Monthly Archives: June 2009

The Tuition Crisis – and the Road Back

Posted on June 12, 2009 | 2 comments

The Rabbinical Council of Bergen County is proud to join forces with the lay leadership of our local yeshivot and other community activists to stem the tide of tuition costs that are escalating beyond the affordability of the average Jewish family by wholeheartedly endorsing the “Kehilla Fund, ” the short name for the memorable acronym NNJKIDS (North New Jersey Kehillot Investing in Day Schools). Clearly much thought went into creating the acronym, as much has been written and lamented in recent years about the high-cost of Jewish education. The “Kehilla Fund,” formed in cooperation with all the local day schools, shuls and the RCBC, asks that every Jewish family in Bergen County contribute, as a minimum, $30 per month to go into a special fund for Yeshiva education. Those who wish to give more will not be turned away – and nor will those who give less – but the goal is 100% participation, in recognition that this is a communal need.

If every family participates at the minimum level, the fund will annually raise over a million dollars, to be distributed proportionately – based on student population – to each elementary school. What will $1,000,000 accomplish ? It will not solve the problem of Jewish education, it will not give free tuition to every child, and it will not even relieve the crushing burden that many families feel today. But it will stem the tide, and prevent immediate tuition increases, and in the future, perhaps, rollback tuition costs through utilizing other avenues of assistance – for example, from the government.

Certainly, the “Kehilla Fund” initiative must be combined with two other (at least) initiatives – meaningful cost-cutting and effective cost-control at the yeshivos, and a re-evaluation by parents of their priorities.

Parents (and people generally) cannot continue looking to others for unlimited assistance, and it is unjust to expect the few to bear the burdens of the many. Parents must learn to prioritize in every sense of the word: to make do with less (materially) in order to fully fund their yeshiva tuition obligation to the best of their abilities – even if it means no summer camp for the children, no vacations for the adults, and no hotel for Pesach (even funded by others). What sounds Draconian is actually quite reasonable. It was not that long ago when parents literally sacrificed – living in small apartments, never vacationing, skimping on personal luxuries – in order to fully fund their child’s yeshiva education. We need some of that spirit again. If it sounds harsh and judgmental, it is only because we are also afflicted with the “entitlement” mentality that plagues American life generally – that every person is entitled to pursue happiness…and have someone else pay for it.

Apropos of that, we certainly recognize that there are families who are legitimately struggling and need – and should receive – scholarship assistance. But we are also sophisticated enough to recognize that there are some who might manipulate the system, who enjoy lavish lifestyles as a result of their successful “cash” businesses, and will dutifully file their tax return with the yeshiva scholarship committee showing their paltry income of $35,000 despite spending more than $200,000 – a feat that can only be accomplished regularly by the United States Government, but not by any individual. Scholarship committees should therefore routinely visit the homes of applicants to gauge their true standard of living and rule accordingly – because it is outrageous and unacceptable to expect others’ to foot the bill for one’s own obligations (not ot mention the crimes involved).

And schools must be more realistic about what they can raise and spend as well. Too their credit, local yeshivot have already begun to reduce their mortgages through government programming, have cut salaries, energy and health costs, and sought state grants for a variety of needs. More has to be done, and will be done. The question is: will we consider the work of the few or of the entire community ?

As I see it, there are only two groups who can rightfully complain about this new assessment: parents whose children have already graduated elementary school (and have already paid their “dues”) and parents whose children are still attending elementary school (and are now being asked to pay even more money, in addition to the tuition). But, of course, everyone falls into one of those two groups, and if each person cogently argues why he or she should be exempt from the “Kehilla Fund,” then there will be no “Kehilla Fund.”

So why should people contribute ?

The answer is that it is a communal obligation to support Torah – and to support Talmud Torah first and foremost, and to support the Talmud Torah of our children before we support Talmud Torah in Israel or any other place. We must learn also to prioritize our tzedaka dollar, and keep (as Rav Hershel Schachter said in our shul a few months ago) 75% of our contributions local, and 25% outside of our area. And, yes, that means reducing drastically the money we give on Sundays and weekdays to perfect strangers who knock on our doors seeking assistance. Charity does, indeed, begin at home.

And no person should think that his/her contributions are insignificant and superfluous. The Torah, when referring to “counting” always uses the expression “Nesi’at rosh” – “lifting the head.” For Jews, nothing is more important than counting heads – and having heads that count. We are an intellectual, bookish people, we pride ourselves on our pursuit of knowledge and our commitment to education, and our whole Torah is extolled as “our wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations.” But in this endeavor, we all have a role – every person must do his/her share to sustain the “head” of the Jewish people.

To be sure, many people will have complaints and suggestions, and some will have complaints that are masquerading as suggestions. It is very easy to criticize, and very difficult to build; that is why the world has so many critics and so few builders. But we should all look at the bigger picture, join in and pledge by signing on at www.nnjkids.org, and together merit the divine blessings for ourselves, our children and our people.

2 Comments

Posted in Contemporary Life

Obama in Cairo

Posted on June 4, 2009 | 7 comments

Have teleprompter, will travel.

President Obama’s long-awaited speech in Cairo on US-Muslim relations met expectations. It was passionately read and delivered (except for one stumble: calling a “hijab” a “hajib,” an understandable error), touched all the rhetorical bases and, like typical Obama, actually said much less than it read. And what it said should cause Jews, frivolous worriers, to worry for real. As always, what was said was as important as what not was said, and the audience reaction spoke eloquently about the effect of these words on the Muslim world.

Many will perceive the speech as a success simply by virtue of its being given, and because Obama was met by occasional applause but never with a shoe or two. But what in fact did he say?

Praising Islam for all its contributions to civilization is admirable and accurate; of course, Obama could have then delivered this speech in the year 1200, by which time all the “contributions” that he mentioned had already been made. But Islam has been slumbering, in primitivism and occasional barbarism, for 800 years, and but for the discovery of vast oil reserves a century ago would be today completely ignored by the civilized world, as is, for the most part, Africa. To speak of Islam as a wellspring of “dignity, justice and tolerance” is, at this point in history, delusional, as is the attempt to marginalize Islamic radicals as some fringe element in Islamic society, when in fact their supporters number, perhaps, in the tens of millions. And terming Islam, as a religion, part of the “solution” for global peace would have been more meaningful had it followed the simple truth that Islam is the only religion sparking violence across the globe today.

But Jews should be most concerned. Speaking of America as “partners” with Moslems and Jews in forging peace is a troubling code that signals that America and Israel – according to Obama – no longer share the special relationship that has always marked the two countries. The moral equivalence uttered between the suffering of the Jews historically (especially during the Holocaust) and the suffering of the Palestinians “in their quest for statehood” was obscene. Studiously avoiding Israel on this trip, instead tossing Jews the bone of visiting Buchenwald, sends Jews the clear message that we are to be best perceived as history’s victims, to be sheltered by the beneficence of a kind world, but not at all as national actors with rights, interests and claims of our own. And the comparison of moral offenses committed by both sides – lodging rockets at sleeping babies and blowing up old ladies on city buses (Arabs) vs. settlements !!! (Jews) is grotesque. Hmm, Jews build houses on empty land given to them by their government…what an outrage !

Whatever his personal background (rootless, without any real identity, and therefore a citizen of the world who is above the parochial religion that engender strife) and his rhetorical nods to Israel (America will never abandon Israel, etc.), deeds speak louder than words. And Obama’s campaign to weaken Israel and force it into making suicidal concessions is now crystal clear. He has decided what will bring lasting peace in the region, and he will impose whatever he has to – despite the fact that the same solution has been tried in the very recent past, and failed miserably. He – Obama – is just another slave to the “peace idol” who cannot ever admit that peace is not coming anytime soon. Who will pay the price for those fantasies? Jews.

Once again, Jews are expected to make concrete concessions, dismember their land and jeopardize their existence – in exchange for a repeat (sixth or seventh time, by my count) of Arab promises not to use violence, not incite violence, not to indoctrinate their children with the ideals of violence, etc. Same defective merchandise being sold, this time by a new and charming salesman.

The real gauge of the speech was the audience reaction. The State of the Union address, with its constant and insipid interruptions of hand clapping, it was not. Obama’s brutal and truthful comments about the Holocaust and the evil of Holocaust denial – was met with stony silence. His impassioned declaration that Arabs must recognize Israel’s right to exist – generated no applause at all. And this took place in what passes in the Muslim world for a bastion of moderation – a university setting, in which students in the past have participated in pro-democracy riots. But any positive reference to Israel – indeed, any indication that Arabs might have to compromise on anything – was greeted with dead air.

But a denunciation of settlements, the “history” of Palestinian suffering (almost all, by the way, self-inflicted), the grievances of the Arab world against the West and the United States all drew wild, enthusiastic applause. The silence of the audience was more revealing of the current state of Arab-American and Arab-Israeli relations than anything President Obama said.

In media-speak, Obama showed great courage in going to Cairo and even giving a speech in which he did, on occasion, challenge his audience to re-think some of their prejudices. But that seems to be drama, not courage (which involves the risk of some personal sacrifice), and Obama is an individual who loves a stage and knows how to perform on it. Real courage would have required him to challenge the audience on their silent reaction to crucial parts of his speech, rather than just move on to the next paragraph. Real courage would have Obama challenging Mubarak on his authoritarian rule and suppression of dissent, much like Condaleeza Rice did in 2005 in Egypt. Real courage would have required Obama to call upon the Arab world to join America in arresting Iran’s nuclear program by any means necessary. Real courage would have Obama telling the Arab world that Israel is a reality, that it unreasonable to expect any further Israeli concessions when past surrenders have sowed the seeds of future conflict, that it is senseless to further carve up the one small Jewish island in the Arab-Muslim ocean of 22 states in order to create an irredentist, 23^rd Arab state, and that the Arabs now dwelling in the Land of Israel should find their nationalistic aspirations elsewhere if they are unhappy in Israel. (Actually, that courage would be welcome in an Israeli prime minister as well.)

Therein lies the confrontation ahead. Obama has paskened the solution to the conflict. It is up to the Israelis to say “No, that has not worked in the past, and there is not a shred of evidence that it will work in the future. We will not betray our heritage and endanger our existence based on your fantasies.” They will need the strength and political support of American Jews – 80% Obama supporters – to inundate the White House with protests and their congressmen with our expectations and interests, taking nothing for granted, and rallying our support for the right of Jews to settle anywhere in the land of Israel and for a strong hand to be raised against any hint of terror. American Jews – and their obeisance to the Democratic Party – will be tested.

Then the Obama Cairo speech will take its proper place in the other dramatic Obama addresses – rhetorical flourishes, symbols without substance – until this moment passes, and strong leadership will arise that can address problems in the real world, and not the world of our illusions. Until then, we will have to show fortitude, tenacity, and real courage.

7 Comments

Posted in Contemporary Life, Current Events

The Graduate

Posted on June 4, 2009 | Comments Off

College graduation is one of the great milestones in a child’s, and parent’s, life, a scholastic achievement that culminates years of parental prodding and is surely worthy of the blessing “Baruch she’petarani.” And yet, having experienced several, including recently, I must say that it is a strange event, underscored by the tendency of many students – and their ostensibly joyous parents – to blow off the event entirely.

Certainly, the scheduling of graduation in the middle of a workday inconveniences many parents and children, and in the recent graduation I attended, so did the scheduling of finals, oddly enough, on graduation day itself and days subsequent. Granted, as well, that there is a certain tedium to the event, punctuated by the interminable roll call of hundreds of names – in which each parent sits for 3000 seconds to listen and react to the one second in which his/her child will be briefly mentioned. But the event itself was pleasant enough, with the speeches appropriate and good-humored – and yet, something, to me at least, was largely missing: a pervasive sense of joy and exuberance, with attendance more a fulfillment of obligation than a sense of fulfillment. Why was that ?

There is always an element of the comical in these formalities. Clearly, graduations afford adults an opportunity to play “dress-up,” to parade about in funny costumes (caps, gowns, hoods, tassels and shiny medallions, each in a variety of exotic colors), an atmosphere in which Batman, Robin and Spiderman would not feel out-of-place. (In fact, Spiderman did make an appearance.) Add to the bizarre get-ups the elaborate, overly starched ceremonies (Riddle: How many Jews does it take to hood one Rabbi ? A. Eight, apparently), the award of “honorary doctorates” to those who did little academically to earn them, and the solemn declarations through which the degrees are conferred, and graduation bears more of a resemblance to the rituals of summer camp than to the recognition of an important milestone in life.

I was duly prepared with enough reading material to last an afternoon, although I try not to read when others are speaking (common courtesy), but a thought dawned on me during the proceedings related to our children, our celebration of their achievements, and especially our expectations for them that accounts, at least somewhat, for the lack of exuberance in the hall. (Granted, I am sure many were duly exuberant.) In a nutshell, we assume that our children will graduate college, and, save for the “frum” who opt out of college but usually gain a “higher” Torah education, almost all do. But that is not the norm in these United States, and therefore their achievements should be all the more acclaimed.

The most recent statistics indicate that, shockingly, less than 30% of American adults 25 and older have college degrees, and 85% (only ?) have graduated high school. This is somewhat misleading, as it includes all adults (including, e.g., immigrants from the Third World who had no opportunity to attend high school or college). The more revealing statistic is that approximately 70% of American youth today graduate high school, but only a third have the credentials to enroll in college. Of those who attend college, slightly more than 60% graduate in a timely fashion (within six years of enrollment). Only 44% of the voters in the last election were college graduates (Hmm. Memo: save that editorial for another time).

It is rather obvious but noteworthy that in the United States today, graduating high school is a respectable achievement and graduating college is a stupendous accomplishment. Attendance and completion of any graduate school qualifies one as the cream of the crop. Only the very best – and an infinitesimal percentage of the total population – succeed.

And yet, again, most of us expect all that – and more – of our children. Are we too demanding, or is it that our sights are naturally set very high ? Perhaps more the latter than the former; we do value education beyond the national norm, and our children are reared to assume that they will graduate college and enter a respectable profession – and the overwhelming majority do. Nonetheless, these expectations should not obscure the essential realization that our children are outstanding young men and women, whose intellectual attainments and moral aspirations are prodigious, worthy of note and celebration, and completely atypical of the great majority of their peers in the rest of society. What they have done – and will do – should never be taken for granted, and for all the worries we have about those who do not succeed, we would do well to applaud the fact that the overwhelming majority of our young people succeed magnificently.

It would not surprise or offend me to conclude that the true joy of graduation is just that: a celebration not only of their individual achievements but primarily of the standards that we have set for them that they have willingly embraced and successfully navigated. Perhaps that is why many were filled with a sense of satisfaction rather than exuberance. Our youngsters’ accomplishments should rightly fill us with pride that we have settled neither for the easy road of the slacker nor the diminution of greatness to more pedestrian levels achievable with little exertion. For them, commencement is both an end and a new beginning. And it should fill us with great hope and optimism for the future, when “all [our] children will be disciples of G-d, and great will the peace they build” (Yeshayahu 54:13), for the betterment of G-d’s world and the glory of His Torah.