It’s a case of less is more. Less competition for qualified Judaic educators and more kids in religious school classes.
That is the driving force behind the recent announcement that Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue and Congregation Beth Israel will combine their religious schools into one program beginning this fall.
The new entity will be known as Beth Torah — the School of Conservative Judaism — Congregations Beth El and Beth Israel.
“This is truly an example of where the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts,” said David Gutterman, Beth El’s incoming president. “Our primary goal is to provide a superior Jewish education for our students.”
“We have talked about this off-an-on for a number of years,” said Rick Strait, Beth Israel’s president, “and it makes a tremendous amount of sense as a way to leverage our resources and provide outstanding programming.”
With a projected enrollment of about 180 students, the combined school expects to offer larger, grade-specific classes, a more stimulating social environment for the students and a strong teaching staff for all grades.
“Many parents of today’s students can remember when a number of synagogues in Milwaukee ran a joint religious school, and it was a very special experience,” Gutterman added.
Ava Bortin of Bayside, one of Beth El’s representatives on the six-person study committee that made the recommendation to implement the combined religious school, said, “I think both synagogues recognized that it made no sense for us to compete for identical resources — mainly teachers.
“I feel we have similar philosophies toward Conservative Jewish education and realized it’s time to make the best of local resources through a partnership. While this concept had been examined in the past, I think the committee was made up of forward-thinking people, including our clergy, who are not just looking at next year, but at the future in Milwaukee.”
Linda Zetley, co-chair of Beth Israel’s Education Committee, agreed. “This has to be a win-win situation because alone neither synagogue has enough teachers or kids to provide a quality experience. This allows both institutions to benefit from the best teachers and the kids to enjoy a more socially interactive environment,” she said.
Bortin added, “This concept is not unusual nationally because of the scarcity of Jewish educators. Over the past six months, we have extracted pieces from various models to tailor a program to meet the needs of Conservative Jews in Milwaukee. Historically, both synagogues have been philosophically aligned regarding the goals of Judaic education, so I view the combining to be a benefit to both of us.”
Robin Block, another study committee member from Beth El, said, “I’ve only received positive response from Beth El parents. They are excited and have asked what they can do to help. Though the concept has been informally explored before, I think the parents were determined to identify the issues and find solutions.”
Block is personally excited at the prospect of her children, Josh, 10 and Alexis, 8, having more children in their classes. “I feel larger classes will offer a more socially stimulating atmosphere for them and a greater exposure to Jewish kids.”
According to Block, “Eventually, we hope to add a youth group for post-bar/bat mitzvah kids and for high school students to continue their Judaic education.”
Zetley is also looking forward to larger classes — especially for son Zev, who is in seventh grade. “He’s has only two to three kids in his class, which was combined with the eighth grade class last year. In my opinion, the combined class worked well for no one. The older kids didn’t want to be with the younger ones and the younger ones felt intimidated by the older ones.”
While admitting there may be some challenges ahead, Zetley said, “So far, my congregation has been supportive. I feel the committee worked hard, carefully and thoughtfully and has advanced a very realistic proposal. Conservative Jewry is not flourishing in Milwaukee. Maybe this effort will get us on higher ground.”
Plans call for hiring a full-time education director, who will be responsible for curriculum and staff development, hiring teachers and managing day-to-day business. A joint board of education, including lay leaders and professional staff from both synagogues, will govern the school.
Beth Torah will conduct classes on Thursday afternoons, 4:15-6:15 p.m. for children in grades 3-7 and Sunday mornings from 9 a.m.-noon for a total of five hours per week. In addition, provisions are being made for an optional third day of classes to be held on Tuesdays. The curriculum will meet the requirements of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
The school will hold classes at both facilities, and Judaic and Hebrew curriculum will be taught on both days. Each synagogue will have a Shabbat service and programming component.
In approving the recommendation in April, each synagogue board emphasized that the action only affects the religious school and not other operations.
Both Gutterman and Strait expressed their thanks to Rabbis Gideon Goldenholz of Beth El and Paul Kerbel of CBI for their support, and believe the partnership “will strengthen Conservative Judaism in Milwaukee.”
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