Luxury?

Recently a parent expressed the opinion that going to a private school was a "luxury." The implication of this was that not everyone would be able to afford the "luxury" of a private school education.

It got me thinking.

If Jewish Day School education is perceived as a "luxury"--as an independent school education might be--then it is not, by definition, essential. If it is not essential--but something only for those with the money and priorities to afford it--then the community need not make it a focus of its philanthropic efforts. Without community support, however, Jewish private schools will struggle. I question, for example, whether there are enough people to purchase a $20,000 per year luxury good every year when it means that they can't use those resources for something else.

Our job, therefore, is to make a Jewish private school education something more than a luxury; it must be something that our community believes is essential for our children.

Shabbat Shalom.