The Insider N E \IV & VIEWS WOM EN'S EUROPEAN & AMERICAN DESIGNER - — - - - 11111111111111 ___,Iikanissaeicatiolii_ hile anti-Semitism has not disappeared, Jews living in America enjoy religious liberties that few Jewish communities in history have experienced. We have attained economic and educational success, and have risen to the highest echelons of political power. So says Rabbi Jill Jacobs in a thoughtful political essay distributed by the New York-based Jewish Telegraphic Agency. And she's right: Independence Day was a great time to celebrate the unprecedented freedom that Jews in America enjoy. It also was the right moment to evaluate what we as Jews do contribute, and what we can contribute, to American discourse. Jacobs' theme of embracing public Judaism rang forth. I hope we're not as emotionally weak or indifferent as Jacobs suggests. Rabbi Jacobs Jacobs is the rabbi-in-residence of the New York-based Jewish Funds for Justice, which is committed to provoking a rethinking of Jewish efforts to spur social change and economic justice for all Americans. In her essay, Jacobs spoke about how the topic of religion in the public square tends to elicit images of the Christian right fighting for restrictions on abortion, same- sex marriage and sex education. All of these issues are white-hot fodder for public debate. But as Jacobs cogently notes, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other religious traditions have much to say not only about social and cultural norms, but also economic policy, equality and inequality, and interpersonal behavior." She discussed how, amid our economic crisis, America can grasp direction from religious tradition as well as from cur- rent social thinking and everyday experiences. I was intrigued by how Jacobs, author of There Shall Be W No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law and Tradition (Jewish Lights, 2009), tied Halachah to gaining the mental toughness to change laws in order to create a sustainable and just economic system." new study on the running of Jewish day schools presents a perilous forecast in the wake of the poor economy and uninspired school oversight. While my sense is that Jewish Detroit's day school leaders are in touch with our community's urgent needs and generally working in step with Federation to resolve them, the nation- al day-school trend is alarming. A According to a July 14 Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) report, the Yeshiva University study titled "Survey of the Governance Practices of Jewish Day Schools" concludes that "lackadaisical lay leadership and weak boards of direc- tors at the schools seem content with making half-hearted attempts at creating economically viable institutions." Harry Bloom, an expert on lay-board management, pro- duced the study for the New York-based YU Institute of University-School Partnership. His ideas for solving the day- school tuition crisis include communal fundraising to build school endowment funds as well as wider partnering among neighboring schools to save on overhead. Endowments are popular, but as Bloom notes, even a $1 billion nest egg would 1 She wrote: "Judaism teaches specific laws aimed at guar- anteeing that employers will not take unfair advantage of low-income workers, that landlords will not evict tenants without fair warning and that the criminal justice system will preserve the dignity of both victims and perpetrators." We're poorer as a nation if we as American Jews don't seek to push Jewish values into the secular jet stream of American governance while protecting the wall that divides church and state. Jacobs lamented how many Jews who lead community or public-policy organizations or who hold elected office lack the fortitude to speak publicly about how Jewish history and tradition have colored their attitude toward social and economic policy. "Perhaps our own negative experiences as the victims of religious coercion or our attempts to protect ourselves from the intrusion of Christian practice into public institutions have persuaded us that Judaism has no place in the public sphere," she wrote. But it can, ,,vithout injecting religion. We can share what Jacobs calls "the nuanced approaches to social and economic policy that our rabbis and scholars have developed over the past 3,000 years." "If we are to build a sustainable American economy for the future," Jacobs wrote, we should learn from this ,visdom as well as from the wisdom of other religious tradi- tions, academic disciplines and practitioners. The United States needs us to be Jews not only at home, but also in the street." We can start by strongly speaking up about the ney, , thrusts of anti-Semitism at home and abroad; the Islamic terrorists who target Jews, Zionism and the West; the U.S. policies that threaten Israeli security; the Iranian danger and its affect on the atomic arms race; and the array of urgent domestic concerns like immigration, health care, crime, the environment, the Iraqi war and, of course, the economy. , LOTHING COLLECTIONS ACCESSORIES HANDBAGS SHOES SALE - Robert Sklar, editor provide just $50 million per year in real aid, Bloom pitched increased government support and tighter school spending as further ways to bridge the $500 million annual gap nationwide created by student financial need; but neither is likely without strong oversight boards that can lobby and enforce. Bloom told JTA that board members too often recruit unqualified friends to fill board vacancies rather than take the time to find the right mix. I was stunned to read that less than 40 percent of the board presidents surveyed said their boards had set strate- gic goals or a financial plan for the next 3-5 years. Doing so would be standard operating procedure in my mind. I like the YU push to work with three East Coast com- munities to bring together educators, federations and com- munal groups to address the school planning and revenue crises. Detroit Jewry already has a strategic infrastructure, led by Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education. What we do locally requires more fine-tuning and funding; still, we could serve as a national model. TENDER 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6 - Robert Sklar, editor tenderbirmingham.com July 23 • 2009 A5