EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

How We Learn Matters

N

early 600 people considering SAJE, Detroit Jewry's popular adult
learning program, turned out on a cold night last week to hear Rabbi
Lawrence Kushner warm them spiritually.
Seventy-five people signed up for SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish
Enrichment) classes that night, bringing the early enrollment to more than 400.
Part of SAJE's success is the volunteer teaching corps of local rabbis, cantors,
educators and lay leaders.
Challenges are greater, however, for our day and congrega-
tional schools. Still, they're on the move — to a point. The Jew-
ish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit opened with the largest
opening-day enrollment for any non-Orthodox high school in
North America. Yeshivat Akiva is on the rebound under Rabbi
Yigal Tsaidi's leadership. Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and Hillel Day
School each have more than 700 students. Yeshivas Darchei
Torah is settled in a larger new home. Yeshiva Gedolah and our
other Orthodox day schools are quietly going about their busi-
-
ROBERT A. ness of educating students.
Our
day
school
enrollment
tops
2,000..
Congregational
SKLAR
schools have nearly 6,000 students, with a growing number
Editor
s _ taying on beyond bar or bat mitzvah.
Dramatically higher school funding and scholarship support
through the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit is a key reason for opti-
mism.
_
Still, concerns temper that optimism. The Coalition for the Advancement of
Jewish Education has identified these hurdles for Jewish schools of all kinds:
finding, training and keeping staff; controlling school fees; developing innova-
tive coursework; helping the cultural arts resonate.
There's also inequity between larger and smaller schools when it comes to
available computers and computer instructors.

Comparing Teachers

An especially pressing concern is teacher quantity and quality in the congrega-
tional schools. These teachers typically are paid less, yet are held to the same
standards as day and public school teachers.
Unlike day school teachers, whose students more likely are to be encouraged
at home to learn Jewishly, congregational teachers often face the dual-edged
sword of disinterested students and parents.
Unlike public school teachers, congregational teachers don't always have a
wealth of resources to draw on to motivate and teach slower learners.
If their credentials also are shaky, congregational teachers are sure to be a
turnoff from, not a springboard to, Judaism. Those who are engaging in the
classroom can help deepen Jewish identity and ties.
Congregational teachers are in short supply because the job doesn't yield
enough respect and pay. And that's sad. It's disingenuous to
entrust our children to them, but take them for granted.
Our community's newest strategic vision for Jewish edu-
cation, a study by the Jewish- Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Alliance for Jewish Education, suggests a career
ladder so teaching in congregational schools isn't just a
stopover to something else. That's a good idea — but Feder-
ation must lead tie way.
While we kvell over SAJE's success these past three win-
4
ters, we should be dumbstruck by the dismal record at
Rabbi Mayerfeld
drawing younger teachers to our congregational schools —
only 13 percent are between 18 and 34, according to the
Alliance..
Meanwhile, we must work harder as a community to help teachers teach, stu-
dents study and parents become models for learning.
Our survival as a people demands that we embrace and nurture Jewish values
from tradition and heritage to compassion and hope.
together
By learning with others, we're more likely to catch mistakes and nuances, says
Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in Southfield.
As he put it: "Expressing yourself creates a creative tension. It allows you to
consider more than one point of view, which is very Jewish and very basic to the
idea of study." ❑

—

LETTERS

Letters are posted
and archived on JN Online:
wvvw.detroitjewishnews.com

Reform Challenged
On Gay Scoutmasters

As the father of a Jewish 16-year-old
Scout working on his Eagle badge, I
take issue with the Reform move-
ment's position favoring admission of
homosexuals in Scouting ["Scouting:
Not For Everyone," Feb. 2, page 16].
Folks, I think you've missed the
point. Let's forget the rhetoric about
constitutionality and alleged homo-
phobic traditions of Scouting. The
bottom line is this: Would you have
an atheist conduct Shabbat services?
You wouldn't, because the atheist's
principles are contradictory to and
offensive to religious believers. You
would object to atheists who out-
wardly appear pious, teaching your
child the merits of Jewish faith.
So, too, homosexual scoutmasters
contradict the underlying moral prin-
ciples of the Boy Scouts, which are to
be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful,
thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
Young Scouts learn to inherently
trust leadership by respecting and
obeying scoutmasters, and viewing
them as pinnacles of truth and hon-
esty. Scoutmasters teach prudent
judgment, honor and community
responsibility.
As assistant senior patrol leader, my
son emulates his scoutmaster's quali-
ties, observed during meetings and on
weekend and weeklong overnight
retreats.
My son could no more model an
atheist in preparing for his bar mitz-
vah than he could model a homo-
sexual scoutmaster in attaining the
rank of Eagle. And here's why:
Scoutmasters who are homosexuals
may love Scouting and may even be
wonderful with children, but their
ultraliberal philosophy and uncon-
ventional lifestyle pose emotional
hazards for impressionable youths
taught Judeo-Christian values in the
Boy Scouts.
Douglas H. Ruben

Okemos

Stepping Up To
Save The Earth

Mark X. Jacobs, executive director
of the Coalition on the Environ-
ment and Jewish Life (COEJL),
asked us to consider the seriousness
of the environmental crisis as we
celebrate Tu b'Shevat ["Don't Forget
The Earth," Feb. 2, page 32].
He closed his special commentary

JARC founded

1978

First JARC office

•1 JARC home

• 7 people served

2001

New (bigger & better!) offices

• 19 JARC homes

• 3 divisions

• 450 people with disabilities
and their families served

We're Moving to
Our New Office

Tues . day
February 27,
2001

JARC will be closed
Friday, February 23 and
Monday, February 26;
re-opening Tuesday,
February 27 at our
new address.

JARC's Paul & Lois
Katzman Office Building

30301 Northwestern Hwy
Suite 100
Farmington Hills,
Michigan 48334-3233
t 248.538.6611
f 248.538.6615
jarc@jarc.org

2/23

2001
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