Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 January 2003 — Page 13

January 29. 2003 NATS

The Art of Observation

Teen Scene

School choice options growing

Forging friendships through the footlights

By RABBI ALLEN H. PODET America is a land of limitless choices. Not least of all, our choices in religion are blindingly many, a veritable forest of choices. Our Government wisely stays out of the

religion business, with a few odd exceptions like faith-based welfare and the highly arguable case of why Roman Catholics should have to pay both for the "public" (read: Protestant) educational system and for their own. Catholics have been fighting for years for the choice of schooling. The Catholics are no longer alone. In the last decade, an increasing number of Jewish day schools have sprung up, including even day schools for Reform Jews. Many Jews, too, will be happy to see this development. Those who oppose it say with dread that a barrier of church and state is falling. Those who favor it say that double taxation is finally being corrected. The fact is that the public schools were never public in the sense of impartial, neutral. The teachers who pushed us into Christmas programs were not neutral. They were not even melting-pot undifferentiated Christian. They were in their programs and teachings "secular civil Protestant-like religion" at best, and to a believing Catholic parent, subversive of the Catholic religion. They would have been subversive to Jews too, but we were a bit stronger for the most part, or just more stubborn. Also, we were used to being a minority that resisted pressure. And then, let us admit it, plenty of us were undermined and destroyed as Jews because the pressure was sufficient to do it to us, and we had little spiritual armament with which to resist. It was a great loss to the Jewish community, greater and more serious than I have suggested here. Many factors were involved in this loss. First, a normal child commonly wants to please the teacher, who has

power, authority, stands in the place of a parent. Plus, if your parents are of immigrant stock, or you are made aware of minority status, the teacher represents the "real" America. Acceptance. And the teachers of my Cleveland midwestern experi-

ence were rarely Jewish. They were not hostile to Jews, they simply were not Jews, and were unaware of Jews, and we students did not go out of our way to be conspicuous if we could avoid it. In retrospect it is funny to think of our classmates who, when we sang the lovely carols, would mumble "humphum" when the name of Jesus came up. "And Humpph is born in Bethlehem." Perhaps it was not so funny after all. It is difficult to recall anyone asking to be excused from choir or music class. Peer pressure was enough to prevent that. I do recall a kind of secret society feeling among the Jews, a bond that united us religious outsiders into a protective Resistance movement. For those who had some spiritual resources to begin with, and had already developed some sort of Jewish sense of identity, Christmas made us stronger. Sadly, many Jewish children were bereft of spiritual resources, either because their parents had never equipped them, or because the parents, themselves, were deprived, and in consequence deprived their children. Hanukkah bush families. Parents with nothing spiritual of their own to supply, who grasped at something so their children would not feel deprived. But of course the children did feel deprived, be-

cause they could never fully have whatever mock-Christian mixture their parents offered them. In the end, they were more outside than the members of the Jewish Resistance. Somehow the message of the civil religion "public" schools sank in, namely, that in

the eyes of the school, in the eyes that really mattered, religion was unimportant. At best, it was a subject for seasonal ethnic curiosity and amusement. "This is how Easter dolls are dressed in Denmark." Our religion, like all religion, was not to be taken seriously. But this approach was not by any means neutral. It taught us to disrespect something that was vitally important to our spiritual life. It trivialized our uniqueness, our history, our religious identity. Somehow we felt that, and some of us resisted, and some of us gave in. If it was difficult for Jews; it was worse for Catholics. Whatever was unique and special in their teaching was diluted and trivialized, and over a period of time, the true central figure and focus of the December holiday ceased to be Christ and became Santa Claus. What they were once taught was a celebration of their Savior became in the hands of the education system a snow festival dedicated to getting expensive presents. Little wonder that any Catholic community that could afford it established a parochial school. The same problem — even worse — existed in the public colleges, where it was and remains fashionable to deride religion actively. Philosophy for some students, or science for others, was — and is — preContinued on page 14

It is difficult to recall anyone asking to be excused from choir or music class. Peer pressure was enough to prevent that. I do recall a kind of secret society feeling among the Jews, a bond that united us religious outsiders into a protective Resistance movement. For those who had some spiritual resources to begin with, and had already developed some sort of Jewish sense of identity, Christmas made us stronger.

By JULIE COHEN A little while ago I wrote about something called Junior Spectacular. It is a student-run

vaudeville-type show. The junior class splits up into "acts" and performs their own original short plays. This year our act made it to the final five. The performance is this week. After the performance, a winning act is chosen, and the whole shebang is over. Anyway t this experience has been really new for me. 1 have never been involved in theater or acting. Obviously, I had a lot to learn. But what 1 learned wasn't just about acting. I learned about forming relationships with people and coming together as a group. We had a lot of fun in the process of putting on this production. But we also had a lot of struggles. We had communication problems, too much talking, never knowing when or where practice was, and so on. But as time passed, we all learned how important it was to be there for each other. It was our own little support system. 1 became friends again with so many people that I had lost touch with. Being in such a big high school, it can sometimes

be difficult to stay friends with people whom you don't see very often. But this experience really brought it all back together. I learned a lot about working as a team. This wasn't a one-man show. It was all about teamwork. We all relied on each other, and it was really amazing to see a group of 40 17-year-olds come together with maturity, responsibility, and diligence. After the show tonight, I know I will take a step back and look at the situation and realize how proud I am. I think part of life is spontaneity - trying things that are new when things start to get dull. When this year kept drudging on with endless schoolwork. Junior Spectacular was my escape. It was this new experience that kept me going. It also gave kids who don't usually get to be in the limelight a chance. I've never really acted onstage until now, and 1 found that I really enjoyed it; it might be something I want to try again in the future. I've learned how much hard work can be put into one little show. But like I said, I have learned more than just stage directions and theatrical techniques. f have learnedqow to form relationships with people* I don't normally form relationships with. I have grown a lot as a person from this experience, and I know it is something I will always remember. julic Cohen welcome?; reader comments at: [email protected].

A Bit of Wit

A Gabbai approaches a guest in the Shul and says, "I want to give you an Aliyah. What is your name?" The man answers, "Sara has Moshe." The Gabbai says, "No, I need your name."

The man says, "It's Sara bas Moshe." The Gabbai asks, "How can that be your name?" The man answers, "I've been having some financial problems, so now everything is in my wife's name."

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