Alina Kamensky, 13, helps $55,000 for the seven Soviet
students enrolled at the
Marina Muratova, 9, work
school. That will just about
on her Hebrew lesson.
cover the cost of English-as-a
second-language teachers,
Hebrew tutors, additional
books and transportation to
the school.
"It's an incredible amount
of money. In this time of
economic distress, it is
difficult to spend dollars that
may not be there," said Dr.
Smiley, who is searching for
endowments and other
means of raising money to
support the program.
Yavneh Academy, which
has five Soviet students in
its kindergarten and first
grade classes, is also feeling
the strain, said Dr. Margaret
Eichner, the school's head-
master.
Although Yavneh didn't
need a tutoring program for
its Soviet students, the
school had to hire another
teacher, Dr. Eichner said. If
the five children were not
enrolled, she would have put
the school's remaining nine
children in one classroom.
The transportation bill she
pays every two weeks to
United Hebrew School also
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EVOLU TION
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1990
gets costly, Dr. Eichner said.
Yavneh will pay $5,000 this
year for bus service to bring
the Soviet children from the
Jimmy Prentis Morris Jew-
ish Community Center to
the West Bloomfield school.
The day schools aren't the
only institutions seeking
money to educate Soviet
children.
Chaim Hebrew School,
sponsored by Friends of
Refugees of Eastern Europe,
an organization affiliated
with Chabad-Lubavitch,
gives 35 Soviet students a
chance to study Judaism and
Hebrew Tuesday afternoons
at Avery Elementary School.
To keep the school running,
Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg
expects to spend $75,000 this
year, all from private dona-
tions.
"Not having the money is
not going to stop me," said
Rabbi Silberberg, who has
no plans to close the school
despite the financial burden.
The Agency For Jewish
Education also struggles to
fund its high school and
elementary Soviet ac-
culturation programs.
Through the agency, Soviet
high school students have a
chance to learn Jewish his-
tory and socialize with Na-
tional Conference of Syn-
agogue Youth members,
while elementary students
learn Jewish values and
Hebrew skills at the Con-
gregation Beth Achim bran-
ch.
Despite the program's
success, Ofra Fisher, the
agency's executive director,
said,"Financially, it's very
hard. Ninety-nine percent of
the Soviet families don't pay
for the programs."
She expects to spend about
$25,000 on Soviet accultura-
tion programs this year, but
that depends on how much
money she can secure from
the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion and other sources, Mrs.
Fisher said.
"Last year, I got $600 per
student," she said. "This
year I don't know what I'll
get."
Mrs. Fisher isn't the only
Jewish educator turning to
Federation for help. Federa-
tion has promised to help
defray the costs for Soviet
acculturation programs, but
no one knows how much the
schools and educational pro-
grams will receive this year.
Last year, Federation offi-
cials agreed to give day
schools $1,300 a student for
the first year and $650 a
student for the following
year.
Federation also gave more
than $56,000 to organiza-
tions that provided educa-
tional opportunities to
Soviet children. That in-
cluded a $15,000 matching
grant to allow the Orthodox
community's informal edu-
cation program for families,
Project Achim, to hire
facilitator Yalena Grinman.
Educators have been told a
similar formula might be
given this year or schools
could receive one lump sum.
Federation officials are still
working out the numbers
which won't be released un-
til next month. Until then,
educators are only receiving
a small portion of money
from Federation for their
efforts.
Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg
of Project Achim recognizes
Federation cannot be the
sole source of support, even
though community leaders