A yeshiva education - Whom are we educating?

A question for the board of directors.

After spending time with some of my grandchildren last week, I thought I'd put some feelings down on paper (or, in this case) electrons.

At a yeshiva [a day school for Orthodox Jews] dinner a few years ago, the head of school got up to speak. In addition to the usual welcoming remarks we hear at these types of events, he told us that each year at the first meeting of the board of directors he asks the new members one question that he hoped would get them off on a good start of their volunteer service to the yeshiva.

 The question is: “Whom are we educating in our yeshiva’s classrooms?”

Grandparents Day at Yeshivat Noam
with Hannah

 “Of course,” he told us, “all the new board members answered, ‘the students.’ ‘Wrong,’ he says, ‘the yeshiva is educating THEIR children.’ ”

 And there I was, a late middle age parent who had spent a small fortune giving his kids a Jewish education, who felt as though he had just been hit on the back of the head for not earlier seeing the correctness of the rabbi’s statement.

Sure, my kids are what you would call “frum” [religiously observant] but they knew what life was for my wife and I before they went to yeshiva, and the lack of understanding we displayed at various times while they were in school.  Not the beneficiaries of a yeshiva education, my wife and I thought some of the practices we had followed as young parents were still valid for our college and high school age kids.

Call us idiots if you will, but we encountered many Conservative and some Orthodox Jews who believe that dairy is dairy, whether it’s at home or a diner.  You’ve heard the line, “we keep strictly kosher at home, but we eat fish out.”  A pretty modern approach, don’t you think?  But it was the wrong one.

My kids know far better than I ever did what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.  They actually understand the rules of kashrut [kosher food] and put them and a myriad of customs to use every day.  And here’s my point, the rabbi was right.  By giving my children the tools found in a traditional Jewish education, my grandchildren are the beneficiaries of that education.

As parents dig deeper than ever into their pockets to pay for their child's Jewish education, let me say, it's money well spent.  And you, too, will see it in your grandchildren.

Well, that's my two cents.  Feel free to agree or disagree.  

Stephen M. Flatow

alisafund AT gmail.com

The Alisa Fund for Jewish Education accepts contributions. 

Checks may be mailed to: 

Alisa Flatow Memorial Fund Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest 

901 Route 10 

Whippany, NJ 07981

The Cost of a Jewish Education

Cost/Benefit – An Analysis of a Jewish Education

Providing a Jewish education is not inexpensive and the cost discussion has been around for many years. I frequently say that day school tuition is the most effective form of birth control.

Harry Maryles wrote in 2016:

It’s that time of year. School has started and for the vast majority of Orthodox Jews with school age children  ‘belt tightening is the order of the day. What I mean of course is that the cost of educating our children Jewishly is beyond the means of virtually all Orthodox Jewish families.  Even those that have decent incomes – north of $100,000 per year. 5 children or more per family is not uncommon. And in the more Charedi  families 10 children of more is not uncommon.

Another school year is beginning, and Maryles' analysis is still true today.  It's a subject that cannot be ignored and I invite you to read the full article at https://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/haemtza/costbenefit-an-analysis-of-a-jewish-education/2016/09/13/ 

The Alisa Fund for Jewish Education accepts contributions. Checks may be mailed to: Alisa Flatow Memorial Fund Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest 901 Route 10 Whippany, NJ 07981

On Jewish Education - Frum Jews Must Do Their Share To Save America

Has Jewish education been a disservice when it comes to things American?

My most recent column about Jewish education is on JewishPress.com.

Frum Jews Must Do Their Share To Save America

In a recent edition of The Jewish Press, comments by Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, caught my attention. In response to the question, “Should we celebrate July 4?” he answered, “Yes” – to show that we “appreciate the great gift of America.”

I agree fully with that statement, but, in light of recent events, I wonder if our children do and if our grandchildren will.

I think back to my New York City public school education in the 1950s before I moved to Rockland County. One of the hallmarks of that education was the requirement that boys carry a handkerchief. It was so engrained in us that to this day – 65-plus years after entering kindergarten at PS 87, Middle Village, Queens – I still carry and use a handkerchief, despite the turned-up noses of my grandchildren.

Another hallmark was the weekly assembly in the school auditorium. It was a Wednesday morning ritual, and I was a proud sixth-grader when I put on the flag carrier strap and marched the flag onto the auditorium stage. At the top of the rear wall of the stage was an inscription attributed to Francis Bacon, “Knowledge is power.” When we were done with the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of the Star-Spangled Banner (verses one and four), I put the flag into its holder on the stage and returned to my seat.

Please continue to the full article at the Jewish Press.

The Alisa Fund for Jewish Education gladly accepts contributions. Checks may be mailed to:

Alisa Flatow Memorial Fund
Jewish Community Foundation
901 Route 10
Whippany, NJ 07981.