Community Views

Editorial Notebook

Can We Save
The Next Generation?

Where Were You
When Life Passed By?

IRA WISE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

An interesting
li question. Writers
in this space have
proposed a num-
ber of interesting
ways of doing that
very thing.
Reviewing the
past eight months
we find: day
schools are the only environment
that provides an intense, creative
and consistent level of quality
Jewish education sufficient to cre-
ating committed Jews; if only our
families would learn together, eat
together, do Jewish things to-
gether at home, we would be fine;
as soon as our younger genera-
tion develops an understanding
for and appreciation of — (your
choice — the Holocaust, Israel,
anti-Semitism, Hebrew, Zionism,
history, Torah, Shabbat...it is a
long list), we will be assured of
Jewish continuity; the summer-
camp model has, bar none, the
most significant impact
upon Jewish identity;
the Israel teen-
trip mod-

would otherwise lack. When it
works, it is truly a wonder drug.
She was sure it would work.
As a Jewish community, we
have sounded just like that par-
ent ever since the 1991 Jewish
Population Study was released:
We need to find the communal
Ritalin that will allow us to focus
all Jews' attention on the task of
being Jewish to give us a better
chance for continuity.
After the Sh'ma, continuity
has become the watchword of our
faith.
Ta Sh'ma...Come and listen:
There is no wonder drug to guar-
antee Jewish continuity. The ba-
sic ingredients for continuity are
already in Judaism: covenant,
commandments, wrestling with
our beliefs, doing the right thing,
tzedekah, tikkun olam...another
lengthy list. None of the
things described above is
the magic bullet that

N

el has, bar none, the most
significant impact upon Jewish
identity.
Who is right? Behind which
door lies the atrophy of our peo-
ple and which leads to a thriving
vibrant community in the next
century? The answer, I hope, is
kamuvon — obvious.
While in the pediatrician's
waiting room, I had a conversa-
tion with a parent who was like-
wise waiting. Her son, it seems,
was having trouble behaving in
the proper manner both at home
and at school. She had been to
meetings with counselors, teach-
ers and principals. Every fami-
ly friend who practiced
psychology, psychiatry or social
work was consulted. This was her
final straw — she was going to
ask the doctor to put her son on
Ritalin. This is a medication that
can, in certain instances, help a
person with an attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder focus him-
self on specific tasks and con-
cepts, allowing him to regain a
measure of self-control that he

Ira J. Wise is temple educator at

Temple Emanu-El and
president of the Jewish
Educators Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.

.

will cure the disease once and for
all. If only one activity could save
the Jewish people, our enemies
would have long ago destroyed
us by making it impossible for us
to engage in it. We're still here.
Ta Sh'ma. . Come and listen:
Jewish continuity relies upon our
following a full course of preven-
tive medicine.
Most Jewish children who are
enrolled in a formal Jewish ed-
ucational program are in con-
gregational or "supplemental"
religious schools. Yes, day school
is more intense and focused. Yes,
day schools provide a superior
Hebrew education and the op-
portunity to develop higher
thinking skills in a Jewish con-
text and with Jewish content.
But most Jewish children do not
attend day schools. Most never
will. Some parents believe pub-
lic education, when a quality
product is offered, provides nec-
essary experience in being a part
of the general American popula-
tion. Others can't pay the price
and won't ask for help. Some are
just not committed enough to
send their children to day school.
If we say that the only good an-
swer is day school, then we cut
off the majority from the conti-
nuity plan before we even begin.

Yes, we must support our day
schools. They are a vital training
ground and allow those who are
prepared to attend one an op-
portunity to push the envelope of
Jewish learning.
Our mainstay — the thing
that will create Jewish continu-
ity — however, is still the reli-
gious school. That two-to-six hour
experience that many grew up
hating is the vehicle for our peo-
ple's growth, at least in this coun-
try. This is not because it is the
best method, but because it is the
method more parents choose. We
must commit ourselves — and
the 3 percent allocation shift in
Federation funds — to making
this avenue as appealing and con-
tent-rich as possible. Just because
some of us had bad experiences
does not mean our children must.
Let's begin by telling them it
will be enjoyable and worth
their valuable tine. And then
let's help them get to class
on time, proving
we believe what
we say.
Let's also con-
tinue to streng-
then the ranks of
our teachers, de-
velop their skills
and pay them
a wage that
says they are
important.
Then we need
to follow up by
sending the
message to our
children that
Jewish education is important to
us — by attending continuing
Jewish education ourselves and
providing more (and more af-
fordable) opportunities for sum-
mer camping and Israel trips. Up
the ante with your children:
Make Shabbat dinner with can-
dles, wine, challah and blessings
non-negotiable. Sure, be flexible
enough to make it work with di-
verse schedules, but make it hap-
pen.
If that doesn't work for you,
choose another form of family ob-
servance. Build a sukkah to-
gether and eat in it together.
When your synagogue hosts a
JEFF or other family program —
go. If they don;t offer it, make a
fuss, serve on a committee and
make it happen.
The religious school is not an
evil we must survive (or perhaps
kill off). It is an access point we
already have. We need to make
it something that helps create
strong, happy Jewish memories.
The Jewish communal Ritalin is
not one of the many "best" solu-
tions. It is a combination of all of
them. The recommended dosage
of each depends on your values,
but all of the ingredients need to
be there.

Have you ever
played that
game, where you
ask yourself or
your friends
where you were
when a certain
milestone or
event happened
in your life?
Many can remember exact-
ly where they were when they
learned of Kennedy's assassi-
nation.
Mrs. Miller's fifth grade. Mrs.
Miller was asked to come to the
principal's office over the inter-
com. When she returned, she
was crying. We had a day off
from school.
Then there was the April
night we learned of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
Where I lived, it didn't take long
before the city was ablaze and
looted.
Some of us remember Pearl
Harbor Day. Some of us were
at D-Day. Many of us remem-
ber the first time we learned
about the Holocaust. Again,
many of us were there for it.
The bomb on Hiroshima, draft
cards, war protests, Chicago's
Democratic Convention.
I remember the Six-Day
War. When I was a camper at
Habonim Camp Moshava, my
counselor was actually a para-
trooper from the Six-Day War.
When I was getting older, I

teens and 20s, Cobain was Nir-
vana.
Some remember the Chal-
lenger space shuttle explosion.
On the playing field, some teens
say they remember the Tigers
1984 World Series champi-
onship. Others, for sure, know
where they were when the Pis-
tons took back-to-back NBA ti-
tles.
Let's change the criteria
here. Suppose we say in front
of our children, "I remember the
day of my bar mitzvah. I gave
a speech about becoming a Jew-
ish adult. My father helped me
write it."
Or, "I can remember where
I was the day my plane landed
in Israel. My first trip. It taught
me so much about the connec-
tion between being a Jew in
America and how important it
is to support Israel.
"I remember where I was
when I saw my mother light the
Sabbath candles, my father say
Kiddush."
Or better yet, "I know where
I was when I lit the Sabbath
candles, just like my mother
and grandmother did.
"Only now I do it every Fri-
day, so it isn't a memory, but
a tradition."
Now that's memory that isn't
historical, nor does it separate
the generations.
Instead, it's a memory that
we pass on, a feeling that we all

took mental note of where I was
when Nixon flew off from
Washington, D.C., in his his-
toric humiliation. Then there
was the day I returned home
late one night in the D.C. area
to learn that John Lennon was
shot dead.
Ask teen-agers now if they
have these sorts of historical
memories. I asked a group re-
cently. The first response was
the death of Nirvana's Kurt
Cobain. I must confess I didn't
even know who he was until he
became a news story. Did my
parents know who Lennon
was? Of course, he was one of
the Beatles. To people in their

should share.
What else would Jewish
teens remember in this context?
Would it go beyond the day of
bar or bat mitzvah?
Some of the teens talked
about remembering where they
were when the Persian Gulf
War broke out with the Allied
bombing of Iraq. That's impor-
tant, that's good.
But do you remember when
you really felt good about being
a Jew? What was that memo-
ry? Where were you when you
felt that way?
Try and remember. And
most importantly, tell someone
else about it.