In a wide-ranging campaign which includes numerous volunteers, the Rebbe’s shluchim at Ohr Shneur in Aubervilliers near Paris are working on transferring Jewish children from public school to Jewish schools. * R’ Eliezer Nisselevich, one of the directors of Ohr Shneur and the initiator of this campaign, talks about the difficulties and successes and has moving stories to share.
By Zalman Tzorfati
Patrick Selem (a pseudonym) is a Jewish boy who lives in a suburb of Paris. Like most Jews in France, his parents have some traditional background. They go to shul on Yom Kippur, they eat traditional holiday foods and support Israel. That, more or less, sums up their connection with Judaism .
Like tens of thousands of other Jews from the identical background, Patrick walked every morning to the public school on the end of the street opposite his house. His classmates come from a variety of religions and nationalities, from French Catholics, Moslem Arabs, Africans, Asians and others.
Patrick is a smart boy and excels socially and athletically. He gets good marks and was one of the best students in the school. The fact that he is a Jew never concerned him; he did not know much about his Judaism. He knew he is a Jew, of course, and even observed a few mitzvos and ceremonies, but it wasn’t that meaningful to him.
The situation could have continued like this with Patrick going from elementary school to higher education, and then to university. It is doubtful whether he would have had a Jewish family. But the ringing of the telephone one night was the impetus for a major change in Patrick’s life.
On the line was one of the shluchos in Aubervilliers, speaking on behalf of the Chabad School called Shneur. She asked to meet them to discuss Jewish education for their son. The topic of Jewish education came up now and then for discussion in Patrick’s family, but they usually quickly dropped it. The main reason was the cost. Their financial situation did not allow them to consider the high tuition payments that the private Jewish school required and there was also their distance from the school. Aside from that, Patrick was an excellent student and they were afraid that the academic level in a Jewish school, particularly a religious one, would be lower in the general studies department.
The meeting with the shlucha went well and Patrick was registered for the Shneur School in Aubervilliers. The tuition was nearly comparable to that of the public school, safe and convenient transportation took Patrick every morning to Shneur, and the shlucha told the parents about the impressive achievements of the school on state tests and the high percentage of students who matriculated.
Patrick switched schools and quickly made new friends and acclimated to the refined, Jewish school. The change was extreme and noticeably for the better, but that was just the beginning. The kippa that Patrick began wearing in school remained on his head and worked overtime.
Slowly, the entire family got into the swing of things, thanks to Patrick who was now called Pinchas. The parents, who wanted to narrow the gap, newly created between them and their son, asked the school what to do. They were invited to a series of classes and meetings in which parents were guided in how to understand the new way of life their son was acquiring, the son who had recently shared a desk with a Moslem of African descent.
THE SHOCKING ASSIMILATION RATE
Patrick’s story is the story of dozens and hundreds of children who switched from public school to Jewish education in France, following the registration drive that began three years ago by the Shneur school system in Aubervilliers.
“The official statistics of the Jewish community in France speak about 100,000 school age children,” says R’ Eliezer Nisselevitz, member of the hanhala of Shneur and initiator of the registration drive. “Only 25,000 attend Jewish schools. That means, 75,000 Jewish children are in non-Jewish schools, and unfortunately a high percentage of them attend Christian schools.
“The big problem of secular education, aside from the educational one, is the problem of assimilation. Over 80% intermarry following attendance in non-Jewish schools. This is a tragedy!”
TUITION AND TRANSPORTATION
As mentioned, the two main sticking points are tuition and transportation. Since the Jewish schools are private and are not financed by the Education Ministry, most of the budget comes from tuition. This causes the tuition to be high, especially in comparison to free education in public schools.
“Monthly tuition can be 400-500 Euros a month. A family with several children can end up spending a salary and even more just on tuition payments,” says R’ Nisselevitz.
As for the registration drive started three years ago to transfer Jewish children from non-Jewish schools to Jewish schools, “It’s a special project and I am sure it gives a lot of nachas to the Rebbe.
“We advertised in the French media, putting ads on television stations that are broadcast all over France, in newspapers and various media. We set up a special hotline which receives calls and refers them to our staff. The calls sometimes come from families who saw the ad and sometimes from a third party like family, friends or acquaintances, who contact us about a family whose children attend non-Jewish schools. Our staff members, who are experts in this, contact the family, sit with them, and professionally and sensitively address all the obstacles that stand in the way of registering a child in a Jewish school.”
What they offer is subsidized tuition and transportation, which provide an answer to the two main problems that always faced parents who considered sending their children to a Jewish school.
“We advertised that we accept children and take into consideration the situation of each parent. It’s not free but we subsidize as much as we can. We check the parents’ income and charge very low tuition and sometimes even provide free schooling.”
18 TRANSPORTATION LINES
“Another problem is the distance to school. Many Jews live in distant places that make it difficult for them because they go to work early. This is why we set up a transportation system to bring the children to school. We now have eighteen transportation lines that take and bring the children home.
“The anti-Semitic atmosphere and Islamic terrorism that is overtaking Europe and France in particular has led to a large wave of aliya from France. Jewish schools began emptying out. Usually, the children who attend Jewish schools are the first to make aliya since their connection to Judaism is greater. They are usually from more established families that have the means to make aliya. This has had a great impact on the institutions in France. Many schools had to close classes because of aliya. When these schools heard that we are doing a registration drive, they also realized the necessity in lowering the tuition so as to get children who are attending free public schools. However, they are not doing it on the same scale as we are.”
PROPER INTEGRATION
This costs a fortune. Where do you get the money from?
“The transportation alone costs us 25,000 Euros a month! We try and get donors but it’s never enough and we are far from stabilizing the school’s situation. Every month we need to cover an enormous deficit. Boruch Hashem there are good Jews who help but we are still far from comfortable.”
The children coming to you because of the registration drive are coming from a completely different background. How does their transfer from public school work? How do they integrate into the existing system?
“We have a special class for beginners that prepares the children, teaches them Alef-Beis, and tells them about the holiness of Shabbos and holidays and about upcoming holidays. They immediately get a taste of it. For example, with Chanuka, they are given menorahs and taught the brachos and the importance of the holiday. They are told to spread the information. We also have a public menorah lighting in the center of town which every school attends.
“There are those among the newcomers who even encourage the old-time students with their excitement and simple sincerity, and it is often hard to tell that these children were once in non-Jewish environments.
“It is important to mention that we put invest a lot of effort into our connections with these families, for when a child comes from that kind of background to our schools, it obviously raises the level at home. A gap is created between parents and children when their children attend Jewish schools and we work to close the gap as quickly as we can.
“To achieve this we have special classes for parents every morning for those who are not rushing to work. Parents who take their children to school have a forty-five minute class at the school. We get involved, we help with shalom bayis and in general with their kiruv to Judaism. There are some families who became more observant and made aliya as a result of this campaign and integrated into religious schools in Eretz Yisroel.
“Every Tuesday we have a full day of classes for parents on an array of subjects: Hebrew, Halacha, Tanya, etc. Every parent finds the time that is convenient for them. At certain times, there are even 15-20 parents sitting and learning.
“We have countless touching stories. We often find out how much children suffered beforehand in their non-Jewish school. They had thought there was no way out for them. They did not share what they were going through and only after they transferred to our school did they start to talk about what they went through.”
CUT IN THE THROAT AND PRETENDING TO BE ARAB
“One of the children said that at school he would hide his Magen Dovid necklace under his shirt. One day, it came out during sports. Some boys went over to him and said, ‘We see you’re a Jew.’ He said ‘Yes, I am a Jew.’ They took the Magen Dovid that he was wearing and made a cut in his throat. He began bleeding and the school sent him home.
“His parents went to the school afterward to complain, but the principal said it was the child’s fault, ‘He shouldn’t have come to school with obvious Jewish symbols.’
“There are plenty of stories like this. Many parents say that their children pretend to be Arabs because they are afraid to identify as Jews. For many children, the switch to our school is a switch from hell to heaven.
“Sometimes the bus route is very long. Some people live thirty kilometers from the school and they need to get up early to come on time. We start at 8:30 and they need to leave home at 6:45. They get up two hours earlier than they did with their previous school and the children still come happily.
“Word is getting out and people are calling us. Remember, the level of the general studies is very good. At the end of last year the class that had to take the matriculation exam all passed with a better than perfect score, and to the parents this is very important. We have a very devoted staff. It’s a school that has been in existence for over fifty years and Boruch Hashem we invest a lot into the quality.
“Often, children come to visit the school just one time and they tell their parents they are staying here and not going back to their previous school.”
Mrs. Nisselevitz checks out the level of the child and what class he belongs in and whether he needs extra help.
WHY DIDN’T WE DO THIS UNTIL NOW?
What happened all of a sudden three years ago that you decided to do this?
“The question ought to be why we didn’t do this sooner. We never refused any child who came to us and we did everything we could so that he would be successful here. We figured, if that’s the case, why shouldn’t hundreds more children benefit in the same way? After all, even before the registration drive, when parents couldn’t pay we would subsidize the cost.”
But there is no comparison between a few children and numerous children which costs a fortune!
“True. This campaign simply suits us as Lubavitcher Chassidim. The Rebbe did all he could so that no Jew would be neglected and he pleaded that we take in as many children as possible who are not receiving a Jewish education.”
Perhaps it is also connected to the anti-Semitism in France in recent years?
“Not necessarily. The campaign began not because of anti-Semitism but because of assimilation. We decided that at least we could help these children so they have spiritual stability. We said that if we help G-d’s children spiritually, He will help us materially.”
MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL RESCUE
Do you also have Lubavitcher children in your school?
“We have a program in which the children learn only Jewish subjects and there are mostly children of Anash there. The children who come in through the registration drive go to the regular school where there are general studies too.
“Each child is a world. A book can be written about each one. There are children who come from homes where we cannot describe how far the parents are from any crumb of Judaism and this literally saves them spiritually and materially too.”