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February 9, 2010 1:51 pm PST

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Opinion

May 13, 2009

Day Schools Vital to Jewish Future

by Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

In these disconcerting economic times, Jewish organizations and foundations across the United States have responded quickly with an influx of financial assistance to support Jewish day schools. Although there has been much talk about affordability, there has not been enough discussion about why Jewish day schools are vital to the future of the Jewish community.

While we know the significant impact that Jewish day schools have on fostering the strongest levels of Jewish identity and commitment among their students, recent research demonstrates unequivocally that Jewish day schools are a powerful gateway into Jewish life and the Jewish community for adults, as much as for their children.

Professors Alex Pomson and Randal Schnoor recently conducted a study of the role Jewish day schools play in the lives of adult Jews. Among the many findings of their work, they learned that parents of day school students choose a school as much because of what it offers them as adult Jews as because of what it promises for their children.

Pomson and Schnoor’s findings bolster the case for Jewish day schools as one of the, to quote former Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Dr. Ismar Schorsch’s characterization of the synagogue, “bedrock institutions” of the Jewish community. The research now indicates that not only students, but also the parents of Jewish day school students develop stronger Jewish identities and have greater levels of Jewish learning and communal participation because of their affiliation with those schools.

Why is that the case? Over the last decades, Jewish day schools have taken on the functions of social fellowship, adult learning and religious and spiritual inspiration that were traditionally filled by the synagogue. This is what Pomson and Schnoor call the “school as shul” phenomenon. Day schools in the 21st century are Jewish communities that educate entire families. In many cases, the current generation of day school students has greater levels of Jewish knowledge than their parents.

Before World War II, 60 percent of Jews claimed synagogue membership, making synagogues the primary local organizations in the Jewish community. Today, just 46 percent of the Jewish community affiliates with a synagogue. This change is indicative of a broader social trend in the United States, away from traditional affiliations.

American sociologists have argued for some time that there has been a general decline in participation in civic life as individuals look inward toward their private lives as a source of meaning, rather than to communal institutions. The precipitous decline in synagogue membership is but one casualty of this trend. The tripling of day school enrollments in non-Orthodox Jewish day schools over the past 25 years, therefore, represents an opportunity to engage Jews who may have moved away from synagogue membership.

When you are involved with an organization on a daily and weekly basis, as parents of day school students are, you are more likely to commit in serious and meaningful ways.

Once parents are involved in a day school, they tend to develop strong social networks and take advantage of learning opportunities in a way they might not otherwise do. They attend school Kabbalat Shabbat programs, volunteer to organize holiday programs and invest emotional energy in Jewish living.

Some of our communal organizations have begun to understand the vital role Jewish day schools are playing in shaping and educating both the current and future generation of Jews. Support from foundations like the Jim Joseph Foundation’s $11 million emergency grant, the Legacy Heritage’s recent emergency fund for families in small and midsize Jewish communities and here in Los Angeles, the Jewish Community Foundation’s Jewish Relief Grant of $100,000 for tuition assistance are welcome initiatives in these economic times.

Yet, only roughly 4 percent of federation funding nationally goes to Jewish education in general and even less to Jewish day schools. As the research now indicates, day schools are essential core institutions for the current and future vibrancy of the Jewish community. They need our support in both these difficult economic times and over the long run.

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus is a board member of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association.

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