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Our community - American Jewish parents, schools, synagogues, & org’s - have failed. We & our children are virtually all illiterate. I mean that literally. Most of us don’t understand Hebrew or any Jewish language. We lack basic familiarity w/ our history & the Jewish bookshelf.
Blaming “gatekeeping,” or Israel, or anything of the sort completely misses the fundamental issue. We are an illiterate & largely assimilated community trying to blindly perpetuate a rich, complex, & vast culture/ID/tradition. Our community simply doesn’t have the tools to do it.
Rabbis & talented Jewish educators cannot do the work without serious investment from the entire tribe. Hebrew School - or even Day School plus Jewish summer camp - is not a silver bullet.
We need to seriously invest ourselves - as individuals & as a community - in learning Hebrew, studying our history & rich literary tradition, & actively de-assimilating.
If you’re a parent who doesn’t prioritize Jewish ID & education outside of AND within the home, that’s a choice. I respect that you have other priorities. But understand you’re making a choice, & you can’t blame your synagogue’s 3 hour/week Hebrew School for not making up for it.
It’s not too late for any of us. As adults, we can all pick up a book, download an app, or reach out to a local synagogue or org to start learning & connecting. We can each make that choice.
