the jewish center movement and jewish education

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This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library] On: 01 November 2014, At: 20:24 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Jewish Education Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujje20 THE JEWISH CENTER MOVEMENT AND JEWISH EDUCATION Herbert Millman Published online: 23 Aug 2006. To cite this article: Herbert Millman (1993) THE JEWISH CENTER MOVEMENT AND JEWISH EDUCATION, Journal of Jewish Education, 60:2, 6-9, DOI: 10.1080/0021624930600203 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0021624930600203 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,

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Page 1: THE JEWISH CENTER MOVEMENT AND JEWISH EDUCATION

This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library]On: 01 November 2014, At: 20:24Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number:1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Jewish EducationPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujje20

THE JEWISH CENTERMOVEMENT AND JEWISHEDUCATIONHerbert MillmanPublished online: 23 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Herbert Millman (1993) THE JEWISH CENTER MOVEMENTAND JEWISH EDUCATION, Journal of Jewish Education, 60:2, 6-9, DOI:10.1080/0021624930600203

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0021624930600203

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of allthe information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on ourplatform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensorsmake no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy,completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views ofthe authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis.The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should beindependently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor andFrancis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings,demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, inrelation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private studypurposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,

Page 2: THE JEWISH CENTER MOVEMENT AND JEWISH EDUCATION

reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of accessand use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

HERBERT MILLMAN

THE JEWISH CENTER MOVEMENTAND JEWISH EDUCATION

While Jewish community centers were notorganized originally as community instru-ments for the enhancement of Jews as Jews,notable changes have been made in this direc-tion during the last five decades. A variety ofpowerful factors influenced the growth ofCenters as community institutions in the de-pression years and in the years of World WarII and beyond. The most far-reaching of thesewas the 1946-48 JWB Survey. This was car-ried out under the tutelage of an independentcommission composed of community lead-ers, with Salo D. Baron, noted Jewish scholar,as chairman and Oscar I. Janowsky, eminenthistorian, as director.A most salient conclu-sion of this two-year survey was that Jewishidentification was a central commitment ofJWB-affiliated agencies; that Jewish Com-munity Centers were not nonsectarian agen-cies. These findings resulted in the adoptionof a Statement of Principles on Center Pur-poses, affirming the fundamental Jewish pur-poses of Centers affiliated with JWB.According to the recommendations, the car-rying out of this Jewish mission required thatCenter membership be open to all Jews, re-gardless of religious differences. The recom-mendation required "the acceptance ofminimum standards of activities, staff qualifi-cations", and urged that JWB should "exertits influence upon the affiliated Centers tomeet such requirements". Furthermore, allconstituent agencies were given three yearsto affirm these recommendations or to droptheir affiliation. As a result, then membersynagogue-centers and nonsectarian settle-ment houses, albeit under Jewish manage-ment, were dropped from full affiliation.

Herbert Millman, is Executive Vice PresidentEmeritus, JCCA, formerly JWB.

While the majority of Center professionalsaccepted the recommendations, and some re-sisted. Largely, the dissenters questionedwhether social work, or indeed democracy,could be practiced in agencies committed tosectarian goals. Workers who felt stronglyinhibited, left the field to join agencies wheresuch circumscription was not a factor. Thelarge majority, however, and others consider-ing careers in Center work, were assured byanother recommendation that "the democraticprocess should be further in JWB and its con-stituency" and generally felt comfortable thatJewish identification enhancement was com-patible with social work purposes. To them,the practice of social group work was ad-dressed to helping the individual to interre-late effectively within the group and toenabling the group as a whole to aspire toever-higher levels of social — including Jew-ish-involvement.

GROWTH AND MOVEMENT

The postwar period was a time of growthand movement of Jewish Community Cen-ters, as they accommodated themselves to theneeds of that period. In-service training pro-grams, particularly those aimed at enrichingCenter programs to meet the Jewish needs ofmembership, increased markedly in the 1950sand 1960s. These were conducted by JWBwith the aid of Bureaus of Jewish Education,colleges of Jewish studies, universities, andrabbinic and other scholars. They includedorientation programs for new personnel andseminars for executives and middle manage-ment people, and included short-term coursesof training in Israel.

It was during this period that the GraduateSchool for Jewish Social Work was foundedwhich, during its existence, was a principal

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source of professional education for careersin Jewish agencies. In addition, several uni-versities initiated training programs for Jew-ish communal professionals, including Centerworkers. Such programs were sponsored bythe Wurzweiler School of Social Work ofYeshiva University; Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles;the Philip Lown Institute of Brandeis Univer-sity; and Hebrew Teacher's College in Balti-more. Some of these were cosponsored byschools of social work, enabling students toembark on double master's degree programs.

Meanwhile, the founding of the State ofIsrael in 1948 had a profound effect on Jew-ish Center workers. The contacts with depart-ments of the Israeli government, WorldZionist Organization education and youthgroups, and Israeli academic institutions wereof great benefit. American workers were sentto Israel for supplementary training, andShlichim were imported to bolster Jewish pro-gramming. The setting up of a JWB office inIsrael facilitated such programming as send-ing teenagers for a summer experience. Theestablishment of the Jerusalem YM-YWHAby the World Federation of YM-YWHAs,paved the way for the introduction of theCenter concept to Israel, currently expressedthrough more than 250 Israeli Centers underthe umbrella of the Israel Association of Com-munity Centers.

ADVANCES IN 1950-60

Institutional construction, so promising inthe 1920s, came to an abrupt halt in the 1930swith the economic depression, and did notresume until after World War II. At that time,existing Center facilities were mainly locatedin the original Jewish neighborhoods. The1950s represented a period of movement ofpopulations from the core cities to the sub-urbs; and from population centers in theNortheast and Mid-West to the other ends ofthe continent. The synagogues were often thefirst to relocate in the newer areas of Jewishresidence. Some of these endeavored to com-bine synagogue and Center facilities underone roof, sometimes calling themselves Jew-

ish Center or Jewish Community Centers.This seemed to work until a second syna-gogue, of another denomination, followed ora Center or branch of a central JCC was es-tablished.

In 1962, an entire issue of ConservativeJudaism was devoted to articles criticizingthe Jewish Community Center. The authorsaccused Centers of not being intrinsically Jew-ish and claimed that Centers do not contributeto the enrichment or preservation of Jewishlife. They argued that the funds Centers re-ceived from Federations should be redistrib-uted to synagogues. Sanford Solender, thenexecutive vice-president of JWB, in an articlein the Journal of Jewish Communal Service,reasserted the Center's central purpose as thatof enriching Jewish life in America.

In the 1970s and the 1980s they have beenaided in their Jewish self-developmentthrough programs here and in Israel spon-sored by JWB. While these have been shortterm, they have awakened interest in the po-tential of Centers as Jewish educational insti-tutions.

DEEPENING JEWISHEDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

A second study was made by JWB in 1967-69 as a followup to the "Janowsky" Study, asthe JWB Survey of 1948 was popularlyknown. This one clarified what is meant by"Jewish content" in JCC programming. Inessence, it stated clearly that meaningful Jew-ish content required a conscious effort byboards and staffs to focus Center program-ming on deepening Jewish self-awareness andconcerns of the Jewish community and theJewish people. This study paved the way to athird study in the early 1980s on Maximizingthe Jewish Educational Effectiveness of Jew-ish Community Centers. The study was led bya commission made up of Center lay leadersand professionals and representatives of otherfields drawn from all over the United Statesand Canada. Morton Mandel, a distinguishedpast president of the Cleveland JCC, JWB,and the Council of Jewish Federations, wasthe chairman. Arthur Rotman, executive vice-

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president of JWB, served as director, and thiswriter was consultant to the process.

The Commission acknowledged at the out-set that the Center is unique in being open toall Jews of all ages and ideological orienta-tions who come to the Center for their ownreasons — and it intends to remain so. Itschallenge was a formidable one that includeddefining the Jewish goals of the Center, andwhat more Centers can and should do to ef-fectuate those goals. To aid it in its task, JWBestablished a department for Jewish educa-tional programming, which has now becomea stimulating, rich resource for Centers. Thefirst task of the Commission was to draw up adefinition of the Jewish education mission ofthe Center. In this, it had the expert help ofDr. Alvin Schiff, executive vice-president ofthe Board of Jewish Education of New York.It begins by recognizing that "Jewish Educa-tion is a life-long process of acquiring Jewishconvention, that "synagogues are here to stay,Centers are here to stay. It is not a matter ofeither or but a matter of both and... The syna-gogues and Centers must become creativepartners".

CONTINUING GROWTH OFCENTERS AS COMMUNITY

INSTITUTIONS

As Centers have increased in membershipand activity, Center workers had to considerhow they could upgrade their Jewish compe-tence along with honing their skills in work-ing with people. In a keynote paper at the1961 Conference of AJCW, Bertram Goldand Arnulf Pins summed up the views ofknowledgeable Center workers on integrat-ing Jewish competence and social work skillsin dealing with the communal and individualneeds of Jews. Other conference papers overthe years have dealt with the need for height-ened Jewish consciousness and knowledgethat this is now accepted as evidenced by thenumber of concrete steps which have beentaken within the profession and by JWB todevelop and reinforce the Jewish knowledgeof Center workers.

By the mid-1970s, the staffs of Center in-

cluded more than 1,500 persons from a vari-ety of professions, including social work —many of them products of the joint programsof the Jewish schools referred to earlier —Jewish education, health and physical educa-tion, early childhood education and Jewishcultural specializations. They were bound to-gether by a common dedication to Jewishdevelopmental knowledge, skills, attitudesand values; that Jewish education takes placenot only in the classroom, but also in thehome, synagogue, community center, andcamp — wherever the sense of Jewish be-longing, understanding, values, and responsi-bilities can be aroused. It calls for emphasisin the Center on such crucial areas as (a)developing understanding by parents of Jew-ish education for their children and them-selves, (b) attracting the unaffiliated intoJewish involvement, (c) fortifying theJewishly committed, (d) deepening the un-derstanding of Israel and Jewish peoplehoodby stimulating engagement in Judaic Studies,and (e) helping people live effectively as Jewsin an open society.

The definition in all of its parts are ad-dressed to Centers and to JWB. Drawing fromthese are pointed recommendations to profes-sionals including the desire and capacity ofthe professional staff to develop effective andinnovative Jewish educational programs andservices are vital. They particularly specifythat Centers have rich Jewish educational pro-grams when:l.The Center director places a high priority

on Jewish education.2. The Center professional staffs bring the

knowledge of their own disciple and com-mitment to the purposes of the agency andthe Jewish background and desire to imple-ment Jewish education programs and ser-vices.

3.Centers continue to increase the level ofJewish knowledge and skills of existingstaff.JWB Centers and the Association of Jewish

Center Professionals, the current name, havealready taken concrete steps towards this end.As in any sound study process, JWB builtinto this one the mechanism for acceptance

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by Center leaders through the instrumentalityof community visits by lay leaders and pro-fessionals. In these visits with Center, Fed-eration, and Jewish education leaders, JWBleaders found and generated acceptance andreadiness to move ahead. The consequencewas universal enthusiastic acceptance of therecommendations.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

As the Jewish community has matured,Centers have take their place alongside theFederations, synagogues, and Jewish schoolsin buttressing Jewish life here, in Israel, andaround the world. There are today 275 Cen-ters and camps across the continent, includ-ing some with several branches. These have amembership of more than 1,000,000 men,women and children. In this milieu, the Cen-ter profession has reached a peak of about3,000 men and women, each specializing inhis or her activity. In a world in which career

success is often measured by dollars, howrefreshing it is to have so many people en-gaged in a people-helping task where the dol-lar awards are relatively modest.

Recognizing the need for an increased num-ber of professionals to provide the personnelfor the next generation of Centers, it will benecessary for the movement to act on theseveral levels of recruitment, orientation, anduptraining of new workers; personnel stan-dards and continuing education. Towards thisend, JCCA is now expanding staff trainingopportunities here and in Israel that will con-centrate on raising Jewish and practice com-petence. Imbued with the commitment of theoriginal volunteer founders, center profession-als have been the partners with volunteers inshaping the movement into a vigorous insti-tutional force for the preservation and enrich-ment of Jewish life. They must never losesign of the current goals of the Center Move-ment emphasizing Judaism as a way of life.

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