JEA promises ‘business as usual’ during makeover

by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

Concerned about possible “misinformation and misconceptions,” leaders of the Jewish Education Association of MetroWest sent out a mass mailing to members of the Jewish community, stating that the agency will conduct “business as usual” even as it undergoes a lengthy process of reevaluation.

The two-page letter was sent June 17 to MetroWest agency heads, lay leaders, rabbis, synagogue officers, and JEA staff and board members “to let people know we are continuing to provide services during this time,” said the association’s president, Shelley Levine of Montclair.

The letter was issued as a strategic planning committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ continued its review of recommendations made by an outside consulting firm. In April the firm, TBF Consultants of Potomac, Md., suggested that the JEA’s current structure was no longer meeting the needs of the community and recommended replacing it with a new organization. The firm also advised that the agency provide greater emphasis on programs for teenagers after they become bar and bat mitzva in addition to supporting congregational and preschool educators.

“We have been getting a lot of questions from rabbis and religious school principals, and some people even think we’ve closed down,” Levine told NJ Jewish News. “We want to reassure everybody that this is not the case.”

The letter, cosigned by Levine and JEA executive director Saul Andron, said, “The JEA stands committed to delivering essential educational services and programs during the next nine to 12 months while the Jewish Education and Identity Strategic Planning Process is under way.”

Andron said the letter spells out JEA activities that will continue in the transition year. They include its Central Hebrew High School, teacher training, and programs for early childhood educators (see sidebar).

“What is spelled out here does not represent a cut in the activities of the JEA,” Andron told NJJN. He said that the strategic planning committee had accepted the recommendation that the JEA be replaced with a “new entity.”

“They are beginning to address the issues of the makeup of the new entity for Jewish education and identity services,” he said.

In the interim, Levine told NJJN, “we want to make certain that the JEA fulfills the needs of our community.”

“We plan to deliver on what is listed in the coming year,” Andron said. When asked whether those services would be provided next year, he said, “That is to be determined by this strategic planning process.”

Robert Wiener can be reached at rwiener@njjewishnews.com.