From time to time, each of us takes a look at our checkbook register and tries to figure out where all the money is going. As we review the records we notice that there are two types of expenses, which can be classified as essential and non-essential. Essential items include: housing, food, clothing, transportation and medicine.

Then there are the items which make our lives more fun and interesting, but we could live without them, if necessary. While this list would vary from individual to individual, I imagine your list of non-essentials would include: vacations, theater tickets, club memberships, extra-curricular classes. No one should deny themselves the basic necessities of life, but some of our expenses do not fall into this category.

Sometimes an item which once was considered non-essential has taken on a more central role in our lives. Just think how much more dependent we have become on the telephone, television, computer, and all the modern appliances which have crept into our lifestyles.

On the other hand, there are items which used to be essential to our basic human existence, and yet too many people today are ready to give them up without much of a struggle.

Foremost on this list is Jewish education. Our ancestors would have considered providing a child or grandchild with the knowledge of Torah to be equivalent to giving him or her food. Yet many parents and grandparents forego spending money on Jewish education because they don’t view it as a basic necessity of life. This issue isn’t money, rather the issue is how one defines necessity. Most everyone would agree that food, clothing, shelter, medicine, etc. are non-negotiable expenses. This is the list on which Jewish education belongs.

There are families who spend more money on a child’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah party than they do on the child’s Jewish education. I recommend that as soon as a child or grandchild is born, you begin to invest in his or her Jewish future. The cost of tuition is not low, but then neither is the cost of groceries. It all comes down to how we view this expense. As an essential item, we wouldn’t dream of not providing it to ourselves and our families. When providing for one’s Jewish education make sure you do the job completely. School does not end at Bar/Bat Mitzvah time if it is to be effective. We need to send our children to Jewish schools throughout their entire lives. We need to send our children to Israel, and to Jewish camps and summer experiences. I highly recommend the programs of USY and Ramah, the official arms of Conservative Judaism.