Day Schools and the Reform Movement

The following is a guest post from PEJE’s Senior Program Manager for Marketing and Communications, Suzanne Kling.

The first person I spoke to as I got off the escalator in the Toronto Convention Centre and arrived at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in early November looked like she was about eleven. I don’t remember her name, but she came right up to me and enthusiastically invited me to participate in her school’s program to raise funds for a Jewish-Arab kindergarten in Jaffa. Was I at all surprised that she was a day school student? No, not with that passion for social justice and eagerness to teach me about her school. Was I a little surprised that the most prominent booth off the escalator was for the Leo Baeck Day School? You bet.

In my more than seven years of work at PEJE, advocating for day schools in the Reform movement has been a consistent priority. As North America’s largest denomination with the smallest rate of participation in day schools, it is easy to understand why.

A few years ago, PEJE convened a group of 25 “day school friendly” rabbis and leaders in the Reform movement. Representatives from all the major institutions of the movement attended: CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis—the association of Reform rabbis), HUC (Hebrew Union College—the academic center of the movement which ordains rabbis and trains educators), and URJ (the congregational arm of the movement). We learned about the challenges day school advocates face in the Reform movement (a history of strong support of public education, fear of competition with synagogue-based supplementary schools, discomfort with the concept of parochial education). We also articulated visions for what it would take to increase the numbers of Reform families considering day school education. We were certainly inspired by a piece in the New York Jewish Week, “Day School for Reform Jews, Too.”  Leaving the two-day event, I felt energized by what was possible while also slightly sobered by the idea of what was probable.

At this year’s Biennial—attended by some 3000 Reform movement leaders—you might say that the sober side of me took a big gulp of optimism.

• There was formal celebration of a series of milestones: the 25th anniversary of the URJ resolution endorsing day school education for Reform Jewish children, the 18th anniversary of PARDeS (Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools), and the 36th anniversary of the Leo Baeck Day School, one of the largest Reform day schools. The celebratory dinner also honored Dr. Michael Zeldin, Director of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education and Professor of Jewish Education at HUC-JIR. Michael has been a longtime advocate for day schools in the Reform movement and helped found JDS-21 and DeLeT.
• A panel of eleven dynamic speakers presented to a full room on “The Impact of Day Schools on the Reform Movement.”
• The Sippurim video documenting the stories of Reform Jews and day schools made its formal debut.  This impressive collection was created with the support of the Jim Joseph Foundation.
• The first of the Shabbat morning aliyah honors went to “Honoring Jewish Day Schools and PARDeS.”

These achievements would simply not have been possible without many years of efforts on the part of many professional and volunteer leaders. I single out for acknowledgement the following individuals with whom I have worked closely in recent years: Jan Epstein, Chair of PARDeS and URJ Executive Committee Member; Nancy Pryzant Picus, President of PARDeS; Allan T. Hirsh III, immediate past Chair of PARDeS and URJ Executive Committee Member; Rabbi Jan Katzew, Lead Specialist at URJ; and Jane West Walsh, Executive Director of PARDeS and URJ Day School Specialist.

So now that I am back in Boston and thinking more about the impact of these accomplishments, I remember again that Leo Baeck student who greeted me so warmly at the escalator. Her school is putting her front and center at their movement’s largest gathering, indeed a sign of the kind of impact day schools can have on the future of the Reform movement.

—Suzanne Kling