Carpetbaggers in Oklahoma
One of the ugly realities of the mid-nineteenth century was the detested figure of the Northern carpetbagger. In the years immediately following the Civil War, merchants and others roamed the ruined South looking for opportunities to make a financial killing. They had no interest in the hard task of rebuilding but focused on get-rich-quick exploitation. Some came to participate in political renewal, but most were predatory, opportunistic profit-seekers. They were reviled by Southerners and raised legitimate questions about the difference between commerce and unscrupulous mischief.
Meet the modern-day equivalent in the State of Oklahoma. Word is now beginning to circulate of an effort to create a Jewish charter school for Sooners. You’ll recognize the model of this effort immediately: a school that operates at public expense, but embraces a curriculum of religious particularism. If that rings a bell, we have just been through this, in the St. Isidore initiative that was defeated in the courts.
The engine is an outfit called the Ben Gamla Schools, which operates a group of institutions in Florida. The Florida Man who appears to head it is a former Democratic congressman, Peter Deutsch, which proves that there are mischief-makers on both sides of the aisle. Despite his background, Deutsch is now a Trumper.
For the record, I never heard of Ben Gamla until this week, and the same is true for everyone I know. The school never contacted any of my colleagues and seems to have done no research or polling. The Jews of Tulsa have a well-resourced day school and the community in Oklahoma City is anchored in its synagogues. We all work to educate our high-school students for life in a richly diverse society. No one has cried out to Florida for redemption, and an online charter would be both intrusive and duplicative.
So what’s the deal with the nice folks from Ben Gamla? I can’t believe that it’s the work of visionaries bringing Jewish religious life to the rubes of the hinterlands. Speaking as a rube, we’ve got a sweet thing going: a richly resourced Jewish community with stimulating opportunities, strong native institutions, and a talented, hardworking cadre of professionals. Our beloved synagogue educator, Sara Levitt, is warm, graceful, and deeply educated. Everyone regards her as a model Jewish adult. She is treasured for her high level of commitment and understanding, and her way of collaborating with her professional colleagues.
So why is Ben Gamla coming to Oklahoma? I think it’s all about the carpetbags. Someone in Florida has seen an opportunity to make money. Not loads of it, but enough to get by, starting in a state that is already talking about charters. Yes, the issue was resolved by the courts, but maybe there’s a little “progress” to be made in a place that has already been softened up by St. Isidore’s. I don’t think that Ben Gamla will get very far, but I didn’t expect Roe v. Wade to be overturned. The Roberts Court could easily reverse course and turn Jefferson’s Wall into a six-inch curb.
And that would be a very bad thing. My colleague and successor, Rabbi Dan Kaiman spoke this message this past Shabbat at the Synagogue. Using the episode of Abraham’s purchase of a gravesite, he argued that transactions undertaken in a multi-cultural society benefit from clarity, transparency, and straightforward intent. Borders are crucial and entanglement is ruinous. Abraham taught this lesson in an upright exchange with no hidden agenda or ulterior motive. I loved what he said and the way he said it. (Take a look.) The hierarchy that first proposed St. Isidore’s eventually gave up on a publicly-funded charter school. It will instead open an online Catholic parochial school funded entirely by private donations
If Ben Gamla wants to do the same, I surely wouldn’t stand in the way. As Mao once said, let a thousand flowers bloom. But not flowers purchased by Oklahoma taxpayers, especially when the local community hasn’t asked for them.