The above complaints still ring true at many synagogue schools. But around the country at individual synagogues, at central agencies for Jewish education and at a handful of foundations, efforts are under way to dramatically improve the much-maligned schools.
Some schools are switching to a more hands-on approach, bringing in problem-solving, independent learning and computers. Others are keeping the classroom pretty much the same but adding parents to the equation. Enhanced training for teachers is another area being addressed.
In Los Angeles, for example, the Bureau of Jewish Education is encouraging schools to do soul-searching and standard-setting through a voluntary accreditation process. A number of congregations and communities are taking a more holistic approach, in which they are urging that the entire synagogue change to make the role of education more central.
The issue is also getting some national attention. The Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA), together with the Association of Directors of Central Agencies of Jewish Education, released a task force report on Hebrew schools last fall, highlighting some success stories and making recommendations for how other schools might improve.
And a session on “Re-envisioning Supplemental Schools” drew one of the largest crowds at a conference last summer of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education.
Experts say the new focus on re-envisioning congregational schools is partly a reaction to the recent spotlight on other venues of Jewish education, like day schools and camps.
But the re-envisioning discussions come also because — despite their bad reputation and declining share of the overall student pool — synagogue schools are still where most Jewish kids go to learn about Judaism.
Sixty-one percent of the estimated 470,000 American children enrolled in some form of Jewish education are in congregational Hebrew schools.
Among non-Orthodox Jews, the percentage is much higher, and the majority of Jewish education policy-makers agree that — while day school enrollment is increasing — a mass exodus from congregational schools is unlikely to occur anytime soon.
“If we were to have our druthers, all our students would be enrolled in a more intensive environment, but the reality is that the majority won’t, ergo we need to invest significant resources into re-envisioning and re-engineering congregational schools,” said Chaim Botwinick, executive vice president of the Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore and a member of the JESNA task force on afterschool religious programs.
“When you close the doors, these are kids who will not opt for a day school,” said Botwinick. “They will opt for nothing.”
The reasons are not simply financial: Many Jewish parents are strong supporters of multicultural, public school education.
Abby Stamelman Hocky, a parent at Beth Am Israel Congregation in suburban Philadelphia, said she had considered day school for her children. But she and her husband are “philosophically committed to public education and all that represents, and to raising children in a world that is diverse.”
Anne Whitehouse, a parent at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in New York, also noted a commitment to diversity in her decision to send her daughter to public school.
Another factor was that her husband is not Jewish and although he had agreed to raise their daughter Jewish, he might not “be comfortable sending her to a day school,” Whitehouse said.
In addition, those who do not view Judaism as central to their identity and lifestyle are unlikely to choose day school, preliminary studies show.
Ultimately, say advocates for congregational schools, those schools need attention because unlike day schools, which generally reach already committed Jewish families, Hebrew schools can make the critical difference for people for whom Judaism competes with other priorities.
“Kids get exposed to a whole lot of critical information” at Hebrew school and “it makes or breaks whether they will stay involved afterwards,” said Elizabeth Greenstein, program associate at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, which funds congregational schools
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