I Editor's Letter The Contours Of Learning ewish day schools matter a lot. Synagogue schools could matter more. But both are integral to sustain- ing Jewish life in America. Both help assure passage of our heritage from one generation to the next. Both also are shackled with obstacles. As a Jewish community, we confront a myriad of issues: a shrinking, aging populace, young adult flight, insufficient school and camp scholarships, mounting eldercare needs, Michigan's embattled economy. But teaching our kids how to be Jewish remains the core challenge. So I was heartened to hear Detroit Jewry's organized leadership urge increased support of Jewish education, in all its shapes and sizes, from pre- school through high school. We're a community with 17,000 kids age 17 and younger. More than 16 percent of Jewish Detroit's population of 72,000 consists of kids 10-19; so teens are a huge percentage of who we are. Not courting our kids is foolhardy. We won't have to worry what kind of Jewish community we have in 2020 if we lose them today. At the 2007 annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and its banking/real estate arm, the United Jewish Foundation, our communal leaders pledged to guarantee every child an affordable, quality Jewish education of their parents' choosing. Federation's outgoing president, Peter Alter, made Jewish education enhancements a hallmark of his three-year presi- dency. In his closing remarks, he said Federation's Jewish Education Visioning Task Force has produced a plan that would carry the community "into the next generation and beyond in providing the highest quality and most innovative Jewish educational services that are available." I have confidence in task force chairs Beverly Liss and Gary Shiffman. Still, I'll reserve judg- ment until the plan is released. That way, I can stay objective, inquisitive and probing on the community's behalf. For exam- ple, the idea of a reward program enabling preschoolers to "earn" cash back for use in a day or synagogue school is intriguing, but is it practical? j belt midrash, houses of learning. It also will urge a linkage between formal programs like day schools, preschools and synagogue schools and informal offerings like summer camps, youth groups and Israel teen missions. The potential synergy from such a linkage would be exciting. Looking Forward There's a need for greater educational investment, but Federation's Annual Campaign no longer can be depended on to fund every new initiative. Sure, the Campaign remains the fourth richest in America despite our population ranking only 21st. But the number of donors is declining as our total num- bers fall, especially among 20- and 30-somethings who could give for years even if they started out modestly. Over the past three years, the number of day school scholar- ships has grown by $400,000, or about 15 percent. Synagogue schools, Fresh Air Society and the Jewish Community Center have seen double-digit growth in scholarship assistance, too. The day school aid is welcomed, but it shouldn't mask the troubling trend of rising tuition that has put an unsubsidized education out of reach of most middle-class families. Our synagogue and supplemental school enrollment of 4,200 is nearly double that of our day schools (2,300). The task force plan also will address the crucial need to recruit and retain teachers at all student levels. Interpret that to mean better trained and better paid teachers — if we have any hope to attain the quality that Alter envisions. The task force's call for an educational concierge to guide families with school-age kids to the best Jewish learning opportunities based on family expectations and resources should be an easy sell for a local philanthropist. Many families not familiar with the array of options probably settle only for a good secular school. Important Pillars As Peter Alter passed Federation's presidential baton to Nancy Grosfeld on Sept. 23 in Handleman Hall at the West Bloomfield JCC, I pondered the announcement of a $100,000 Pillars Campaign for Jewish Detroit's two top priorities: Jewish education and eldercare services. This nexus between our precious community edges — the younger and older generations — is huge. Together, 50 percent of our population is younger than 18 and older than 64. Seniors nourish the community with their know-how and insight. Kids give us incentive to keep our community vibrant and yearning. But only a communal commitment with vision, reliable funding and a degree of risk will furnish the texture of learning that engages our kids and instills them with Jewish values and pride. It's a texture pivotal to Jewish life. Achieving this also would impress young families and single young adults looking to relocate here or move back. We must tap into each student's neshamah, the innermost chamber of their soul. Reaching Deep Alter is right: A task force plan that isn't inspirational will fail. The knowledge served up won't be absorbed. And the learn- ing, fragile as it is, won't last. "We must seek to reach not only students' minds, but also students' hearts — to connect with their Jewish community, with Israel and with their Judaism," Alter said. Amen. But I will take that a step farther. We must tap into each student's neshamah, the innermost chamber of their soul. Only then can we give them a fighting chance to fend off the secular lures of full assimilation, acculturation and apathy. In another peek, Alter said the task force plan will encour- age the community to invest "substantial dollars" in existing 0 : • tn ca Z z 00 a. a- Are we, as a community, on course in helping our kids live Jewish lives? Are we doing enough to boost the quality of our synagogue schools? 71 VVEST MAPLE JNTC)WN BIRMINGHAM 248.258,0212 SUNDAY 12-- 5 MONDAY-SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY 125,71 , 0 October 4 • 2007 7