By Eric Leibman, , Portland, Oregon
Regarding Miriam Swedlow’s letter about the Torah Day School (March 7): I suspect having a school in Seward Park has a great deal to do with the idea of being able to send your kids to a school within a couple of minutes’ drive of where you live, a school so close that, in many cases, it is even possible for the kids to walk there without too much trouble, a school close enough for parents to drop in on during the day or easily pick their kids up and drop them off on their way to and from work. And finally, a school close enough that, if the kids need to go to after-school day care, it is easier to get them back and forth to after-school options in Seward Park.
I think most parents relate easily to the trials of [shuttling] their kids back and forth for an aggregate total of over an hour a day all the way to North Seattle, whether it be by bus or family car, especially when the volatile nature of Seattle traffic can make the situation much more complicated.
It is only natural that, at some point, every major Orthodox neighborhood will want to have a school close at hand.
When we lived in Seattle, we donated every year to the Menachem Mendel Cheder. Now that we live in Portland, we regularly support the local Chabad School. But we totally understand the need for, and completely support, the Torah Day School of Seattle, which we also give to on a regular basis, by the way.
The moral of our story: Support Jewish education and avoid divisive arguments that serve no useful purpose.