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Shalom Synagogue. "He wants his
kids be in the larger school system,
and a lot of people feel that way. "
In addition, said Congregation Shir
Tikvah Education Director Janet
Moses, day schools are not even an
option for many Reform Jews because
no local day school reflects Reform
beliefs and practices or recognizes the
Reform belief that the child of a
Jewish father and gentile mother can
be considered Jewish if raised in the
Jewish faith. A Reform day school was
founded in Detroit in the 1980s, but
closed due to insufficient enrollment.
Shir Tikvah's Moses supports the idea
of a Reform day school and says day
schools may be "more effective" than
the pressed-for-time Hebrew schools,
but says there is a need for both venues.
Defenders of congregational schools
acknowledge they need improvements.
And, there's a growing recognition
that if Hebrew schools receive more
funding, they also will need to become
more accountable, not just to their
parents, but to the community.
Adat Shalom's Berg, herself a gradu-
ate of Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit, says congrega-
tional schools would improve if more
training and professional develop-
ment become available for Hebrew
school teachers and the different
schools share more resources.
Are Hebrew schools worth
supporting simply because not all
Jewish parents want day schools, as
JESNA's Flexner pragmatically sug-
gests?
"Many parents prefer to have their
children receive Jewish education in
an afternoon Hebrew school environ-
ment and because of that we have to
have them," he said.
Should the community follow
George Hanus' lead, and invest its all
in getting everyone to go to day
schools, letting the unconvinced fall
through the cracks?
Or can Hebrew schools articulate a
new vision and demonstrate that they
provide an important service offered
nowhere else? Temple Israel's education
director, Fran Pearlman, noted that the
community cannot rely on one solution.
She believes it's important to have a vari-
ety of educational options, including
congregational and day schools, but also
Jewish summer camp and youth groups.
Perhaps the proper role of congrega-
tional schools is as a form of outreach for
those who aren't entirely sure how Jewish
they want to be but who might be
swayed by positive Jewish experiences.
Shir Tikvah's Janet Moses observed
that congregational schools are "less

threatening" to parents who are
ambivalent about their Jewish involve-
ment than day schools, yet they
encourage families to grow Jewishly
and participate in synagogue life.
For Federation Executive Vice
President Robert Aronson, who
spoke to The Jewish News moments
before meeting with a prospective
donor to the $10 million congrega-
tional schools endowment, Hebrew
schools should "be places where kids
get turned on Jewishly, where they
get motivated, learn and decide to
continue learning beyond their bar
mitzvah because it's something they
want to do."
While most Jewish parents may
continue to opt for congregational
schools, it is clear that as day schools
proliferate and become more financial-
ly accessible, the supplemental schools
will face more competition than they
have in the past. The educators say
this is not necessarily a bad thing: new
finding, innovative programming and
— perhaps most important — soul
searching, may stimulate congrega-
tional schools not only to improve,
but to draw more Jews into the
process. ri

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4/16
'1999

11

