Steve Solomon
Tribute to an educator
Steve Solomon will be honored for his 33 years as an educator at the East Brunswick Jewish Center with a tribute buffet luncheon and roast on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 11:30 a.m. at the synagogue.
The cost is $20, $15 for children under 12, with a maximum of $75 per family. For information, call EBJC at 732-257-7070.
Advertisement
September 7, 2009
When Steve Solomon came to East Brunswick Jewish Center 33 years ago, he had no idea he would find a home base in which to develop innovative education programs for members from preschoolers through adults.
Now with the end of his tenure as EBJC education and youth director, he recalled a career during which advanced Jewish education became the norm at the Conservative synagogue, and its religious school programs became models of inclusiveness.
“What was happening here when I first started was that a high percentage of students were dropping out after bar or bat mitzva,” said Solomon. “I found that to be deplorable and set out to differentiate between Hebrew school with bar or bat mitzva as a goal, to graduation as a goal. And what I wanted was for kids to graduate and go on to Hebrew high school.”
Within a relatively short period of time, students were not only completing the bar/bat mitzva school year and graduating, but half were going on to Hebrew high.
“In my mind that’s what I would say was my greatest accomplishment,” said Solomon in a phone interview with NJJN during the week before his official Aug. 31 retirement.
“Jewish education doesn’t stop at bar or bar mitzva, and once the kid goes to college having continued on with his or her education, that student is more apt to practice his or her Judaism,” said Solomon. “Getting the teachers more excited caused the kids to get more excited. And, of course, I always had the support of the rabbi and board of education.”
At one point, EBJC, in partnership with the Highland Park Conservative Temple, formed a twice-a-week midrasha, or learning center, which drew students from as far away as Staten Island. That program ended about eight years ago, he said, because there was a lack of support from other rabbis.
But, Solomon said, it is just that sort of cooperation that is needed at a time when area Conservative and Reform synagogues are not attracting enough young families to offset the loss of older members.
EBJC now has 150-160 students in its religious school, but “in its heyday we had more than double that,” he said.
For Solomon, one solution would be a partnership between local synagogues and Jewish federations to establish community schools.
Visionary thinking
It was that kind of visionary thinking that has always impressed EBJC leaders, said Rabbi Aaron Benson, who joined the synagogue last November. “I’ve come to appreciate what a truly caring and dedicated man Steve is. He’s built a reputation not only on the excellence of our Hebrew school programming, but also his own reputation as an educator and Jewish leader.”
Benson said the congregation has given Solomon and his wife, Randy Ellen, a lifetime membership at EBJC. They will also honor him at a tribute celebration Oct. 25. Solomon has been replaced by Mallory Probert, who will have the title of director of congregational and lifelong learning.
Among Solomon’s other achievements has been the growth of the synagogue’s United Synagogue Youth and Kadima chapters, which are now among the largest and most active in the region.
Solomon also led six congregational trips encompassing more than 500 people to Israel and helped create a model for intergenerational family education.
A Brooklyn native, Solomon still retains the New York accent of his youth. He reviewed a lifetime spent in Jewish education, beginning with his first job teaching at age 15 at the Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst.
A former elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, he began as a teacher in EBJC’s school before accepting his current position.
Solomon doesn’t know what his next move will be; “I’m bordering on becoming an alter kocker,” he said.
“I’ve had a wonderful staff with teachers who have been here over 30 years, longer than I’ve been here,” said Solomon. “They did it out of dedication and love of the kids. The kids are wonderful…. They are the best.”
Reader Discussion
Comment on this article
--TOP--
Follow NJJN