EDITOR'S NOTEBOOR
TENDER
Finding Enlightenment
jr
ewish learning connects the mind and the soul.
• That well-educated Jews are far more likely to be com-
Absorbing Jewish knowledge and embracing Jewish
mitted Jews.
tradition enlightens you. Without this alignment,
• That our diverse backgrounds and observance levels
there's little reason to learn.
require a range of appealing learning models, including for-
Making a connection is uplifting. It stimulates your desire
mal day and synagogue schools as well as informal youth
to learn. I liken this feeling to electrical current — a steady
groups, summer camps and Israel trips.
flow of nourishing energy. The feeling pulsates with a
Appelman makes the case for elevating early childhood
rhythm that penetrates through to the deepest recesses of
education as a connection to the larger Jewish community.
your soul.
Preschool students easily grasp new skills and concepts.
"It makes no difference whether our students are young or
Parents who otherwise are indifferent tend to keep a Jewish
old," says Harlene W. Appelman, the lead Jewish educator in home when their kids seek that.
Metro Detroit. "They all learn best when their souls have
Preschool is a deeply impressionable period. It allows the
been touched.
seeds of a lifetime of learning to be sown. Locally, preschool-
"The only way to do this," she adds, "is to enrich and sup- ers number almost 1,500 — 21 percent of the total enroll-
port great teaching."
ment in our day, synagogue and supplemental schools, or
Appelman, the Jewish Federation's chief
more than 7,000 students.
education officer, understands the role that
Appelman, concerned but determined, piqued my interest
teachers play in making Judaism matter.
as she challenged the Detroit Jewish community to identify
Inspired teachers inspire learning. This cause and rally a new generation of advocates to advance Jewish
and effect is more critical than ever to
education. Ignore this warning and we dull our ability to
counter the impact of the lures of Jewish
sustain the continuity of Jewish life. "This community,"
assimilation in America.
Appelman warns, "is facing a massive transition
Learning what it means to
and without a new and vocal leadership, it will
struggle to take new, exciting steps and to sup-
ROBERT A. be a Jew can be exhilarating
given the makeup of our
port all that it has brilliantly created."
SKLAR
amazing 4,000-year-old histo-
Editor
ry and heritage. But a bad
Stronger Oversight
teacher can drive you away as
Money will always be a pressing need. The
fast as a good teacher can draw you in.
accountability over how community dollars are
We've survived and prospered as a people
spent is thin, however. We invest millions in
because of those among us who tap into their
Jewish education, but we have inconsistent
soul and share with others the richness that is
measurements to validate that the allocations
the Jewish experience. Teachers supplement the
are doing what they are supposed to do. For
work ethic of rabbis, parents and others who
example, we don't offer a standardized core
are striving to nurture a vibrant Jewish com-
competency regarding the State of Israel, the
Harlene W Appelman
munity.
Hebrew language, Jewish holidays, U.S. Jewish
Let's be candid: Teachers in Jewish classrooms
history or communal responsibility.
must be professionally trained and consider Jewish teaching
I'm glad to say that we've increased student scholarships to
their passion. Locally, many teachers will likely retire soon,
make Jewish learning more affordable. The Shiffman Family
but low pay and no benefits await many of their successors.
Day School Assistance Millennium Fund helps more families
Says Appelman, "This presents a grim picture for future
pay for day school. Each year, synagogues receive about
teachers and therefore for the vibrancy of the Jewish educa-
$490,000 from Federation's Annual Campaign to share for
tion system."
afternoon school scholarships. The Federation-sponsored
Teenagers with weak Jewish ties are especially vulnerable at
Jewish Education Trust, begun in 2002, has unlimited
U.S. universities, where anti-Zionism is growing even as
potential, although it will take time to mature as an endow-
administrators work harder to increase the presence of Jews
ment for day school operations and tuition controls.
and Jewish studies. The organized Jewish community must
Ultimately, Detroit Jews will swim or sink together.
respond with a sense of urgency to help assure this academic
Judaism thrives when practiced interactively. We must rever-
setting values truth and respects ethnicity. Students armed
with the facts to expose Jew-hating on campus are important berate as a community. Isolationism can't yield lasting reli-
gious prosperity.
in Israel's fight to survive.
I like our prospects. Day school enrollment tops 2,500
We can't rely just on Israeli soldiers, brave as they are. In
and afternoon schools reach almost 75 percent of kids eligi-
the current public relations war on Israel waged by Arab ter-
ble to become bar or bat mitzvah. Hillels are seeing resur-
ror-mongers, Jewish leadership groups must join forces to
gent participation, which tells me that more freshmen have
educationally equip our student "troops" here in America.
been predisposed to their Jewish roots.
Meanwhile, Jewish adult education, led by Detroit Jewry's
Common Foundation
Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment and the Florence
I engaged Appelman in a discussion about igniting sparks to
Melton Adult Mini School, give parents and grandparents
move Jewish learning forward against a backdrop of inter-
the impetus to make Jewish values echo within the family.
marriage and unaffiliated rates topping 50 percent, delayed
Finding our collective Jewish pulse through learning is a
marriage and child rearing, worsening anti-Zionism, the
testament to what gives us propulsion as a people. It's
ever-rising cost of Jewish learning, and less urgency from
incumbent on Federation — through its resources and influ-
many parents to enroll their kids in a Jewish school before
ence under President Peter Alter, Chief Education Officer
preparing for a bar or bat mitzvah. She sent me her white
Harlene Appelman and the Alliance for Jewish Education —
paper listing key points we must agree on to build a base of
to light the way. But personal discovery is the best deterrent
understanding:
to the inexorable forces of intimidation, self-doubt and apa-
• That teaching our kids is a cooperative obligation, not
thy.
one that rests only with parents, synagogues or a particular
stream of Judaism.
Federation President Peter Alter's perspective on Jewish educa-
tion was analyzed in Editor's Notebook on March 24.
INVITES YOU
TO PREVIEW THE
FALL 2005
COLLECTION
THURSDAY, APRIL 7
10-9
FRIDAY, APRIL 8
10-6
CHAMPAGNE
HORS D'OEUVRES
TENDER
271 WEST MAPLE
DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM
248.258.0212
SUNDAY 12-5
MONDAY-SATURDAY 10-6
THURSDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 9
tIN
4/7
2005
5