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Yiddish School Thriving In Long Island
Shaking up Jewish education: Students at the Peretz school in East Meadow, L.I., learn how to use the lulav during recent Sukkot class. Stewart Ain by Stewart Ain “When I was young I went to temple a couple of times, but my parents felt [the Peretz school] was nicer and more personal,” she said. “We were going to a Reform synagogue and the services were very long and time consuming. My mother said she wanted to do things as a family that were more interesting.” Lisa Reiner, 46, of Bellerose, Queens, whose 9-year-old son attends the school, said she had no formal Jewish education but that “my own Jewish identity is strong.” “My son’s father is not Jewish ... [but] we celebrate the Jewish holidays with some of the traditions,” she said. “We have a seder but we don’t use the traditional book — we make our own traditions. We incorporate the Jewish religion, history and culture, but not all of it.” The two women were discussing the Peretz school while sitting with other mothers in its crowded lounge in East Meadow, L.I., waiting for their children’s classes to end. The school, which 10 years ago had just 18 students, has grown from 70 students last year to more than 100 this year and is continuing to grow — enrolling another family last month. It’s pulling families from as far away as Queens and Suffolk, and it represents a quirky and unlikely educational success story at a time when synagogue-based Hebrew schools are struggling to remake themselves and change their negative image. What is the Peretz school’s secret? Its director, Staci Davis, described it as an ability to help families “bring Judaism into their lives in a cultural way rather than a religious way.” But at the same time, she said, the school introduces students to all aspects of Judaism “because we feel our students should be educated so that when they grow up they can determine for themselves how much they wish to practice.” The school was founded in 1954 by the Workmen’s Circle and today this school for children aged 7-16 has the largest enrollment of any of the organization’s eight shules (Yiddish for schools) in the United States. Half of the shules are in the New York area: the Midtown (Manhattan) WC Shule; the Vladimir Medem WC School of Westchester, and the newest affiliate, the Jewish Cultural School, a secular school in Centereach, L.I. David Goldstein, chairman of the Workmen’s Circle New York region and a volunteer teacher at the Peretz school, pointed out that the school’s curriculum was revamped over the last five years and that all but one of its 10 teachers was replaced. “Our shule is built from the ground up to engage the students,” he explained. “Engaging is more than interacting — it’s getting the kids excited about what they’re learning. That is the blood of this school. We’re here to capture the kids’ interests and passion.” Goldstein said his family might be the only members of the Peretz school that also belongs to a synagogue. Both of his daughters wanted a synagogue bat mitzvah, and the synagogue agreed, provided they attended classes at the synagogue the year before their bat mitzvah. “They were miserable and didn’t want to go,” he said of their experience at the synagogue-based school. “They said it was not interesting and all they did was watch movies. They said they could watch movies at home.” In contrast, Goldstein said the Peretz school had a 100 percent retention rate among those in the bar mitzvah class, and that a post-bar mitzvah program was added this year that focuses on community service and social justice. “We added it because they enjoyed it here so much that they didn’t want to leave,” Davis said. Perhaps the recession is a factor in the growth of the Peretz school because its tuition is $650 a year for twice-a-week classes, compared to hundreds of dollars for afternoon synagogue-based religious instruction that often requires synagogue dues as well. But the parents interviewed all said they had enrolled their children out of conviction, not to save money, and Goldstein pointed out that some area synagogues anxious for new members are offering free Hebrew school. Whatever the reason, a growing number of families appear to be sold on the Peretz school — more than half of whom are transfers from synagogue-based schools. On its Web site, the Peretz school bills itself as “an alternative or supplement to traditional Hebrew schools.” It teaches conversational and written Yiddish, traditional Hebrew reading, Jewish history and culture, and Jewish music. And the school emphasizes social justice and Eastern European Jewish culture to help youngsters develop a strong Jewish identity. Rachel, who declined to give her last name and last month enrolled two children in the school, said she learned of it through a newspaper ad that proclaimed the Peretz school to be “Jewish, but not religious.” “It seemed to be what I was looking for,” she said. “I liked its stress on culture. I had been keeping my eye out for [Jewish] programs, and I didn’t feel comfortable with any of the temples.” “I was bat mitzvah in a Conservative synagogue and grew up in Franklin Square,” Rachel said. “My husband was raised Catholic but he is non-religious. When we got married, he said ‘You can do whatever you want with the kids as long as they don’t run around with peyot.’” She said she lives in an “extremely diverse” community and loves it. On the other hand, she said, she has “not met another Jewish family with young children” and she wanted her children to “get the experience of Judaism.” “My folks are happy we’re doing something,” she added. “They are not religious at all, but they have a strong Jewish identity. ... My main goal is for my children to enjoy this. I don’t want to force them to go to Hebrew school. My two older brothers hated it. I went to Hebrew school but I learned little about Judaism. I can read and write Hebrew, but I feel I didn’t get much useful education.” Although the Peretz school does some advertising, Goldstein said the school is growing largely from word of mouth. “People tell friends that their kid enjoys going to Hebrew school and that they should check it out,” he said. Goldstein said that while some of the other shules have seen some increase in enrollment, none approach East Meadow’s growth spurt. Ann Toback, executive director of the Workmen’s Circle, said that as a result of its success, the Peretz school has become “a model for the organization.” “It has a real committed leadership and a group of committed parents who sought highly skilled teachers and pushed an agenda that is very much in line with the Workmen’s Circle,” she said. Goldstein noted that as a child he attended an Orthodox religious school three times a week and that the Peretz school is “in no way anti-religious.” Although students don’t have prayer books or learn how to pray, he said, “there is a lot of learning going on but it is not focused on prayer. That doesn’t mean prayer is excluded; it’s just not the focus.” Goldstein pointed out that at least two graduates of the Peretz school have gone on to become Reform rabbis. And he said the school works with two local rabbis who assist students who want a traditional synagogue bar/bat mitzvah. As he spoke, youngsters in the basement of the one-story school building passed around a lulav and etrog while their teacher, Deborah Strauss, herself a graduate of a Jewish day school, explained how to wave it. A sukkah stood next to them. Strauss, 44, said she teaches a “broad, cultural, values-based Jewish education.” Scott Eckers, 29, the Yiddish teacher who attended synagogue Hebrew schools as a child, said the instruction is not geared to any one denomination of Judaism. “We keep it broad and open to interpretation,” he said. “There is something here for everybody. Whatever they are learning at home, we are providing an historic and cultural view.” During the Rosh HaShanah “celebration,” which was held this year in a movie theater to accommodate the 270 students, parents, relatives and friends in attendance, both Yiddish and Hebrew prayers were recited. Among them was the blessing over the lighting of candles and the Shehechianu prayer thanking God for letting us reach this occasion. On the same day Strauss demonstrated the use of the lulav and etrog, Eckers was in a classroom on the main floor using a video tape to teach Yiddish. In another classroom across the hall, Goldstein talked to the bar mitzvah-age students about the Holocaust and gave each the names and background of youngsters who had been murdered by the Nazis. He asked that they forever remember that youngster when they think of the Holocaust. Rabbi Peter Schweitzer, spiritual leader of the City Congregation of Humanistic Judaism, said he was aware of the Workmen’s Circle schools and said his synagogue also appeals to secular and cultural Jews. One reason for the secular schools’ popularity, he suggested, is that recent polls have found that fully half of all Jews identify as secular Jews. “They are not affiliated with a congregation, and they are looking for a place that resonates with them to educate their kids,” he said. This Judaism, Rabbi Schweitzer explained, is one that “speaks to the family connections people feel to their heritage. We are a people. In a sense we belong to a large culture and civilization that has passed down from generation to generation ethical values and values for good behavior. Religious practice is not what we are about. Instead it is about connection to family and the values of social justice.” His congregants celebrate Passover, for instance, using a Haggadah he wrote that takes the miracle out of the Exodus. “It is humans taking destiny into their own hands to seek freedom for themselves and others,” he said. “We can connect with all the [Jewish] holidays. Sukkot, for instance, was a fall harvest that we can appreciate from the point of view of those who are homeless.” Rabbi Stephen Dresner, spiritual leader of the Franklin Square Jewish Center, said he has been working with the school’s students for more than 10 years, training them to lead a Sabbath afternoon service. He said his congregation encourages the relationship. “We have a senior citizens’ congregation of fewer than 100 members and we’re grateful for their few bar and bat mitzvahs,” he said. Rabbi Dresner said he “wholly supports” the Peretz school because “it’s good for Judaism.” “It’s better than nothing,” he added. “It’s the only way to save the religion.”
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