THE WORLD funding for the Judaics electives students feel a threat to their in the middle and high schools, identity,” Gardner said. “It makes them shut down. There and has sponsored a Sunday program for any Jewish middle have to be safe places for Jews and high school students in the and non-Jews to have critical Dayton area, which now contin- discussions about Israel where ideas, policies and facts are ues at the high school level. discussed.” In 2018, the Schears announced they were transitioning away from the Sinai program Part of a national trend at Miami Valley in favor of Gardner said the incident scholarships at Hillel Academy at The Miami Valley School is Jewish day school, which serindicative of what’s happening vices students in kindergarten across the country. through sixth grade. “At first, we were seeing it They’ve committed to seeing predominantly on college camthe 11 current Sinai Scholars puses,” Gardner said. “We need at Miami Valley through their to create relationships in our graduations in 2021. community so that we “We feel that the are acting as part of a in-school Sinai work whole and not outside with the rabbis and of it.” with Harry Berkowitz Devorah Schwartz, (world civilizations now a rising junior at and Sinai electives Miami Valley, isn’t in instructor at Miami the Sinai program but Valley) and his prehas participated in the decessors has been Sunday program and Sinai Scholars outstanding and has last fall took the Sinai Initiative Chair changed the lives of elective, Generations Nochum our scholars and their Rabbi of Jerusalem, at Miami Mangel parents for the better,” Valley. Schear added. She said that though parents Sinai electives offered each and rabbis were trying to help semester focus on the history of the students, she thought there Judaism and Israel. was a huge disconnect between Cleary has cited student what the students wanted and confidentiality as a key reason what the adults wanted. why the school has decided not “And even though they were to address the World Affair situ- just trying to help, sometimes it ation publicly. seemed like they were just not Jewish Federation of Greater helping,” Schwartz said. “They Dayton CEO Cathy Gardner de- were kind of doing the opposite scribed the Palestinian display because we were communicatas “deeply distressing” and said ing to Ms. Cleary that we just it does constitute a community wanted to educate. We didn’t issue. She reached out to open a want punishment. We just want dialogue with Cleary. to make our school better.” “The biggest problem that When it comes to the I see is when opinions are put high schoolers as a whole at forth in a manner that makes the 45-minute World Affair,
Mark S. Feuer
Schwartz said a lot of them didn’t care because they don’t understand the issues. But she also said “there are a lot of students that share the same views about Israel” at Miami Valley as the senior who put together the Palestine display. “This has been an ongoing thing where they will say things like, ‘Israel is illegitimate’ or ‘We wish we could nuke Israel,’” Schwartz said. “I’ve heard that before. They (faculty and staff) don’t do anything. It’s a shame we have to deal with that at all among other students.” Even so, Schwartz described her experience as a Jewish student at Miami Valley as “amazing.” “We’re really, really a tightknit group of kids,” she said. “We don’t let each other fall. We are always there for one another. We’re really proud of our Jewish heritage. We make announcements frequently about the holidays, we proudly tell people ‘We’re going to Sinai today and we’re getting pizza bagels.’” About the coming school year, Schwartz said, “None of us are letting this go away until there is a solution. We’ve all said that next year we are going to be adamant about making sure there is a symposium or presentation of some sort where we can get our point across. We can do what we need to do.”
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