Rhode Passover Greetings --HERALD Pages 11-20 The Only English-Jewish Weekly in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts VOLUME LXXVII, NUMBER 19 THURSDAY, APRIL S, 1990 35< PER COPY Will Our Grandchildren Be Jewish? Commission Looks at Jewish Education __________ by Andrew S ilow Carroll educatio n organiza1ions, Mandel lengc n umber one." from city to city. but starting for families. Washington J e"·ish Week has assembled a 47-mcmbcr T he North American Jewish salaries for J..: wish day school "Teachers don't feel they're WASHINGTON (lTA) - comm ission of philanthropists community already spends some teachers arc o ften $5,000 less held in high regard," said Rabbi Mon on Mandel is of that genera­ and educators with hopes of $ 1 billion on Jewish education, than for public sch0ol teachers. ('hanina Rabinowitz. principal tion of North America n Jews revolutio nizing the way North accord ing to Schiffs estimates. "You're not going to a11ract of the North Shore Hebrew who achieved the kind o f mate­ American Jews regard Jewish That figure includes the more teachers into the field when the Academy in Grca1 Neck. 'Td rial and social success 1hcir par­ education. than $500 million spcn1 in tui­ most they can earn after 10 to 15 like 10 sec additional profession-· ents and grandparents only This June. when 1hc commis­ tio n 10 Jewish day schools. $175 )"Cars. with a master's degree. is al I raining tha t not only wouldn't dreamed about. sion announces 1he results of million in Sunday schools and $35.000 a year. as opposed 10 cost (lhe teacher). but would rep­ But. a1 the p('ak of his fonunc dose to two years of work, ob­ other "supplementary" pro­ $45.000 to $50,000 fo r public resent an increase in their salary." and power. Mandel admits to a servers arc not expecting surpris­ grams. and millions more in school veterans," said Paul Rabbi Jack Bieler. c-oordinalor feeling of anxiely 1ha1 he thinks ing insights or radical ideas for Jewish campaign. adult educa­ Flcxner, d irector of human re­ of Judaic Studies at the Hebrew is shared by his "colleagues in change. tion. communi1y center pro­ sources development at JESNA. At·adcmy of Greater Washington kwish communal activism." The Mandel Commission has grams and campus groups. And , with the possible excep­ and a member of the commis­ ··There is a great concern on already announced that ii is But while some 80 percent tion of New York's Orthodox sion, said that as a "teacher our part as to whether our grand­ seeking ways to ··professional­ of Jewish children in North communities. problems in find­ advocate" he would support children will grow up to br posi­ ize" Jewish educators and to America receive some form of mg qualined. licensed teachers "whatever it takes to try and ti vely idcntiricd with ... Jewish make education a higher pri­ Jewish education. only 40 per­ cxisl for all denominations. said raiSl' lhe community's con­ life ... said Mandel. chairman of ority among Jewish communal cent arc formally enrolled in a Flcxner. sciou:.ncss and the status of those the board of the Premier Indus­ r,lanners. program or ins111u11on. And of Jewish educators talk wistfully involved. trial Corporation in Cleveland. "While money doesn't solve these. o nly 28 to 30 percent arc of what could be done with slight "We need to find ways 10 help " I don't want us 10 have lasted all problems, one o f the things enrolled in Jewish day schools. 1ncrca~es in their annual bud­ rn.·atiw people bring into reali1y these years and rind great success American Jewry needs is an in­ considered the most clTcctivc gets. from higher salaries and in being accepted in America. dependent. multi-millio n dollar means o f ensuring Jewish con­ bc11er health plans for teachers to and then have the Jewish com­ foundation to be able to leverage tinui1y, according 10 Liora Isaacs. grea1cr numbers of scholarships (Continued on page 35) munily decrease in size and con­ mom·y to respond to critical director of research at the Jewish lnbution:· he said. needs in Jewish education:· said Educational Service of North Mandel's concerns have led 10 Dr. Alvin Schi!T, executive vice America (JESNA). - More than trees - what is being called \he most im­ president of 1he Board of Jewish With so much Jewish educa­ portant development in Jewish Education of Greater New York tio n taking place in part-time education in the pasl 10 years. and a member of the commis­ "supplementary" schools and JNF Picks Up The Burden Working through his Mandel sion. informal settings. full-time Associated Foundations and "Matching the proposals with teaching jobs arc low-paying and of Aliya rarely a vailable. Figures vary major North American Jewish 1hc availabili1y of bucks is chal- by John Chadwick For years. they meant nothing conservation. more to you than a yearly Tu-Bi­ Mother Earth's Conservation "People were here before some Shevat lecture by your Hebrew of the (coalition) groups,'' said school teacher. Show Gets Large Turnout John Campanini, advocate of They were later a source ofem­ T he Providence Street Tree Pro­ barrassment - your confirma­ by Kathy Cohen Sunday. April I. at the Jewish gram. "It's nice 10 see such a tion class planted the fewest trees Assislanl Herald Editor Community Center. The fa ir, good turn out." in Israel of any class in the 1cm­ An abundance of people both featuring numerous local and na­ Cam panini was there to plc's history. young and old were o n hand for tiona l coali1ion groups. was open present his group's new program. Maybe you heard your paren1s the ecology fair entitled "Mother to a interested members of 1he the Mary Elizabeth Sharp Street mentio n them - as they wro1e Earth's Medicine Show" last public seeki ng practical ideas for Tree Endowment a nd to show ou1 the rest of the month's checks how the program can help keep to the Federation and to UJA. Providence's streets safe for But despite any youthful indif­ trees. ference you may have had to " Last year 30 different streets 1recs. the Jewish National Fund benefited from the program," has occupied - then and now - Campanini said. " But the prob­ a pre-eminent plateau in Israel lem is letting people know about and in the collective heart of the choices in helping 10 make Provi­ American Jew. dence green again.'' People can One of the first organized man­ Orri Orr, the new general director planl their own tree or lhey can, ifestations of the Zionist move­ of the J ewish National Fund. as a group. buy several trees to ment, the J NF was already oper­ plant. They just have to fi ll out ating in pre-state Palestine and in been approved for fiscal 1990- a n application for the particular the Diaspora at the turn of the 1991 and the agency in Israel areathey would like a tree to be century. They raised money for now numbers over 2000 full­ pla nted." land reform and for land pur­ time employees. But once again Campa nini says his coalition chases and they helped the desert they find themselves charged group plans to plant a harvest of bloom with the work of1heirown with preparing the land for an­ 300 trees throughout Providence hands. other major wave of immigra­ where, at present. there are And as any beleaguered He­ tion. This year. "The greening of 21.000 street trees and 18.000 brew school teacher would tell Israel" becomes more important planting sites avaiable for plant­ you, these were a special breed of than ever. ing. men. the rirst modern Hebrew New JNF Director General Many of the features were ex­ man. Like thi: early kibbutzniks. Orri Orr recently completed an hibits by Save the Bay, Audubon they were pioneers who - even American visit a nd met with Society, Narragansett Electric. if they really didn't dress in white JNF supporters from New Eng­ Providence Public Works/OS­ safari hats and shorts - cap­ land last week in Boston. Orr. a CAR. Roger Williams Zoo/ tured the imagination of a gener­ former career IDF o fficer is en­ NWF/ WWF and the s1a1e De­ ation of Diaspora Jews with their thusiastic about JNF's expanded partment of Environmental dedication to the land. A blue role and secs i1 as nothing less Management A total of 23 J NF collcclion box hanging than pivotal for the future of Is­ groups presented displays and above the mantle was lo ng a Jew­ rael. ,- lcc1urcs on conservation. dispos­ ish trademark and a sign of soli­ ''The top issue today is the ab­ able ho usehold wastes. energy ef­ darity. sorption of the Soviets and whal Senator Claiborne Pell, a subscriber to lhe Appalachian Mountain ficient ligh1ing. Today's JNF is actually a little tha1 means for the fu1u rc of ls- The more lighthearted ac1ivi­ more complex than all that. A Club, ma kes a gutst appearance at the Mother Earth's Medicine (Continut!d on page 35) S how held at the J CC last Sunday. lcontinued on page 2) $ 100 million dollar budget has 2 -THE RHOdE ISLANDJEWtSH HERACD,-TH URSD'AY, APRIL 5, 1990 Captai n Conservation ex- La nd Trust distributed free Finall y, a surprise visitor. Sen­ eluding Temples Habonim. Mother Earth's plained how the average person plants to chi ldren with instruc­ ator Claiborne Pell , made his Beth-El and Emanu-EI.