Rabbi Joseph Baron (1894-1960), head rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, spearheaded the founding of the Wisconsin Society of Jewish Learning, Inc., in 1955 to promote, encourage, and support academic and adult-level Jewish learning, scholarship, and research throughout the state.
At the end of this year, the WSJL will close its office. Its legacy and its name, however, will endure through the many projects it created, nurtured, grew, and that, in many cases, became independent entities.
Among these are the Jewish and Hebrew studies departments at the University of Wisconsin Madison and Milwaukee campuses, the Wisconsin Jewish Archives at the State Historical Society, the Wisconsin Small Jewish Communities Project, and “(Re)searching the Bible,” a statewide Bible study endeavor.
The organization has some 600 paid members and another 400 people who have given various kinds of support (from attending programs to making donations). Nevertheless, Rabbi Steve Adams, the society’s president, said there were several reasons for the closing.
“Most of what we are doing has become the purview of other organizations,” he said in an interview at the WSJL offices on Nov. 18, “and that has challenged our resources.”
That fact combined with the current economic climate, the death of major benefactors over time, the loss of and inability to replace foundation and benefactor funding — all have led the WSJL to where it is now, he said.
The organization has done its best to scale back on expenses and keep its doors open. It has pared down its staff of three — a full-time executive director and two part-time employees — to one. Other work over the years was done on a contract basis.
Kathleen R. Jendusa has been the society’s executive director since 1991. She said that while there were many program highlights during her tenure, she treasures most the collaborative environment in which the programs took place.
“One of the true gifts that the society has provided,” she said, “is the relationships and collaborations it has formed statewide.”
For a six-week exhibit on the Jews of Kaifeng, China, in 2006, for example, the society partnered with Alverno College in Milwaukee.
Over the years, the society also collaborated with Jewish and non-Jewish partners outside of the Greater Milwaukee area to bring nationally- and internationally-known speakers and performers to Ripon, La Crosse, Wausau, Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan, and Waukesha.
In 2008, the documentary film “Chosen Towns” aired on Milwaukee Public Television. This marked a watershed moment in a decades-long effort.
In 1955, the society had hired a UW-Madison graduate student, Alfred Sumberg, to conduct research on Jewish communities in Wisconsin’s small towns. He graduated, left Madison, and the project was abandoned.
Shortly after Jendusa arrived at the society in 1980, she happened upon the material, tracked down the student, dusted the material off, and resurrected the effort as the Wisconsin Small Jewish Communities History Project.
Sara Shutkin, archivist at Alverno College, is the project’s current committee chair. Former and current Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle editors Andrew Muchin and Leon Cohen have served as project directors.
During Muchin’s tenure, the society collaborated with UW-Milwaukee to produce “Chosen Towns,” which focused on the current and former Jewish communities of Sheboygan, Wausau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Rhinelander, Appleton, Arpin, and Viroqua.
Other project efforts include a curriculum on Wisconsin Jewish history for use by Wisconsin’s teachers, who are required to teach state history to all fourth graders, and an interactive statewide database of Wisconsin Jewish history.
With the society gone, Adams said, there will be no organization that strives to promote Jewish learning throughout the state.
“That’s the biggest loss,” he said. “The society brought speakers to communities that would not otherwise have had them.”
The other loss to the community, Jendusa and Adams said, is that of an organization whose mission trumped any political and religious agendas.
“It was the one place in town where, regardless of religious denomination, people worked together,” Adams said. “We were so focused on the learning that we all share and the desire to learn that we all share that we never engaged in the community’s politics.”
The organization also provided most of its resources at no cost to the community, with the exception of DVD sales of “Chosen Towns.” (Copies of “Chosen Towns” still are available from the WSJL.)
Adams and Jendusa are having discussions with several local organizations whose officials have expressed interest in carrying on the society’s programs. Many of them have said they wish to do so with the WSJL name attached.
Additionally, Adams and Jendusa are committed to ensuring that all outstanding debts are paid before the society closes.
“We feel a moral obligation to make sure everybody is paid and that we fulfill our obligations,” Adams said, “and we will certainly be finding ways to reach out to people for help with any shortfalls.”
While they would prefer to be working on programming for the next year, both Jendusa and Adams said the society’s original mission has been fulfilled — with interest.
“As somebody told us,” Adams said, “we were created with about three to five major goals, and we’ve successfully completed 25 to 30 of them.”
More information about the WSJL, its history, and its projects can be found on its website, www.wsjl.org.
Amy Waldman is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer and coordinator of the ACCESS Program for Displaced Homemakers at the Milwaukee Area Technical College.
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