“I’ve Been Thinking…”

“Addressing the Needs of All Students”
By Yael Bendat Appell, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program.  Yael currently runs the Hebrew and Judaic Studies Resource Program at the Sager Solomon Schechter Middle School in Northbrook, IL, and is passionate about making Jewish education accessible to all students.  Yael can be reached at ybendat@gmail.com.

In this very space, Jonathan Woocher recently wrote about the future of Jewish education and asked this essential question:  “How do we build on the positive achievements of recent years to make it not just possible, but nearly certain that every Jewish young person and adult will have rich, meaningful, and impactful Jewish educational experiences…”

Even more recently, an article entitled “City Pushes Shift for Special Education” appeared in the New York Times.  The article described a shift in New York City’s approach to educating students with diverse learning needs; many students who previously were sent to self-contained learning environments are now being sent to regular schools to allow these students to benefit from a typical classroom setting.  The article stated: “This is fundamentally looking to change the way kids with special needs are treated in the city—they’re talking about changing the culture of all schools in the city so that they can serve students that many of them were previously shipping out…”

I can’t help but think about the striking relevance of this statement to Jewish education.  Moreover, I would argue that in the context of Jewish education, the stakes are much higher.  The article refers to shipping children out of schools.  We, the Jewish community, instead of shipping our children out to just another school, have been shipping our children out of Jewish life.  Think back to the op-ed by R. Dov Linzer and Devorah Zlochower, published only last November in The Jewish Week.  In it, they, two prominent religious and Jewish educational leaders, courageously pleaded with the Jewish community to rethink its approach to individuals with special needs.  Their argument was simple but painful: Our organizational structures exclude individuals with special needs, and their families, from partaking in Jewish life.  In fact, they went so far as to say that their own family was essentially being cut out of the Jewish community.

To continue reading click here

To volunteer submit an “I’ve Been Thinking…” article please contact Nancy Neuberger at nneuberger@wexner.net. 

“I’ve Been Thinking…”

“Addressing the Needs of All Students”
By Yael Bendat Appell, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program.  Yael currently runs the Hebrew and Judaic Studies Resource Program at the Sager Solomon Schechter Middle School in Northbrook, IL, and is passionate about making Jewish education accessible to all students.  Yael can be reached at ybendat@gmail.com.

In this very space, Jonathan Woocher recently wrote about the future of Jewish education and asked this essential question:  “How do we build on the positive achievements of recent years to make it not just possible, but nearly certain that every Jewish young person and adult will have rich, meaningful, and impactful Jewish educational experiences…”

Even more recently, an article entitled “City Pushes Shift for Special Education” appeared in the New York Times.  The article described a shift in New York City’s approach to educating students with diverse learning needs; many students who previously were sent to self-contained learning environments are now being sent to regular schools to allow these students to benefit from a typical classroom setting.  The article stated: “This is fundamentally looking to change the way kids with special needs are treated in the city—they’re talking about changing the culture of all schools in the city so that they can serve students that many of them were previously shipping out…”

I can’t help but think about the striking relevance of this statement to Jewish education.  Moreover, I would argue that in the context of Jewish education, the stakes are much higher.  The article refers to shipping children out of schools.  We, the Jewish community, instead of shipping our children out to just another school, have been shipping our children out of Jewish life.  Think back to the op-ed by R. Dov Linzer and Devorah Zlochower, published only last November in The Jewish Week.  In it, they, two prominent religious and Jewish educational leaders, courageously pleaded with the Jewish community to rethink its approach to individuals with special needs.  Their argument was simple but painful: Our organizational structures exclude individuals with special needs, and their families, from partaking in Jewish life.  In fact, they went so far as to say that their own family was essentially being cut out of the Jewish community.

To continue reading click here

To volunteer submit an “I’ve Been Thinking…” article please contact Nancy Neuberger at nneuberger@wexner.net.