Educating Our Children in Jerusalem

In America, as the summer winds down, you generally look ahead to Labor Day for the end of summer and beginning of the school year.

Israel has a more regimented calendar – the first day of school every year is September 1, whatever day of the week that is (unless it is Shabbat). First day of school is September 1, and last day is June 30.

During July, Israeli kids are often in camp, including camps run by schools, while parents continue to work. August, however, is a big hole in the calendar – it is difficult to find programs for kids, and most work grinds to a halt. Facing the oppressive weather during the hottest month of the year, people travel with their families (some Anglos go back to visit America) and it is basically a big break from productivity.

By the end of August, people are going a bit stir-crazy. Having kids cooped up without any misgeret, no framework or institution, can lead to all the worst manifestations of sibling rivalry and childish mischief, when the benefits of taking a break have long exhausted themselves. How many times can you take your kids to the park? September 1 cannot come soon enough!

Our situation was a little different from the standard Israeli one, as we were arriving in Israel in late August, about ten days before school was slated to start. The idea was for us to get settled, and for the kids to adapt to the new time zone and surroundings, in advance of the beginning of the school year, which we knew started on September 1.

This more or less worked out, although there were some unexpected outcomes – many Anglos weren’t around for our first Shabbat or two, because they were visiting family in America. And facing the oppressive heat upon arrival wasn’t fun (a week straight of 95-degree weather), but at least we could say that this is the worst it’s going to be for the year.

One thing we have experienced is that the September 1 “rule” is mostly honored in the breach.

Our 7^th grader spent four days at school prior to September 1. There was an orientation day for new arrivals in Israel, an orientation for 7^th graders (this school, like many in Israel, starts high school in 7^th grade), a school-wide orientation, and then class on August 31 for everyone, just because.

Our five-year-old actually started on August 26, well in advance of September 1. Why? Because she is in a gan under the charedi system, and they are tracked not to September 1 and the work calendar but to Elul and the yeshiva calendar. Why is she in a charedi gan? Well, it’s located in Katamon, so while the morot are charedi, the children are basically all Dati Leumi. We actually had no idea that it was a charedi gan before signing up (and even after signing up it took a while, and multiple emails and WhatsApps to the Iriyah, the Jerusalem Municipality people responsible for education), and were lucky we arrived when we did – if not, she might have missed her first day!

What’s this about the Jerusalem Municipality? In Israel, as opposed to America, Jewish education is run through the government. There are various religious public schools, which are government-funded, and then there are private schools, which are… also primarily government-funded. (As you have probably heard, there are some major financial benefits to this arrangement, even as they can at times be a bureaucratic nightmare – a reasonable tradeoff!) We spent much of our summer haranguing different school administrators and Municipality functionaries to make sure our kids were each actually signed up in the appropriate school. And it seems to have worked – small miracle!

Our nine-year-old has had the closest thing to an actual September 1 start. There were no special programs or orientations in advance. On the first day, parents were invited to come with their kids to school and arrive a bit early for a festive welcome, complete with balloons and a live saxophonist playing popular Jewish songs. It was a great way to start the year. And then they sent everyone home early.

If that school was closest to following the rules as to start date, our one-year-old’s mishpachton (mini-gan or day care) has possibly strayed the furthest.

In Israel there is a concept (kontzeptzia) called histaglut, or “acclimation,” that the mishpachton has adopted. For the first several days of day care, the kids are invited to attend, for slowly increasing periods of time – 1.5 hours, 2.25 hours, 3.5 hours, ramping up to the full 6.5 hours some time the following week. One parent is expected to be on hand, such that the child has a familiar face in their new surroundings, with the child slowly weaning off of parental presence.

I understand the theory behind histaglut (even as I have my doubts about it – is a drawn-out acclimation process really easier?), but I am less convinced by the implementation. After five American daycares, I am accustomed to the “set it and forget it” method: drop off the kid, endure a few minutes of crying, and go get a coffee. Here, the parents are expected to remain on site and gradually increase the child's time away from them. Perhaps this is better for the child. It is certainly worse for the parent. You almost get the feeling that they should be paying us for the period of histaglut!

But this is apparently how Israeli ganim work, even if our mishpachton is taking it to a new level of inefficiency. Maybe after Rosh Hashanah we’ll finally have our kids in school or child care on a regular basis.

How are our children adjusting? Every kid reacts to a new school – let alone a new country and language – differently, and our kids have also had a range of reactions, but for the most part they have been integrating well. A few things really help: the schools we are sending our kids to are well attuned to those joining from the U.S. – they offer a tailored educational program for olim and our kids have many Anglo friends in the school. We also tried to set up playdates with other kids in their schools before the year started, so that they would have some familiar faces. People have been very helpful and supportive, which has made a real difference, as well. All joking and complaints aside, there are a lot of wonderful things in the Israeli education system that we have already benefitted from.

The Gemara (Bava Batra 21a) tells us that the first education system in Judaism was set up in Jerusalem by Yehoshua ben Gamla (a name our family has great affinity for this year). Instead of parents educating their children, he established educational institutions for children throughout Israel. That system continues today, with a few modifications. Following in that tradition, we are excited to be educating our children in Jerusalem this year!

But when is my first day of “school,” when do universities start their fall semester? One of the greatest perks of Israeli academia is that universities do not start until after the chagim, so although there is always research to be done, things are not on a regular schedule and there are no pressing obligations until mid-October, which allows me to be around more while my kids adjust. Why can’t American university semesters start after the chagim?