Voices in Jewish Education

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ROTH from page 54

lem, primarily for the middle class (even
though the Jewish world seems to
define that range as $60,000-$125,000).
Education is expensive and Jewish edu-
cation with a dual curriculum is even
more so. Yet, the federation world has
become sensitive to this issue. This has
been particularly true in Detroit, whose
Federation is gaining national attention
for its commitment to Jewish education
and its facilitation in creating endow-
ments whose sole purpose is to subsidize
day school tuition.
Nationally, there are philanthropists
such as Steinhardt, Bronfman and
Lauder who are establishing institutions
and funds to address this issue. Locally,
we have names such as Schostak,
Schiffman and Hermelin who are step-
ping up to the plate.
As for this "shelter" concept, it is
somewhat puzzling. If there is some per-
ceived benefit in interacting with stu-
dents of different religious and cultural
backgrounds, then the day school can-
not, by definition, provide it at least
during formal school hours. But in a
cost/benefit analysis, choosing such a
benefit over Jewish identity is at least
worthy of reappraisal. There is simply
no objective data that day school gradu-
ates have difficulty operating in the real
world with people of all backgrounds.
Day schools have placed their graduates
in the most prestigious universities both
undergraduate and graduate. They go
on to thrive in the world at large.
This American republic has given
Jews the greatest gift a system of gov-
ernment can give — true freedom.
The quintessential event in Jewish his-
tory is the Exodus. It emancipated our
people from slavery. But the freedom
contemplated was not that of the "Bill
of Rights" variety. It was a prelude to
the ability to accept the Torah at Sinai
— to live life as a partner in the
covenant with God.
We do not have to choose between
these two concepts of freedom; nor
between being an American and a
Jew, as the vice-presidential nomina-
tion of Sen. Joseph Lieberman has so
aptly demonstrated. We have the
means and opportunity to meld them
into one. What remains to be seen is
whether we have the will. Day school
education is a proven mechanism to
meet our challenges. I urge you to
consider it for your child. ❑

Robert P. Roth is president of the
Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit
in West Bloomfield.

Eternal And
Modern

Jewish education is meeting the challenges
of the 21st century.

Q: What will it take to make Jewish
learning exciting, meaningful and
ongoing for all ages?

RABBI ELIMELECH SILBERBERG
Special to the Jewish News

T

he Torah relates that when
God commanded Moses to
offer the Torah to the
Jewish people, He told him
to first go to Bais Yaakov — the
House of Jacob.
One of the messages of this verse is
that Jewish education must begin in
the home. Many people feel that
Judaism and Jewish education are in
the province of the day schools,
Hebrew schools and synagogues. Yet
the vast majority of Jewish obser-
vances take place in the home.
Think Shabbat candles and meals,
the seder on Passover, the sukka,
kashrut, the Chanuka menora and
tzedaka. Moreover, according to
Jewish tradition, a child's religious
education actually commences at

birth. The code of Jewish law
instructs us to familiarize a child with
the ritual hand-washing ceremony
called neggei vasser from the time he is
one month old. We are told to teach
our children the verse "Torah tzivah
lenu Moshe — "The Torah which
Moses commanded us is the inheri-
tance for the congregation of Israel"
— as soon as they start to speak.
One of the great challenges faced
by Jewish educators in the 21st centu-
ry is to convey this message: Judaism
and Jewish education should perme-
ate our homes and be a part of our
daily lives and those of our children.
But God prepares the cure before He
sends the disease. The Internet revolu-
tion has given us the tools with which
to conquer this challenge, by enabling
Judaism to enter people's homes 24
hours a day, seven days a week. While
the Internet, with all the trash available
on it, can be a family's greatest enemy, it
is, at the same time, the most powerful
weapon available to us to fight Jewish
ignorance. Every person owning a corn-

purer has, at the tips of his fingers,
access to more Torah information than
ever before in history.

Torah Software

Judaism is not only home-oriented, it is
also action-based. The Mishnah says in
Ethics of the Fathers, "It is not the study
of Torah which is primary, but rather
the deed" — i.e., the performance of
the mitzvah. Of course, one must study
in order to know what to do; but the
purpose of the study must be the actual
observance of the mitzvot.
Many mitzvot, such as the obser-
vance of Shabbat and the holidays,
and synagogue-related command-
ments, are much easier to perform
when one is a member of a Jewishly
supportive community. The tendency
of Jews in America to relocate into
ever further-out suburbs makes it
more and more difficult to maintain
the traditional communal structures.
These have helped maintain Jewish
life over the past two millennia.
We may take it as a given that most
Jews will not move back to the core
Jewish communities. Well, then, "if
the mountain won't go to
Mohammed, then Mohammed must
go to the mountain." It is up to rabbis
and Jewish educators today to move
into these far-flung communities and
bring Judaism there, establishing cen-
ters for prayer, study and the obser-
vance of Shabbat and other mitzvot in
a warm, social, Jewish setting.
Under the visionary leadership of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe, the late Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the
Chabad movement pioneered this con-
cept of bringing Judaism to Jews wher-
ever they may be. Close to 3,000
Chabad houses have been established
across the globe. But Chabad and other
Jewish organizations must do more to
encourage capable individuals to devel-
op these smaller Jewish communities.
The success of this project depends on
committed and educated young men
and women willing to dedicate their
lives to these communities as well as the
willingness of major Jewish communi-
ties to support their selfless efforts.
The challenges are great, but the
rewards are greater. "He who saves
one life in Israel; it is as if he has
saved an entire world." And it is not
just the lives of individuals we are
dealing with, it is the continued exis-
tence of the entire Jewish people.

❑

Elimelech Silberberg is rabbi at the
Sara Tugman Bais Chabad Torah .
Center in West Bloomfield.