A few years ago, I was considering sending my youngest son to private school. The schools in our county weren’t great in the first place, and we’d had pretty extensive problems when my older son attended the public school in our neighborhood. My mother asked if I would consider sending him to a Christian school, and I immediately fired back that if I sent him to a religious school at all, it would be a Jewish one. But we’re not Jewish. We’re not in the process of converting. We’re not even thinking about converting (much to the dismay of my rabbi, I’m sure). And before you say, “But non-Catholics go to Catholic schools all the time!” I want to say that it’s not quite the same thing — sending your non-Catholic-but-still-Christian child to a Catholic school would be something like sending your Reform-raised child to a Conservative school. Same ideas, slightly different presentation. It seems, however, that I’m not the only non-Jew who would consider sending their child to a Jewish day school.
Admittedly, I’m a little biased. I was one of the few gentiles in my Jewish Studies Masters program, and I loved (almost) every minute of it. But what’s the appeal of a Jewish school to a church-going family in Ohio? First, it’s a greater chance for individualized attention for each student. Of course, that’s something you generally get in most private schools, so that doesn’t entirely answer the question. There’s a multi-cultural/multi-religious aspect, but you could also find that in public schools. Technically, at least, since religion is supposed to be kept out of the classroom. There’s also the perception of high-quality education; Jews are still known for being doctors and lawyers, and a lot of people hear “People of the Book” and think of ivy league universities. I personally suspect that this last idea is the biggest draw.
And what’s in it for the schools themselves? Numbers and money, obviously, is the first answer. As more and more Jews intermarry and integrate into secular society, congregational numbers dwindle, and day school numbers face the same problem. And if day schools can be bolstered in small communities, it can help prevent the religious version of “brain drain” — either by keeping young Jews in the religious fold or by keeping them in the geographic fold, even if they later decide to be less observant. The multi-culturalism isn’t a bad thing, either. The more experience children have dealing with people of different social, religious, and cultural backgrounds, the better prepared they are to enter the workforce.
But there are potential pitfalls, as well. Holiday observances immediately become more problematic. The usually-prized mutli-culturalism could, in theory, lead to secularization if a Jewish and non-Jewish student decide to date. How would teachers handle the tricky questions of Jesus and Moshiach? In the words of one school leader, “We are cognizant of what many term the ‘tipping point.’ [...] At what point does an increasing percentage of non-Jewish students in the school lead to a school that doesn’t feel Jewish?” So, is it better to dilute the message and original purpose of Jewish day schools in order to stay afloat and pass on as much Jewishness as they can, or should they cling to their principles and risk going down with the ship?
