Local educator takes charge of national groupVICKI CABOT
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 Bonnie Morris |
The other reasons include the thousands of other Jewish children who are enrolled in Jewish day school across the country - and the thousands who are not.
Morris, director of education at Temple Solel in Paradise Valley, oversees the Solel School, a congregational day school, as well as Solel's preschool, religious school and adult education programs.
Last spring, she also assumed the presidency of PARDeS, the Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools, an affiliate of the Reform Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The organization serves as a networking and support group for its affiliate schools, disseminating information about current educational trends and research, and assisting with grant writing and curriculum development. Currently, PARDeS is developing a Hebrew curriculum for use in its member schools.
As if she weren't busy enough, Morris is also the school accreditation chair for NATE, the National Association of Temple Educators. Both posts position her to make a significant impact on the burgeoning Reform day school movement, of which she is a fierce advocate. While she insists day school is not a "panacea" for Jewish continuity, it is an important element in maintaining it, she says. And developing full-time school options in the non-Orthodox community expands educational choices for Jewish families.
There are now 24 PARDeS schools across the country. The oldest, Rodeph Sholom in New York and Beth Am in Florida, were founded 28 years ago; new schools opened in Philadelphia and Dallas last year, and another in Los Angeles is opening its doors this fall. A fourth, in St. Louis, is set to open in fall of 2000.
The Solel School, incorporated in 1992, was a natural extension of Solel's expanding preschool program, says Morris. When Morris signed on as education director in 1990, just 12 children were enrolled in the preschool. This month, the preschool welcomed 120 children back to school, and another 80 youngsters began their studies in the day school's kindergarten-to-fifth grade classes.
As part of a gradual expansion, the Solel School hopes to add a sixth grade next year.
Morris attributes Solel's success, and the growth of the national Reform day school movement, to parental dissatisfaction with public education and a desire for serious Jewish studies.
"Most public schools have large class sizes and are at least 25 years behind in their educational philosophy," she says. She describes them as constrained by politics and finances, unable to implement many of the progressive educational philosophies that she advocates.
In addition, the ability to incorporate Jewish studies into the curriculum, both as a separate discipline and as an integral element in other academic areas, goes far to help foster positive Jewish identity.
As PARDeS president, Morris defines her mission as championing expanding day-school options to an ever-widening circle of parents. "Advocacy for day schools in the Orthodox community is not an issue," she says, noting that such schooling is imbedded in the traditional Jewish lifestyle.
For more liberal Jews, choosing day school requires a "cultural orientation," she says. The lack of such orientation often is a greater impediment to enrollment than the cost, she says, acknowledging that cost is prohibitive for some families.
"It's important that liberal Jewish families understand that they do have the option of full-time Jewish education for their children, in which they can have the best of both worlds," she says.
Morris comes by her commitment to integrate Jewish and secular studies by way of a modern-Orthodox, education-centered upbringing. Her father, descended from a long line of renowned Orthodox rabbis, was superintendent of schools in a Boston suburb. Her mother is a longtime public school teacher. Both parents encouraged Morris to pursue seriously both Jewish and secular study.
Morris is facile with Hebrew texts and displays deep knowledge of Jewish history, ritual and practice. She holds two bachelor's degrees, one in history and a second in education, and a masters in education from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Equally important to her Jewish learning, Morris says, was her rich home life, replete with Shabbat observance, kashrut (kosher laws) adherence, and memorable holiday celebrations.
Morris says her family, and particularly her maternal grandmother who lived with them, gave her a deep appreciation for the "sights, smells (and) feelings" that are part of being Jewish. Now she; her husband, Roger, a local attorney; and daughters, Steph-anie, a high school freshman; Erica, a Solel third-grader, and Rebecca, a Solel first-grader, carry on much of that tradition at home.
Other essential elements for developing positive Jewish identity in young people, in Morris' view, include Jewish youth group participation, travel to Israel and Jewish camp. Again, Morris had the benefit of all three. Her local and national involvement in Young Judaea had a significant influence on her, she says, as did her summers at Jewish camp and time spent in Israel.
She first visited Israel in the winter of 1973, as a junior in high school, volunteering on a kibbutz. The following year, immediately after her high school graduation, she went back to Israel. This time she stayed seven years, completing her education and then teaching.
When she returned to the United States, she settled near her family in Massachusetts and accepted a position with a congregation in Belmont. "It was my first encounter with Reform Judaism," says Morris.
She took the job because she "liked the school and the rabbi." The congregation's denomination was not an issue for her, she says.
A move to Pittsburgh led to a position as education director at another Reform congregation. Although she was attracted to the philosophy and atmosphere, Morris did not then identify as a Reform Jew. Gradually, she says, she realized that indeed she was moving in that direction.
Morris says that what defines her as a Reform Jew is "not my level of observance, but why I do what I do." Keeping the mitzvot (commandments) is a choice, she emphasizes, and a life-enhancing one.
She adds that what she strives to do is to pass on her passion for an observant Jewish life to her children, and to other people's children as well.
Morris's vision for Jewish education is expansive. She lauds the leadership at Temple Solel for assuming the risk of initiating a day school and nurturing its early development. Now she seeks to expand its reach, engaging other area congregations in a cooperative effort to increase enrollment.
To date, Temple Chai and Temple Kol Ami have become partners; beginning this fall, their members will qualify for the discounted temple membership rates previously offered solely to Solel congregants.
In addition, Morris has recruited six rabbis from area congregations to alternate teaching the school's weekly Torah study. Rabbis William Berk and Lisa Tzur from Temple Chai, Rabbi B. Charles Herring from Kol Ami, Rabbi Andrew Straus from Temple Emanuel, and Solel Rabbis Maynard Bell and Alan Berlin and Cantor Julie Berlin have signed on.
Also on Morris's agenda is seeking constituent agency status with the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, which would position the school to receive funding from the local UJA/Federation campaign. She has begun preliminary talks with federation executives.
Currently, two other day schools have agency status, Phoenix Hebrew Academy and the King David School (formerly Solomon Schechter Day School). The federation also has provided seed money through a grant from its Commission on Jewish Continuity and Community to the Tri-City Jewish Community Center for a day school.
Morris believes strongly that educating Jewish children is a community responsibility.
"They are the next generation. (We have to assure) that they are literate and comfortable and ready to lead."