Jewish News - Education Matters Special Section 12.14.20

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Supplement to Jewish News December 14, 2020 jewishnewsva.org | December 14, 2020 | Education | Jewish News | 13

Stein Family College Scholarship Apply until March 1, 2021

The Stein Family College Scholarship is dedicated in loving memory of Arlene Shea Stein who was unable to finish college due to financial hardship.

This annual college scholarship of up to $10,000 per year is awarded to area Jewish students entering college. Applicants are evaluated on financial need, Jewish/community engagement, and academic potential. Scholarship applicants must: • Identify as Jewish • Maintain residency in the Tidewater region • Demonstrate academic ability • Demonstrate a history of service and engagement in their academic, Jewish, and broader communities through extracurricular and volunteer activities

To apply or for more information, visit jewishva.org/tjf-stein

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Education Matters

Florence Melton stepped up as a footwear inventor and innovator who created a community for Jewish lifelong learners Classes begin Thursday, January 7 Lisa Richmon

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fter a seven-year recess, the Florence Melton School of Adult Learning is back in session.

The name Melton is associated with innovation, activism, and invention. Florence Melton disrupted the footwear industry when she founded the R.G. Barry Corporation with her late husband and adopted the first use of foam in footwear. Though her brilliant mind changed an entire industry, her primary passion was Jewish education. Melton served on committees and commissions in her local community, nationally, and internationally. Two of many prestigious awards she received were an Honorary Doctor in Philosophy from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an Honorary Doctor in Humane Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Melton remains a worldwide movement of committed learners empowered to enrich Jewish life. The school engages learners in the life-enhancing study of Jewish texts and ideas. Its accessible approach promotes open dialogue and nurtures a deepening of Jewish community. Core courses have stayed true to the Melton method, but have been revised or rewritten and are intended to offer a sense of community and new ways to look at evergreen subjects. Some Melton 2021 courses are shorter, online, and customized to meet learner’s personal preferences.

The Konikoff Center for Learning actively pursued a 2021 Melton Tidewater comeback. With instructors in place, area classes begin on Thursday, January 7. For dates, times, fees, and more information, go to https:// www.jewishva.org/KCL. Social Justice: The Heart of Judaism in Theory and Practice Taught by Rabbi Michael Panitz Thursdays, Jan. 7–March 11 Trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1982 and where he received a Ph.D. in Jewish history in 1989, Michael Panitz combines both specialties in his professional career. He has served as rabbi of Temple Israel in Norfolk since Rabbi Michael Panitz.

1992. Active in the field of adult Jewish education, he has taught for the Florence Melton Adult Mini School since it first opened in Tidewater. He also teaches religious studies, history, and Hebrew language at local colleges, Old Dominion University and Virginia Wesleyan University.

Prior to arriving in Norfolk, Rabbi Panitz was a faculty member at the Jewish Theological Seminary and served a congregation in New Jersey. Rabbi Panitz contributes articles to scholarly journals on Jewish subjects. Married to Shelia Panitz since 1978, their larger family includes their three children, spouses, and four grandchildren, ranging in age from 15 to 1½.

“The materials brought together in our Melton Course, ‘Social Justice.... The Heart of Judaism,’ go straight to our most authoritative traditions, both ancient and recent. Looking afresh at these classics and modern classics, we see that the mandate to bring society more in line with God’s commandments that we respect and love one another is not some passing fad or fashion. It is authentic Judaism.”

From Sinai to Seinfeld: Jews and Their Jokes Taught by Dr. Amy K. Milligan Thursdays, Jan 7–March 18 Dr. Amy K. Milligan is the Batten Endowed Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies and the director of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Amy K. Milligan.

Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominion University. She is an ethnographer and folklorist whose award-winning research focuses on Jewish bodies, Jewish folklore, and small or marginalized Jewish communities.

Jews like to laugh. We laugh at awkward situations, we laugh at coincidences, and more often than not…we laugh at ourselves.

Our matriarch, Sarah, got berated a bit for her laughter–honestly though, who could blame her for bursting into laughter at the suggestion that she was to yet give birth to a child at the age of 90! Face it, it’s a funny thought!

This course explores the world of Jewish humor.

It has been organized chronologically, and suggests a developmental narrative of Jewish life that lies just below the surface of the jokes Jews tell, the jokes that

make us laugh. Some historical humor may strike us as quite inappropriate. And yet, like Sarah, we cannot help but laugh! Students of this course will be given the opportunity to laugh and to learn, to become connoisseurs of Jewish humor.

Dr. Amy K. Milligan is the Batten Endowed Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies and the director of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominion University.

She is an ethnographer and folklorist whose award winning research focuses on Jewish bodies, Jewish folklore, and small or marginalized Jewish communities.

OMG, Can You Believe?

Taught by Rabbi Marc Kraus Thursdays, April 22–May 27 Rabbi Marc Kraus is passionate about creating safe spaces for open, pluralistic Jewish exploration and is fascinated by those Jewish voices most often ignored. He has studied in environments as diverse as Orthodox yeshivot and co-ed pluralistic seminaries and received his undergrad in Hebrew Literature from Oxford University. He was Rabbi Marc Kraus ordained by the Ziegler School in Los Angeles and is in his eighth year serving as rabbi of Temple Emanuel at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

“I think most of us walk away from Hebrew School with this image of ‘God’ as Santa Claus in the sky,” says Rabbi Kraus. “For my part, I tend to think of Jewishness as a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ journey, especially because our tradition offers so many ways to struggle with ideas of the Divine and spirituality. That’s why I’ll be teaching ‘OMG: Can You Believe!?’ in the late Spring.”

Rabbi Kraus says that he’ll be drawing on his own struggles to teach the class: “Struggle and uncertainty continue to be part of my Jewish journey. Every time I think I might be comfortable, a new door opens and I grow some more. I’m especially passionate about this Melton course because I’ve studied in pluralistic contexts across the Jewish spectrum, and I know I want to learn from and with people who think differently from me.” continued on page 16

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Education Matters continued from page 15

Soul Cycles: A Ride Through the Chapters of Life Taught by Miriam Brunn Ruberg Thursdays, April 22–May 27 Miriam Brunn Ruberg grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. the oldest daughter of parents who both survived the Holocaust.

She earned her Bachelor Miriam Brunn Ruberg. of Arts degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, which included a year of study in Israel. Brunn Ruberg then earned a Master’s degree from Brandeis University in Jewish Communal Service with a concentration in Jewish Education. She worked at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater in Jewish Education and Israel Youth Programming

for nine years. She then worked as a Jewish educator for the Simon Family JCC for 15 years, retiring in June 2015. During her tenure at the JCC, Brunn Ruberg brought the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School to the Tidewater community around the year 2000. She then directed and taught in the program.

Brunn Ruberg will teach a course for six weeks in the spring called ‘Soul’s Cycles: A Ride Through the Chapters of Life.’ This course will navigate the winding roads of childhood and adult rituals and how we understand them as Jews today.

“I am very much looking forward to teaching this new Melton curriculum as Life Cycle is one of my favorite aspects of Jewish life to teach and to learn,” says Brunn Ruberg. “I feel this way because Life Cycle events touch the lives of everyone who is a part of the Jewish community.”

For more information on classes or to register, go to www.jewishva.org/KCL. For additional information on The Florence Melton School of Jewish Learning, contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at 757-965-6107 or slautman@ujft.org.

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16 | Jewish News | Education | December 14, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

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Education Matters

Norfolk Academy Upper School students gain boost in the college application process Mike Connors

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orfolk Academy students annually gain admission into a wide variety of outstanding colleges and universities across the country, including Ivy League and military service institutions and Virginia’s public flagships. Two members of the Class of 2020 earned UVA’s premier Jefferson Scholarship, while another earned UNC-Chapel Hill’s prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship. Other members landed at Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, and the United States Military Academy, just to name a few.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, required College Counseling to adjust its traditional approach to the fall college visit experience. What emerged was a series of virtual gatherings that gave students the same access to colleges and college admission officers that alumni enjoyed.

During a typical fall, more than 100 colleges and universities send representatives to the Academy campus. Gathering either one-on-one or in small groups, the visits allow students to network, ask questions, and learn about institutions they might want to attend.

Amid the pandemic, though, many colleges have cut their travel. And to prioritize the safety of its entire community, Academy decided not to allow visitors to campus on school days.

Still, College Counseling wanted to keep the visits coming. For juniors they are an invaluable way to explore college options. For seniors they are a great chance to re-connect with the schools on

their list, while also making an impression on some of the people who will review applications.

Virtual visits allowed college small group sessions via Zoom. The sessions included presentations from the representatives and questions from students.

The virtual visits began in early September. Participants included UVA, Virginia Tech, William and Mary, James Madison University, the United States Naval Academy, Dartmouth College, and several dozen other stellar public and private schools.

Student engagement was strong.

Throughout the fall, Academy offered athletics and fine arts activities, in which hundreds of students participated. And during a ceremony in mid-November, 11 student-athletes signed their commitments to play college athletics.

Since the visits were on Zoom, even students choosing Norfolk Academy’s Distance Learning model, an enhanced program the school is offering amid the pandemic, were able to attend.

Shortly after the virtual visits wound down, College Counseling led a twoday virtual College Admission Workshop for the Class of 2022. College admission partners from William and Mary, Georgetown, the College of Wooster, Davidson College, and the University of Colorado at Boulder were among those who took part. Sessions included discussions with the guest faculty, introductions to a variety of admissions tools, and assignments that will help students prepare for their next steps in the college

admission journey.

College Counseling will hold additional family meetings with juniors and their parents over the next few months. That’s on top of the one-on-one meetings that counselors have already been having, when they get to know students and help them determine their options for higher education.

During the pandemic, the college application process will continue to be atypical. Colleges are making changes that will impact college-going students for years to come.

Jennifer Scott, director of College Counseling, advised students to keep an open mind as they go through the process and to remember that students, parents, teachers, and counselors are all in this together. An evolving college admission

process is not new, and while the current landscape requires creativity, flexibility, and patience, Academy is finding new ways to help students achieve success.

Students should be active participants in their own process, attending virtual admission programs for any school they might want to explore. They should also communicate openly, asking lots of questions.

“We were thrilled with the success of this year’s virtual visit program,” Scott says. “It was a wonderful way for our students to connect with colleges at a time when in-person visits are difficult. They were also a great way for our admission partners to learn about all that is going on at Academy during this, the Year of Courage.”

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Education Matters

Student artwork from Elie Weisel Visual Arts Competition continues to inspire

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ach year the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater sponsors the Elie Wiesel Visual Arts Competition.

Hundreds of student artists from Tidewater, as well as nationally, create works of art that respond to various topics and guidelines which generally include the Holocaust, social issues, moral courage, and heroes who inspire them to do what is just and fair.

To see more art, go to https://holocaustcommission. j e w i shva . o r g / h o m e- p a ge / elie-wiesel/2020 -ellie-wiesel-competition-visual-arts-virtual-show.

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Yezi Liu, Cape Henry Collegiate School.

Jenna Stone, Cape Henry Collegiate School.

Yuhan Jiang, Cape Henry Collegiate School.

Overeducation among academic degree holders in Israel

ducation levels have increased in Israel and around the world in recent decades. There is a common perception that this increase leads to “overeducation,” a situation in which the education level of an individual exceeds the skill-level required for the job in which the individual is employed. A new Taub Center study examines overeducation in Israel and finds that, in recent years, about 17.5% of those with academic degrees are estimated to be overeducated.

The phenomenon is most notable among young immigrants with poor Hebrew-language skills, who were educated abroad and have many years of work ahead of them, and among workers who changed their place of work after age 45. A correlation was also found between overeducation and commuting patterns: the extent of the overeducation phenomenon decreases as commuting time increases, and is significantly lower among private car owners. Given the elevated enrollment rates in higher education since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, it is possible that this phenomenon will expand further in the

coming years.

The new Taub Center study looks at academic degree holders employed in occupations that do not require a degree. Such overeducation is more prevalent among people who studied humanities and the social sciences, while those who studied law, medicine, math, statistics, and computer science have a very low propensity to be classified as overeducated. The study also found that in recent years about 17.5% of workers in Israel with an academic degree are classified as overeducated.

Immigrants, language, and age The Taub Center study reveals several factors that strongly affect the scope of overeducation—language, seniority in the workplace, and commuting.

Language skills are a key component of human capital and a critical factor for successful integration into civilian life and the labor market, and a lack of proficiency in Hebrew can be an obstacle in career development and can impair earning potential. Knowing the language is important for acquiring higher education

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and opportunities in the labor market and, at the same time, participating in academic studies strengthens language skills. Thus, people with Hebrew-language proficiency have a greater chance of finding a rewarding job that matches their skill set while, on the other hand, those who suffer from a language barrier may end up working in a profession that does not require an academic degree and be classified as overeducated.

Age of immigration and exposure to Hebrew language greatly affect the level of proficiency. The level of language proficiency for those who immigrated before adolescence and received most of their education in Israel is almost the same as for Jews born in Israel, while for older immigrants who received most of their education in their country of origin, language acquisition is more complex and depends on personal skills, the investment of time, and effort. As for the Arab Israeli population, nearly one-fifth of degree holders in this population studied outside of Israel, and the share of those proficient in Hebrew among them is lower than among

Several factors that strongly affect the scope of overeducation— language, seniority in the workplace, and commuting. those Arabs who studied in Israel (93% versus 74% in 2017-2019).

In general, Hebrew proficiency is correlated with lower levels of overeducation in all population groups. Young workers (25–44) with a strong command of the Hebrew language were found to have lower rates of overeducation, with negligible differences between immigrants and native Israelis (Jews and Arabs). On the other hand, high rates of overeducation were found among immigrants who acquired their education abroad—both young and old—who immigrated after 1996.

Overeducation is more common among

Education Matters young people at the beginning of their careers who do not yet have appropriate professional experience and, in order to avoid unemployment and its consequences, turn to occupations that do not match their education level.

Overeducation could also be related to labor market conditions and the personal circumstances of the individual.

Geographical restrictions (such as a place of residence far from employment centers and a lack of mobility) and marital status may also push educated workers to work in professions that do not require an academic degree.

The data show that the rate of overeducation is higher among graduates of higher education at the beginning of their careers, but that at more advanced career stages, the match between education and profession increases with the years. In contrast, workers who change jobs after the age of 45 are

more likely to be classified as overeducated as the years go by. It is very possible that the intense pace of technological change, as well as a lack of new skills and ongoing training, may cause some people to accept employment in jobs that do not match their level of education. Another factor that contributes to the phenomenon may be ageism (employment discrimination on the basis of age). .

Travel time to work The length of time required to commute to work may explain the phenomenon of overeducation, because job seekers’ behavior is greatly affected by their spatial flexibility.

A worker who is willing to relocate or who has a high tolerance level for commuting is less likely to be overeducated. The Taub Center study finds that overeducation rates decline as commuting times increase.

The relationship between commuting

and overeducation is also related to worker satisfaction with commuting time, income, and place of employment. Those who are overeducated are less satisfied with their place of employment as well as their income relative to workers with education levels commensurate with their employment, but are more satisfied with commute-time.

This shows that some workers choose to compromise on their place of work in exchange for shorter commute times and lower commuting costs.

Gender In an examination by gender, overeducation is found to be more prevalent among women, by a gap of about 3 percentage points. This may be due to women’s tendency to attribute more weight to occupational characteristics that make it possible to balance work and family. For example, 61% of married women with an

academic degree work within a half-hour drive of their place of residence, compared to 49% of men.

Avi Weiss, Taub Center president, says, “Higher education is important for integration into the labor market, but it is also important to adjust education levels to fit employment characteristics and the needs of the market in order to get the most out of workers and increase labor productivity.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis and the closing of the skies to air travel, many young Israelis have been enrolling in higher education. This may increase productivity and improve the occupational situation of many young Israelis, but it may also expand the phenomenon of overeducation in the coming years.”

The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel is an independent, non-partisan socioeconomic research institute.

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arah Gordon ’22, a junior at Norfolk Collegiate, understood why her school was closed each year in observance of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, but not all of her classmates did.

The pre-K through Grade 12 independent school in Norfolk creates doers, thinkers, and explorers in a warm and inclusive community. So, when Marah asked to Photo Courtesy of Norfolk Collegiate speak to her classmates Students Sarah ‘23 and Marah Gordon ‘22 host a Robotics table at the school’s annual club fair. Marah was instrumental in establishing the about Yom Kippur and school’s FTC Robotics club. what it means to her, the education, having attended Hebrew school was elated to have her share with Academy of Tidewater (now Strelitz the students.

International Academy) before coming to “They were generally excited about it,” Collegiate in middle school, and her comshe recalls about speaking to her peers fort with being her true self in front of her about the holiday. peers at Collegiate.

That spurred Marah to continue to “I’m very proud of her. She feels comshare her religion and its observances fortable enough in who she is that she with her classmates during assemblies. wants to share it with the Collegiate She even made hamantaschen for Purim community. She feels so at home within and shared them with the upper school.

Collegiate where she’s been nurtured and “It took hours to make all those hamancomforted,” says Gordon. taschens, and it was pretty painstaking, “I love Collegiate. There’s nowhere else but it was worth it,” Marah says. “People I’d rather be,” Marah says. “It has such really, really liked them. I had tons of a kind and caring community. It fosters fun sharing Purim with my community, an institutional culture of respect and and I think the joy and lightheartedness concern for others. I’ve really thrived as I spread really embodied the spirit of a part of it.”

Purim.”

Outside of the classroom, Marah is a She also attributes Collegiate for being member of the National Honor Society inclusive of her need for flexibility during and was instrumental in expanding the certain times of the year. robotics activities at Collegiate as a found“Teachers are always really undering member of the FTC Robotics club, standing and flexible with work and which builds and brings robots to life the holidays, but I think my peers and using metal parts and coding. instructors deserve to know why we aren’t “I want the challenge that robotics going to school, or why I need to move brings, and I value the companionship things around.” that comes with a team,” she says.

Marah’s mother, Randi Gordon, says, When not in school, Marah partici“She did this on her own. She really wants pates in Midrashah at Congregation Beth the community to understand, and she El. “This year, we’re undertaking a projreally wants to be inclusive and share her ect to make a documentary about local religion.”

Jewish history,” she says.

Gordon attributes it to Marah’s