebrations that incorporate the ancient/modern symbols. Parents and grandparents delight as well, for which parent is not moved by their children’s happiness? But we – parents and grandparents – also know that the celebrations have been hard won. And so, the celebrations play a deeply formative role in raising our children and reminding them -and us – of who and why we are.

Recent Jewish history has been painfully illustrative.

Rabbi Ayala Deckel, in Israel, pointedly expressed this very point when she wrote about her husband and his reserve colleague soldiers lighting the Chanukah menorah last year during their battles in Gaza. “[When] my husband returned from Gaza, I asked why it had been so important for them to light a hanukkiah in between missions. After all, they had such little time to rest at night when they weren’t fighting. He explained that the very act of lighting Hanukkah candles had given them strength. He said it helped them – religious and secular alike – think about how our people had overcome challenges in the past. Lighting the hanukkiah gave them hope that there was indeed still light in the world and that we would all get through this crisis. It reminded them that their own actions could help bring back the light.”

Rabbi Deckel’s observations about “bringing back the light” apply to all of us.

GAJE awaits news of the outcome of our motion for leave to appeal the decision to cast our application out of court. Our determination to try to end the discrimination in educational funding has not flagged. Nor will it. We are inspired by the glow of the lit Chanukah candles.

In addition to the Jewish history embodied by the light of the candles on the Chanukah menorah, their flickering shine also inspire the continual rededication of GAJE’s efforts to bring back the light of fairness and justice in educational funding in Ontario.

We conclude this update as we did at this time last year. “In the year 2025, our community – along with all caring Jewish communities worldwide – joins the fight to defend Israel and the Jewish people, inspired and informed by Jewish education, by “being, knowing, doing and celebrating Jewish”. That is our task going forward into calendar 2025. It has been the task of every generation from Jewish antiquity to today.”

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GAJE awaits a decision on our motion to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the decision of the Divisional Court that agreed with the Government of Ontario to dismiss our application for fairness in educational funding.

If you wish to assist GAJE and contribute to our 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. Chag Urim Chanukah samayach

Our hopes and aspirations for a good new year of manifold blessings for our community and for the world… Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

December 27, 2024

Robert Lichtman, a Jewish community activist in New Jersey wrote an edgy, and some will say, even provocative article this week in which he maintains that “Jewish day schools are the infrastructure that supports a full range of communal services”.

Entitled, The Tree of Life: Root Jewish community in day schools, the article sets out to make the case for day schools as “the keystone that upholds a Jewish community” in all its cultural and social vibrancy and self-sustaining health.

Lichtman writes “boldly”, without nuance and with considerable self-assurance. He confidently writes large, sweeping statements such as: “Synagogues may be the glue that holds the building blocks of Jewish community together, but all of this rests on the foundation of a strong day school.”

Lichtman also makes certain suggestions for ensuring the financial sustainability of Jewish education. To his credit, they are novel and worthy of wider communal discussion.

Agree with Lichtman or not, the heart of his article is a deeply-felt, robust acknowledgement of the utter irreplaceability of organized, intense Jewish education for a truly viable, Jewish community, in the fullest, broadest, most inclusive sense of being Jewish. He refers to such Jewish education as day school education.

GAJE agrees with Lichtman’s core proposition. Indeed, it is our view that this proposition is so important that it must be stated and re-stated whenever the opportunity arises. It is for this reason that we direct readers’ attention to the Lichtman article.

Moreover, it is also our view that the Jewish community of the GTA is a sparkling example of the truth of Lichtman’s core and ancillary propositions regarding the central role played by day schools in the overall health of a community. Community lay and professional leaders, and especially the parents of the school children who cope the best they can with the onerous financial hardship of school tuitions ought to be thanked and praised for this.

Lichtman maintains that day schools play a strategic role “in upholding Jewish community …in addition to the benefits of a day school education that enable communities to thrive: Jewish literacy; scholarship; Israel education and Zionism; embracing Jews and Judaism from a place of love, not fear; and developing future Jewish leaders — communal, rabbinic and philanthropic.”

Again, GAJE agrees with him. And we add that whenever possible, families, schools, educators, organizations and “ordinary” members of the community at large, must seize the opportunities that might enable our youngsters – in Lichtman’s words – to embrace Jews and Judaism “from a place of love, not fear.”

GAJE is committed to precisely this; to helping to turn possibilities into realities.

The Lichtman article can be accessed at:

The Tree of Life: Root Jewish community in day schools

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As GAJE supporters and readers of this weekly update know, GAJE has brought a motion to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the decision of the Divisional Court that agreed with the Government of Ontario and dismissed our application. We await a decision on our motion.

If you wish to assist GAJE in our pursuit for fairness in educational funding, and contribute to our 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. Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

December 20, 2024

Many readers may have already read the essay by Canadian journalist Terry Glavin that was published in The Free Press only two days ago. It is a powerful, comprehensive chronicle about the extent to which antisemitism has encroached into and taken hold of “normal” life in Canada.

Entitled, The Explosion of Jew-Hate in Trudeau’s Canada, the essay is being widely shared through cyberspace. It is a seminal document. It is also a seminal marker, a discussion piece, and a starting point, as it were, depicting the degradation of Canadian civil and civic life since October 7, 2023. For it was on that day that the floodgates of hatred of Israel and of Jews spilled a crossfire of sources onto the public spaces of Canada.

Glavin’s story has a political bite. Not all readers will agree with his point of view. But it is hard to dispute the facts and the atmosphere that most of us see, hear and read about all around us. In the circumstances, the bite of disappointment and anger is warranted.

Gavin accurately describes one of the moods in the community. “This sort of despair [denying of what should be uncontroversial facts] has become a feature of everyday life for Jews across Canada who are experiencing open hatred—and yet are living under a government that appears either blind to it, paralyzed by it, or indifferent to it. Law enforcement in Canada is not blind. Quite the opposite. Officers want to do their jobs. What they say is that they lack the moral support from the political class to enforce the law. And that they cannot keep up with the volume of hate crimes—crimes that arise from a widespread ideology that has normalized the idea that “Zionists” anywhere are a fair target for attack.”

Gavin continues: “Rather than discovering how torn the fabric of their society has become, Canadian Jews are being forced to come to terms with just how deeply antisemitism has been woven into it. This is not a matter of anecdote or impression.

“There are about 40 million Canadians and roughly 350,000 of them are Jewish—representing less than 1 percent of the country’s population.

“Most Canadian Jews feel unsafe and victimized,” the University of Toronto sociologist Robert Brym concluded in an in-depth attitudinal survey of Canadians, undertaken in collaboration with EKOS Research, published earlier this year. “They perceive a rise in negative attitudes toward Jews in recent months and years. Most doubt the situation will improve.”

Glavin’s essay is important reading. We would add that it should be required reading by our elected officials at each of the three governmental levels.

GAJE brings the article to the attention of our supporters and readers for the same reason that the update last week dealt with the unsettling atmosphere for Jewish high school students attending the public school in Ottawa.

We need the government of Ontario – especially – to be aware of the true state of Canadian society as it pertains to Jews. Glavin documents the increasing, open, unembarrassedly-expressed hostility towards Jews. In response, as we noted last week, some Jewish parents are removing their children from public schools. For them it is a matter of the safety – physical, emotional and psychological – of their children.

Being Jewish in Ontario in 2024 is decidedly more fraught than it was in the mid 1980’s when the Government of Ontario decided to extend full public educational funding to children attending Catholic schools only and to no other denominational or independent school. Being Jewish in Ontario in 2024 is decidedly more fraught than it was in 1996 when the Supreme Court of Canada determined (in the Adler case) that Ontario’s discriminatory educational funding policy was legal.

It bears repeating, again, that the Adler decision did not preclude Ontario from funding other denominational schools in addition to the Catholic schools. Nor did the decision preclude Ontario from funding any independent schools in the province.

But since that decision in 1996, almost 30 years ago, the province resolutely refuses to do away with the educational funding discrimination, or even, to allow a discussion of its correctness in the courts. Not even the hatred against Jews and of Israel rolling so menacingly through our society today has moved the conscience of the provincial government.

We urge GAJE supporters and followers to share the Glavin essay with their MPP. Ask them if the burgeoning antisemitism alarms them. Ask them, if the proliferating antisemitism makes them feel worried for the future of our society. Ask them if they still support the decades-old educational funding discrimination against non-Catholic religious communities.

We appeal to the Members of the Legislature, to the government, to the cabinet, to the Minister of Education and to the Premier, finally, to bring fairness for the benefit all Ontario children in the public funding of their respective educations. If not today, in 2024, when the walls of democracy – and respect for all human rights, the very foundation of our governmental structure – are at risk of being worn down, then when?

The Glavin article can be accessed at:

https://www.thefp.com/p/explosion-of-jew-hate-in-canada-trudeau-israel-palestine

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If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, 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. Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

December 13, 2024