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“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 7A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L

Rabbi Jonathan SacksThe Secret ofJEWISH CONTINUITYSir Jonathan Sacks is Chief Rabbiof the United Hebrew Congregationsof the Commonwealth.This article is the second in his Studiesin Jewish Renewal and was firstpublished in August, 1993.Reprinted with permission of the author.“If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of thehuman race. It suggests a nebulous, dim puff of star dust lost in theblaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of;but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on theplanet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantlyout of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributionsto the world’s great names in literature, science, art, music, finance,medicine, and abstruse learning are also way out of proportion to thesmallness of his numbers. He has made a marvellous fight in thisworld, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him.The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planetwith sound and splendour, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away;the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and theyare gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for atime, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was,exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of hisparts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressivemind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.What is the secret of his immortality?”Thus wrote Mark Twain in 1898. It is a marvellous tribute, but it ends with a question, the right question. What is the secret of Jewish continuity?No ordinary answer will suffice, because Jewish history has been altogether extraordinary. Jews remained a distinctive nation withoutland, power, territory, or a shared culture. They were dispersed and almost everywhere a minority. For the most part they refused active effortsto convert them, and they resisted the passive pull of assimilation. No other people has kept its identity intact for so long under such circumstances.How then did they do so?P A G E 10 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

A Religion of ContinuityMany theories have been advanced, butonly one is convincing. The secret of Jewishcontinuity is that no people has ever devotedmore of its energies to continuity. The focalpoint of Jewish life is the transmission of aheritage across the generations. Judaism’sfocus is its children. Abraham’s first wordsto God are, “What can You give me, if I amwithout children?” Rachel says, “Give mechildren, for without them it is as if I amdead.” To be a Jew is to be a link in thechain of generations. It is to be a child andthen a parent, to receive a heritage and tohand it on. Moses “received the Torah atSinai and handed it on ...” and so must we.Judaism is a religion of continuity.We who have grown up with Judaism are sofamiliar with this idea that we take it asself-evident, but it is not. It is exceptional,even unique. The first command in theTorah is not to believe, but to have children.Abraham is chosen not because he is righteous(only Noah is described as that) butbecause “he will instruct his children andhis household after him.” On the brink ofthe exodus from Egypt, Moses does notspend time telling the Israelites about theland of milk and honey that awaits themacross the Jordan. Instead he instructsthem about how they should teach futuregenerations. Three times he returns to thetheme: “And when your children ask you...,” “In days to come, when your son asksyou ...” “On that day you shall tell your son...” Not yet liberated, they are about to becomea nation of educators.eras of the people of Israel it is the enthronementof education as the sovereignJewish value.In one of the most famous verses of theTorah, Moses commands: “You shall teachthese things diligently to your children,speaking of them when you stay at home orwhen you travel on a journey, when you liedown and when you rise up.” The firstPsalm describes the happy human being asone who “studies Torah day and night.” Inan astonishing comment, the rabbis said:“Greater is an illegitimate scholar than anignorant high priest.” The central, burning,incandescent passion of Jews was study.Their citadels were schools. Their religiousleaders were sages: the word rabbi doesnot mean priest or holy man but teacher.Even when they were racked by poverty,they ensured that their children were educated.In twelfth century France a Christianscholar noted: “A Jew, however poor, if hehas ten sons, will put them all to letters,not for gain as the Christians do, but forthe understanding of God’s law - and notonly his sons but his daughters too.”In the shtetl of Eastern Europe, learningconferred prestige, status, authority, respect.Men of wealth were honoured, butscholars were honoured more. It was theywho occupied the seats of rank along thesynagogue’s eastern wall. In their delightfulstudy of the culture of the shtetl, Life iswith People, Zborowski and Herzog describeJewish family priorities: “The mother, whohas charge of household accounts, will cutthe family food costs to the limit if necessary,in order to pay for her son’s schooling.If worse comes to worst, she will pawn hercherished pearls in order to pay for theschool term. The boy must study, the boymust become a good Jew - for her the twoare synonymous.”The result was that Jews knew. They knewwho they were and why. They knew theirhistory. They knew their traditions. Theyknew where they came from and wheretheir hearts belonged. They had a sense ofidentity and pride. They knew Abrahamand Moses and Isaiah and Hillel and Akivaand Rashi and Maimonides, for they hadstudied their words and argued over theirmeaning. The Torah was the portablehomeland of the Jew, and they knew itslandscape, its mountains and valleys, betterthan the local scenery outside their windows.Jerusalem lay in ruins, but they werefamiliar with its streets from the prophetsand the Talmud and they walked in thegolden city of the mind.Nowhere else was literacy, scholarship, andhigh culture so widely diffused, so highlyprized as among this people of the book.Paul Johnson describes traditional Jewishlife as an “ancient and highly efficient socialmachine for the production of intellectuals.”It was an aristocracy of the spiritand mind. Not everyone, said Maimonides,can be a priest or a king. But the crown ofTorah -the greatest of all crowns - is availableto all.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LFrom the very outset, Judaism predicatedits survival on education. Not education inthe narrow, formal sense of the acquisitionof knowledge but something altogethermore vast. Indeed the word ‘education’ isaltogether inadequate to describe Judaism’sculture of study and debate, its absorptionin texts, commentaries and counter-commentaries,its devotion to literacy and lifelonglearning. Descartes said: I think,therefore I am. A Jew would have said: Ilearn, therefore I am. If there is one leitmotif,one dominant theme linking the various“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 11

The Formation of IdentityIdentity is a delicate thing. It is reality internalized,how we see ourselves in relation tothe world around us. For most people atmost times, identity is not a problem. It isprovided by the surrounding culture and itsinstitutions. For Jews, however, it has beena problem at most times and placesthroughout our history. The reason is simple.Jewish identity was not provided by thesurrounding culture, for Jews were a minorityin a non-Jewish environment. Most minoritieseventually give up the unevenstruggle of maintaining their identities.Based as they are on tradition, memory,and habit, they gradually assimilate as traditionweakens, memory fades, and habitsare eclipsed by adjustment to the ways ofthe majority. It takes time - several generations- for this to happen. But almost invariablyit does.Jews were different, for they saw theiridentity not as an accident of history (whothey happened to be) but as a religious vocation(who they were called on to be).From the very outset they did not rest contentwith tradition, memory and habit, thelegacy of the past. They renewed and recreatedthe past in each successive generation.A Jewish child, on Pesach, tastes theunleavened bread and bitter herbs of Egyptianslavery. On Sukkot she joins her ancestorsin their tabernacles as they journeyprecariously through the desert. On Tishabe’ Av he sits with the author of Lamentationsand mourns the destruction of theTemple. In the most vivid way, Jews handedon their memories to their children.Not only their memories but their way oflife. Since the days of Moses, Jews hadlived distinctively according to the laws setforth in the Torah. Had this rested on habitalone it would slowly have disappearedonce Jews were exiled and dispersed. ButJews were never content with habit. Theybelieved not only in keeping the law but instudying it as well. Rabbinic Judaism is theonly civilisation in the world in which everycitizen is expected not just to obey the lawbut to become a lawyer, a student and exponentof the law. Jews were - to use DavidReisman’s terms - not tradition-directed butinner-directed individuals. The “thou shalt”sand “thou shalt not’s of the Torah were notan external code but an internalised discipline,part of identity itself. That is howJews were able to hand on their way of lifeto their children.Even this might not have sufficed were itnot for one other thing. Perhaps the mostprecious heritage Jews gave their childrenwas hope. From the outset Israel has beena remarkably future-oriented people. Thestory of Abraham begins with the promiseof a land, but by the end of the book of Genesisit has still not been fulfilled. The bookof Exodus begins with the Israelites leavingEgypt and travelling towards the landof milk and honey, but by the end ofDeuteronomy they have still not arrived. Incontrast with almost every other faith, Judaism’sgolden age lies not in the past butin the future, just over the horizon.As a result, at every moment of crisis - theBabylonian exile, the Roman destruction,the Spanish expulsion - prophets, sagesand mystics were able to rescue a peoplefrom despair by messianic intimations.Jews remembered their future as activelyas they recalled their past. They prayed towardsJerusalem and mentioned it constantlybecause they knew it would one daybe rebuilt, and they or their children wouldreturn. It is said that Napoleon, passing asynagogue on Tisha be’ Av in 1806 andhearing sounds of weeping, asked whattragedy had just occurred. He was told: thedestruction of Jerusalem seventeen centuriesbefore. He replied: a people that canmourn a city for so long will one day have itrestored. He was right. Jewish memory, becauseof its peculiar character, kept Jewishhope alive. This too led Jews to live for thefuture, which meant for and through theirchildren.Jewish Identity in theDiasporaThere is nothing inevitable about Jewishidentity in the diaspora, and there neverwas. In Israel things are different. There,one is Jewish by living in a Jewish state,surrounded by a Jewish culture and Jewishinstitutions. The language is Hebrew. Thecalendar is Jewish. The days of rest andcelebration are those of the Bible. “The airof Israel,” said the sages, “makes onewise “, because the very air of Israel is saturatedwith the Jewish past. Here are thetowns in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobpitched their tents. There is Jerusalem, thecity of David. And there beyond is the landscapeof the Psalms. Only in Israel doesbeing Jewish mean going with the grain ofpublic culture. Only in Israel is Jewishnessa matter of what you can see and touch andbreathe.In the diaspora, being Jewish has alwaysmeant going against the grain, beingcounter-cultural. The most natural form ofidentity is to say, I belong to the here-andnow,to the people around me and the landscapeI see every morning. Jews chose amore complex identity, and had they notdone so they would have disappeared.Since the days of Jeremiah they knew thattheir responsibility as citizens was to “seekthe peace of the city to which I have carriedyou into exile, and pray to the Lord for it,because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”So, whenever permitted, they enteredinto the life of Cairo and Cordova, Vilna,The secret of Jewish continuity is that Jews cared about it.They created continuity by making the transmission oftradition their first duty and greatest joy.P A G E 12 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

and Vitebsk and left it enriched. But thatwas where they were, not who they were.Who they were was the very opposite of thehere-and-now. It was a breathtaking identityspanning time and space, centuries,and continents. Jews were defined by anetwork of relationships stretching backto the biblical past and forward to the messianicfuture, linked in a common destinywith Jews across the globe.Diaspora Jewish identity was and is a matterof the mind, not the senses. It belongsto nurture, not nature. We live throughwhat we learn. If we do not learn what it isto be a Jew, nothing in our environment, exceptantisemitism, will tell us. And antisemitism,while it may remind us that weare Jews, provides no reason for us to wantour children to be Jewish.Their identity was constantly learned andrelearned, enacted and reinforced, andpassed on as a precious gift to the nextgeneration.Testing the HypothesisThe hypothesis is therefore this: that Jewishcontinuity in the diaspora depends onJewish education. This, for our ancestors,was an item of faith. The question is, canwe submit it to critical evaluation? Whatwould constitute testing the conjecture?Let me suggest two criteria: the test of history,and the test of the latest available research.First, history.The Jewish people has survived. But at significantmoments that survival lay in doubt.Catastrophe struck and there was no obviousroute to a secure future. The prophetshad declared that Israel would be an eternalpeople. But there were times when thatseemed desperately unlikely. There weremoments when it might have been otherwise.These critical junctures repay closeattention. What saved the people and faithof Israel from the might-have-been of oblivion?Consider three such moments.The first came in the fifth century B.C.E.Several centuries earlier, the northernJews survived, quite simply, because they devoted their bestenergies to education, their money to schools, their admirationto scholars, their spare hours to study, and their firstconcern to the tuition of their children.kingdom of Israel had been destroyed bythe Assyrians. The population was dispersedand rapidly assimilated into itsneighbouring cultures. Ten of the twelve Israelitetribes disappeared from history. In586 B.C.E. the southern kingdom of Judahtoo was overcome, this time by the Babylonians.The Temple was destroyed and theelite of the people taken into captivity.There they too might have disintegrated asa group, were it not for the insistent messageof the prophets urging that hope wasnot lost.Under Cyrus, king of Persia, a new andmore benign regime took shape and someof the exiles were allowed to return. Eventuallyunder the leadership of Nehemiahthe statesman-governor, and Ezra thepriestly scribe, a Jewish renaissance beganto take shape. But it faced formidable difficulties.On their arrival in Israel the twoleaders found a devastating situation.Those who had remained had lost theiridentity. They had intermarried. The Sabbathwas publicly desecrated. Religiouslaws lay in disuse.The book of Nehemiah describes the eventwhich was to prove to be the turning point.The people gathered in Jerusalem whereEzra, standing on a wooden platform, readto the assembled crowd from the Torah. Agroup of Levites acted as instructors to thepeople, “reading from the Book of the Lawof God, making it clear and giving themeaning so that people could understandwhat was being read.” The population enteredinto a binding agreement to keep theterms of the Torah. The covenant, whichhad been in danger of being forgotten, wasrenewed. A new era of Jewish historybegan. From then on for the next five centuries,though there were crises when significantsegments of the population becameacculturated and Judaism was at risk ofdissolving through Hellenisation, there wasalways a group loyal to Judaic principleswho eventually prevailed.Ezra represented a new kind of Jewishpersonality, one who was to shape the characterof the Jewish people from that time tothis. Not a law-giver or a prophet, a king,or a judge, neither a political nor a militaryleader, Ezra was the prototype of theteacher as hero. Under his influence theancient ideal of a people of the Torah becameinstitutionalised. Public readings andexplanations of the sacred texts becamemore widespread. By the second centuryB.C.E., a system of community-fundedschools had developed. Universal education,the first of its kind in the world, hadbegun.The might-have-been is clear . The twotribes might have gone the way of the otherten. They too were conquered, sent intoexile and exposed to the danger of assimilationinto a larger empire. But they didnot. They remained distinct, intact, a singularpeople. How was the might-have-beenavoided? The lesson of the lost ten tribeshad been learned. If the Jewish people wasto survive, it needed to create a set of institutionsthrough which its character couldbe sustained against the attrition of othercultures. It sought and found the structuresof continuity. Jews discovered a fundamentaltruth, one that has remained itsunique characteristic among religious civilisations.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 13

The best, indeed the only, defence of a religious people isnot military or political but educational.leadership passed from kings, priests, andprophets to the sage, the teacher who“raised up many disciples.” Exiled, dispersed,and deprived of power, a shatterednation was rebuilt through one instrumentality:education.Surviving DestructionIn the first century C.E. a second crisisstruck with devastating force. An ill-advisedrebellion against Rome brought savageretaliation. The Roman forces led byVespasian descended on the centres of Jewishresistance. In 70 C.E. Vespasian’s sonTitus brought the campaign to its climaxwith a siege against Jerusalem. The citywas captured. The second Temple was destroyed.It was a fateful moment, thoughfew of those who lived through it couldhave known how long Jews would suffer itsconsequences. It was the beginning of thelongest exile Israel has ever known. Notuntil the twentieth century would Jewsagain experience what it was like to be asovereign people in their own land.The catastrophe, driven home sixty-fiveyears later with the suppression of the BarKochba rebellion, was almost total. Thebasis of Jewish life lay in ruins. The Temple,symbol and centre of the nation, wasgone. There were to be no more kings orprophets, serving priests or sacrificeswithin the foreseeable future. The loss ofthe first Temple had been accompanied byhope. There were prophets who foretold returnand reconstruction. Now there were nosuch visions, at least none that carried immediatepromise. The loss of the secondTemple brought the danger of hopelessness.Jewish tradition has rightly identified onemoment as a symbol of the turning point.The Talmud tells of how the sage Johananben Zakkai stood out against the Jews ofhis day. During the siege of Jerusalem,leaders within the city believed that theycould prevail against Rome. Johanan knewthey were mistaken and argued unsuccessfullyfor peace. Others believed that theywould be saved by Divine intervention. TheMessiah was about to come. Against themJohanan taught, “If you have a sapling inyour hand, and people say to you, ‘Behold,there is the Messiah’ - go on with yourplanting and only then go out and receivehim.” Johanan was a religious realist in anage of dangerous military and apocalypticdreams.Johanan, according to the Talmud, had himselfsmuggled out of Jerusalem and wastaken to Vespasian. He told the generalthat he would shortly achieve greatness (in69 C.E., Vespasian was made Emperor ofRome) and made one request. “I ask nothingof you except Yavneh, where I might goand teach my disciples and there establisha house of study and perform all the commandments.”Johanan predicated Jewishsurvival not on military victory or the messianicage but on a house of study and agroup of teachers: Yavneh and its sages.Few decisions have had more lasting effects.For seventeen hundred years Jewsbecame a people held together by a singlethread: study of Judaism’s holy texts. Inplace of the temple came the synagogue,the yeshiva, and the bet midrash. In placeof sacrifices came prayer, learning, and theperformance of good deeds. The mantle ofWe are in an unusually good position totest Johanan ben Zakkai’s strategy becausehis was not the only version of Jewish life.We know from Josephus and other sourcesthat there were several tendencies in Jewishlife in the Second Commonwealth. Johananrepresented the group known as thePharisees, who gave rise to the rabbis ofthe Mishnah and Talmud. There was a secondand more powerful group known as theSadducees, who were in general wealthierand more closely associated with the Templeand priesthood. Josephus calls the thirdgroup the Essenes. They lived quasimonasticlives in small separatist communitiesof which the Qumran sect, known tous through the Dead Sea Scrolls, may havebeen one.For the Sadducees, the central dimensionof Jewish life was the state and its institutions:the Sanhedrin and the Temple. Forthe Essenes it was the messianic age, for itappears that they lived in imminent expectationof an apocalypse which would shakethe foundations of the world. For the Pharisees,as we have seen, it was education.Their key institution was the school. Theirfigure of authority was the scholar. Theirtouchstone of Jewish identity was individuallearning and observance of the Torah.Neither Sadducees nor Essenes survived. Of their memory,only the most fragmentary traces remain. There was atime when both groups flourished and when each was convincedit held the key to the Jewish future. But historyruled otherwise. Once again, education proved the onlyroute to continuity.P A G E 14 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

After AuschwitzThe third crisis brings us to the presentcentury and to what, in human terms, is thegreatest tragedy ever to have struck thepeople of the covenant: the Holocaust. Atthe beginning of the twentieth century fourout of every five Jews lived in Europe. Bythe end of the Second World War the vastheartlands of European Jewry had been destroyed.The great powerhouses of rabbiniclearning - Vilna, Volozhin, Ponevez, Mirweregone. The citadels of the Jewish spirithad been reduced to ashes. Jewry’s religiousleaders and the communities fromwhich they came had been murdered. Atmost, the survivors were “a brand pluckedfrom the burning fire.” Never had Judaism’severlasting light come closer to being extinguished.What, spiritually, was left? Russian Jewry,the largest surviving Jewish group in Europe,lived under political and religious repression.America, though it was tolerantof Jews, had proved disastrous for Judaism.One wave of Jewish immigrants after another- first Spanish, then German, thenEast European -had acculturated, assimilated,and disappeared. The new State ofIsrael, though it meant everything in physicaland political terms, was aggressivelysecular. Ben Gurion had granted concessionsto religious groups, but was confidentthat within a generation they would havedisappeared.What happened next will one day be told asone of the great acts of reconstruction inthe religious history of mankind. A handfulof Holocaust survivors and refugees setabout rebuilding on new soil the world theyhad seen go up in flames. Rabbis MenahemMendel Schneersohn, Aaron Kotler, JacobKamenetzky, Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz,Joseph Soloveitchik, and others like themrefused to yield to despair. While others respondedto the Holocaust by building memorials,endowing lectureships, conveningconferences, and writing books, they urgedtheir followers to marry and have children.They built schools and communities andyeshivot. They said: our world has beenshattered but not destroyed. They said:Hitler brought death into the world, thereforelet us bring life. Within a generationMir and Ponevez, Lubavitch and Belz livedagain, no longer in Europe but in Israel andAmerica.In the past half-century, traditional Jewryhas risen from the ashes to become thefastest growing and most influential forcein Jewish life. It has achieved what all observershad hitherto thought impossible. Ithas shown that Torah can flourish in a secularIsrael and an open America. It hasproved that Jews in today’s diaspora canexperience demographic growth. It hasbrought about a revival in talmudic studythat has no precedent since the great daysof Babylonian Jewry. But it has done more.It has demonstrated in our time that theclassic Jewish response to crisis remainsthe most powerful. Like Ezra, the yeshivaUnlike traditional Jewisheducation, Holocausteducation in itself offersno meaning, no hope,no way of life.Unaccompanied by faith,it recapitulates the errorof Lot’s wife. The Holocaustis a black hole inhuman history, and if westare at it too long wewill turn to stone.and Hasidic leaders concentrated on teaching.Like Johanan ben Zakkai they devotedthemselves to raising up disciples.Theirs - to repeat - was not the only responseto the Holocaust. Other groups reacteddifferently. They built museums andmonuments, funded chairs and periodicals,wrote Holocaust theology and sponsoredvisits to Auschwitz. A generation of youngJews, those who grew up in the seventiesand eighties, has been liberally exposed toliterature, films, and lectures about theHolocaust, and it is this generation which ischoosing to marry out of Judaism at the rateof one in two. The reason is not hard to find.As one Holocaust historian, disturbed bythe obsessive interest in the Shoah, put it:our children will learn about the Greeksand how they lived, the Romans and howthey lived, and the Jews and how they died.Jews never forgot the destruction of thefirst Temple, or the second. We mourn themon the Ninth of Av, and at every Jewishwedding we still break a glass in memory.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 15

It is 2,500 years since the first event and1,900 since the second. So too, as long asJews live, we will remember Auschwitz andTreblinka, Bergen Belsen and Sobibor. Butthere is a Jewish way of remembering. Forevery tragedy there is the promise of redemption.Every nightmare is succeeded byhope. We were never paralysed by our past,because we lived toward the future. That iswhy the Jewish response to catastrophewas to have children and build schools andcreate a Jewish future. The children of theyeshiva and Hasidic communities are theirHolocaust memorials, made not of stonebut of new life.These three moments are seminal to an understandingof Jewish history. At each ofthem, the Jewish people confronted its ownmortality. In none was the response thateventually proved successful by any meansthe obvious one. Who in his right mindwould have suggested that the answer tothe Babylonian conquest, the might ofRome, or the Holocaust lay in schools,teachers, and houses of study? Yet Judaism’sgreat visionaries, the architects ofits survival, said just that. Alternativeswere tried. They failed. The ten tribes ofthe Northern kingdom disappeared. So didthe Sadducees and Essenes.In each case the survivors were ostensiblythe weakest group. The southern kingdomof Judah was small in comparison to thekingdom of the north. The Pharisees werepoorer and less powerful than the Sadducees.After the Shoah, the Hasidic andyeshiva communities were a fragment oftheir former glory. But in each caseZechariah’s prophetic maxim proved true.Jewish continuity happens “not by mightnor by power but by My spirit.”In our time, those diaspora communities that have failed to place Jewish education at the centreof their lives are disappearing too.Recent Research FindingsThus far the test of history. What of currentresearch? Can we quantify the impact ofJewish education on Jewish identity? Theanswer is that we can.The 1990 National Jewish Population Surveyin the United States is the most comprehensivestudy of a diaspora communityundertaken in recent years. Its results arestill being analysed. But in March 1993 thefirst findings emerged of the effect of educationon Jewish commitment, using thesurvey data. The study, by Sylvia BarackFishman and Alice Goldstein, divided educationalexperience into four categories: [1]no Jewish education, [2] minimal education(less than three years of Jewish school orup to five of Sunday-only classes), [3] moderateeducation (three to five years of supplementaryor day school, or six years ofSunday-only classes) and [4] substantialeducation (six or more years of supplementaryor day school).Its findings were these. In the 25-44 yearoldage group, those who had substantialJewish education were between six and tentimes more likely to observe Jewish ritualthan those whose Jewish education wasminimal or non-existent. They were nearlythree times more likely to belong to a Jewishorganization, three times more likely tobe members of a synagogue and twenty percent more likely to contribute to Jewishcauses. They have more Jewish friends, aremore opposed to intermarriage and are significantlyless likely to marry out. Of thosewith no Jewish education, only three out often are in-married. Of those with substantialJewish education, the figure is eight outof ten. The authors conclude:The 1990 NJPS data show us the strongcorrelation of Jewish education and enhancedJewish identification. The mere factof having received some Jewish educationin childhood has little impact on Jewish attitudesand behaviours during the adultyears. However, extensive Jewish educationis definitively associated with higher measuresof adult Jewish identification. Its impactis demonstrated in almost every areaof public and private life.Here then is further confirmation of thethesis that the fate of the Jews in the diasporawas, is, and predictably will be, determinedby their approach to education. Thisproposition has been subjected to twotests, one involving critical moments inJewish history, the other using the latestand best available research. Together theyshow that Jewry’s triumphs are triumphsof education. Our renewal depends oneducation. Our traditional strength, ourgreatest gift, our highest value is education.Professor Daniel Elazar, in his encyclopaedicsurvey of world Jewry, People andPolity, draws the simple conclusion:The history of the Jews has been ahistory of communities built aroundschools. They are the key institutionsbecause they convey learning. Greekcivilization survived for five hundredyears after the Roman conquest of theGreek city-states, because the Greeks,like the Jews, had developed academiesand they could live around those academies.When the academies failed, Greekcivilization disappeared. The Jewishpeople has never allowed its academiesto fail. That is the secret of our collectiveimmortality.P A G E 16 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

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Steven M. Cohen, is Research Professor ofJewish Social Policy Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, New York.This study was published in the fall of 2006by the Jewish Life Network / SteinhardtFoundation.Reprinted with author’s permission.Extract from:A TALE OF TWO JEWRIES: “THE INCONVENIENTSteven M. Cohen TRUTH” FOR AMERICAN JEWSA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LJEWISH EDUCATION WORKSThe results are in: Jewish education works. Studies of specificexperiences (e.g., camps, or day schools, or Israel experiences) aswell as studies of combinations of experiences document the impactof Jewish education in almost all its varieties. The same may be saidfor studies of short-term impact, as measured by subjective assertionsof change, as well as studies of impact over time, stretchingfrom education in childhood to engagement in Jewish life in adulthood20, 30, 40, or even more years later. Evidence of impact rangesover a wide variety of outcomes, embracing ritual observance, communalaffiliation, beliefs and attitudes, social networks, and, ofcourse, intermarriage — the most important single predictor of allother forms of adult Jewish engagement.Using data sets collected in different places at different points intime with different sampling techniques, numerous studies arriveat quite similar conclusions. They all control for the correlative impactof Jewish upbringing and parental Jewish engagement, takinginto account observance, the Jewishness of one’s childhood friendshipcircles, and in-marriage/mixed marriage of one’s parents. Andthey all find that almost all forms of Jewish education diminish thefrequency of intermarriage and elevate adult Jewish engagement,albeit with significant variations in magnitude of impact, with dayschools uniformly leading the list.Most recently, in a study of Jews born in America after 1945, a subsetextracted from the 2000-01 NJPS, I estimated the impact of severalJewish educational experiences in childhood upon the chancesof intermarriage some 20 to 40 years hence (see table). This studyestimated that net of all other forms of Jewish education and ofparental observance, day school attendance reduces intermarriageby 14 percentage points. The impact of attendance at supplementaryschool more than once a week is 2 points if continued for more than6 years; each informal education experience (camping, youthgroups, or Israel travel in one’s youth) reduces intermarriage by 4percentage points. All of these estimates refer to cumulative impact;the more Jewish educational experiences, the lower one’schances of intermarriage. For example, someone who went to asupplementary school that met twice a week into adolescence, wentto Israel, and attended a Jewish camp can be compared with someonewith the same background with no such experiences. Thechances that the former would marry a Jewish spouse would increaseby 14 percentage points (comparable to reducing the intermarriagerate from 47% to 33%).Only one form of Jewish education actually generates more intermarriage:Sunday school (or, in general, one-day-a-week supplementaryschool, generally associated with Reform congregations). All otherthings being equal, those who report going to a Jewish school onlyonce a week (e.g., “Sunday School”) for 1-6 years experienced anincreased likelihood of marrying non-Jews by 8 percentage points, ascontrasted with those who never went to a Jewish school.One might attribute the effect to bad teaching or bad curriculum.But, the differences in the impact on intermarriage between oneday-a-weekand two/three-day-a-week supplementary school inquality of instruction are too large to be explained by the small (ifany) differences in instructional quality and curriculum. Pedagogicdifferences alone simply cannot be at the root of Sunday school’scounterintuitive and counter-productive results. Rather, we need tolook not at the experience of Sunday school per se, but at its students,or more appropriately, their families. Those who attend Sundayschools come disproportionately from intermarried homes.“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 19

Sunday schools may act as a sorting-out device, serving to concentratethose with relatively weaker Jewish cultural capital andreinforcing openness to intermarriage rather than opposing it.Jewish educational experiences operate on several levels. Theycertainly convey knowledge, by providing instruction in the beliefs,tenets, history, and practice of Judaism. They also affect attitudes,reinforce commitment, and highlight the saliency of being Jewish;and they socialize Jews into a world of practice, of “doing Jewish.”One key mechanism through which Jewish educational experiencesoperate is in the formation and strengthening of Jewish social networks,which provide young Jews with ties and friendships to otherJews. In turn, this process reinforces Jewish norms shared by theirfamilies and, in time, elevates the chances for in-marriage, as wellas for eventual contact, recruitment, and affiliation with Jewish institutions.THE NET IMPACT OF JEWISH SCHOOLING ALTERNATIVESAND OF INFORMAL TEEN JEWISH EDUCATIONALEXPERIENCES* UPON MEASURES OF ADULT JEWISHENGAGEMENTControlling for: sex, age, region, denomination raised, presence ofChristmas tree, Sabbath observance in the home, and number ofJewish friends in high school (Sub-sample: Adults, now 18-54, USborn,raised Jewish, but not raised Orthodox)Entries represent the gap (in points on a 0-100 scale) betweenthose receiving the respective form of Jewish education and thosereceiving none (either no Jewish school or no informal Jewish education),adjusting for statistical controls above.OUTCOME: IN-MARRIAGE OBSERVANCE* AFFILIATED* BELONGING*Day school +14 +12 +11 +122+ X week school, 7+ years +2 +4 +13 +72+ X week school, 1-6 years -1 +3 +10 +0Sunday school, 7+ years -8 +4 +3 +2Sunday school, 1-6 years -9 +3 +4 +5NUMBER OF TEEN EXPERIENCES*3 (camp, youth group, Israel) +12 +16 +21 +292 +7 +11 +19 +131 +3 +6 +10 +10...the combined net impact of dayschool, youth group, Jewish camp,and Israel experience upon intermarriageamounts to approximately 30percentage points, enough to morethan halve the intermarriage rate,if only more Jews were to availthemselves of these experiencescombined.*Key — Observance: composite of seder, lighting Hanukkah candles,fasting on Yom Kippur, keeping kosher in some way at home,and usually lighting Shabbat candles. Affiliated: membership insynagogue, JCC, and/or another Jewish organization. Belonging: 4items on feeling very positive about being Jewish, having a clearsense of what it means to be a Jew, belonging to the Jewish people,and being Jewish very important. Total number of informal Jewisheducational experiences consists of: overnight Jewish camp, Jewishyouth group, and visiting Israel.Data Source: NJPS, 2000-01. Analysis forthcoming in Steven M. Cohen, “JewishEducation and Its Differential Impact on Adult Jewish Identity,” in Family Matters:Jewish Education in an Age of Choice, ed. Jack Wertheimer (Waltham,Mass.:Brandeis University Press, 2007).Undoubtedly, greater participation in such experiences can onlyserve to lower the intermarriage rate, especially when such experiencesare intensive, numerous, and enduring. Moreover, education(and strong Jewish upbringing) exerts salutary effects even in theevent of intermarriage. When the Jewish-born partner comes to themarriage with a stronger Jewish education and parental observance,non-Jewish fiancés and spouses are more likely to convert to Ju-P A G E 20 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

daism. Should conversion not take place, the chances that childrenwill be raised exclusively as Jews are higher in marriages where theJewish spouses have undergone more extensive and intensive Jewisheducational experiences. In other words, even in the event of initialintermarriage, accumulated Jewish education serves to furtherchances of Jewish continuity, either by increasing the likelihood ofconversion (making the intermarriage an in-marriage) or by increasingthe likelihood that the mixed married couple will raise its childrenexclusively in Judaism.PROMOTE EDUCATIONAL PARTICIPATION:LINK EXPERIENCESClearly, the Jewish community has a strong interest in promotingJewish education. The question is how to do that. In recent years,organized Jewry has indeed expanded participation in most majorforms of Jewish education, including Jewish pre-schools, dayschools, Israel travel, Jewish studies courses, and adult Jewish education.Advocates for Jewish education have increased capacity (moreschools, more camp beds), lowered costs (vouchers, free trips to Israel),enlarged personnel training programs, supported teachersalaries and benefits, developed better marketing, and strengthenedboards. One approach yet to receive much attention is that which focuseson improving the linkages among various educational experiences— that is, expanding the flow of students between and amongdifferent venues for Jewish education. This policy seeks to expandrecruitment by turning to the most likely candidates for more Jewisheducation — those who already experience some education.Participants in one form of education are likely to participate in simultaneousor succeeding forms. Those who attend pre-schools arefar more likely than others to move on to day schools, and eventuallyJewish camping, youth groups, and Israel experiences. Dayschool students disproportionately participate in the informal Jewishteen experiences, just as campers and youth group membersoverlap, and both are likely sources of participants in high schooltrips to Israel. Many youngsters certainly move from one experienceto another, but the rate at which they do so is far from universal andleaves much room for further expansion.PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTUREAbout half of all American Jews 22-39 years old are unmarried.Synagogues, JCCs and Jewish organizational life generally exertlittle appeal for them, leaving a majority of this demographicsegment institutionally unaffiliated. But their lack of affiliationshould not be taken as a lack of engagement with being Jewish.After all, if past behavior is any guide, the vast majority (over 90%)will marry; about half of those who marry will marry Jews; and, ofthese in-married, over 80% will at some point affiliate with a Jewishinstitution. Of the half who will marry non-Jews, most will reportfeeling positively about being Jewish, although the evidence regardinghow they raise their children shows that positive feelings forbeing Jewish do not generally translate into effective behavior thatsustains Jewish continuity. At the same time, notwithstanding themajor differences between in-married and intermarried, we shouldnot be led to believe that the in-married’s Jewish future is assured.For the non-married, synagogues, JCCs and organizational lifeare not particularly effective in bringing these Jews together. Thus,cultural events and social service opportunities may offer the bestalternatives for performing that function. Of course, one can (andshould) make other arguments on behalf of a culturally rich andsocially engaged Jewish community; but the social networking functionalone would seem to justify these endeavors as worthy of Jewishcommunal and philanthropic support.No single program or social policy offers the possibility of sweepingand immediate change in outcomes. No magic bullet will guaranteea culturally vital Jewish community in America that will engage thevast majority of Jews. Rather, the cumulative and interactive effectof the multiplicity of instruments of Jewish education and socializationcan have a profound impact on American Jews as a whole, asthey do now for only select numbers of American Jews. To take oneexample, the combined net impact of day school, youth group,Jewish camp, and Israel experience upon intermarriage amounts toapproximately 30 percentage points, enough to more than halve theA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LUnfortunately, most professional directors of pre-schools, dayschools, camps, and youth groups seem to make little effort to recruiton behalf of other educational experiences that may coincidewith, or follow upon, their own. Much more can be done to mobilize,motivate, and incentivize the directors of the respectiveeducational agencies to encourage their students and participantsto consider other forms of Jewish education. Of all theas yet untried techniques for increasing enrollments in dayschools, camps, youth groups, and Israel experience programs,this route may be the most effective.“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 21

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intermarriage rate, if only more Jews were to avail themselves ofthese experiences combined. Beyond these educational experiencesin childhood and adolescence, we also have such options as campusHillels, Jewish Studies classes, social justice activities, culturalevents, and other policies that will likely foster Jewish associationand residential density and help to provide the rationale for “Why beJewish?”.Some have asked, “If Jewish education is so good, then why arethings so bad?” We have two answers. First, things are not so bad.We must recall the numerous points of strength of American Jewry:affluence, political influence, scholarly productivity, cultural innovation,religious ferment, increasing use of Jewish educational options,and persisting residential concentration, to say nothing of animpressive philanthropic commitment, albeit one shifting away fromhistoric patterns and institutions. The shortcomings of Jewish education(and presumably of synagogue life, Israel travel, culturalevents, and social activism) rest not so much with an inability to influenceparticipants as to attract participants. While educational,cultural, religious, and volunteer experiences can always be improved(and should be improved), the true challenge to policy-makersis in the area of recruitment: How do we encourage more Jews tomake use of day schools, youth groups, Israel travel, Jewish camps,Hillels, Jewish Studies classes, volunteer opportunities, culturalevents, and inspired congregational life?But given the sharp differences in the origins, conditions and futuresof the in-married and intermarried populations, policy makers willneed to begin thinking differently about how to address these twopopulation segments. The in-married are generally affiliated andsometimes highly affiliated. For them, many untapped opportunitiesexist to enlarge participation in Jewish educational activities, bethey formal or informal, focused on texts, cultural engagement, socialjustice activities, or spiritual experiences. For the intermarried,outreach efforts may improve engagement of the current generation;but only conversion substantially improves the chances that today’sintermarried couples will have Jewish grandchildren in two generations.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O Lcompliments ofEmcon Emanation Control LimitedThe core of EMCON’s expertise is in-depthknowledge of Compromising Emanations.With our state-of-the-art mechanical andelectronic design tools, we are able todevelop and maintain products andservices that are required in Governmentenvironments wherever sensitive orclassified information is processed.11 Tristan CourtNepean, ON Canada K2E 8B9Telephone: (613) 723-1838Fax: (613) 723-2752E-Mail: sales@emcon.comWeb Site: www.emcon.com“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 23

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WHO IS AN EDUCATED JEW?A historical perspective on the Jewish canon, andreflections on what today’s learned Jews need to knowPaula Hyman • Reprinted with permission from Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility (http://www.shma.com) Feb., 2002.Paula E. Hyman is Lucy MosesProfessor of Modern Jewish Historyat Yale University.Hebrew is an essential toolfor reading much of whatJewish culture has produced.But it is more than a tool.Without Hebrew there is novisceral, as distinct fromintellectual, connection toJewish creativity across timeand space.There has been no consensus on the issue of “Who is an educatedJew?” for more than two hundred years. If one were to have posed thequestion in 1750, say in Poland, the answer would have been obvious.The educated Jew was a mature male who had devoted his life totalmudic study, debating fine points of halakhah (Jewish law) inyeshivah (a school for rabbinical studies) and the beit midrash (house ofstudy). He was familiar with all of the classic rabbinic texts and theircommentaries, the rishonim and the aharonim [earlier and later commentators],and the languages in which they were written—Hebrewand Aramaic—in addition to the Jewish vernacular that he spoke (inPoland, Yiddish, of course).No women were given such an education, because the teaching ofclassical religious texts in Hebrew to women was neither halakhicallynor socially legitimated; it was also irrelevant to their roles within thefamily and society. While regional variations in learning styles and inthe details of the curriculum existed, the substance of what educatedJews should know was widely shared in the Jewish world.P A G E 26 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

The Influence of theEnlightenmentThat shared commitment to a curriculum,and therefore to a vision of Jewish knowledge,was irretrievably disrupted with thesocial and political changes that occurredat the end of the eighteenth century. TheWestern states’ desire to reshape the socioeconomicand cultural configuration oftheir Jewish populations, and the emergenceof a cohort of Jewish intellectualsand businessmen who were eager to respondto the opportunities that integrationinto the larger society seemed to promise,led to a sharp dissent from the consensusabout Jewish learning that had prevailed, atleast within Ashkenazi communities in Europe.For a growing number of Jews, thetalmid hokhem [as described above] was nolonger the model of the educated Jew. Instead,modernizing educated Jews, followingthe model set by the maskilim[advocates of the Jewish enlightenment]saw Western culture as an essential componentof their consciousness and createda canon that placed secular education atthe fore. They expected educated Jews tobe at home culturally in both traditionalJewish and secular learning.A good example is the scarcely knownPuah Rakovsky, who was an educator anddirector of a girls’ school in Warsaw thattaught Hebrew and secular studies, atranslator, and a Zionist and feminist activist.Born in Poland in 1865 to a traditionalfamily, she lost her faith as anadolescent and was assertively secular.Still, her Yiddish memoirs are replete withallusions in Hebrew to biblical andmidrashic sources, and she was convincedthat her Jewish learning was the source ofher values. Because she witnessed growingindifference to Jewish culture among youthin the years before World War I, Rakovskywas able to discern that the goal of modernJewish education had to be transformedfrom the “regeneration” of Jews under theinfluence of secular knowledge to the “rejudaization”of Jews bereft of Jewish knowledge.Modernity and the Fluidity ofthe Jewish CanonModernity fractured Jewish experience, destroyingthe hegemony of rabbinic Judaismand the authority of traditional Jewishelites. Contemporary currents of thoughtlike postmodernism and multiculturalismhave challenged virtually all certainties andshaken all canons. No canon is fixed, andall guardians of cultural transmission arerequired to make hard choices.We are fortunate that the Jewish canon hasalways been a relatively open one, for thetraditional Jewish system of interpretationof classical texts has provided a mechanismfor ongoing revision. The developmentof interpretive strategies, in midrash, forexample, as literary scholars have argued,demonstrates a way to recover oppositionalstrands within traditional texts.Insofar as we focus on the spaces for debateand contestation within the traditionalJewish canon, we acknowledge the needfor, and sustain the possibility of, multiplecultural expressions for the diverse peoplethat we are. Although the term “opencanon” sounds like an oxymoron, it simplyreflects the recognition that every canon isconstructed and merits a healthy combinationof respect and skepticism and regularrevision if it is to speak to its intended audience.A truly “open canon” affords opportunitiesfor choice and for the inclusion ofongoing cultural creativity.What Will Educated JewsShare?Once we acknowledge that unity is neitherpossible nor desirable, though, we mustask what models of educated Jews we seekto promote. What, if anything, will educatedJews of different paideias (educationalvisions and curricula in the broadestsense) share?I can think of three prerequisites—necessarybut not sufficient—for all educatedJews: the Hebrew language (in all its variants,from the Bible to the present—notjust street Hebrew); an acceptance of biblicaland rabbinic texts as one’s own; and ageneral knowledge of Jewish history. Hebrewis an essential tool for reading muchof what Jewish culture has produced. But itis more than a tool. Without Hebrew thereis no visceral, as distinct from intellectual,connection to Jewish creativity across timeand space.Accepting Tanakh [the Hebrew Bible] andrabbinic texts as one’s own does not necessitateascribing to them sacredness or religiousauthority. But it does necessitategrappling with their meaning and their rolein world culture as well as Jewish cultureand in the choices that contemporary Jewsmake. The knowledge of the broad outlinesof Jewish history enables us to understandthe societal and intellectual contexts inwhich Jewish culture has developed.Accepting this core curriculum is only thefirst step in becoming Jewishly educated.An open Jewish canon in the twenty-firstcentury draws upon a variety of voices andgenres. It must embrace all the Jewish culturalproducts of the past two centuries—that is, the different forms that Jews havechosen to make meaning of their existenceas Jews. Secular forms in many languages—includingliterature, memoirs,folklore, film, and the visual arts-are toooften dismissed as lacking in cultural significance.What I am suggesting, then, is that educatedJews would share a core curriculumof Hebrew language, foundational texts,and knowledge of historical development.They would then follow a multipletrackmodel of curriculum development, choosing,according to their own interests, froma far broader range of cultural expressionthan is commonly considered “Jewishknowledge.” Although biblical and rabbinictexts would define a core of Jewish knowledge,further learning would not privilegeany single genre of cultural production orany single text.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 27

Changes within the past generation necessitatea rethinking of Jewish learning asthorough as the Haskalah [Enlightenment]critique of two centuries ago. While themajority of Jews have acquired seculareducation, as maskilim advocated, theyhave not always applied their knowledgeto Judaism or Jewish culture. I am not referringhere to the willful ignorance of whatmodern scholarly inquiry has to say aboutclassical Jewish texts. Rather, I am speakingabout the failure of most Jews who considerthemselves Jewishly educated tocontend with recent trends in studies ofculture.The Lessons ofMulticulturalismThanks to the work of theorists in anthropology,history, and gender studies, it iswidely acknowledged today that culturecannot be subsumed in the writings of anelite. However varied those writings, andhowever weighty, they reflect the valuesand considered opinions of one segment ofsociety alone. “Says who?” is an essentialquestion when studying any text.As we have learned from multiculturalism,the ways in which silent or silenced, generallysubordinate, groups within society conferredmeaning on their own lives andaccepted or resisted the values promulgatedby elites are part of cultural history.That is as true of Jews as of other groups.Popular Jewish culture has always existed,and we must be willing to look for it and toreflect on its relation to the elite culturethat we have considered the sum total ofJudaism and of Jewish cultural creativity.Familiarity with the varieties of Jewish cultureinstills in Jews a recognition that Jewishculture is not fixed or reified, norlimited to one social segment of the Jewishpeople. Rather, it is malleable and everchanging, shaped by the interaction of internalforces and external circumstances,and created by Jews through a combinationof consciousness and behavior.The multicultural model, which disputesthe very idea of canon (but may also acceptthe concept of an open canon) and paysheed to the voices that resist and subvertauthority, appears quite suitable to the diversityof Jewish patterns of behavior andthought in a postemancipation world. Itmandates willingness to acknowledge themultiplicity of Jewish voices and accepttheir authenticity.The multicultural model is particularly appropriateto the ambiguous position of Jewsin the Diaspora, who create Jewish culturein the space between being a part of thelarger society and apart from it (or, in thewords of a recent book, insider/outsiders).The adoption of a multicultural stance,however, requires a recognition of the diversityof Jewish life as a value rather thanan unfortunate fact; that is, it requires aconversion of diversity into pluralism.Living in a multicultural society, we havethe opportunity and the obligation to shapea fluid Jewish canon for our own time andfor the future. Engaged with the richness ofthe culture we have inherited, which linksus with Jews of other times and places, wemust be sensitive as well to the incompletenessof our legacy, to the voices that havebeen suppressed (women’s and others) andto the interpretations that have lacked authority.The legacy of our generation maywell be a postmodern hermeneutics of suspicionand a recognition that a diverse peoplerequires cultural diversity.P A G E 28 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

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Rabbi Elyse Goldstein is the Directorand Rosh Yeshiva of Kolel: A Centre forLiberal Jewish Learning in Toronto.EXTRACT FROM:The Study of Text as a Religious ExerciseRabbi Elyse Goldstein • This article originally appeared in the CCAR Journal, Spring 1999, and is reprinted with permission; ed.The Need for MeaningIt is usually a “trigger event” which causes adults to first enter intoadult education. A death, an intermarriage, or an upcoming Bar or BatMitzvah catapult a need for immediate information and move a personto dabble at first in a class. For those who stay, once their immediatequestions are answered, the informational model is insufficient. Althoughdetails, facts, and data seem to be the goal of the learner, itsoon becomes obvious that adult learners are seeking much more thaninformation. Anne Sokol and Patricia Cranston have noted that “Adulteducation has moved beyond… the ‘banking model’ of teaching inwhich educators make deposits of information into the empty vaults ofstudents’ minds.” 1 They suggest that adult education is about transformation,not training. Adult learners who stay are hungry for transformation,and they sense that traditional texts and traditional text studymay lead to it. They sense that a text is not merely a text, not only awritten document of historical or sociological significance, but reflectingdeep philosophical and spiritual value as well. They stay to findout if their hunch is correct. And often it is. It is in this second modelof adult education, the transformational model, that the study of textbecomes a religious exercise.What does the religious study of text look like? It depends much lesson frontal, lecture methodology because the role of the teacher is notto pour information into waiting students, but to help students extractultimate and existential meaning for themselves. It uses the chevruta(partner) and small group model more, giving students the opportunityto inquire of each other. It is not afraid of cacophony, of small groupsin a room each struggling with a text, just within hearing range ofeach other. It is Socratic in nature, focusing much more on questionsthan on answers. It may concentrate on depth, rather than breadth, ofa certain subject or a particular text.The religious study of a text may manifest itself in a concern with therelationship between the teacher and the students. In many cases, theteacher is not only purveyor of knowledge, but classical spiritualguide; not only Rabbi, but Rebbe. Unafraid to use his or her own life asa model — both positive and negative — the teacher teaches personally,so that the students can move the material from the head to theheart. The teacher serves as a conduit for the life changes such studymay present, and also functions as a kind of shadchan (matchmaker) tohelp spiritually searching students find each other.Religious study of text offers no external rewards. It is — and it feelslike —Torah lishmah, study only for the sake of study. There are no certificates,no degrees, no titles. There is no graduation. There isn’t evena true “end” of the class or semester, and some study courses may goon for years and years on the same text or same topic. There is alwaysmore to learn, and we aren’t necessarily “getting anywhere” in particular.In this way, the “religious” study of text differs significantly fromthe “academic” study of texts found in university Jewish Studies programs.The religious study of text begins with the question, “What message isthis text trying to teach me about how to be a good Jew?”, and onlyends with the question, “How do I do such-and-such?” The religiousstudy of text asks the learner to confront received prejudices andreread the text with new eyes. It does not attempt to answer the question,“is this true?” — meaning — “did this really happen?” but helpsthe learner reframe the question into “is this True?”— meaning—“what Truth will this shed in my life to guide me?”And in the end, the religious study of text will lead the learner on apersonal quest for the answer to that question of Truth. This personalquest will, the teacher hopes, lead the learner into observance, lifechanges, increased attachment to Jewish tradition, and increased needfor Jewish community. The religious study of text goes beyond scientificinquiry, historical analysis, or contextual examination. It is studyin fulfillment of Jewish commitment. Thus, the religious study of textis “missionary” in that it has a mission.P A G E 30 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

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Dr. Jonathan Paradise is EmeritusProfessor of Hebrew at the Universityof Minnesota.Reprinted with permission of the author.HEBREW: WHO NEEDS IT?Jonathan ParadiseWe are living and witnessing one of themost spectacular events in Jewish culturalhistory: The revival and flowering of Hebrewas a spoken language after centuriesof restricted use. Each year sees an outpouringof poetry, essays, novels, and publishedresearch in an astonishing array offields.The outpouring of Hebrew creativity is ofavalanche proportions. University librariesaround the world spend many, many thousandsof dollars each year for new acquisitions,to keep up with the pace of publication.Hebrew is alive, full of vitality, addingand consolidating new vocabularies and idiomsat an ever-accelerating pace. Indeed,the revival of Hebrew culture ranks amongthe greatest achievements of modern JewishHistory.Yet what would we Jews in the UnitedStates know of all of these truly epochmakingdevelopments if we were to look atour own Jewish communities’ use of Hebrewin the public sector? If we were to examineourselves, much as a visitinganthropologist studies and analyzes a foreignculture?We might begin by asking, “What are theroles Hebrew plays in the life of an averageAmerican Jewish child and especially in theeyes of typical parents?” What situationsoccur—either frequent or occasional—where the knowledge of the Hebrew languageis brought into play? What rewardsdoes Jewish society extend or deny personson the basis of their competence in the Hebrewlanguage?The answers to these questions and theothers which could be posed by our hypothetical“anthropologist” are crucial. For itis those answers that will determine thedegree to which members of the society regardthe task of Hebrew language acquisitionas an important one. If Hebrew isimportant—in the “real world”—then time,effort, and resources become “worthwhile”investments. And if Hebrew is consideredtrivial or of marginal importance, the reversewill be true.The sad fact is that the Hebrew language isof marginal importance in most sectors ofthe American Jewish Community. Amongthe various “mitzvot“ observed by the subsetsof organized Jewry— philanthropic activity,support for Israel, observance ofSabbath and festivals, kashrut, service tosynagogue and federation—the study anduse of Hebrew as a means of communication,as a Jewish Language, does not ranklow in the list of the cardinal duties of Jew.It is not even on the list.This being the case, it should surprise noone that competence in the spoken or writtenlanguage is rare among lay persons inthe American Jewish community. After all,why should anyone invest the time and effortrequired to learn skills that are useless?And for the present, Hebrewknowledge is useless. The most that is required(in some quarters) is alphabet training:i.e., the ability to decode the phoneticvalue of the symbols without regard formeaning. This, so that the person may recitethe prayers at an acceptable pace.Now, it is not an easy task these days toget people to derive satisfaction from roterecitation of meaningless sounds. It isnatural to resist it. Nor is it an easy taskto master the “reading” of lengthy textsModern Hebrew culture, Hebrew language, living and spoken, should berecognized as a natural component of being Jewish. The knowledge of thelanguage and ability to use it with ease should be seen as an indispensableadjunct of a fuller and more meaningful Jewish life.P A G E 32 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

when you lack the essential elements ofmeaning, logic, and the expectations providedby grammar and idiom. But more tothe point here is the fact that limiting thepublic role of Hebrew to ritual and liturgyprovides little incentive for learning Hebrewas a language.I once described to a professor of ESL(English as a Second Language) the phenomenonof “Hebrew School” graduateswho have attended anywhere from five toten years but have not learned to understandor speak the language. Her only comment:“They must not have needed to.”Who are the adults who express the needto learn to speak Hebrew by enrolling in anUlpan course? Are they not, in large part,people who acquired a strong motive aftera visit in Israel or who are planning a visitor aliyah? Who are the youngsters who arestill studying Hebrew after their Bar/BatMitzvah? Often they are members of an organizationthat utilizes Hebrew in its activities,alumni of a Hebrew summer camp, orpersons who have participated in a trip toIsrael. In other words, when people encounterthe real language, they suddenlydevelop a need to know.The necessity of creating a “need” for Hebrewis the central thesis of this essay.Until we change that fact of reality, Hebrewteachers in the United States will continueengaging in non-functional education. Notbecause of the methods or the curriculathat are used, but because, in the contextthat we find ourselves in, Hebrew is notperceived as a particularly useful and necessary“commodity.” This fact, more thanany other, is at the root of the unhappy situationin Hebrew Education.The necessity of creating a “need” for Hebrew is the centralthesis of this essay. Until we change that fact of reality,Hebrew teachers in the United States will continue engagingin non-functional education.We need to change drastically the imageand the roles given to the Hebrew languagein the Diaspora. We must do things in publicsettings that stimulate, motivate, andenhance Hebrew study. Our goal must be todemonstrate that knowledge of Hebrew isuseful, psychically rewarding, desirable,and socially acceptable. Above all, we mustcreate conditions which make some knowledgeof Hebrew necessary for full participationin certain areas/aspects of Jewish communallife. If we can manage to introducethe need for Hebrew in enough areas, wewill have done the trick.What follows are some suggestions formaking Hebrew one of the “identitybadges” that we wear as Jews. Many of thesuggestions involve a passive or rather, a“receptive” use of Hebrew. Through visualor aural stimulation we gradually acquireskills in recognition of words and phrases.I make no claim for originality in these suggestions,Most, if not all, have been implementedat one time or another.• Community buildings, synagogues canuse Hebrew signs along with the Englishsigns that already exist, For example:“Men,” “Women.” “Bulletin Board,” “Push/Pull,” “Quiet Please,” “No Smoking,” “Welcome,”“Kipot/ Talitot,” “Library,” “Office,”“Auditorium,” “Swimming Pool,” “SnackBar.”• Printed Programs of concerts, orderof services, menus of communal dinners,etc. should be bi-lingual.• Certificates of awards should includea Hebrew text.• Manufacturers of foods and other productsshould be encouraged to include HebrewVersions of the contents and directionsfor use.• Greater encouragement should begiven to individuals and organizationsto print the invitations to social events,weddings and bar-mitzvahs in Hebrew.• Hebrew Songs. Singing and/or poetrycan be made a part of board meetings, clubevents (adult and youth), Rabbinical Assemblymeetings, Federation meetings,school faculty meetings, and study groups.There is no more effective vehicle forcombining language, cultural and ideologicalvalues, and emotional attachmentthan songs. Moreover, these songs seem tobe immortal. After years of not singing aparticular song, we are able to recall textand melody.• Encourage groups to sponsor eveningsof Hebrew singing and dancing.• Introduce the use of Hebrew in BarMitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, and Weddingceremonies and celebrations. Both thechildren and the wedding couple mightmake short speeches in Hebrew. In bothceremonies, the Rabbi might deliver partof his “charge” to the child or couple inHebrew.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 33

• Hebrew Naming Events. What is morebasic to one’s self-identity than a name?The fact that booklets of Hebrew nameswith their meaning are not freely distributedas part of a program to encourage theuse of Jewish names is absurd!One of our synagogues adopted a novel approach.They organized a “Hebrew NameNight”. Everyone was given a name tagwith his/her name written on it. Those whodidn’t know their name were given the opportunityto choose a Hebrew name. TheHebrew names were entered in the synagoguerecords.• Celebration of Hebrew birthdays on theHebrew date• Activities involving intensive, but nonintimidatinglistening. On special occasionspart of all of a speaker’s remarksshould be delivered in Hebrew. It is essentialthat the remarks that are spoken inEnglish not be a translation or restatementof the Hebrew. The reason for this is thatthere has to be some “gain” realized byknowing Hebrew. Appropriate settings forHebrew remarks are “greetings” or shortspeeches at banquets, bar-mitzvahspeeches, toasts, portions of sermons.• Invite Israeli Youth to visit with studentsand talk with them in Hebrew.• Hebrew plays and concerts by Israelirock, pop groups, comedians, etc., todemonstrate that the breadth and vitality ofHebrew culture is not restricted to sacredand intellectual spheres. Opportunities forspeaking Hebrew could include a Hebrewpicnic, Hebrew skit night, an all-Hebrewsocial dance, a hike, sleigh ride, etc.• A Hebrew version of the “FrenchContest” (An inter-city, all day conclave ofFrench students who conduct debates andpresent musical, dramatic, and other culturalactivities in a competitive and socialframework.) A Hebrew essay/ poetry contest.• Merit badges, award pins and otherprizes for Hebrew Excellence.Whom Does Hebrew“Belong” To?The point is a rather obvious one, but itneeds to be pointed out that if modernHebrew is to be a unifying force among theJewish people, it cannot be perceived asthe private domain of the State of Israel.If modern Hebrew, with the “sephardic”pronunciation is seen as the exclusiveemblem of Israelis (in some outdatedquarters, even seen as belonging to “secular”Israelis—as illogical as this may be)or alternatively, learning Hebrew is seen asthe practice of persons destined to makealiyah, then it can be dismissed by allothers.Modern Hebrew culture, Hebrew language,living and spoken, should be recognizedas a natural component of beingJewish. The knowledge of the languageand ability to use it with ease should beseen as an indispensable adjunct of afuller and more meaningful Jewish life.To be sure, this attitude further emphasizesthe central and creative role played by theState of Israel for Jewish creativity. Itmakes study and living in Israel even moreimportant. It encourages a close followingof Israeli cultural developments throughoutworld Jewry.P A G E 34 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

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ASalutetoExcellencefromHenryandMaureenMolotEnriching Our Children with a StrongJewish Education, Identity and Community ValuesCOURSE OF STUDYHebrew Language Arts (úéøáò)Bible (ùîåç)Holocaust StudiesLaws & Customs (íéðéã)Israel StudiesPrayer (äìéôú)Special EventsJewish HistoryCurrent EventsFamily ProgrammingEngaging Guest SpeakersBar/Bat Mitzvah TrainingCLASSES – Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:15 p.m.-6:00 p.m.Sundays 9:30-12:00 noonJunior and Senior Kindergarten SundaysGrade 1Sundays and TuesdaysGrades 2-6Sundays, Tuesdays and ThursdaysGrade 7Tuesdays and ThursdaysGrade 8 Community Awareness program – Three times per monthBoard Certified TeachersTeacher AssistantsTransportation available from selected Public SchoolsOver 80 years of Traditional Educationin the Ottawa Jewish Community31 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, K2A 1R9Tel: (613) 722-8827 Fax: (613) 792-3500Website: www.ottas.ca Email: ottas@ottas.caCOMPLIMENTSOFP A G E 38 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

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LOCAL AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONSCONTINUITY IN OUR COMMUNITYAGUDATH ISRAEL CONGREGATIONAgudath Israel Congregation is proudto support a variety of programs whichenhance Jewish education and continuitywithin our Agudath membership and theJewish community at large.In the area of Adult Education, we offerprograms across the ages: a Shabbatmincha class with Rabbi Charles Popky,a Talmud class with Rabbi Arnold Fine,lectures on Israel and antisemitism,Lunch ‘n Learn classes following Shabbatservices, a Skills Fairs instructing inHagbahah, Gelilah, how to take an aliyahand properly put on a Tallit.The seniors of our community participateonce a month in “Let’s Do Lunch” wherethey enjoy a hot meal and a progam led bycommunity members.Our youth are involved in Kadimah andUSY. Just recently members of our UnitedSynagogue Youth (USY) travelled toNew Orleans to participate in a rebuildingproject.Congregants and members of the Jewishcommunity are welcome to participate inall programming.Liz PetigorskyPresident, Agudath Israel CongregationTHE BESS AND MOE GREENBERGFAMILY HILLEL LODGEFor many, Hillel Lodge represents a linkto the past. In that sense, the Lodge playsa vital role with respect to Jewish continuity.Lodge programs continue to have asignificant inter-generational component.Young people from pre-school to highschool have opportunities to volunteer andinteract with our residents on a varietyof projects and programs. Many of theseinvolve celebrating our culture, religion andtraditions.The residents are a living testament tosome of history’s more recent events.Having grown up in the early part of thetwentieth century, residents are able todiscuss their exhiliration at the foundingof the State of Israel and the continuing joyof having a homeland. Such programs makefor interesting dialogue, reduce the agebarrier and give young people a differentperspective, a sense of pride in their historyand an appreciation of all that it tookto survive in the past and thrive in thepresent.Stephen SchneidermanCAMP B’NAI BRITH OF OTTAWASince 1936, Jewish children from Ottawa,Montreal, Toronto, Israel, and the U.S.have spent wonderful summers among thewhispering pines at Camp B’nai Brith ofOttawa. CBB is at the heart of the Jewishexperience in our city.Hundreds of kids, spending their daysswimming, sailing, waterskiing, playingtennis, baseball, and football, developingskills in art, music, drama, and dance.Can a summer be any better? How manylong-term relationships and marriages havebeen kindled under the August moon?Canoeing, hiking, bonfires. Friendships andmemories that last a lifetime. Laughter,singing, the wind whispering through thetrees. These are the sounds of a summer atCBB. They have been for over three generations,and they will be for our children andgrandchildren.P A G E 40 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

Studies show that in addition to the fun,joy, and memories, Jewish residentialcamping, when combined with a strongJewish education, enhances affiliation,continuity, identity, and even shul membership.In its 72 nd summer, CBB is undergoing arebirth of sorts, with new Director GailGrief, a revitalized Board, and lots of newkids. Join us!Michael PolowinHILLEL ACADEMY OF OTTAWAHillel Academy of Ottawa is the JewishCommunity’s K-8 Day School, open to allsegments of the Ottawa Jewish Community.Hillel strives to provide a healthy, nurturingenvironment for the intellectual, social,physical, religious, and moral developmentof each child. The school strives foracademic excellence in Jewish, general,and French studies; the achievements ofour students at both the high school anduniversity levels is evidence of its success.In accord with Jewish tradition, Hillel givesall our children the opportunity to developtheir potential by offering them a learningatmosphere in which to acquire Jewishvalues, knowledge, skills, and practicesthat will last a lifetime. Students aretrained in the obligations to give to thepoor, to help those in need, and to be active,contributing members of both theJewish people and Canadian society.Special emphasis is placed on the ties tothe Land and State of Israel as essentialaspects of Jewish identity.Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah UntermanDirector of EducationINTER-FAITH ACTIVITIESThe Jewish Community of Ottawa hasalways considered inter-faith dialogue ofgreat importance. There have been severalrecent activities of note, two of which Iwould like to describe.Students at Hillel Academy have been in“pen-pal” contact with their peers atCharles H. Hulse Elementary School. Eachgroup has gained a greater understandingof their respective spiritual and religiousbeliefs. The students from Charles H. HulseSchool were invited to attend the presentationof “No More Raisins, No MoreAlmonds” at the Museum of Civilizationin March. This show portrays the lives ofJewish children who lived in a ghettoduring the Holocaust. In addition, studentsfrom Charles. H. Hulse School participatedin our Annual Mitzvah Day in November.The tiles they painted for Hillel Lodge willbecome part of a permanent wall display inthe corridor connecting the Lodge to theJewish Community Centre.“Walking God’s Path”, a six-session Jewish-Christian dialogue was organized by twolocal churches (St. Basil’s and St. John’s)and two local synagogues (Agudath Israeland Temple Israel). Each session had overfifty participants. Members of each faithhad the chance to explore the roots behindthe historical tension between them, aswell as the recent efforts towards mutualunderstanding and reconciliation.The Jewish Community of Ottawa looks forwardto building and expanding upon theseand other efforts, with the goal of nurturingpositive relations with our fellow citizens ofother faith or cultural traditions.Brian D. FreundOutreach AssociateJewish Federation of OttawaJEWISH EDUCATION THROUGH TORAH(JET)JET is honoured to be included among themany wonderful educational institutions inOttawa. The message of this magazine isthe importance of Jewish education inJewish life. This has always been a drivingforce behind everything we do.JET is an institution without walls andconducts a wide array of outreach programmingall across the city. JET strives toprovide educational and experiential outreachprograms in the areas of Jewishpractice, customs, culture, and history andto provide guidance and assistance withrespect to Jewish law and customs. Ourgoal is to share the beauty and depth ofJudaism and its deeper meaning and toinspire Jews to identify more strongly. JETis dedicated to providing Jewish educationto all Jews, and to make it accessible to allJews regardless of their level of Jewishbackground and observance. Our variedprograms and classes offer opportunitiesfor young families, singles, teens, andadults of all ages.Rabbi Micah ShotkinKOLLEL OF OTTAWAJewish continuity is an issue that shouldbe at the forefront of our minds. What willensure that our children and grandchildrenwill appreciate and want to continue ourbeautiful heritage?We believe that the answer is through education– if we absorb and internalize thetruths of our Holy Torah, its eternal lightwill continue to guide us, as it did for allthe generations before us.The Kollel of Ottawa had made this apriority. We are committed to bringing thewarmth and radiance of Torah to as broadan audience as possible. We offer seminarson such topics as medical ethics and JewishA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 41

legal issues, provide citywide classes on awide range of halakhic topics, and hostinspirational community ‘Shabbatons’ withexciting guest speakers.The Kollel has served as a resource for theschools and shuls, providing teachers andextra classes.For those interested in more individualstudy, the Kollel offers a one-on-one studyprogram, to explore special topics of interestin the traditional ‘beit midrash’ setting.May we continue working and growingtogether!Rabbi Yonah A. BurrMACHON SARAH HIGH SCHOOL FORGIRLSEstablished in 1990 in honour of theincomparable Sarah Schenirer whopioneered higher Jewish education foryoung women, Machon Sarah is part andparcel of the Ottawa Torah Institute underthe leadership of Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Porat.It operates at a separate campus whilesharing OTI’s teaching staff.Based on the model of the Bais Yakovschools, the curriculum provides an indepthstudy of Humash, Navi, Hebrew,Jewish history, laws, and customs coupledwith the Grades 9-12 curriculum of theOntario Ministry of Education.The richness of the traditional Judaiccurriculum produces graduates whoidentify strongly with Am Yisrael, ToratYisrael and Eretz Yisrael. Most pursue theirhigher education in the State of Israel orat universities in the large Jewish communitiesof North America and are activelyinvolved in these communities.NCSY’S TORAH HIGH AND JEWISHCULTURE CLUBS REACH JEWISHTEENSNCSY’s new Jewish educational program,Torah High, is a Jewish studies programthat allows public high school students totake Jewish studies courses and receive ahigh school credit. Torah High also offersa Mitzvah Action Corps program thatprovides volunteer opportunities forstudents. For the fifty-two Jewish publichigh school students currently enrolled,Torah High has become the place to learnand earn credit with fascinating classes,amazing topics, exciting discussions, andfree pizza!NCSY also runs informal Jewish educationaloutreach programs at six differentpublic high schools in Ottawa. NCSY is ableto reach unaffiliated Jewish teens wherethey can be found – in their public highschools. Over 150 Jewish teens participateannually in Jewish Culture Clubs and manycontinue on to Torah High where they learnmore about Judaism and Israel.Bram BregmanOTTAWA TALMUD TORAH AFTER-NOON SCHOOLLet me open our doors and introduce youto a school that prides itself in deliveringan excellent Jewish education — and ongiving something greater. Talmud Torahstudents are given the tools to acquirea sound knowledge of Judaism and itsimportance. They will carry this with themthroughout their lives. The education ourstudents receive goes beyond the books.Our school’s curriculum includes an innovative,internationally-recognized Hebrewacquisition program, as well as the studyof laws and customs, prayer, Jewish history,and Israel. Talmud Torah provides ourstudents with a very good basis for theirBar and Bat Mitzvahs.Talmud Torah holds events to bring ourfamilies together and to participate in theOttawa Jewish community. We create bondsbetween Jewish families that will last alifetime. I am fortunate to have committedparents who understand that Jewisheducation cannot be successful in isolationfrom our homes and Ottawa’s growingcommunity.Tal Gilboa, PrincipalOTTAWA TORAH CENTER CHABADOttawa Torah Center Chabad (OTC) wasfounded in 1997 on the premise that Jewisheducation and meaningful experiencesare the grass-roots method to fighting theforces of indifference, apathy, and assimilation.OTC is based in the Barrhaven areawhere many young Jewish families aresettling. It is dedicated to serving all Jewswith Ahavat Yisrael—an unconditional loveand concern for every Jew regardlessof background, affiliation, or financialabilities.OTC has developed a full array of excitingeducational activities and social programsfor the entire family in partnership withmany local Jewish organizations.Through stimulating hands-on workshopssuch as Shofar making, through the BatMitzvah Club and Youth Programs, over1500 children in Ottawa gain an appreciationfor Jewish tradition. These programsare now offered to the public school systemon major Jewish holidays.The highly praised Jewish LearningInstitute (JLI) courses, offered throughoutthe year at the Soloway Jewish CommunityCenter, have drawn over 300 students todate.OTC provides holiday celebrations in whichhundreds of families participate, many ofthem unaffiliated.P A G E 42 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

Best WishesfromSusan, Gillie& Elie VeredA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O L“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 43

Eighty families now belong to the OTC shulat 3023 Cedarview Rd. Adults enjoy theuser-friendly Shabbat services conducted inHebrew and English and sprinkled with insightsinto the prayers and contemporarymessages. The children have their ownmeaningful and fun program in a separateroom. The weekly Alef-Bet Discovery programfor children that provides an appreciationfor Judaic traditions with an emphasison Hebrew reading and writing, demonstratesOTC’s efforts to provide the entirefamily with an enjoyable, educational, andmeaningful experience.Rabbi Menachem BlumSHOAH (HOLOCAUST) COMMITTEEOF OTTAWABefore and After the Holocaust: Coming toTerms with the Past and Facing the Future,was the theme of the 2006 HolocaustEducation Week. It began with a pressconference announcing the Federation’s$12,000 donation to the Ottawa PublicLibrary to enhance its Holocaust collection.The Shoah Committee continues to coordinatesending Holocaust survivors and otherspeakers to schools and assisting educatorsand students as needed. Special filmscreenings, book discussions, and theannual Kristallnacht commemoration havebeen an integral part of the program.The Shoah Committee has also been involvedin a number of collaborative projectsthis year; one with the Dora WassermanYiddish Theatre of Montreal, and the otherwith Yad Vashem, Toronto. The YiddishTheatre came to the Museum of Civilizationon March 29 and 30 to perform No MoreRaisins, No More Almonds – a play withYiddish songs and English and French supertitles.Forty Montreal youth performedin this production which teaches aboutthe Holocaust and combating racism,antisemitism, and genocide. On April 15the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and YadVashem held a two-part Canadian communityHolocaust Commemoration that beganon Parliament Hill and moved to theCongress Centre. Dignitaries, communityleaders, and rabbis participated in thecommemoration.Brian D. FreundOutreach AssociateJewish Federation of OttawaSOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITYCENTREThe Soloway Jewish Community Centreserves everyone, “from babies to bubbies,”with a full range of programs.We welcome new parents to the communityin the new program Shalom Baby. We encouragethem to enroll their children in theGanon Preschool or the Early BeginningsMulticultural Child Development Centre.We offer a summer day camp and sportscamp for Jewish children in preschool andelementary school. For teenagers we hostthe B’nai Brith Youth Organization, whichprovides both Jewish continuity and leadershiptraining.We are launching Geshercity for youngadults - a web-based meeting place,community calendar and bulletin board tolink young adults by interest and activity.We also offer many opportunities for adulteducation at the Soloway JCC. The GreenbergFamilies Library provides a broadrange of Jewish books, periodicals, andDVDs as well as a Jewish Film Series anda Book Discussion Club.The Vered Israel Cultural and EducationalProgram presents lectures andconcerts concerning Israel and the MiddleEast. The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is a two-year pluralistic, text-basedapproach to Jewish literacy designed by theHebrew University of Jerusalem. We alsohave courses in Modern Hebrew and Yiddishand lectures on Jewish history andmusic.In partnership with AJA 50+ we provide aunique day-long recreational program forisolated seniors called Creative Connections,which includes exercise, concerts,and lectures. Please come join us on yourJewish Journey.Maxine Miska, Program DirectorTHE STAR OF DAVID HEBREWSCHOOLThe Star of David Hebrew School offers atraditional curriculum leading to Hebrewliteracy and knowledge of Jewish customsand ritual. Our ultimate goal is to ensurethat our children understand and treasurethe uniqueness of their Jewish identity andthat they acquire the background andknowledge that will enable them to live andbe comfortable as practicing Jews in theiradult years.The curriculum emphasizes oral andwritten Hebrew from kindergarten up.Familiarity with the daily prayers andservices is achieved through the constantuse of the Siddur.For the past thirty years, The Star of DavidHebrew School has taken pride in its concernfor each child. Teachers use individualizedprograms tailored to the needs ofeach student, providing a solid foundationof Hebrew education.Hennie Honigman, PrincipalP A G E 44 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

THE MAX AND TESSIE ZELIKOVITZ CENTRE FORJEWISH STUDIES AT CARLETON UNIVERSITYThe Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies atCarleton University offers various forms of Jewish educationto university students at Carleton, to students at other institutions,and to the public at large. Offerings include courses(for credit and not-for-credit); workshops; presentations byOttawa scholars; presentations by Visiting Scholars.The Centre focuses on all aspects of Jewish culture andcivilization – Jewish art, music, literature, culture; social,psychological, and historical experiences in the Diaspora;Holocaust studies and psycho-social studies of responsesto discrimination and trauma; Israeli culture and research;Hebrew language and literature; Jewish philosophy, thought,ethics; and so on. The Centre is also home to over two dozenCarleton scholars, whose research focuses directly on issuesrelated to Jewish Studies.A P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LOne goal of the Centre is to make the student body and thecommunity aware of the fruits of this ongoing research.E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 1 8– Steve Levinson –PARTNERBinks Insurance Brokers Limited270-955 Green Valley Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2C 3V4Tel: (613) 226-7559 ext 247 Fax: (613) 226-7029 Email:s.levinson@binks.caWith best wishes fromAlan & Margo Blostein“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 45

TAMIRTamir is a proud and caring team of participants,families, volunteers, and professionalsdedicated to assisting people withdevelopmental disabilities to live with dignityand respect in a supportive Jewish environment.Our organization has spearheaded severalnew initiatives this year to promote Jewisheducation and continuity, including:The Ottawa Jewish community’s specialeducation (including gifted) needs assessment,(see results on Jewish Ottawa website)and the Inclusion Matters proposal todevelop special education resources in ourcommunity; Keshet for Kids summer andMarch break camps for disabled Jewishchildren; Yad B’Yad which offers Jewishyouth (including students from YitzhakRabin) opportunities to assist children andadults with developmental disabilities.Building a more inclusive community leadsto a stronger sense of belonging and attachmentto Jewish life for us all.Congratulations and Yasher Koach toYitzhak Rabin High School on the publicationof their Community Magazine.Alicia GreenTORAH ACADEMY OF OTTAWATorah Academy of Ottawa is proud to becelebrating its tenth anniversary this year.During these ten years, Torah Academy hasestablished itself as an educational institutionthat provides a serious alternative forparents who are seeking the highest standardsin both Judaic and secular studies,coupled with the warmth and intimacy thata smaller school is able to provide. Inkeeping with its mandate to foster withinits students a life-long commitment tolearning and living according to the idealsof Jewish tradition, and by providing an environmentin which Torah ideals and middos(positive character traits) are taught andmodeled by its faculty, Torah Academy hasdone much to promote Jewish Educationand Jewish Continuity over the past tenyears. Torah Academy graduates have continuedtheir Jewish education on the secondaryand post-secondary levels and arenow beginning to establish families that areproudly Jewish and committed to the idealsfirst instilled in them during their years atTorah Academy.Rabbi Yisroel GoldbaumUIA—CANADAThe Canada-Galilee Panhandle Partnershiptwins six Canadian communities coast-tocoast– Atlantic Canada, Ottawa, Winnipeg,Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver – withfive Galilee Panhandle development townsand councils – Galil Elyon, KiryatShmonah, Metulah, Mevo’ot Ha-Hermon,and Yesud Ha-Ma’alah. Comprised of smalltowns, kibbutzim and moshavim, theGalilee Panhandle is located along theconfrontation line on the Lebanese border,far from the heart of Israel. Despite thesechallenges, the region makes great effortsto provide its 50,000 residents with thesame social, educational, and employmentopportunities available in the centre of thecountry.Since its establishment in 1997 as one ofover forty Jewish Agency Partnership 2000programs across Israel, the goals of theCanada-Galilee Panhandle Partnership areto:• provide deep, meaningful people-to-peopleconnections between Canadian andGalilee Panhandle residents so as to supportand strengthen Israeli society, whilepromoting global Jewish identity and AmEchad – a united people.• advance and enhance living standards inthe Galilee Panhandle through a range ofeducational, social, and community initiativesin order to improve quality of life, retainpopulation levels, and spur growth inthe region.Mitchell Bellman, President and C.O.O.,Jewish Federation of OttawaTHE VERED JEWISH CANADIANSTUDIES PROGRAM AT THEUNIVERSITY OF OTTAWATHE VERED ISRAEL CULTURE ANDEDUCATIONAL PROGRAM AT THESOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITYCENTREHistory is an important component ofJudaism. Our culture shapes our identity.Recognizing the importance of these twoelements of Jewish life, the Vered Familyestablished “The Vered Jewish CanadianStudies Program” at the University ofOttawa and “The Vered Israel Culture andEducational Program” at the SolowayJewish Community Centre.In Hebrew the word for forward is kadimah,and the word for times long past is kedem.Both words come from the same root. Wecannot go forward without relating to ourpast. Each generation faces new challenges.The challenges of the past wereovercome by our belief in our future andthis belief was passed from one generationto the next.Our culture is part of our everyday life andgives meaning to our existence. By imbuingour children with our Jewish heritage wedevelop strong individuals who know whothey are and where they are going.The program at the University of Ottawais also directed at non-Jews, in order topromote a dialogue between Jews and non-Jews, to expose the perils of antisemitism,and to show students how to combat thisphenomenon in Canadian society.Sarah VeredP A G E 46 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

“The secret of our Jewish Continuityis in the hearts and soulsof the ones who never give up.”Marcia & Barry Cantorand familycompliments ofRichard WasermanSales Representative200-485 Bank St., Ottawa, ON K2P 1Z2Office: (613) 728-2000Direct: (613) 722-6004 ext. 253Cell: (613) 291-5988Fax: (613) 728-1107richard.waserman@clvgroup.comwww.clvgroup.comA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O Lcompliments ofHowie NadolnyDr. André EngelCERTIFIED MOHELAccredited byOttawa Va’ad Ha’irPediatric Office:Residence:(613) 731-2244(613) 733-4108…a kinder gentler approach using local anesthesiaIan M. Sherman, FCAPartnerfrom Bruce EngelErnst & Young LLPChartered AccountantsTax Services100 Queen StreetSuite 1600Ottawa, ON K1P 1K1ey.com/caDirect: (613) 598-4335Residence: (613) 723-8272Fax: (613) 232-5324Ian.M.Sherman@ca.ey.com“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 47

P A G E 48 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

11 # of graduates in 200712 # of staffYITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOLcreativity/innovation/leadership22 # of ipods and cell phones owned by the graduates23 # of scholarships obtained by the graduates46 # of university acceptances received by the graduates47 # of students in YRHS229000 dollar value of scholarships obtained by the graduatesBY THE NUMBERSA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LEDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN SECULAR AND JUDAIC STUDIES“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 49

Ottawa Shutter CenterCustom Shutters & Window CoveringsWendy Hadad853 Boyd AvenueOttawa, ON K2A 2C9www.ottawashuttercenter.comwhadad@ottawashuttercenter.comTel: 613-226-6665Fax: 613-226-1114allPersonal & CorporatePlanning ServicesDESIGN MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIONALIZA GAUZAS58 Castleton Street, Ottawa ON K2G 5N5Tel (613) 228-0718 Fax (613) 228-4021Wishing you lots of success......from FriendsP A G E 50 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

Dr. Stanley ShiffDENTAL SURGEON225 Metcalfe StreetSuite 503Ottawa, OntarioK2P 1P9Tel. 232-0467QUALITYHAND MADEBREADS, ROLLS,CAKES ANDPASTRIESVKA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LDr. Alex Wakter, BA, DDSWorld Exchange Plaza111 Albert Street, Suite 114Ottawa, OntarioK1P 1A5(613) 235-7677DR. HURD STEINPERIODONTIST225 Metcalfe St., Suite 401, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1P9Telephone (613) 235-0500Fax (613) 235-4124“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 51

Best WishesfromAviva & Chuck FreedmanCompliments ofAJ & Ruth FreimanSteven Fremeth, MSc, DDS102, 1500 Bank StreetOttawa, Ontario K1H 7Z2Tel: (613) 739-1616Fax: (613) 739-7479dr-fremeth@on.aibn.comwww.drstevenfremeth.comBest WishesElaine, Robert,Jason & DanielWith compliments ofGallery Cosmo&the Wasserlauf familywith compliments fromCathy Maron & George Gatyand familyP A G E 52 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

compliments of3Implant Innovations, Inc.Best WishesA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LLinda & Steven KerznerFor our amazing catering serviceplease phone (613) 722-4357.Eat in or take out service available.2177 Carling Avenue, Ottawacomplimentsofthe Kimmel Familycompliments ofIRWIN KREISMAN, D.D.S.COSMETIC & RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY225 METCALFE STREET, SUITE 416OTTAWA, ONTARIO K2P 1P9(613) 235-4289FAX (613) 235-2371TELEPHONE (613) 238-1392For Kitchens, Vanities and Closets,come to our ShowroomDR. JACK LEHRERTel: (613) 836-5353Fax: (613) 836-7511www.laurysenkitchens.com2415 Carp Rd., P.O. Box 1235Stittsville, ON K2S 1B3267 O’CONNOR STREET, SUITE 527OTTAWA, ONTARIO K2P 1V3“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 53

PINECREST SHOPPING CENTRE(613) 721•9991Continued Success to theStaff and Studentsof Yitzhak Rabin High SchoolCOLLEGE SQUARE MARKET1980 BASELINE ROAD...is proud to offer you a wide selectionof specialty kosher products.Mark Luden, D.D.S., M.S.Orthodontics for Children and Adults30 Edgewater St., Suite 124Kanata, ON K2L 1V8Tel: 613-836-366893 Hugh Street NorthArnprior, ON K7S 3L4Tel: 613-623-9100Marg’s BoutiqueDrapery/DecorSlipcovers/BlindsTruly Personal ServiceCall Rosalind Harris at613-839-3468ACCOUNTING, TAXATION, BOOKKEEPING &MANAGEMENT ADVISORYP A G E 54 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E

House of CommonsChambre des communesDavid McGuintyMember of ParliamentDéputé d’Ottawa–SudConstituency Office / Bureau de Circonscription1883, rue Bank StreetOttawa (Ontario)K1V 7Z9Tel / Tél: (613) 990-8640Fax / Téléc: (613) 990-2592Email / Courriel: McGuinty.D@parl.gc.ca■ Home Oxygen■ Medical Equipment & Supplies■ Sleep Therapy (C.P.A.P.)■ Mobility Aids(wheelchairs, bathroom aids)■ Enteral Feeding■ Incontinent Supplies■ Dental SuppliesBrian A. GreensladeSenior Territory Manager1000 Thomas Spratt PlaceOttawa, ON K1G 5L5Tel: (613) 737-7711 ext. 3594Toll Free: 1-800-267-6352 ext. 3594Fax: (613) 737-7144E-mail: brian_greenslade@praxair.comhttp://www.medigas.comA P U B L I C A T I O N O F Y I T Z H A K R A B I N H I G H S C H O O LCompliments ofOttawa office:Suite 1500, 45 O’Connor StreetOttawa, ON K1P 1A4Tel.: (613) 780-8661Fax: (613) 230-5459www.ogilvyrenault.comDr. Kenneth Ostrega,B. Sc. D.D.S.Dental Surgeon / Chirurgien-Dentiste267 O’Connor StreetSuite 615Ottawa, Ont. K2P 1V3Mon.-Fri. 8:40 to 5:30Tel: (613) 232-0903Res: (613) 820-4467Cell: (613) 276-1516Fax: (613) 232-1700“ A L i f e t i m e o f L e a r n i n g ” • P A G E 55

INDEX OF ADVERTISERSOn behalf of all who benefit from continued Jewish education in Ottawa, the production team of Continuity wouldlike to extend a special thank you to the companies and individuals who supported this project and helped to makeit possible.All Events Planning 50Argyle & Associates 7Arnon Corporation 35Baird, John 50Bakermet 35Bassi Construction 9Binks Insurance 45Black, Martin 45Blostein, Alan & Margo 45Borts, Mark 45BrazeauSeller 17Cadieux Ltd 36Cantor Family 47Carp Self-Storage 22CBI Physiotherapy 47Clamen, Paul 36Cogan & Associates 36Cohen & Lord Insurance 47Colliers International 36Comvesco Levinson-Viner 47Delta Hotel 37Direct Funding 47District Realty 22Dundee Bank of Canada 43Emcon 23Engel, André 47Engel, Bruce 47Equitas Consulting 24Ernst & Young LLP 47Eurodata 52Firestone Restaurants 37Freedman, Aviva & Chuck 52Freiman, AJ & Ruth 52Fremeth, Dr. Steven 52Friedman Family 52Fusion Beauty 24Gallery Cosmo 52Gaty Family 52Glenview Management 37GLS International 18Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP 52HSBC 25Implant Innovations, Inc. 53IP Strategies 25Isserlin, Dr. Jonathan A 53Jewish Federation of Ottawa 48Kershman Wasserlauf Family 29Kerzner, Linda & Steven 53Kettleman's Bagel 53Kimmel Family 53Kreisman, Dr. Irwin 53Labarge Weinstein 37Laurysen Kitchens 53Lehrer, Dr. Jack 53Levitz, Gerry 54Linen Chest 54Loblaws 54Loeb 54Luden, Dr. Mark 54Marg's Boutique 54Martin, Dr. Paul 54Mazur, Bram 54McGuinty, David 55Medigas 55Merovitz Potechin LLP 29Message Centre 55Mintoinside frontMolot, Henry & Maureen 38New Dubrovnick 55Nobel Biocare 55Ogilvy Renault 55OPTX Commerce 18Osgoode Properties inside backOstrega, Dr. Ken 55Ottawa Shutter Center 00Ottawa Talmud Torah AfternoonSchool 38Paramount Properties 38Perley-Robertson 38Poilievre, Pierre 55Pri-Tec Construction Ltd 43Regional Group 35Richmond Home Hardware 39Rideau Bakery 51Rimer, Phil 51Royal Lepage – David Resnick 51Segal, D. Larry 39Shiff, Dr. Stanley 51Shuster, Shayna 51Smith, Petrie, Carr & Scott 45Soloway Jewish Community Centre 4Sprint Courier 31Stein, Dr. Hurd 51Szirtes, Debra & Peter 31TD Waterhouse Private Client Services 31United Jewish Appeal 48Urbandale 00Vered, Susan & Gillie 43Wakter, Dr. Alex 51Weight Watchers 51Welch & Company 43Yegendorf & Associates 17P A G E 56 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E