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Freer Covering Plus, Inc.
2258 Franklin Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
I block East of Telegraph, North of Square Lake Road
(248) 332-9430
1 1 /7
1997
28
from page 26
Mon. & Wed. 9-7, Tue., Thur. 6: Fri. 9-6, Sat. 9-3
* previous orders excluded
Glogower's Tuesday morning Talmud
class came to be sponsored by
Congregation B'nai Moshe this fall
after being cancelled by Midrahsa.
It is a great honor for B'nai Moshe
to sponsor Rabbi Glogower's class,
but readers should be aware that the
shul was able to shoulder this
responsibility only because of secur-
ing underwriting for the class
through the generous contributions
from private individuals, including
some of the students in the class and
others who have studied with the
rabbi over the years. We could not
have done it otherwise.
This illustrates one of the great
fallacies in AJE's public rationale for
the decision to dismantle Midrasha
and abandon its role as direct
provider of adult Jewish education,
i.e. that "the synagogues are already
doing it."
In fact, individual congregations
are not offering anywhere near what
their members want, need or deserve;
nor could most of them afford to do
so even if relying on congregations to
be the main providers of adult.edu-
cation were a sound approach —
which I do not think it is.
First, there are the obvious eco-
nomics of scale, which Midrasha
appears to concede when it comes to
adult Hebrew classes. This is espe-
cially pertinent when it comes to
intermediate and advanced adult
Jewish learning. Only a central pro-
gram can pull together a critical mass::
of adult learners for higher-level
classes, since these students are scat-
tered throughout the community.
Far more importantly, however,
only a community-based and com-
munity-supported adult Jewish edu-
cation center, offering programs and
classes on neutral turf with no
denominational label or agenda, can
attract people from all streams of
Jewish life to learn with — and from
— each other.
If we want to strengthen our peo-
ple, build friendship and respect
among Jews of different movements
Linda S. Giles and denominations, reach out to
those who are currently on the
President, Agency for
periphery of our community and
Jewish Education
increase Jewish knowledge, con-
sciousness and commitment, then
the current balkanization of adult
Jewish education is a recipe for disas-
ter and a disservice to the Jews of
Detroit.
Julie Wiener's Oct. 31 story ("The
Learning Gap") about Jewish educa-
Nancy Kaplan
tion in Detroit opened with a
West Bloomfield
vignette about how Rabbi Rod
In this situation, it is the fiscal
responsibility of AJE to either con-
solidate or cancel classes. Yet, I must
note that we still offer four, year-
long text courses taught by outstand-
ing educators, Rabbi Steven Weil and
Rabbi Rod Glogower.
AJE's Midrasha program is just
one of the many adult education
providers in our community. Our
synagogues and temples, in particu-
lar, have in the past year enjoyed a
dramatic increase in the number of
their congregants who are now par-
ticipating in congregational adult
education classes. Congregational
families enjoy the intimacy and
familiarity of studying with their
rabbis. AJE has supported this effort
by supplying our religious institu-
tions with outstanding national
scholars.
We at AJE are also pleased to
assist in all outreach efforts that
encourage Jewish education. Our
most recent initiative is designed to
organize community educational
programming into a manageable cal-
endar for the greater Detroit Jewish
community.
Comments have been directed at
our outreach program at Barnes and
Noble. Attendance at this venue
averages 130 people per program.
Programs are held on a bimonthly
basis. The level of attendance has not
been duplicated in other Federation
facilities as unsympathetically chal-
lenged on the Oct. 31 Jewish News
editorial page. Recent research on
adult Jewish learning conducted by
the Jewish Education Service of
North America (JESNA) confirms
the changes we are experiencing.
JESNA urges the American Jewish
community to re-examine different
settings in which Jewish adult learn-
ing takes place.
I hope that en of you will take
this opportunity to look at the wide
spectrum of adult educational offer-
ings. AJE wants to and will meet
your needs.
Adult Learning
Needs A Center