Originally Posted Erev Shabbat of Hannukah, 12/18/2009
At present, St. Louis is in the midst of evaluating the role and function of our Jewish Day Schools through the creation of a Federation-based Day School Task Force. This process has posed critical questions about the configuration of the entire sector based upon a detailed examination of our schools’ programs, finances and underlying demographics. It is clear that St. Louis has the capacity to support a well organized network of schools that serve many different constituencies. It is also clear that some important features of our schools must change to enable the day school sector to thrive. The Task Force will be making recommendations to the community in the next few months, and I look forward to receiving their input. In the meantime, I am writing to address an issue that is critical for us as Schechter parents to understand as we communicate with our community’s leadership.
Just what does our community want from Jewish day schools? As a parent, I know that I want my children to become capable and confident adults. I want them to learn critical thinking skills, to appreciate the racial, economic and cultural diversity of our world. I also want my children to become ethical people, who make choices based upon a deep sense of what is right and wrong and who take responsibility for the obligation of tikkun olam. Finally, I want my children to develop a sense of spirituality which will make moments of joy sacred and give them support in times of grief. I want my children’s souls to grow as strong as their brains, perhaps even stronger.
As a communal leader, my answer is very different. I want us to create leaders. In the last several years, social scientists have studied Jewish educational institutions ranging from pre-schools to camps and Israel trips in order to discover which programs do the best job of maintaining Jewish continuity. Continuity is essentially the promise that you will have Jewish grandchildren. We all know that in 21st Century American life, Jewish continuity is not something to take for granted. A range of very powerful forces including the relatively small numbers of Jews and the overwhelming impact of market driven culture pose real challenges to Jewish survival. While this discussion is critical, it misses an important point: Continuity is not enough.
Continuity just means that our team has made it to the field. That’s wonderful—but how will they do in the game? For us to succeed as a Jewish people, to fulfill a destiny that is ancient and compelling, we must start with our belief that the Jewish people has something special to offer the world. We have a keen sense of social justice. We have a commitment to defending the rights of the weakest members of society. We believe that individuals and societies can be more fulfilled when they connect to their spiritual roots by way of study, through worship and by sharing rituals that we inherited from our ancestors. When we realize this potential for engagement, for justice and for spiritual connection, then our people is truly thriving. Any less is just getting by; staying in the game without scoring points. To reach this vision of a vibrant Jewish community, we don’t just need Jews. We need passion. We need values. We need a commitment to hard work. In short, we need leadership.
I believe passionately in our Jewish day schools for the simple reason that they create leaders. Children in our schools can discover that organic farming connects them with Torah. They can see adult role models who pray with spiritual depth and conviction. They can imagine themselves living and working in Israel as they acquire the Hebrew skills to do so. They can also discover that they are fluent in the language of ethical discussion that our ancient Sages left us as a legacy. Children who have grown up with these experiences will certainly become our future leaders. They will be the Temple presidents, the religious school principals, the Rabbis and Cantors…perhaps even the major donors…of our community’s next generation. They will become leaders because they grew up with Hebrew language, Jewish text and Torah values as a daily component of their formative experiences.
As our community and its leaders continue to discuss what “thriving” looks like for the Jewish community of St. Louis, what “sustainability” implies and what “community” really means in the first place, we should make our voices clearly heard as day school parents. In the end, our religious schools, youth groups, college programs and day schools all share the same goal. We want the largest number of Jewish men, women and children to live satisfying lives by maximizing their connections to our community and its values. That only happens when we have passionate leaders who view Jewish values as essential to their being. The leaders of our next generation are sitting in the classrooms of our community’s Jewish day schools today.
As the St. Louis Community’s Day School Task Force moves ahead with its work, I call upon all of our schools to work together in order to maximize their impact. It’s a much more effective and strategically powerful option than dividing and dissipating our energies. Tomorrow, on the final day of Hannukah, we read from the Torah about Moshe’s work of dedicating the sanctuary that he and the people of Israel built in the wilderness. During each step of this ceremony, a representative of one tribe would bring offerings and sacrifices. But at the end of each offering, nothing happened. Finally, at the end of the day, after each tribe of Israel had made its contribution to the sanctuary, Moshe entered and heard the sound of God’s voice speaking. It took the combined energy of an entire community working together to allow Moshe to be effective as a leader—to truly hear God’s voice. As we conclude our celebrations, let us make sure to remind our larger community what it gains from Jewish day schools: A place to train the leaders who will hear new voices and set new agendas for the Jewish people.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Allen Selis
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