20 | SEPTEMBER 24 • 2020
I
n the midst of the COVID-
19 pandemic, a new match-
ing grant initiative, the
Our Heritage Program, aims
to recruit Jewish public school
students to enroll in in-person
Chabad day schools for the fall
semester.
Rabbi Zalman Shneur,
the executive director of the
Brooklyn-based Menachem
Education Foundation, an
organization dedicated to
improving Jewish and Chabad
education, and the creator
of the initiative, believes that
COVID-19 and resulting
remote learning in many pub-
lic schools presents a unique
occasion for Jewish schools
around the country to appeal
to new students from the secu-
lar community.
“We have a once-in-a-life-
time opportunity,” Shneur said.
“In Jewish day school, you
know that your child will have
a seat in a classroom five days
a week. For many parents that’
s
very important.”
The new program began
accepting online applications
from Chabad day schools
on Aug. 5 and will provide a
matching grant of $25,000 to
selected schools around the
country, provided that each
school brings in 10 new stu-
dents from public schools. The
grant money can be used for a
variety of purposes: to subsi-
dize students’
tuition, to help
create additional classes in the
areas of arts and culture, and
to hire help or additional staff.
Bob Aronson, an adviser
to the Our Heritage Program,
and former CEO of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, calls the project “a
small, but exciting start-up in
Jewish education.”
“The goal is really to cre-
ate an incentive for Chabad
schools to open their doors to
the secular community more
effectively,” he said.
According to Shneur,
no Chabad day schools in
Michigan have applied to the
initiative so far. Rabbi Mendel
Stein, the development director
for the Lubavitch Cheder &
Yeshiva-International School
for Chabad Leadership in Oak
Park, says he hopes to take
part in the program one day
when his school can open a
public-school track.
Outside of Michigan,
S
ince the 2002-03 school
year, thousands of
local seventh graders
have embarked on Religious
Diversity Journeys, an immer-
sive interfaith educational
program of the InterFaith
Leadership Council of
Metropolitan Detroit. Before
schools closed for COVID-19,
700 students from 50 public,
private and parochial tri-county
schools visited local houses of
worship for five different faiths.
Whether at a church, tem-
ple, mosque or synagogue,
students met with congregants
and clergy who discussed their
beliefs, customs and holidays,
and demonstrated the use of
ceremonial objects. The stu-
dents shared a traditional meal
and got to ask questions. The
program draws enthusiastic
reviews from participating stu-
dents, parents and teachers.
Religious Diversity Journeys
has a strong connection with
the Jewish community. Its
founder, Gail Katz of West
Bloomfield, was teaching
English as a second language
to students who had recently
immigrated to the U.S. She saw
a need for greater knowledge
and understanding among stu-
dents of different backgrounds.
“When we know little or
nothing about the religious
beliefs of our neighbors and
we classify them as the other,
they become our enemies,
”
she explained. “Our hope is
that with Religious Diversity
Journeys, the other will be
replaced by our friend.
”
Five local Jewish congrega-
tions (Congregations Beth Ahm
and Beth Shalom, and Temples
Beth El, Emanu-El and Israel)
hosted students during the past
school year. For Rabbi Steven
Rubenstein of Beth Ahm, “hav-
ing the students and their teach-
ers here was a great experience.
The program felt like a precious
opportunity to share the beauty
of Jewish life.
”
The Religious Diversity
Journeys program “helps stu-
dents learn about their neigh-
bors who practice different
faiths, overcoming fears about
unknown or little-known
religions and customs, and
encouraging new friend-
ships,
” said Rachel Clawson,
InterFaith Leadership Council
board member and chair of its
Religious Diversity Journeys
Committee. “The program is
intended to increase under-
standing and appreciation for
religious differences, substitut-
ing knowledge for stereotypes.
”
Local interfaith middle school program
will expand to multimedia format.
Jews in the D
Religious
Diversity Journey
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
INTERFAITH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT
Congregation Beth
Shalom’
s Rabbi Robert
Gamer shows a student
how to hold a Torah
before the pandemic.
Chabad
Schools
Outreach
Bob Aronson
promotes Chabad
day school initiative
in light of COVID.
MADELINE HALPERT CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Bob
Aronson