itorials

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www.detroitjewishnews.com

The Joy Of. Learning

I f students are a school's lifeblood,
teachers provide the heartbeat.
It is because of teachers that our
congregational schools either resonate
with the joy of Jewish learning or
become jarring turnoffs to Judaism.
So it's no exaggeration to say that
We
good teachers in these schools help
affirm Jewish identity and help sus-
tain who we are as a people. In metro
Detroit, congregational schools serve more
than 5,000 students.
It takes a special person to be a teacher in
a congregational school. You must exude
not just sensitivity, compassion and
patience, but also excitement. And you
must demonstrate the desire and ability to
impart knowledge to the slowest, or most
disinterested, learner.
Too often, we take teachers in our con-
gregational schools for granted, even though
we entrust them with what's most precious
to us — our children. These teachers want
more respect and, in many cases, they
deserve it.
It's important to note that even though
teachers in our congregational schools col-
lectively represent a pillar of Jewish educa-
tion, they are in short supply nationwide.
Detroit Jewry's newest strategic vision, a
study by the Jewish Federation of Metropol-
itan Detroit's Alliance for Jewish Education,

shows that 46 percent of the teachers in
congregational schools are 35 to 54 years of
age; only 13 percent are between 18 and 34.
Young people aren't drawn to Hebrew or
Sunday school teaching because it
typically doesn't generate enough
.,,
respect or pay. Unfortunately, par-
ents don't always consider this kind
of education a priority, so their chil-
dren aren't always enthusiastic
toward it.
Clearly, we must do a better job of find-
ing, training and keeping teachers for our
congregational schools, and making what
they do more engaging for kids. We also
must work harder to keep teachers primed
to inspire and students eager to learn.
The Federation study suggests stipends to
send teachers to workshops, classes and con-
ferences, and suggests consultants to keep
teaching manuals and curricula innovative.
Both are sound ideas. So is developing a
career ladder, so that teaching in congrega-
tional schools isn't just a stopover to some-
thing else.
Ultimately, the best way to evaluate
teachers in our congregational schools is to
measure if what they teach in the classroom
plays out at home.
Families who together share a love of Jew-
ish values — tradition, heritage, ritual, corn-
passion, tikkun olam (repair of the world) —
ultimately hold the key to passing Jewish iden-
tity from one generation to the next.

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Learn

Related stories begin on page 33

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❑

Minority Voices

I

t is hardly news that the once-great partner-
ship between Jewish Americans and African
Americans has eroded. The national ardor to
assure equality of treatment that fired the civil
rights movement a third of a century ago has been
replaced by calmer emotions and a different set of
self-interests.
With the waning of overt antisemitism (and
much of the covert stuff, as well), many Jews lost
the sense that they were the natural allies in suffer-
ing of blacks. As their condition rapidly drove them
into ever-higher socioeconomic spheres, Jews found
new causes — the environment, consumerism,
women's rights — that lessened their interaction
with African Americans. More recently, the stress on
maintaining communal identity has led to our com-
munity's concentration on exclusively Jewish inter-
ests, such as trips to Israel, the JCC Maccabi Games
or adult education.
On the other side, as assertions of their power
grew, African Americans increasingly sought to go
their own way, often rejecting offers of white help as

patronizing and, in the long range, harmful to the
process of building self-pride. For most blacks, Jews
are not so much a minority but rather another part
of the white power structure.
Many Jews and blacks do, of course, work effec-
tively with each other — in the Congress, for exam-
ple, and in grass-roots organizations. And in many
cities like Detroit, the cooperation is both daily and
deeply felt.
The quality of the relationship will likely become
clearer as the presidential election campaign evolves.
The initial reaction of the national black leadership
to the selection of Sen. Joseph Lieberman as the
Democratic vice-presidential candidate was enthusi-
astic — after he clarified his stance on the key issue
of affirmative action ("Mend it, don't end it," he
said).
Most impressive was the reaction of African
American leaders when some latent hostilities sur-
faced. When the head of the NAACP chapter in
Dallas warned against a Jew as vice president
"because we know that their interest primarily has

to do with money and these kinds of things," he was
promptly fired. And when the New York Amsterdam
News, an African-American weekly, suggested that
Jews had bought Lieberman's nomination with the
promise of massive campaign money, others were
quick to disavow the premise.
It would be foolish to pretend that animosity has
ceased on both sides. Louis Farrakhan and his
Nation of Islam continue their violent tirades
against Jews. And in private conversations, Jews are
often unfeeling about the difficulties that blacks
continue to confront in America.
We hope the Lieberman nomination will become
a national moment for both blacks and Jews to con-
front honestly whatever prejudice remains. With
luck, the choice will renew a desire on each part to
understand the other better and, perhaps, to lead to
a reaffimation of the solidarity of all Americans with
one another.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Lieberman's nomina-
tion opened doors for all minorities. We hope it will
also open more hearts.

❑

a IR
. 9/15
2000

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