One of the things I learned early in my career was to not compare day schools to supplementary settings. It is obvious that a holistic Jewish school environment which offers at least 12 hours of Jewish studies instruction per week provides a fuller Jewish curriculum than two to four complementary hours outside of the regular school day. One must approach supplementary schooling as a separate and unique educational instrument in itself.
My main reason for supporting the growth and enhancement of such schools is their potential to reach and attract families that are presently marginal to the Jewish life of the community. As synagogue members opt for day schools, and as synagogue-based supplementary schools falter and eventually close down, there is a need for alternatives that appeal to the unaffiliated and those who identify as non-religious. If a given community has only one-third of its children in day schools, the supplementary option should be available in a variety of “flavours” for the other two-thirds.
Many informed Jewish leaders have emerged from supplementary settings. A combination of a successful supplementary education, involvement in a youth group, and attendance at a Jewish-content summer camp can produce very committed Jewish identification.
But what is a successful supplementary setting in the 21st century?
It’s not your grandmother’s school, that’s for sure!
The first change that must take place is to sever the experience from the bar and bat mitzvah, that North American ritual celebration that has done the most harm to Jewish literacy. In order to achieve its goal of an informed, identifying, and autonomous Jewish adult, all supplementary education (formal and informal) should be a continuum from early childhood to senior life. Any Jew who thinks that an emerging Jewish adult should go through life with a sophisticated and advanced general knowledge but only an elementary school level of Jewish literature, values, and history is dooming our people to abysmal ignorance. It’s like walking down the street with one foot upon the sidewalk and the other in the gutter.
Another important element is the potential to mix formal instruction with different forms of Jewish life. We didn’t really need John Dewey or Maria Montessori to teach us that the best instruction is life-connected – it’s an essential part of our tradition. Our sages saw learning (Talmud Torah) as a mitzvah in itself, underscoring the point that learning and life are one.
In supplementary settings the terms formal and informal are interchangeable. Supplementary staff must be both morim and madrichim, teachers and guides/coaches. The potential for creativity in the formal-informal mix is overwhelming.
Another change that is needed is a re-think of the place of Hebrew. Once it is clear that one cannot learn language fluency in a supplementary setting, a decision is required that gives a place to the modern miracle of Hebrew revival in Israel and also gives those families who desire it, the ability to read the prayer book in Hebrew.
The solution is Hebrew language culture. Quickly decode the mechanical reading of a strange alphabet using games, computers, or whatever works and proceed to teach key words, songs, expressions, slang, etc. that are values-connected to the ideology of any given school.
My last recommendation for enhancement is to take full advantage of the Internet, both at school with teacher guidance and at home as family learning exercises.
Every Jewish community has families that cannot afford day school education, along with families whose Jewish lifestyle is less committed to intensive Jewish study. Supplementary schools are not an alternative to day schools; they are a complement to them in a community that values diverse forms of Jewish life. If we expand the variety of settings to attract peripheral families and creatively improve the quality of learning, supplementary schools can enhance both identity and literacy.
Seymour Epstein, is a former director of UJA Federation of Toronto's Board of Jewish Education.