One of the most common complaints voiced by Jewish people is that it is expensive to belong to a congregation and send children to religious school. Kehilath Israel Synagogue is doing something about that. At its last meeting, K.I.’s board of directors unanimously approved a motion to open the Kehilath Israel Fred Devinki Religious School to the entire Jewish community tuition free. Sam Devinki, honorary president for life, said, “The board felt it is critically important that all Jewish children have access to quality education.”
The K.I. Fred Devinki Religious School is funded by the Fred Devinki Jewish Education Scholarship Fund for Kehilath Israel Synagogue, which was created by Maria Devinki and the Devinki family specifically to enhance Jewish education for children at K.I. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}The money to pay for this expanded free tuition program will also come from this scholarship fund.
Last year there were approximately 20 children of K.I. members in the religious school, which consists of grades kindergarten through seven. Rabbi Shron is considering adding a program for post Bar/Bat Mitzvah teens in the near future.
Rabbi Shron oversees the school along with its director, who takes care of the week-to-week details of the religious school. Gevura Davis recently resigned as director of the religious school as she and her husband have accepted new positions in Philadelphia. Sam Devinki said the congregation’s Education Committee is presently interviewing candidates to head the school. He expects an announcement will be made shortly to notify the community of the school’s new director and staff.
While there is no tuition for the school for both members and non-members, there is an activity and book fee of about $100 per student that will be charged once a school year for any student attending the school.
Rabbi Shron is excited about the change.
“We would like K.I. to be a place where people can send their kids to receive a good Jewish education and not have finances be an obstacle for that Jewish education,” the rabbi said.
He noted that Jewish education was very important to Fred and Maria Devinki, both of blessed memory. They spoke many times of their gratitude to K.I. for providing a religious school education for their son Sam, including sending transportation to get him to the school, when they were new immigrants and did not have the means to pay for it. So the family set up an endowment fund in 2007 to help finance the school.
Since that time, members of K.I. have been eligible for free religious school tuition. Free tuition does not include Bar Mitzvah training, which is a benefit of membership.
Rabbi Shron noted that “back in the good old days — in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s — all the synagogue schools were bursting at the seams.
“We would love for that to be a reality again today,” he said. “If we could attract another 20-30 students, it would be great.”
Inquiries about the school may be directed to Rabbi Shron or Elizabeth Peden, K.I.’s executive director, at 913-642-1880.{/mprestriction}
