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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