PHOTO BY DANI EL LIPPITT

t 1 1101111E1 Group

Local teachers travel
to Israel to attend an
international Jewish
educators conference.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER

\—, Toby and Mark Bello prepare for a trip of a lifetime.

anet Pont is really looking forward to the Con-
ference on Alternatives in Jewish Education
(CAJE) this year.
Admittedly, she hasn't always been as anx-
ious. She's gone 15 or 16 times in the past to
such exotic locales as Trinity University in
Texas and Rutgers University in New Jer-
sey. And she has stayed in dorms without
lights and without air conditioning in the
heat of summer's end, not exactly ideal con-
ditions.
But this year it is the Hyatt, and this year
it is Jerusalem. Can you blame her for want-
ing to go?
"CAJE is a spectacular opportunity for
Jewish educators, period," she said. "But hav-
ing it in Israel adds that extra dimension."
In addition, she will be with a contingent
of 33 Detroit area teachers, fully one-third of
whom represent Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, the synagogue where Ms. Pont heads
the nursery-school program.
The conference, sponsored by the Coalition
for Advancement in Jewish Education, is in
its 21st year and expects about 1,700 educa-
tors from around the globe to participate in
its Jerusalem conference Aug. 4-8. Although

the number is about the same as in years
past, there is a higher number of Israeli and
European teachers attending, meaning a low-
er number of Americans are making the trek.
Locally, the number of participants is down
due to a number of factors, said Howard Gel-
berd, executive director of the Agency for Jew-
ish Education.
"Some of it has to do with terrorism and
some with cost and some with the time con-
sideration," he said. "But the number we are
sending is exemplary."
Detroiters attending the conference have
received a subsidy from the Agency for Jew-
ish Education (AJE). The group will also
spend a day with Israeli Jewish educators
courtesy of Partnership 2000, a joint Israeli-
American program whose mission is to build
greater ties between Jews in both countries.
In addition, some local temples and syna-
gogues have pitched in with grants to defray
the cost.
"It is wonderful that AJE and Shaarey
Zedek are helping us out this way because it
would be difficult to go otherwise," said Toby
Schlussel, a teacher from Congregation
Shaarey Zedek.

Toby Bello, a school administrator also
at the Southfield congregation, said the grant
from the synagogue allowed her and 10 of her
colleagues — including her husband, Mark,
a high-school Jewish law teacher — to
attend.
"I have never been to Israel. It has been
my lifelong dream," she said. "It would have
been harder without this help."
Rabbi Irwin Groner of Shaarey Zedek said
the congregation's dedication to Jewish edu-
cation is evidenced in the number of teach-
ers traveling to the conference.
"There has been a tradition at Shaarey
Zedek for a major representation of our staff
to go to CAJE conferences over the years," he
said. "The most critical element of Jewish ed-
ucation is the knowledge and enrichment of
the teachers. CAJE serves to strengthen the
development of the teachers."
Other Detroit participants attending the
conference represent the Jewish Parents In-
stitute, Congregation Beth Shalom, Congre-
gation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses, Temple
Beth El, Adat Shalom Synagogue, Temple
Israel, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Kol Ami
and Congregation Beth Achim.

