A few years ago, I took my daughter’s high school and Prozdor Hebrew high school diplomas to be framed. As I showed the latter to the shopkeeper, he said, “I’ve seen Dartmouth, Yale and Brandeis today, but not one of these.”
Though humorous and telling, this statement started me thinking about the next task at hand for my daughter - college. What in her Jewish upbringing would she bring with her, and what setting would she need to thrive and grow Jewishly? Or would her Prozdor diploma be emblematic of her Jewish life: framed and nice to look at, but static and no longer accessible?
I was raised secularly, but had many “Jewish” opportunities. I went to Hebrew school, had a bat mitzvah and loved my 4 years at Jewish summer camp. One of the few to continue in my synagogue’s confirmation class, I then spent 7 weeks on a teen tour in Israel. The year after, I immersed myself in Hillel at Boston University. I am an educated and involved member of my Jewish community because of these experiences.
When it came time to educate our daughter, I knew I wanted to give her all that I had had...plus one more: Jewish day school. It seemed right for her, and for our family. We enrolled her in kindergarten and she had a great education there, thanks to dedicated Judaic and general studies teachers, strong administrative support, and engaged cultural programs.
When she left to attend secular private school beginning in 7th grade, she was well prepared for the challenge, both educationally and Judaically. At this point, we enrolled her at the Prozdor Jewish high school due, in part, to our synagogue’s wise suggestion to continue with Jewish education as a condition for her bat mitzvah.
Our daughter spent six transformative years at Prozdor and her parallel education is constantly with her – in her thoughts and attitudes, in her schoolwork and in her daily life. The effort the Prozdor staff puts into making this a life-affirming and transformative experience is remarkable, and the dynamic faculty is to be commended: forty classes later, they are doing G-d’s work with our teens. Who knew that this, too, would become a part of her, so much so that she decided to stay for the 12th grade Moreshet, the senior seminar.
I am proud and grateful to say my daughter is an educated Jewish young adult. And this past summer, as a student and traveler in Israel, was a defining event for her. All she had learned came together in one place, at one time, in our homeland. She loved her time there and will forever be changed by the experience. Her Jewish life and education has become central to her being, as she has struggled to find a place for herself at her school, and in her world. Being a student at a decidedly non-Jewish high school has been a challenge. But she has so benefited by being part of both a Jewish day school experience, and supplemental Jewish education. I know that Schechter laid the foundation; Prozdor helped her “own” her Judaism. She’s had to confront these questions of ownership earlier than most. Yet, these last two years have had the most profound effect on her – the course work, her teachers, and her volunteering for Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, which provides Jewish education to children with special needs. Now her college life has defined itself more clearly: she is a student ready to participate fully in her Jewish world, and having this is not an option – it is her future.
Though humorous and telling, this statement started me thinking about the next task at hand for my daughter - college. What in her Jewish upbringing would she bring with her, and what setting would she need to thrive and grow Jewishly? Or would her Prozdor diploma be emblematic of her Jewish life: framed and nice to look at, but static and no longer accessible?
I was raised secularly, but had many “Jewish” opportunities. I went to Hebrew school, had a bat mitzvah and loved my 4 years at Jewish summer camp. One of the few to continue in my synagogue’s confirmation class, I then spent 7 weeks on a teen tour in Israel. The year after, I immersed myself in Hillel at Boston University. I am an educated and involved member of my Jewish community because of these experiences.
When it came time to educate our daughter, I knew I wanted to give her all that I had had...plus one more: Jewish day school. It seemed right for her, and for our family. We enrolled her in kindergarten and she had a great education there, thanks to dedicated Judaic and general studies teachers, strong administrative support, and engaged cultural programs.
When she left to attend secular private school beginning in 7th grade, she was well prepared for the challenge, both educationally and Judaically. At this point, we enrolled her at the Prozdor Jewish high school due, in part, to our synagogue’s wise suggestion to continue with Jewish education as a condition for her bat mitzvah.
Our daughter spent six transformative years at Prozdor and her parallel education is constantly with her – in her thoughts and attitudes, in her schoolwork and in her daily life. The effort the Prozdor staff puts into making this a life-affirming and transformative experience is remarkable, and the dynamic faculty is to be commended: forty classes later, they are doing G-d’s work with our teens. Who knew that this, too, would become a part of her, so much so that she decided to stay for the 12th grade Moreshet, the senior seminar.
I am proud and grateful to say my daughter is an educated Jewish young adult. And this past summer, as a student and traveler in Israel, was a defining event for her. All she had learned came together in one place, at one time, in our homeland. She loved her time there and will forever be changed by the experience. Her Jewish life and education has become central to her being, as she has struggled to find a place for herself at her school, and in her world. Being a student at a decidedly non-Jewish high school has been a challenge. But she has so benefited by being part of both a Jewish day school experience, and supplemental Jewish education. I know that Schechter laid the foundation; Prozdor helped her “own” her Judaism. She’s had to confront these questions of ownership earlier than most. Yet, these last two years have had the most profound effect on her – the course work, her teachers, and her volunteering for Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, which provides Jewish education to children with special needs. Now her college life has defined itself more clearly: she is a student ready to participate fully in her Jewish world, and having this is not an option – it is her future.
