;^3s
'^jygrj^;' -,
• •'. "--^iiVjrtr^^t-V^
• ^tr-
He Wish Pres i Serving Nebraska and Iowa Since 1920
VoLUXn No.-a Omaha
4 Tiihre, S7M, S«pt«inb«r S, 1994
Crisis in Jewish education -- Israel pays attention By Cynthia Mann JERUSALEM (JTA) — AB a student, Dikla Shahar used to love learning Bible and Jewish history in the public schools she attended. But the 21-year-old JeruSalemite remembers feeling that too few classes were offered and those that were available taught Judaism in a superficial manner. But all that could change. In a move that some might consider a revolutionary new approach to teaching Judaism to Israeli youth, a governmentappointed committee is recommending that students in public secular schools learn more about Judaism and its progressive, humanistic values. At stake, say members of the committee and other experts, is the Jewish identity of non-Orthodox Israelis, who make up the overwhelming majority in the Jewish state. She may not be an expert, but Shahar, too, strongly believes that Jewish knowledge is essential for Israeli youth. '"The children must be given more. They don't know anything," said Shahar, who describes her family as non- religious. "If we don't pay attention to it, if we forget, we will bp lost. We won't be a people anymore," she said. • How Jewish identity among Israeli youth is shaped, say the experts, has wide-ranging repercussions for the future of Israel- Diaspora relations.
"If there is no change, the Jewish community in Israel will remain with no knowledge of and commitment to the Jewish people and to Jewish continuity," said Muky Tsur, an educator, former head of the United Kibbutz Movement and member of the committee. Menachem Revivi, director general of the United Israel Office of the United Jewish Appeal, beUeves that 'more Israelis should be concerned that we're bringing up youngsters who have no understanding of what it means to be Jewish." Not only is too little Jewish knowledge imparted to Israeli i^tudents, say those involved in the issue, but what is taught is too narrowly focused. "For students who come out of the current system, Judaism and Jewish identity is very narrow," said Allon Gal, director of the Center for the Study of North American Jewry at Ben-Gurion University. "It is often built on negative factors such as antiSemitism, the Holocaust and Israel's wars, rather than on positive factors, such as a pluralistic, everdeveloping culture," he said. The committee, headed by Haifa University Rector Aliza Shenhar, was appointed in 1991 by former Education Minister Zevulun Hammer to investigate the declining interest in Jewish studies in the-public secular schools. Of the 35,000 high school pupils who took the matriculation exam in Bible studies last year,
fewer than 3 percent chose to study beyond the mandatory two units which were required for the test, according to Shenhar. The committee report called the decline of interest in Judaism in the classroom a partial reflection of changes in the values of Israeli society in general. It cited the decline of ideology, the growth of materialism, the explosion of technology and specialization, the politicization of religion and the polarization between the religious and secular populations. The conmiittee recommended additional hours of required study of Jewish subjects. But it put most of its emphasis on teaching these subjects in a new, innovative and interdisciplinary fashion and dramatically revising teacher training. It also called for pluralism to be a central focus of Jewish studies. While the report does not refer to the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements by name, it calls for the teaching of the different streams and movements within world Je*rry. The report also criticized the secular schools for abdicating responsibility for Jewish education to the Orthodox. Teachers from Orthodox yeshivas, it pointed out, are often brought into the non-religious schools to teach Bible or Jewish history from an Orthodox viewpoint. (Continued on pa^e 6)
Project under way to tally Jews buried at Arlington cemetery ^^kf By Dan Joseph ^B Washington Jewish Week WASHINGTON (JTA) — Almost 200,000 U.S. war veterans are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. No one knows how many of them are Jews. That's why every weekend Ken Poch hikes through Arlington's endless rows of marble headstones, searching for stones marked by a distinctive six-pointed star. Under those markers lay the bodies of American Jewish soldiers, some of whom died in battle, all of whom fought for their country and earned the right to be buried at the nation's official military cemetery. Operating strictly on his own time, money and motivation, Poch hopes to compile a list of all Jewish veterans at Arlington, the burial site of
such renowned Americans as George Patton and John F. Kennedy. Since starting the project last June, Poch said he has located approximately 300 Jewish veterans buried at Arlington, with more than two-thirds of the cemetery's vast grounds still to be searched. Poch's research has stirred interest among Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. and Arlington's own historians. Neither group owns a list of Jewish veterans buried at the hallowed cemetery. "I think he's going tp turn up a lot of interesting stories," said cemetery historian Kathryn Shenkle, who sees the list as a potential aid to tour guides. When visitors ask if any notable Jews are buried at the cemetery, Shenkle has been short on answers. "Hyman Rickover, father of the American nuclear navy, buried at Arlington, is famous, and I
Or Richard Hodet, head of the American Jewish Joint Oistrittution Comnf>ittee (JDC) medical team in Gome, Zaire, examines a Rwanden child In the KIbumba refugee camp The JDC-Goma medical team Includes specialists, nurses and paramedics JDC, In partnership with 35 other major Jewish organizations, has alio sent in medications, mobile medical units and has established a nutrition program for children Photo; JDC
didn't know he was Jewish,'* she said. An amicable, unassuming man, Poch seems an unlikely candidate to while away his weekends climbing cemetery hills and examining tall-standing monuments. During the week he works at an advertising company in Reston, Va., where he also lives. While he did serve a two-year army stint in the early 1960s, he never saw combat and has no friends or relatives buried at Arlington. Poch simply thinks that American Jews' contributions to the armed forces have been underappreciated. "People have looked at Jews' contribution to art, literature and science. But stereotypically, Jews are considered weak people," he said. "I just wanted to see how many of us are here, in Arlington Cemetery." Poch has criteria for determining who qualifies as "us"at Arhngton. Even if a headstone carries an obvious Jewish name such as Jacob Goldberg, Poch will not include it on his list if it lacks the all-important six-pointed Star of David. "If the family does not want to acknowledge the person's Jewishness, I can't force them to do it," he said. Upon finding a veteran's stone with a Star of David, Poch writes down the deceased's name and pertinent information, snaps a photo of the headstone and puts its all into a thick black binder. Shenkle said that with the exception of Japanese Americans, no other ethnic or religious group keeps track of its dead buried at Arlington. When Poch finishes his research he intends to publish a book that will also examine the parallel roles that Jews have played in American life and wars since the Civil War. To that end, Poch said, he has been trying to learn more about some of the Jewish veterans buried at Arlington, but he has run into a stone wall from the cemetery's historians, who are prohibited by official policy from relensing any personal information without family approval. Poch says anyone with information about a Jewish veteran buried at Arlington can contact him ot 11550 llolling Green Ct., Reston, Vs. 22091, Hit phone iiuni>M>r is (703) 391-0664.