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| JUF beneficiary, Yeshiva Tifferes Tzvi in Chicago (Hamodia) |
There are a couple things found by that recent study that got my attention. Neither of which are all that surprising. Unfortunately, I do not believe that study reflects the full panoply of Orthodox Jews living in that jurisdiction. The results seem to indicate that the Charedi community was probably grossly underrepresented. Bearing that exception in mind, I found it troubling that Jewish education in New Jersey is so very much a function of income, as noted by the following:
Denominational affiliation and household income are strongly related to immersive Jewish educational choices, such as day schools, day and overnight camps and teen trips to Israel. Modern Orthodox (MO) respondents and those earning $250,000 or more are the most likely to provide their children with these educational experiences.
I am not all that surprised at the high cost of schools that provide exceptional Limudei Kodesh and Limudei Chol curricula – as well as a variety of enhancements, extracurricular programs, and services for their students. Excellence costs a lot of money. And like all things you get what you pay for.
That being said, the idea that one must earn a quarter of a million dollars annually to be able to comfortably afford these schools is troubling. Although a lot (perhaps even most ) MO parents do earn substantial incomes like that, not all of them do.
True there are scholarships available, But that usually means squeezing every availabe dollar out of scholarship parents they can. So that the less wealthy parents struggle to pay even their reduced tuition bills – often sacrificing their ability to live the middle class lifestyle they could otherwise afford. Things like a new cars or nice vacations often get put on the back burner for parents that want to see their children get the best available Jewish education they can.
Another thing the study revealed was the following:
A dozen years ago a major study showed that Jewish education was a major priority for our community. Since Federation is not populated with “day school people,” this conclusion was shelved and some important key leaders quit after putting in many hours to reach these objective conclusions. A few years later Jewish Educational Services, Federation’s education department serving all the congregational and day schools in our area, was dissolved because the leadership had other priorities.
What was apparently lost on those federation members is the results of Pew Research studies that indicate non Orthodox American Jews are a dying breed. If a 75% intermarriage rate tells you anything, it tells you that. If they would have the slightest bit of conecrn about Jewish continuity, they would see this massive elephant in the room. It doesn’t take much realize why this is happening: The lack of a decent Jewish education.
I don’t doubt that the ‘other projects’ they pursued after resigning from the Federation are important. Surely they need to be supported. But without Jewish continuity, there will br no need for projects that are specifically tailored for Jews, No matter how important they are now. If there is no future in Judaism then there can be no future in projects that are designed for Jews.
For example supporting elderly Jews will no longer be needed in the future since there won’t be any. True, that is an exaggeration. But the statistics are real, the concern is valid, and yet it is all ignored.
These two issues are vital to the continuity of American Jewry. The irony is that solving the second issue would help solve the first one.
Not to toot Chicago’s own horn. But our federation does a lot better funding Jewish education across all denominations... allocating funds based on enrollment numbers. Which of course means that Orthodox schools across board get the lion’s share of federation dollars earmarked for Jewish education.
That said. it is still not enough, Parents are squeezed for ever tuition dollar they can afford. But I’ll bet we are in far better shape that Northern New Jersey. It would behoove Northern New Jersey Jewish Federation leaders to come on over and see what we re doing right. And then emulate it.
Just sayin…