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Church-State Boundaries

A controversial new campaign worries Grand Rapids rabbis.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

T

he debate over
religion in pub-
lic schools is
back.
The politically con-
servative Center for
Jewish and Christian
Values is launching a
$185,000 campaign to
"increase the protecL
tion of religious ex-
pression in our public
schools" in five cities
nationwide, including
Grand Rapids.
Asserting that
"students are often
denied their most ba-
sic constitutional
rights," the center —
a Washington, D.C.,
offshoot of the Inter-
national Fellowship
of Christians and
Jews — is attempting Rabbi David Krishef: Grand Rapids needs less, not
to build a coalition of more, religion in the public schools.
Jewish and Christian
grassroots support in Grand nounced they won't sign on.
"The problem in Grand
Rapids, but two of that area's
three rabbis have already an- Rapids is not that there's not

enough religious education hap-
pening in schools," said Rabbi
David Krishef of Congregation
Ahavas Israel. "In fact we have
the opposite problem. It's a very
conservative city with a strong
Christian influence, and the
Jewish community is working
now as much as possible to keep
Christianity out of the schools."
In fact, the Grand Rapids
Jewish community is currently
working with the Anti-Defama-
tion League to make the public
schools more sensitive to ethnic
and religious diversity, particu-
larly around the December hol-
iday season. Congregation
Ahavas Israel, which is Con-
servative, the Reform Temple
Emanuel and the Lubavitch-
sponsored Chabad House are
the only synagogues in the
Grand Rapids area, where Jews
comprise less than 1 percent of
the population. The majority of
the area's Jews attend public
schools in the Grand Rapids
suburbs.
Rabbi Krishef is concerned

that in a predominantly Chris-
tian school system, promoting
religious expression in the
schools would really mean pro-
moting Christianity. He point-
ed out that in addition to its
small Jewish population, Grand
Rapids is home to a Muslim
community and a small Bud-
dhist community, neither of
which has been approached by
the Center for Christian and
Jewish Values.
Chris Gersten, director of the
center, asserts that the cam-
paign's focus is merely to ensure
that teachers are educated
about guidelines drafted in
1995 that outline what forms of
religious expression are legal-
ly permissible in the public
schools.
Endorsed by organizations
from a wide political and reli-
gious spectrum (including the
American -Jewish Congress and
the Anti-Defamation League),
the guidelines were adapted and
distributed by both the Clinton
administration and the Nation-
al Parent Teacher Association.
But, according to Mr. Gersten,
they have been largely ignored
by school boards which, fearful
of lawsuits, are banning all
forms of religious expression
from school grounds.
Until a few weeks ago, the
center's campaign was not just

about promoting constitutional
rights but also included a pro-
gram that encouraged teachers
to use religious sources in efforts
to prevent drug and alcohol
abuse and teen-age pregnancies.
In addition to recommending
specific biblical passages for use
in the classroom, the center's
recommendations urge teachers
to encourage students to turn to
prayer. On March 6, Mr. Ger-
sten told The Jewish News that
negative reactions from nation-
al Jewish organizations (in-
cluding the American Jewish
Congress, the Anti-Defamation
League and the Reform move-
ment's Religious Action Center),
have led the center to drop the
drugs-alcohol-pregnancy aspect
for "at least a year."
However, Marc Stern, co-di-
rector of the AJCongress and
one of the most vocal opponents
of the drugs-pregnancy pro-
gram, said the decision to drop
the program has not been for-
mally announced and "as far as
we know, it's still part of the
campaign." The last correspon-
dence Mr. Stern received from
the center was a note written on
March 6 — the same day Mr.
Gersten spoke to The Jewish
News — stating that the center
was still going forward with the
prevention program.

CHURCH-STATE page 12

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