We want Our Kids to Learn About Jewish Life, but...
There is a relatively new dilemma facing many Jewish families all across the country. They’re in the late 20′s to early 40′s. They have one, two, maybe three children, a mortgage, insurance, car payments, taxes, etc. Their parents keep “cheppying” them to send the kids to Religious School. However, all the temples and synagogues in their area have fee structures that are beyond their means, Starting with a family dues of $1,500/year, 5-year building fund of $2,000/yr and Religious School tuition of nearly $3,000, there’s no way for them to put it all together. What can they do?
I speak from both sides of the “synagogue table.” I have served as a teacher, Educational Director, Ritual Director and Executive Director of several synagogues. Additionally, I’ve been a member of the board, a vice-president and President of a synagogue. My wife has been a Judaics teacher in both day schools and afternoon religious schools. She has been the educational director at a synagogue. Believe me, we know of what we speak.
My wife’s position as the educational director at a local temple was truncated. They were looking to add a cantor to the professional clergy, but the only way to afford it was combining the cantor’s job with the educator’s job. OK, so be it. Although we each have over 40 years of experience, we weren’t ready to hang up the “Gone Fishing’“sign quite yet.
We tried to think what we could do to keep doing what we have loved to do for so many years. We have always had private students for tutoring, especially those who wanted to prepare for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. So why not follow through to the next level.
We would continue to teach in our home. There would be no dues and no building fund. Just a reasonable tuition that could be adjusted as necessary and paid off over time. And so, The Center for Jewish Family Learning, Inc. was created (http://www.thecenterforjewishfamilylearning.org). With little overhead other than some books and refreshments, we could offer these families, who for whatever reason did not affiliate with a synagogue, the chance for both their children and themselves to learn about Jewish life and living.
Besides enrolling students in grades K-7 and providing them a rich curriculum with Hebrew language, Israel, Current Events, History, Torah and more, we will also offer tutoring for Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Adult Education. The Center will be a place where a family will be able to learn as a family.
Now please do not look at this as our recommendation for families not to join a temple or synagogue. We feel, especially at this time, that affiliation is still the best way for a Jewish household to interact and become part of their local Jewish community. Unfortunately though, we are in a very serious dip in the sine wave of how people of all faiths, feel close to religion and houses of worship. My wife and I have worked too hard, for too many years, to say that no one needs a temple or synagogue any more. But the fact is, affiliation rates are very, very low. So what are we supposed to do? Just turn away and service the members and leave the rest to their own designs? No, we cannot abandon them.
For with every child we teach, with every Bar or Bat Mitzvah, with each of the 6-10 adults who attend a class on Jewish Ethics or “Torah in Hollywood,”, we have a unique opportunity to instill a little flame of “Yiddishkeit” (being Jewish) in each one. And that flame is simply too important to squander.
So, we open our door and reach out, just like we do at the Seder, when we invite Elijah the prophet in. Except in our case, we’re inviting anyone hungry for Jewish knowledge in to partake of our “table” of Jewish life.
