Convention Issues Educational Support Initiatives

The RCA reaffirms the need to support and fund our Jewish day schools and Yeshivot, and make a quality Jewish education accessible and affordable.

May 18, 2006 — Whereas the cornerstone of our faith and the survival of the Jewish people is Talmud Torah, intensive, high quality Jewish education, v’shinantam l’vanekha; and,

Whereas intermarriage and assimilation are at their highest rates in the history of our people, a catastrophe that threatens our very survival; and,
Whereas the cost of Jewish education has become a financial barrier that prevents many children from receiving a day school education, which is the right of every Jewish child; and,

Whereas the high cost of tuition has caused devastating disruption of shalom bayit in families which either do not have the resources to send their children to day school or are staggering under the enormous financial strain of multiple soaring tuitions; and,

Whereas high quality Jewish day school education must be made available to all Jewish children, regardless of their family’s resources; and,
Whereas it is our obligation to fulfill the mandate of kol Yisrael areyvim zeh bazeh, that every Jew is a guarantor for every other Jew; and,

Whereas it is the clear responsibility of the Kehillah, the entire Jewish community, to fund Jewish education so that all of our children who wish to do so may attend day schools;

Now, therefore, the Rabbinical Council of America resolves that:
The rabbinic and lay leadership of the Jewish community must take forceful and aggressive action to remedy the current crisis of funding day schools and yeshivot; and that

It is essential and in the best interest of the entire Jewish community that communally funded, affordable, high quality Jewish day school education be made available to all Jewish children, regardless of their family’s financial resources; and that

It is the obligation of all Jews to do their utmost to provide financial support to day school/yeshiva education within their community, whether or not they currently have children or grandchildren in a day school or yeshiva; and that

It is imperative that each and every Jewish community organize itself and create locally controlled central funds that support Jewish day schools and yeshivot; and that

It is each Jewish community’s responsibility to insure that Jewish day schools receive massive infusions of communal funds to lower the cost of tuition so that no family will fail to send their child to a day school due to cost, and to enable day schools to pay a wage that will attract the most qualified educators; and that

Each member of the Rabbinical Council of America shall join with his colleagues to publicly and persistently urge their congregations to implement the provisions of this resolution.