I ve been stuck on that ride to the airport with far too many equally ambivalently concerned Jewish parents of day school kids to whom I ve had nothing productive to say. It always feels too late. This piece will finally be pro-active. I want to have told the truth as I see it. The problem is simple.
Day school is a wonder drug, it is a wonderful wonder drug.
It just isn t the right cure for every Jewish problem. It does wonders for Jewish ignorance, but it will not necessarily build Jewish connections. Sending children to day school to assure their Jewish futures is a lot like taking aspirin for pneumonia. It relieves some of the symptoms, and it can make the healing time less stressful. But while a stand-alone drug will do some things, aspirin will work much better when it is used with an antibiotic.