Jewish Day Schools: Not Only for the Orthodox

Nov. 17 2014

Day schools are a powerful tool in ensuring lifelong commitment to Judaism, but the number of non-Orthodox Jews enrolling their children in such schools has been in steep decline. To reverse the current trend, argues Liel Leibovitz, some things will have to change:

Let’s begin with the lowest hanging fruit, Jewish foundations and philanthropists who, while talking so brave and so sweet about Jewish continuity and other buzzwords, have failed to provide the basic infrastructure for Jewish education to thrive. . . . [N]ot a single Jewish federation—organizations whose only raison d’être should be answering challenges like this one—has made education a serious priority.

The fault is also, finally, ours. Many of us non-Orthodox Jews can’t afford the exorbitant cost of Jewish education. Many more prefer more cosmopolitan, multifaceted educational environments. That’s perfectly understandable. Others, however, are in a position to pledge their resources and make Jewish education a priority and yet choose to limit their engagement with Jewish life to vague laments about the disappearance of liberal Judaism and mild nostalgia for its glory days. That’s a shame. If we realign our commitments and our budgets, we can change the numbers on Jewish education and, with it, just about every other statistic we deem vital to the preservation and prosperity of a robust and diverse Jewish community.

Read more at Tablet

More about: American Jewry, Conservative Judaism, Day schools, Jewish education, Jewish Federations of North America

The Hard Truth about Deradicalization in Gaza

Sept. 13 2024

If there is to be peace, Palestinians will have to unlearn the hatred of Israel they have imbibed during nearly two decades of Hamas rule. This will be a difficult task, but Cole Aronson argues, drawing on the experiences of World War II, that Israel has already gotten off to a strong start:

The population’s compliance can . . . be won by a new regime that satisfies its immediate material needs, even if that new regime is sponsored by a government until recently at war with the population’s former regime. Axis civilians were made needy through bombing. Peaceful compliance with the Allies became a good alternative to supporting violent resistance to the Allies.

Israel’s current campaign makes a moderate Gaza more likely, not less. Destroying Hamas not only deprives Islamists of the ability to rule—it proves the futility of armed resistance to Israel, a condition for peace. The destruction of buildings not only deprives Hamas of its hideouts. It also gives ordinary Palestinians strong reasons to shun groups planning to replicate Hamas’s behavior.

Read more at European Conservative

More about: Gaza War 2023, World War II