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34

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1992

I

LIBRARY

545-4300

Open 7 Days
Books Bought
In Your Home M. Settiptiner

Detroit's Jewish community
educates its youth. Besides
shifting the responsibility of
elementary schools onto
synagogues, the Federation
hopes AJE will become a
resource for these synagogue
schools.
"This kind of system will
work if everyone trusts and
believes that eventually
everyone will receive the
help they need," said Mrs.
Appelman. "The challenge
is to build trust and focus."
Yet some local synagogue
education leaders said this
week that the Federation
report — which leaves open-
ended the question of how
synagogues will cooperate
with AJE — is too vague
about its intent.
"I don't think they're
creating anything new,"
said Rabbi Martin Berman
of Congregation Beth
Achim. "They're going to
recreate a Bureau of Jewish
Education."
That is exactly what Fed-
eration leaders hope will not
happen. In many American
Jewish communities, bu-
reaus of Jewish education
frequently force standards
and programs on congrega-
tions. The congregations, in
turn, resent and repel these
outside forces, thus creating
an educational stalemate.
The Federation report ad-
vocates an AJE that caters
to the individual congrega-
tion, offers each school an
opportunity to contribute to
the structure of the agency
and makes sure that assis-
tance is doled out equitably.
Sound familiar? Jewish
Experiences For Families
(J.E.F.F.), a Federation
agency, has done those
things for years. The hope
among Federation leaders is
that AJE will replicate
J.E.F.F.'s success in dealing
with individual congrega-
tions.
"There's a model for this
kind of cooperation," said
Bill Berman, a member of
Federation's Board of Gov-
ernors and a major supporter
of J.E.F.F. "(J.E.F.F.) is the
kind of model we should
follow."
Federation leaders point
out that congregations have
already been solicited for
their thoughts on AJE's
future. Besides, cooperation
already exists in some ways:
religious educators meet
periodically and some educa-
tional programs are run by
several schools together.
"People support what they
help to create," said Larry
Ziffer, Federation's director
of planning.
Mr. Ziffer said the Federa-
tion committee met with ed-

ucation and spiritual leaders
from every congregation in
the Metro Detroit area.
"They said,`Yes, we would
definitely participate,' " he
said.
So far, response from re-
ligious school directors has
been positive to the report's
concept, although most are
waiting to see how things
shape up when the report is
implemented.
Rabbi Barry Diamond,
who directs Temple Beth
El's religious school, said he
supports the report's direc-
tion, but feels it needs to go
farther in decentralizing
Detroit's Jewish educational
system.
A community-wide
resource center for teachers,
Rabbi Diamond said, would
not "get the use it would get
if it were more decentraliz-
ed."
Rabbi Diamond added that
incentives for teachers will
dramatically help Jewish

"I'm not yet
convinced there's
real meat to this."

Dr. Harry Maisel

education, whether those in-
centives are directed at
teachers' pocketbooks or
egos.
"Sometimes the most cost-
efficient means is not always
the most effective," he said.
"I still think there can be a
longer step in improving
things."
Other Detroit educators
reacted positively, although
they were not clear on how
AJE will take shape.
"I can see using them as a
resource center and for staff
development," said Michael
Wolf, director of education at
Congregation Shaarey
Zedek. "There's always a
need for good teacher- train-
ing."
Elissa Berg, director of the
school at Temple Kol Ami,
said a resource center will be
valuable in distributing
teaching materials and help-
ing teacher training. But,
she warned, "this won't
work unless the family buys
into the principle of good
Jewish education."
Cyril Servetter, educa-
tional director at Beth
Shalom, warned that the
"new" AJE would have to
avoid rivalries.
"Everybody's going to
want to support their own,
but the total picture has to
come first," he said.
Already, AJE has a small
resource center that has a
small, but loyal, following of
teachers. The center is run
by a part-time staff and still
has several major goals on