\ Th
berd says, must be in the classroom. Although he strong- ish teen-agers is critical, and "you have to give quality travelers had to attend weekly classes this school year
ly backs informal Jewish education, family programs and when they get there. You have three minutes from the to be eligible for the four-week trip.
Cost to the community for the classes, trip subsidies,
Jewish camp experiences, "without the classroom and time a kid walks in the door on a Monday night" to get
planning
and staff: $350,000. Mr. Gelberd is unconcerned;
him
hooked
and
keep
him
interested.
the right person in front of it, it all flops."
The community's Miracle Mission for Teens, which is it's the alternative that scares him.
But the Jewish community, both locally and nation-
But he does worry that Isra.el will not be enough. "What
ally, has only given lip service to that goal. "There's not sending 242 local Jewish students to Israel this month,
are we going to do with these teens when they come back
a soul today," he says, "who wants his or her kid to go is an example of what Mr. Gelberd sees as the necessary,
into a career in Jewish education with a salary of $20,000- and expensive, solution. A high percentage of the mis- is the question," he says. He's working with several con-
gregations on post-trip programs, "and hopefully the com-
$40,000 per year." The problems of the profession, and sion participants dropped out after bar mitzvah. All the
munity will rise to the occasion with
the long-term repercussions for the
the money.
community, will not change until the
"Israel will work if it is done well,"
respectability, honor and status of the
Jewish Education Allocations
as will any Jewish learning experi-
Jewish educator changes, he says.
ence that involves travel. He advo-
By Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Not all is gloom and doom. With
cates carefully planned and executed
new techniques in schools and the con-
trips to Poland, Washington, D.C.
gregations becoming responsible for
("Jews are beginning to fall behind
$2,500,000
the UHS programs they once hosted,
in political advocacy," he says), and
dramatic advances have taken place.
New York City. "But you've got to
In the last two years, the congrega-
give them quality, and that costs a
$2,000,000
tional (afternoon and/or Sunday)
fortune.
schools have seen a 23 percent in-
"You can't just take 70- and 80-
crease in enrollment. Post-bar/bat
year-olds to Israel," Mr. Gelberd
mitzvah programs for teen-agers are
$1,500,000
says. "All the campaigns, all the
making a comeback locally, bucking
Zionist groups — it wasn't trickling
the national 60-80 percent dropout
down to the kids. We need Zionist
rate after the age of 13.
$1,000,000
teens,
too."
Mr. Gelberd credits the turnaround
to the number of children of baby
Adat Shalom Synagogue
boomers coming through the system.
$500,000
may have had the most to lose with
He says students are finding the revi-
the change from UHS to AJE. It was
talized Hebrew elementary schools not
the largest UHS branch, with more
so bad and are ready to give the He-
than 500 of LTHS's 900 students in
brew high schools a try.
95-96
94-95
93-94
92-93
1991-92.
91-92
1990-91
He believes that education of Jew-
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