Cooperative religious schools work

I agree with the suggestion by The Chronicle that synagogues share services.

When we had young children we lived in several small communities where each synagogue had its own educational system. Usually the educators were parent volunteers or the rabbi.

Then we moved to Des Moines, Iowa, with a Jewish population, at that time, of 800 Jewish families. While each synagogue had its own Sunday School, the Hebrew school was a joint enterprise for all of the synagogues in town.

It had trained, professional teachers and all the Jewish children in the community had the opportunity to get to know one another. My children had an excellent education there and they enjoyed the experience.

As there is no religious philosophy to teaching Hebrew, this arrangement allows each synagogue to transmit its philosophy during Sunday school classes.