Comments on: Jewish Day School Affordability Is Not a Werewolf—It’s a Cholent

By: Kim HIrsh

Kim HIrsh — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:03:07 +0000

I couldn’t agree more: there is no silver bullet. It’s about increasing revenue on multiple fronts–annual, endowment and, when needed, capital investments, as well as through revenue-producing strategies such as utilizing facilities off-hours, and taking full advantage of whatever grants programs, goverment or private, exist within your communities. Schools need to do this with long-term,, strategic plans while maintaining and investing in the highest levels of academic excellence and professionalism to continue to attract and retain families from across the socio-economic perspective.
No easy task, and, for sure, no overnight solutions!
Congratulations to PEJE for taking this on and bringing conversations, ideas, data and learnings from around the country together in one office! We all have much, much more to learn from one another.

By: Scott Aaron

Scott Aaron — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:09:29 +0000

Werewolf cholent…. Who’s shchitah? Seriously, the data collection is critical and I would hate to see anything rushed out of a sense of urgency that would then be shown to be overreactive once the data is in. My wife’s grandmother (z”l) used to say “do it wrong, takes twice as long.” I think that is quite applicable here even if it feels like it is taking a long time to do it right. Besides, ever taste poorly-done cholent? Feh!.

By: Avi Baran Munro

Avi Baran Munro — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:34:15 +0000

First of all, yasher koach to PEJE for having the foresight and vision to think strategically about this issue and to put you, our own Charles Cohen, at the forefront of what is one of the essential questions of Jewish peoplehood. Your mission? To communicate the radical and obvious proposition that Jews do best when we do what we do best, transmit through daily, comprehensive, and integrated Jewish experiences the feelings, habits, skills, and devotion needed for an engaged Jewish life.

We know that day school education works. The Jewish world needs to put money into what works.

The cost of being Jewish should not cost us any more Jews.

Of course, I love the cholent analogy. Jewish day school education is indeed substantive and nourishing; it can stick in your gut for a very long time, inspires a warm feeling in your kishkes (especially when the recipe includes kishke).

Like your cholent, Jewish day school education offers one of Jewish life’s enduring and memorable experiences that, when done right, demands to be relived from generation to generation (m’dor l’dor).

Let them eat cholent!

By: Alan Sweifach

Alan Sweifach — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:19:30 +0000

I look forward to this continuing discussion and trying to find some creative solutions to this continuing crisis. It is imperative that we make Jewish education affordable, available and attractive to all.

By: Charles Cohen

Charles Cohen — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:29:01 +0000

Chaya,

you bring up a crucial need, and one that hopefully will be addressed through the Affordability Knowledge Center. My future blog posts should provoke some worthwhile discussions, but a Community of Practice may end up being a part of the Center as well. Hopefully the Center will evolve as people become more engaged with the issue.

By: Charles Cohen

Charles Cohen — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:48:02 +0000

I think Ross’ point is at the heart of what Jeff and Macy wrote. Champions of day school education must be woven into the fabric of community leadership. Affordability is a fundamental part of a larger culture change that will make Jewish day schools a higher priority. If champions are successful, though, affordability must be a selling point, not an obstacle (as it is in most communities).

By: Ross Bloom

Ross Bloom — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:06:11 +0000

It’s wonderful to have Charles join us here at PEJE and to spearhead this critical work. Vis-a-vis the cholent-style “mix” of approaches to affordability, there is a factor that I would emphasize, which is the role of specific individuals in creating that mix of approaches that has begun to address this issue in different communities. Whether it is a dedicated donor, a sympathetic and powerful Federation head, or a charismatic community leader, it takes enthusiastic people–not just good ideas–to get these off the ground. So as Charles begins the work of collecting this important data, we as a day school community need to also continue the work of community-based advocacy to strengthen our support network and plant the seeds for more of these initiatives to sprout across North America.

By: Adam Kolett

Adam Kolett — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:40:54 +0000

Talk about rising to a communal challenge! It is wonderful to see this collaboration and know that communities will have support on this most pressing challenge we are all facing.

While we won’t hold OU, PEJE, or Charles responsible for coming up with the silver bullet, we sure do look foward to some excellent national thinking and support…oh, and some of the beer flavored cholent next time I’m in Boston!

By: Chaya Friedmann

Chaya Friedmann — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 23:03:46 +0000

The crisis faced by so many schools demands multiple approaches (more cholent?) to exploring the problem. Charles’ task of gathering and analyzing data will surely benefit schools but will take time. At the same time, we can also benefit from speaking directly with one another through a blog (or some other online networking format) dedicated specifically to this problem. Maybe PEJE could help organize this or create a CoP designated to discussing affordability.

By: Jeff Shapiro

Jeff Shapiro — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:07:18 +0000

Great to hear PEJE and the OU are teaming up in this effort! Good luck, Charles.

Macy, you mentioned that “we should stop talking about affordability,” but this is another layer of the cholent metaphor. Just as there is a mix of ways to fund a day school depending on the community, there is a mix of reasons why community members attend (or don’t attend). Affordability may be an issue. In some places, inclusiveness may be an issue. And in other places, it may just be a matter of convincing parents of the value proposition of driving kids across town every day when there is a perfectly good public school and synogogue religious school down the street.
I like the cholent comparision, but maybe it should be instant cholent since we all need to have a sense of urgency in addressing the challenges.