Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's

ACADEMICS

Hot Topic Series Presents.::

Public Funding For Private Schools:
Is It Good or Bad For
the Jewish Community?

Thursday, December 3
D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building
Free of charge
7:30 p.m.

A Distinguished Panel
of Community Leaders

Maxine Berman

Former State Representative

Wendy Wagenheim

American Civil Liberties Union

Rabbi E.B. Freedman

Hospice Of Southeastern Michigan

Bryan Grant Taylor

TEACH Michigan

Moderator, Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, ESO

Jewish Community Council

Talking Points

• Clarify: School Choice, Charter Schools,
School Vouchers and Tax Credits

• The Constitution, Separation of Church & State

• The Effect on the Status of Jews in the United States

• The Effect On Private Schools

• The Effect on Public Schools

For more information or for reservations,
please call (248) 661-7649.

1/27
1998

This program is sponsored by the:
Jewish Community Center and The Jewish Community Council.

12 Detroit Jewish News

from page 10

.

rules. "It drives me crazy in shul when
people get it wrong!"
Once her students have demon-
strated sufficient mastery, Tanchel
shifts from grammar instructor to dis-
cussion leader, urging her charges to
theorize as to just what God meant
when he told Moses, "I am what I
am," and why Moses was so reluctant
to be a prophet.
The students, who have been
instructed to write journal entries
from the perspective of Moses, speak
without too much prodding, suggest-
ing that God is differentiating himself
from Egyptian gods, that the sentence
is stressing God's timelessness, even
that God is perhaps purposely chal-
lenging Moses by offering cryptic
answers.
While prayer services at NJHS are
separated according to different Jewish
traditions, students study texts togeth-
er in a mixed environment. Not all the
students' or teachers' interpretations
are the same, and differences may exist
as to whether people believe the Bible
is the literal word of God or divinely
inspired, but that doesn't detract from
the learning, says Lehmann.
"Theological issues come up in
class and we try to choose teachers
comfortable in facilitating discussions
of different perspectives," he says.
"But the focus is on textual skills
and the ability to understand them,"
he explains. "We're making the
assumption that these are - sacred texts
and the question of how it got trans-
mitted to human beings or was devel-
oped by human beings becomes a
quite minor point."

Recruiting diversity

Lunch is a lively buzz, with students
using the time for committee meet-
ings, signing up for activities and chat-
ting with faculty.
Danielle Berger, who teaches
French and English while doubling as
admissions director, eats her bag
lunch with a group of girls. Berger, a
Yale graduate with a master's degree
from Harvard's Graduate School of
Education, was teaching at Concord
Academy, a New England prep
school, and sent one resume out: to
New Jew.
"I was attracted by the possibility
of building a school from the
ground up," says Berger, who identi-
fies as Reform. "But if it weren't plu-
ralistic, I don't think I could be here.
The pluralism engenders a lot of
good discussion among the kids,
because they're still finding their

identity. It's fun seeing kids navigate
in and out."
Berger's job of recruiting has been
made easy by the fact that the school
— which has 9th, 10th and 11th
graders — has already received 110
inquiries for next year. But she is still
putting in calls, synagogue visits and
advertisements to ensure the school
maintains its diversity.
Of course, diversity has its limits,
comprising the center rather than any
extremes. A completely secular Jew
might shy away from New Jew's daily
minyans and its assumption that the
Bible and Talmud are "sacred texts."
The school's Orthodox students and
teachers are all on the liberal end of
Orthodoxy, "otherwise they wouldn't
be here," concedes Lehmann.

Common interests

After morning minyan, the whole
school gathers in the multipurpose
room used for lunch, traditional egali-
tarian minyan and tutoring.
Lehmann starts by talking about
the recent car bombing near Mahane
Yehudah in Jerusalem and incidents of
anti-Semitism in the Russian parlia-
ment, noting the importance of think-
ing about Jews all over the world.
Among the day's announcements:
an optional extra hour of Talmud
study starts this Thursday, those want-
ing to lunch with Lehmann can add
their names to the sign-up sheet out-
side his office, this is the last day to
sign up for a school trip to Israel, and
thank you to all who participated in
Sunday's community service project
(all students are required to participate
in several community service days
throughout the year).
Basketball team players are remind-
ed of this week's game schedule, stu-
dents are urged to get to phys ed class
on time and one girl asks classmates to
save the date for an upcoming
Chanukah party.
Adjourning to the halls, students
fling their lockers open and closed
(few actually have locks) and indulge
in a few minutes of laughter and
friendly gossip. Some pause to read
flyers on the walls listing the exam
schedules and seeking takers for an
Amnesty International chapter, animal
rights group and hiking club.
Then the last classroom door closes
and there's a hush. It will be broken a
few more times during the day as
classes change and again at 5, when
the students will flow back down the
stairs, past the now-closed bank and
off to their homes all over Boston. Li

