The state of Jewish education

School has returned—and with it, the annual anxiety of Jewish parents fretting over the cost, and results, of Jewish day school. What good is Hebrew knowledge if most Israelis speak English? What are the benchmarks for a successful Jewish education? Is it just about surrounding our kids with other Jewish kids, or is there something deeper in the biblical knowledge?

Different parents will give different answers. For their part, our rabbi podcast panel of Not in Heaven, back from a quasi-summer break, have children of all ages with varying degrees of formal Jewish education. In this back-to-school special, the hosts debates the merits and strategies of Jewish schooling, including why sending your kids to a modern Orthodox school, even if you're more liberal in your home, might be the right choice.

Credits

• Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl
• Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Socalled

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