I remember walking into the kindergarten room of Solomon Schechter Day School in Chicago when I was 4. The first thing asked of me was to put on my kippah. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the request. I remember reading Torah for my first time in 2nd grade. We split up into groups of 3 and had group readings. While this was likely for logistical reasons of scheduling, it also gave us a sense of teamwork and micro-community, leaning on each other during a very scary 10-minutes. I remember our first class trip to The Ark, an organization in Chicago aiding low-income Jewish families with everything from help finding jobs to clothing and food for Shabbat dinners.
Many of the memories I have come from this education I received at a private Jewish day school. The values I have instilled in me were born there, fostered at home and practiced through life. The understanding I gained about the history of the Jewish people, the Hebrew language and what it means to be an American Jew in todays world – all a direct impact of my formidable 9-years of Judaic elementary and junior high school.
My son is now 4 ½ years old. Jonah is happy, funny, smart and incredibly curious about the world. He comes home from his Jewish preschool on Fridays telling us about drinking grape juice and making challah. He is so excited that he learns how to count to 10 in Hebrew.
The education I received growing up is the one I want to provide to him. The catch? A Jewish day school education is now 4-times the cost as it was when I was a kid.
I am at a discouraging crossroad in my life where I have to weigh the decision of providing my son a Jewish education or saving for college – because the financial burden of doing both is not an option. So I started thinking, is it one parent’s responsibility to fully pay for a solid Jewish education our kids can carry through life? Or is it a community responsibility?
On one hand, kids are the responsibility of parents. When a kid is hurt or needs clothing and toys, it is solely up to the parent to handle this. The outcome is highly personal and, for lack of a better word, selfish. Getting some new clothes or toys will not bring value to the world or community; it will keep the child warm and happy.
But is education another thing all together?
How can the Jewish people continue to pass down traditions, understanding and learnings to the next generation if our children are not provided the knowledge to continue passing down? This education is less of a selfish act, but one more geared towards long-term preservation of a whole group of people. So is providing Jewish education a community responsibility, as it impacts the greater good? I’m starting to think it might just be.
What I’ve found in my research of financing Jewish education is that there is a definite lack of community resources – the scholarships are more geared towards Jewish students entering college. So where do parent’s turn when they can’t afford an $18,000 a year tuition bill? I’m putting my pride aside and trying something a little untraditional. I am going to directly to the Jewish community and attempt to crowdfund my son’s Jewish education at www.gofund.me/jewisheducation.
I’m not trying to raise 9-years worth of school here, I’m just trying to see if I can get enough help to get him through the first year and lay that foundation for him. My hope is this turns into something much larger, a “pay it forward” movement where parents within the Jewish community can begin helping each other provide the increasingly expensive Judaic education our people need to survive.
I know that with every dollar I raise, I will one day give it all back to people who are in the same boat, it’s a promise I am making to myself and anyone who is facing the same dilemma. Let’s all band together and help each other out, one dollar at a time.
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