This is a short op-ed written by Rabbi David Wolpe which attests to a virtuous characteristic of Solomon Schechter (the man.)
There were few scholars in the world in Schechter’s time that came close to his broad range of knowledge and even fewer that had his fluent pen. That he drained his writings of bitterness before printing them is a wonderful lesson. Sometimes, even in scholarship, it is better to be measured and careful than cleverly cruel.
Och Academy receives $17 million from Ross estate
Long-time supporter leaves ‘investment’ for school’s future
Calling it a major “investment” in its future, the Golda Och Academy announced a $17.2 million bequest from the estate of the late philanthropist Eric F. Ross.
Ross, who died in September 2010 at the age of 91, was a major supporter of the Conservative day school. Its upper school campus in West Orange is named in his honor in recognition of a donation he made that led to the opening of the campus in 1991.
In 2007, the school broke ground on a $4.5 million renovation funded largely by Ross.
Joe Bier, chair of the school’s board of trustees, said the bequest would initially be used to support the Lore Ross Neshama Program. Ross provided annual travel grants so that all students who wanted could participate in the program, in which seniors spend their second semester in Israel after a week in Eastern Europe….
Check out the Articles and Monographs page for a new piece by Rabbi Mitchel Malkus titled “International Handbook Chapter – Malkus Integration Revised Version”
Solomon Schechter Day School Association introduces renewed focus on how its schools prepare students to engage the world
NEW YORK – The Solomon Schechter Day School Association – rebranded as the Schechter Day School Network – is proud to announce the launch of a renewed sense of purpose as it embarks on a future that will further engage parents and alumni in Schechter students’ learning process and the overall Schechter experience and attract new enrollment. With a history of quality education and critical inquiry inherent to Conservative Judaism, Schechter schools foster a commitment to lifelong learning and create an educational environment tailored to individual students’ needs that encourages students to discover their strengths and talents and become actively involved, invested Jewish citizens. At Schechter, children are educated holistically – academically, spiritually and emotionally – and prepared to become leaders in their own communities and advocates for Israel. Continue reading »
From the Jewish Standard:
Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County is having a “banner year,” says Shari Leventhal, president of the New Milford school.Astronaut Charles Camarda leads sixth-grade Schechter students in a discussion about how to make a perfect space suit for visitors to Mars.
PHOTO COURTESY SSDS OF BERGEN COUNTY… Among its most successful new initiatives is the expert eyewitnesses and role models program, said Leventhal. The approach — which has so far brought to the school, among others, two Knesset members, an eyewitness to Kristallnacht, and the national vice president of the Jewish National Fund — is meant both to educate and inspire students, she said.
The idea of presenting students with role models is very much in the minds of school leaders. Indeed, it was with an eye toward that program that Schechter selected its honorees for this year’s annual gala.
Receiving the school’s Shirley and Harris Shapiro Community Award on March 27 will be Rabbi André Ungar, rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley in Woodcliff Lake. The award, said Leventhal, is presented to Schechter supporters who are role models within the Jewish community.
The North American Day School Conference has been in the news all over the place! Check out these articles:
Conference confronts ‘new reality’ for day schools – January 20, 2011, in the JTA
Conference confronts day school future – February 8, 2011, in JewishJournal
Day Schools Exploring Online Learning – by Gary Rosenblatt on February 7, 2011, in his blog on The Jewish Week website.
North American Jewish Day School Conference Opens – February 7, 2011, in eJewish Philanthropy
The New Jersey Jewish Week reports on a stew at a NJ Charter School.
Neither Floretta Caldwell nor her husband is Jewish, but this year at their daughter Dionna’s request they celebrated Chanukah.
And a few weeks ago on the way to her piano lesson, the little girl started chatting away in Hebrew. “I said, ‘Dionna, I have no idea what you just said,’” her mother laughed.
Dionna, who is African American and will also celebrate Christmas and Kwanza this month, is a first grader at Hatikvah International Academy Charter School in East Brunswick, N.J. The school, which opened this fall and has 96 students in kindergarten through second grade, is one of two Hebrew charter schools in the New York area and six in the entire country. They are part of a nascent but ambitious movement of publicly funded (and privately supplemented), tuition-free schools that, while forbidden from promoting religious practice, teach Hebrew language and Jewish/Israeli culture…
by Dr. Elaine Cohen
originally published in CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism
Because I grew up an Anglophone in Frenchspeaking Montreal, it comes as no surprise to me that young children who are exposed to a second language in an immersive learning environment can become fluent in that language. In Montreal, street signs, bus and metro advertisements, newspapers, food labels, shopkeepers, government employees, and just about all the programming on radio and TV reinforce French as a living language of communication, even for people who live and work in primarily English-speaking communities.
Similarly, Hebrew charter schools most likely will succeed in achieving their goal of teaching Hebrew as an expressive language. Continue reading »
Rabbi Josh Elkin, Executive Director of PEJE, makes an eloquent case for Jewish day schools. Published in The Jewish Week.
A provocative question is circulating in the Jewish community: Can day schools survive, given the reality of reduced philanthropic support in this economic climate? While this is a vitally important question, it misses two salient points. First, there is strong evidence that the day school field is not only surviving, but is a resilient, thriving enterprise….
Read the whole article on The Jewish Week’s website »
