Since when does an African American Baptist become the co-president of an organization for Jewish college students?
Since Cory A. Booker served that function at Oxford University’s L’Chaim Society when he was a student there.
And since that time, Booker — now the mayor of Newark, N.J. — has had a close relationship with Jews and Jewish communities. He has spoken at many Jewish venues, including Chabad Lubavitch groups and Yeshiva University.
And he will be the featured speaker when Milwaukee’s Hillel Academy Jewish day school celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding. The event is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 14, 5 p.m., at the Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee.
Booker “is an up-and-coming policy-maker and a revolutionary type of politician,” said Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin, a member of the school’s board. Booker’s work in Newark has brought him to the attention of President Obama, who offered Booker a federal position that Booker declined, Shmotkin said.
Moreover, Booker maintains interest in Judaism, said Shmotkin. “He studies Torah every day” and in general “really has tremendous insight into education and Jewish education.”
“He has a fantastic reputation and we’re very fortunate to have him,” said Joseph M. Bernstein, chair of the event.
That Booker is “revolutionary” and involved in “transformation” may be features that make him an appropriate speaker for this event; for the creation of Hillel Academy was “a revolutionary thing” and transforming event in the history of Milwaukee’s and Wisconsin’s Jewish community. (See a longer story about the school’s history in the April 2011 Chronicle’s Passover magazine.)
As the first successful Jewish day school in the state, “We were a catalyst for Jewish day school education,” said Bruce Glaser, the school’s president. “I think it’s quite an accomplishment.”
Shmotkin added that Hillel Academy’s example inspired the creation of three other Jewish day elementary schools — the Milwaukee Jewish Day School, the Yeshiva Elementary School, and the Madison Jewish Community Day School — and two Milwaukee-area Jewish high schools, the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study and the Torah Academy of Milwaukee.
“It changed the landscape” of Jewish education in Wisconsin, said Shmotkin. “That’s what we are celebrating, that achievement and the transformation the school created.”
The school also has been something of “a family affair” over the years. Not only did Shmotkin and his siblings attend the school, but his mother, B. Devorah Shmotkin, taught there for nearly 20 years and has been principal since 2004.
This feature will also be marked at the celebration. It will honor Alfred Bader, one of the school’s founders; and his two sons, David and Daniel, both of them among the school’s first students and graduates.
Indeed, “Alfred was not only a founder, but has been a very strong supporter of the school from its initial organization to this date,” said Bernstein.
Cost of the dinner is $45 per person, $90 per couple, $500 per table. There are also opportunities to purchase tribute advertisements in the celebration journal.
RSVP deadline is Aug. 7. For more information, call the school, 414-962-9545 or visit www.hillel50.com.
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