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How to Afford a Jewish Education
By Vicki Streiff
I knew raising children wouldn't be cheap. Everyone from my mother to the
New York Times told me that. I even knew there were specifically Jewish
expenses I was choosing to take on. But sometimes it does feel like raising Jews is
remarkably costly. Sometimes it feels like the people holding the strongest, most
impenetrable stereotype that all Jews have plenty of money are the ones in the Jewish community.
I was raised Jewish, but only marginally. When I was 13, I saw a friend become a
bar mitzvah and envied his accomplishment, the accolades, the party! So I asked
my parents to help me become a bat mitzvah and the answer came back: "Sorry,
sweetie, we can't afford it." Not only did the synagogue require me to attend--
and pay for--Hebrew school, but my mother and father were required to join the
synagogue in order for me to enroll in Hebrew school. Perhaps they could have
managed Hebrew school alone, but the dues on top made it too much.
Thus began the confusing, alienating journey that ended with me becoming an
ordained Unitarian Universalist minister--with two Jewish parents. (How I became
an observant Reform Jew in Indiana is another story.)
Now, I ran a church for three years, and worked for churches for some years
before that. I know about the light bill, the rabbi's health insurance, the leaking
roof that needs to be repaired and the salaries of all the other people who make the
synagogue run. It would be nice if we could run the shul on prayer and hugs, but
we can't. I get that. But it's still overwhelming.
Take summer camp, which begins soon. I've read the articles about how Jewish
summer camp enriches Jewish identity. I've also heard it from my rabbi. I've
even heard it from peers who went to Jewish camps as children, which I did not.
As someone with a marginal Jewish background married to a convert living in
southern Indiana (what my husband likes to call "the galus of the galus"), I want
that for my children. I want it very much! But it is so expensive. Working out how
to get my kid to camp was a project that taught me that, even with scholarships, it's
a big challenge to give our children a Jewish education.
I went to a Catholic sleep-away camp for three summers in a row because they
made a place for my autistic brother, and my parents thought it would be nice
for me to go as well if I wanted. My parents found it very affordable. Affordable
enough to volunteer to double the price without blinking. My husband went to
Episcopalian sleep-away camp for many summers, and it was beyond affordable--
all the way into cheap. In other words, these camps were heavily subsidized. I see
a full-page ad soliciting donations to the Jewish summer camp network in every
issue of Reform Jewish Magazine, but the price for just two weeks of camp is
anything but affordable.
A friend pointed me to the Foundation for Jewish Camp, a foundation that acts as
a clearinghouse for Jewish camp information. It took me some moments to realize
I couldn't apply to them directly. Luckily, they have information about three
potential sources of money right there on the front page. Unluckily, my family
wasn't eligible to apply for any of them. One gives money to middle-schoolers
in a few far western states. My daughter is 8 and we live too far east. One gives
money to Russian immigrants. I suspected it wasn't good enough that my great-
grandparents all came here from that part of the world in the early 1900s? Indeed
not.
This article was originally published on InterfaithFamily.com. To read the rest, please visit:http://www.interfaithfamily.com/relationships/parenting/How_to_Afford_a_Jewish_Education.shtml.
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