When my Uncle Michael-in-law and my Aunt Joyce-in-law (as I have always known them) approached me about speaking tonight, I was flattered and immediately interested but I was also a bit daunted by the prospect. What could I say to this group which is so dedicated to supporting the day school experience, and clearly much better informed about it than I? When they told me that I need only address the positive aspects of my own yeshiva experience, I was relieved. That I am qualified to do. I have very fond memories of attending Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, NY. I was there for 8 years -- first through eighth grades, then I attended Horace Mann, a private school in the Bronx, and then I graduated in 1988 from Yale with a B.A. in Theatre Studies, for what that was worth.
Before I continue, I feel that in the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I have two children -- a five year old and a nine month old, and right now I don't have plans to send them to yeshiva, though it is an ongoing conversation with my wife. I hope that won't discredit anything I'm about to tell you, because I really do value my own day school experience.
In analyzing what was so valuable about my yeshiva education, I came up with two broad categories -- one a bit more easily articulated than the other. I'll start with the easy one. My years at Westchester Day provided me very well with what I consider the tools one needs to live a Jewish life -- I learned to read, write, and speak Hebrew. I had Cantillations class once a week, where I learned the trup. I studied the liturgy, and I learned about the annual holiday cycle.
I have friends who attend synagogue once or twice a year for the High Holidays, and on those occasions find it to be a cold, alien world. And of course they do, it's a bunch of people singing songs they don't know in a language they don't understand. How could they possibly feel included? I can go to a shul I've never attended before, and instantly feel part of a warm, embracing community. I understand the prayers, I know the tunes, I can go up and have an aliyah or chant the haftarah if I am asked to do so. It's a wonderful feeling, and a great gift I was given at an early age to have been taught what I need to know in order to share that experience.
These same friends will come and visit my family on Sukkot and share a meal with us in our sukkah. My daughter will explain the meaning of the structure as well as the arbah minim, and they get so much out of it -- a truly spiritual experience. They have simply never been exposed before to the holiday. I was lucky enough to have a sukkah at school as well as one at home. I'll mention here now that it was crucial to my Jewish education that what I was taught at yeshiva was reinforced at home by my parents, and vice versa. I think it's vital that parents and teachers share the responsibility of imparting a solid Jewish education.
The second, less easily articulated aspect of my yeshiva education was the part that addressed "ruach" -- a Jewish spirit. I feel my Jewish identity very deeply. I see the world, I think, from a Jewish point of view. Again, I was absolutely taught this at home, but it was well reinforced at school. As early as I can remember, ethical issues were a part of my education. At Westchester Day, I never felt we were just learning Torah for Torah's sake. All aspects of my yeshiva education emphasized living an ethical life and posing ethical questions. In first grade, once a week we brought money to school for tzedakah. We put it in the pushke and were taught by Mrs. Rosenblatt to say "mitzvah gedolah latet tzedakah" – "It's an important mitzvah to give charity." A very valuable lesson instilled at a very early age.
A strong bond with Israel was also a part of the attention to "ruach." I had a discussion with some friends recently about Israel and they pointed out that I spoke of events in the first person plural. "In 1967 we did this..." "I think we ought to propose this..." To me Israel isn't "they" it's "we." I learned that at school where we would take a field trip each year to Manhattan to march proudly in the Israeli Independence Day Parade.
I have had some contact recently with a man named Frank Luntz who is a GOP pollster, with a passionate interest in Israel and Judaism. He has conducted focus groups with Jewish college students around the country, and the results he's come up with are very troubling. The percentage of young Jews with little or no feeling for Israel or their own Jewishness is very high. Many of the participants stated that Judaism for them is a cultural rather than a religious experience. I think it's unfortunate that so many kids are growing up with Woody Allen and Mel Brooks as their major Jewish touchstones. On the other hand, I find it very heartening that an organization like PEJE exists that supports and fosters the kind of day school experience that produces Jews who experience their Jewishness on a deeper level. It is so wonderful to look out at this crowd and to see the faces of so many people who give so generously of their time, effort, and money so that more children can receive the type of Jewish education that I was lucky enough to receive. And by asking me to speak here tonight, you've allowed me to be a small part of that effort, and for that I thank you.