Opinion TURN MICHIGAN Jewish Education from page 23 These groups are committed to edu- cating the Jewish community about Israel's history, culture, peoplehood and politics as well as its struggle to survive. • Jewish Service Learning — The past decade was all about a new form of tikkun olam [repair of the world]. Jews combined Jewish learn- ing with a zeal for pursuing justice, causing organizations like American Jewish World Service, Jewish Funds for Justice and Avodah to flourish. They applied their Torah learning to real-life situations (business ethics to the Enron and Madoff scandals, ethical kashrut to the Rubashkin/ Agriprocessors debacle, pursuing global justice to Darfur, etc.). Take advantage of low prices on GRANITE 60 different colors to choose from FLOORS KEEGO HARBOR, MICHIGAN 48320 248.681.6460 SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1971 24 January 28 2010 • Inclusion — Gay rights in the Jewish community came about through education. The Boston- based Keshet discovered new ways to educate the community about GLBT inclusion, while a gay Orthodox rabbi came out of the closet to help create and promote a film about homosexuality in the Orthodox world. The Conservative movement's seminaries opened their doors to gays and lesbians, and the decade ended with a majority of Reform and Conservative rabbis willing to perform commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples. • Informal Ed — In each decade, JCCs and Hillels have had to adapt to new trends. Learning Torah with a local rabbi under the same roof as your Yoga class and where your child attends pre-school or high school is truly impressive. It's possible that our JCCs and Hillels are the most underrated edu- cational agency in our Jewish com- munity. • Post-Denominationalism — The last decade prepared us for true post-denominationalism in this new decade. The last 10 years saw the rise of community day schools and high schools, and, therefore, the growth of Raysak — the network of these non-denominational schools. It also became common for Reform and Conservative congrega- tions to merge in an effort for both of them to survive. In most cases, these bi-denominational mergers proved flawless. Family foundations and federations created programs, fellowships and new organizations that transcended the movements. With funding from the mega-phi- lanthropists of the Jewish com- munity came programs that no one denomination could claim — the STAR Foundation's Synaplex and PEER programs, Taglit-Birthright free Israel trips, PJ Library, Avi Chai, PEJE, etc. The growth of organiza- tions like BBYO and CLAL also demonstrate a post-denominational, informal educational spirit. • Interfaith — Through the out- of-the-box education offered by the Jewish Outreach Institute, the Jewish community began to consider inter- faith families in new ways. While the Reform movement was quick to welcome the interfaith family, the more traditional movements need to be educated on why this is of para- mount importance to the future of Jewish peoplehood. • Conclusion: It is through educa- tion that the Jewish community reaches new heights. In the new decade, we'll see the impact on the organized Jewish community that the generation influenced by indie minyan leadership will have. New advances in technology will allow us to share Jewish wisdom across continents at lightning speed. We'll see much more collaboration between synagogues, federations, camps and youth groups to create community-wide endeavors that will save money and reach more Jewish people quicker. We'll also begin to determine whether the mega-philanthropists and federations are really getting the most out of their million-dollar investment with Birthright Israel. Because if we don't see real results in the coming years, we'll regret how much money was spent on middle- class 20-somethings for their free ride to Israel at the expense of many other important educational initia- tives. Finally, the alphabet soup of Jewish communal life will get smaller as we weed out redundant organizations and support creativity and innovation — the hallmarks of Jewish education. El Rabbi Jason Miller is director of ATID: Alliance for Teens in Detroit and the spiritual leader of Oakland County-based Tamarack Camps. He serves as the part- time spiritual leader of Congregation T'chiyah in Oak Park.