Ida Rose Feingold,
known as "Skipper,"
shares her new songs
and dances for
preschool students.

s
Rejuvenatin
Jewish Education

A conference brings new life to Jewish teachers,
administrators and the classroom.

SUSAN GRANT

Staff Writer

ith six Soviet chil-
dren enrolled at
Yavneh Academy
this fall, Dr. Margaret
Eichner came to the four-day
Conference on Alternatives
in Jewish Education seeking
answers.
Dr. Eichner, headmaster of
Detroit's only Reform day
school, spent most of last
week's Jewish educators'
conference in Soviet ac-
culturation workshops.
Going into the conference,
she knew little about mak-
ing the six kindergarten and
first-grade students feel
comfortable in the
classroom. The 15th annual
CAJE conference, held last
week at Ohio State Univer-

W

48

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 1990

sity in Columbus, Ohio, gave
her enough information
about Soviet acculturation
to make her feel confident
about the upcoming
challenge.
After listening to a presen-
tation on a successful
Chicago acculturation pro-
gram, Dr. Eichner decided to
create a buddy system bet-
ween the 13 American and
six Soviet children in the
school.
She also gained insight
about how Soviet children
are raised. Parents in the
Soviet Union are more pro- -
tective of their children than
their American counter-
parts, Dr. Eichner said.

"The kids come to school
and can suffer more parental
separation anxiety," she
said. "Many of these kids are

angry because they had to
leave their friends behind.
We've got to sit down and try
to find out about these kids'
backgrounds."

Dr. Eichner wasn't the
only Jewish educator at
CAJE worried about Soviet
acculturation. While the
conference, sponsored by the
Coalition for the Advance-
ment of Jewish Education,
offered almost 700 sessions
on various topics, helping
Jewish educators from
around the world deal with
Soviet education was a
major theme.

"We are woefully ignorant
of who Soviet Jews are," said
Rabbi Yehiel Poupko, direc-
tor of the Department of
Judaica, Jewish Community
Centers of Chicago, during a
CAJE acculturation sym-

posium. "We have an obliga-
tion to learn."
"Americans are so ar-
rogant. They don't know ac-
culturation is a two-way
street," said Rabbi Poupko,
pointing out that Soviets are
interested in art, theater
and music. "We have a lot to
learn from them."

"We must learn to show
them they have something
to offer us and that their cul-
ture is a valid one," said
Martha Aft, consultant for
the Boston Bureau of Jewish
Education, who helped
create an acculturation pro-
gram for the city.
"Acculturation in Russia
means to give people culture
who don't have one."

With 40,000 Soviets ex-
pected to enter the United
States by October and an-

other 40,000 expected to
come in the next year,
Americans must learn to
reach out to Soviet Jews on a
personal level to get them
involved in the community,
said Ms. Aft, who urges
Soviet and American friend-
ships as well as accultura-
tion programs geared to
Soviet concerns.
Welcoming Soviets into
American Jewish culture
isn't the only challenge fac-
ing Jewish educators.
Shoshana Cardin, chair-
man of the National Con-
ference on Soviet Jewry,
offered some challenges to
Jewish educators in the up-
coming decade.
"Jewish education is a
number one priority until it
comes time to budget," Mrs.
Cardin said. "We need to
make it a priority in reality.