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6 | AUGUST 20 • 2020 

Editor’
s Note 

An Education
B

ack to school is nor-
mally such an exciting 
time. New teachers, new 
books, new classmates to make 
friends with. This year, it’
s terri-
fying. Everything 
seems to have 
danger attached 
to it. Parents and 
teachers alike are 
trapped in this 
mutual anxiety 
over the safest, 
healthiest, most 
intellectually stimulating way to 
educate people during a pan-
demic. There doesn’
t seem to be 

a perfect solution anywhere.
I have many friends who are 
parents, many friends who are 
teachers and several friends 
who are both. I myself am nei-
ther. But I have a responsibility 
as editor to listen to and under-
stand the concerns of the many 
parents and teachers in our 
Jewish community. The JN cares 
very deeply about our local 
schooling, and we pledge to 
cover our community’
s response 
to this at every level. 
In this issue, you will find 
stories on what our Jewish day 
schools, preschools and univer-

sities have in store (check out 
public school info at 
thejewishnews.com), including 
our interviews with the new 
heads of Hillel Day School and 
Farber Hebrew Day School. 
These stories are changing 
every day, and the plans we 
have printed in this issue may 
have been updated by the 
time you read this, so we tried 
to focus on the big-picture 
questions: What is really on 
people’
s minds as this uncer-
tain school year looms? How 
can we find a way forward that 
protects students, teachers and 

families, without setting child 
development too far behind? 
You will also find first-person 
perspectives from educators and 
parents. 
As with every story we tackle, 
we want to keep this conver-
sation going. We know this is 
a challenging, confusing time, 
and we want to be here for the 
Jewish community at every 
level. Let us know where you 
want our ongoing coverage of 
this school year to focus on. It 
seems that we all are about to 
receive an education of a differ-
ent sort. 

Andrew Lapin

 Community Statement
Day School Executives Express Unity
O

ur Jewish future lies in 
the hands of our chil-
dren. For thousands of 
years, we have transmitted our 
culture, our traditions, our val-
ues, our obligations and our con-
cern for the world from parents 
to children. The passing of our 
heritage from one generation to 
the next has been the backbone 
of our people.
We are united in our belief 
that Jewish education is vitally 
important for our community 
in Metro Detroit. In these trying 
times, we believe even more 
strongly in our mission, and we 
are committed to providing the 
Jewish children in our communi-
ty with the very best secular and 
religious education, in whatever 
form it may take.
All over the country, schools 
in general and Jewish day 
schools, in particular, are trying 
to determine the best course of 
action to balance the safety and 

health of students and staff with 
the educational and emotional 
needs of the students. For all 
of us, this involves some very 
difficult, occasionally costly, 
decisions. 
We all prefer to teach our 
students within the environs of 
our schools, and we all recognize 
that circumstances may, at some 
point, force us to take advantage 
of remote learning opportunities 
for a period of time.
We recognize that while we 
have different constituencies, 
physical spaces and needs, we 
share the same core values and 
desire to provide a world class 
education. 
Those shared values inform 
our weekly meetings, under the 
auspices of the Jewish Federation 
of Metro Detroit, and allow us to 
share best practices, discuss our 
individual planning processes 
and learn from one another. We 
will continue to do so well past 

the opening of school because we 
know that the coming days will 
require innovative and creative 
solutions. 
We realize that by working 
together we are more likely to 
find these solutions and effec-
tively implement them. The 
saying that if you want to go fast 
“go alone” but if you want to go 
far “go together” has never been 
truer.
While we collectively believe 
the value of Jewish education is 
evident, in and of itself, we also 
believe that now more than ever 
Jewish education is needed in 
our world. Although we may 
do it differently, effectively we 
do exactly the same thing — we 
teach our kids to be good people 
and to care for themselves, each 
other, the Jewish community and 
the world. 
At a time when we are wit-
nessing increasing levels of 
hatred and polarization, those 

lessons must be taught and 
shared. The world needs more 
of the wisdom that our teachers 
impart to your children each day.
We will surely endure contin-
ued challenges over the coming 
days and months. However, we 
want the community to know 
that we will continue to work 
together and regardless of the 
difficulties, our commitment to 
Jewish education will not waver. 
With much appreciation for the 
continued support from our 
parents and the broader Jewish 
community. 

— Rabbi Yehuda Amsel, 
Yeshivas Darchei Torah
— Rabbi Azaryah Cohen, 
Frankel Jewish Academy
— Dr. Darin Katz,
Hillel Day School
— Dr. Josh Levisohn, 
Farber Hebrew Day School
— Rabbi Shragie Myers, 
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah 

