metro >> on the cover

School
Standoff

Disagreements over direction
of Frankel Jewish Academy
remain unresolved.

Keri Guten Cohen I Story Development Editor

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

to stave off what some leaders believe is
becoming a rift in the Jewish community.
Foremost of the issues, however, is
FJAs hiring policy
for its Judaic Studies
department. Rabbi
Eric Grossman, head
of school, and Jeffrey
Garden of West
Bloomfield, a founder,
say the policy dates back
411A
to the school's incep-
Rabbi Eric
tion more than 13 years
Grossman
ago, and requires those
who teach Bible, rabbin-
ics or lead minyan to be shomer Shabbat
(Shabbat observant, including not driving,
working, etc.).
Although not defined in FJAs bylaws,
the hiring policy is at the discretion of the
head of school.
This policy virtually excludes the
community's Reform rabbis and some
Conservative rabbis because they are not
strictly Shabbat observant.
"This is not a Reform issue, but an
issue of the ability of a
school to present all of
the varieties of Jewish
life and reflect the best
of what they offer:' said
Rabbi Harold Loss of
Temple Israel, a Reform
synagogue in West
Rabbi Harold
Bloomfield.
Loss
"I have no qualms hav-
ing my kids hear from
any pulpit rabbis in the community. For
anyone unhappy with that reality, there are
other alternatives. FJA is the only alterna-
tive for the broader community:' Loss said.
FJA President Bill Newman said, "We
feel fortunate meeting the needs of stu-
dents and families. We know who we are,
and we are achieving our academic goals;
we are graduating kids who go to great

8 June 27 • 2013

schools. We are a great college preparatory
school:'
Detroit already had traditional Orthodox
yeshivot and a modern Orthodox high
school at Akiva Hebrew Day School in
Southfield. FJA was to be a new breed, a
new choice open to all.
Indeed, the Jewish Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit (now Frankel Jewish
Academy) opened in 2000 with 51 stu-
dents in grades 9 and 10 at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield
as a school accepting students from all
streams of Judaism.
"The [school] was created to welcome
students from both public and Jewish day
schools throughout the Detroit commu-
nity:' Garden said. "The school was to be
based on traditional Jewish law and to be
open and embrace all students from our
community. In the school's hallways and
classrooms, FJA is non-denominational:'
About 50 percent of
FJA students affiliate with
Conservative congrega-
tions; 25 percent belong
to Reform temples; and
25 percent affiliate with
Orthodox shuls, with some
unaffiliated students mixed
in. In the community at
large, more than 52 percent
of Jewish Detroit affiliates
with the Reform movement, according to
the 2010 Detroit Jewish Population Study
commissioned by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Rabbi Joshua Bennett of Temple Israel
piloted and taught
the "Denominational
Differences" discussion
class for many years
at FJA, along with a
Conservative rabbi and
an Orthodox rabbi. The
demise of that class two
AP
years ago — plus com-
Rabbi Joshua
plaints then from some

Reform students about being disrespected
by more observant students — sparked
some of the ongoing clash,
and seemed to be the first
time the shomer Shabbat
policy came into public play.
Penny Blumenstein, presi-
dent of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit when
FJA opened in 2000, said,
"This was never presented
to us. This was a community
school open to all. It was
never pitched as having halachic [Jewish
law] guidelines:'
The only publicly aired halachic issue
at the new school centered around the
admissions policy, which is based on
matrilineal descent, which defines a Jewish
person as someone with a Jewish mother.
According to an Aug. 25, 2000, IN story,
this matrilineal policy was in keeping with
other day schools in the city, but did not
follow the more liberal path of other trans-
denominational high schools at the time
across the country.
With the Jewish Academy defining
"Who is a Jew" halachically, the more

For a related
edito rial,
see p age 41.

Bennett

liberal Reform movement, with its higher
rate of intermarriage, was affected most.
Yet, the founding rabbi, Lee Buckman,
encouraged all students to apply.
The shomer Shabbat hiring policy
remained under the radar until it was
challenged in a letter to FJA from Bennett
more than two years ago.
"Students are suffering for not having
their rabbis be part of the school:' Bennett
said recently. "It is sad students are not
given the opportunity to be taught and
mentored by other Jewish leaders in their
community because of school policies:'
FJAs Grossman said, "We really reach
out to clergy in the community to con-
stantly share their knowledge with stu-
dents. Our students like to connect back
with their home congregations. At Town
Hall [a weekly school gathering], we have
rabbis from Temple Beth El, Temple Israel,
Shaarey Zedek; we really cast a wide net
in bringing community rabbis and leaders
into the school."
But, as one Reform rabbi said, "That's
like being let on the bus, but not being
able to sit in the front:'

School Standoff on page 10

