Abstract: Jewish education is at a critical juncture. The experience of Covid-19 has shaken and tested our schools, youth movements and our communal infrastructure. As a community, we have risen to the enormous challenges across the sector.
The question facing educational leaders is how do we ‘build back better’? In June 2021, LSJS and UJIA convened an on-line symposium for Jewish educational leaders, providing a collaborative space to consider that question and develop long-term strategic solutions. Headed by Joanne Greenaway (Chief Executive, LSJS) and Mandie Winston (Chief Executive, UJIA), a steering group from across the Jewish educational sector led this project (see
appendix one).
Drawing on current international research on post-pandemic recovery and opportunity, we shared ideas and emerging models of success, captured learning from our lived experiences and considered how to use them to drive change. We started a critical process which we have subsequently built on to set a new, bold agenda for Jewish education, which crucially, has brought together both the formal and informal education sectors working with up to 25 yearold Jewish young people.
We addressed the unique aspects of Jewish education, in which the interplay between home, school and community is so critical to success. We also needed to understand unique opportunities, like the potential role of our active youth movements and how best to harness it.
Our focus has been twofold. First, we have been considering what is the best Jewish educational response to the cost of Covid, with its psychological impact on our young people and learners. It has placed an enormous stress on teachers, informal educators and all who work with young people in our community. Meanwhile, we have also addressed the lost learning experiences, including two summers of limited engagement and no school Israel trips or Youth Movement Israel Tours.
Second, how do we create opportunity out of the crisis? How might we re-envision our educational organisations? How can we harness the opportunities afforded by new technology and what are its limitations? How have we been impacted by greater global connectedness? How have our young people’s attitudes to learning shifted and what does that mean for the way in which we teach and engage them? How do the informal and formal education sectors
complement or duplicate each other? Are we best supporting and valuing the teachers and educators we entrust with our children and what status do they have in our community?
Abstract: This summer has been a challenging and exceptional one for Israel Tour madrichim, who have run Tour during a period of ferocious hostilities between Israel and Gaza, which have impacted on both the itineraries and the day to day running of their groups. They have had to deal with sirens, taking their groups into shelters, hearing explosions afar and nearby, the political situation and last minute changes to itineraries caused by the security situation. This of course, has been in addition to the regular stresses and challenges of being responsible for a group of 35-40 sixteen year olds for three and a half weeks in Israel.
Remarkably, the chanichim have almost without exception had a fantastic time. UJIA felt, however, that it would be the responsible way forward to follow up with all madrichim on their return, to do the following:
a) To thank the madrichim
b) To acknowledge concern for the welfare for the madrichim
c) To see if there are any particular chanichim requiring follow up
d) To find out the extent to which Tour Providers/YMs/UJIA/taglit/other agencies and individuals were supportive to them and their chanichim before and during the time in Israel
e) To find out if the madrichim would like/need additional support/counselling etc now that they are home.
f) To find out whether the madrichim have any advice for UJIA regarding our handling of the situation, handling of the madrichim and YMs, and could this be improved upon for the future.
In addition, we agreed that a letter of appreciation and thanks would be emailed to all madrichim just prior to return. In the email, they were told that a named person (usually their UJIA contact) would ‘phone them within a couple of days of their return to debrief and check how they are.
Abstract: Many observers and policy-makers in Jewish life conceptually divide the population into two large segments: the affiliated and the unaffiliated, or the engaged and unengaged. While seem- ingly straightforward and intuitively appealing, dividing the population into two parts implicitly connotes an exaggerated distinction between the Jewishly more active and Jewishly less active. For Jews in Britain and in almost any other policy-relevant context within the English-speaking Jewish world, the population may be fruitfully divided into three segments, according to levels of Jewish engagement. Rather than seeing the world as divided statically into two blocs, one imagines the population more dynamically moving between at least three regions on the Jewish identity spectrum.
Unlike the less engaged, the moderately engaged report a significant number of points of Jewish involvement (such as congregational membership, Jewish friendship ties and holiday celebration). That said, their Jewish involvement is not so extensive as to indicate a major commitment either to traditional religious piety or to significant leadership in the organized Jewish community. From a Jewish communal policy point of view, the moderately engaged constitute a critical, if not the most critical, Jewish popu- lation segment for Jewish educational intervention on the population-scale.
This study relies upon both qualitative (depth interviews) and quantitative (social surveys) research methodologies.
Abstract: Papers based on a conference convened by the United Jewish Israel Appeal in London in spring 2002. Contents include: Introduction: The sovereign and the situated self: Jewish identity and community in the 21st century – Jonathan Boyd; D’var Torah – Shalom Orzach; Exploring the challenges confronting the contemporary Jewish world – Irwin Cotler, Steven M. Cohen; A case of new identity: detecting the forces facing Jewish identity and community – Steven M. Cohen, Kate Loewenthal; A case of new identity: what should all Jews know? – Hanah Alexander, Aviezer Ravitsky; Looking in, looking out: the role of the Jew in the contemporary world – David Cesarani, Alan Hoffman; Looking in, looking out: on what should our educational efforts be focused? – Michael Rosenak, Irwin Cotler; Educating our children: exploring the role of the Jewish day school- Hanah Alexander, Barry Kosmin; Educating our children: imagining the Jewish day school of the future – Barry Chazan, Beverly Gribetz; Creating community: is the synagogue doing what is needed? – Margaret Harris, Michael Rosenak; Creating community: envisaging the synagogue of the 21st century – Charles Liebman, Robert Rabinowitz; Judaism and the contemporary world: foundation principles of Jewish identity and community for the 21st century - Aviezer Ravitsky, Jonathan Sacks; D’var Torah – Angela Gluck Wood; Exploring our general context: the impact of national and global trends on identity, community and education – Barry Kosmin, Steven M. Cohen; Exploring our Jewish context: trends in the Jewish world, and how to utilise them for our benefit – Jonathan Ariel, Tony Bayfield; Struggling for Israel: what happens when the classroom becomes dangerous? – Barry Chazan; Reaching out to others: the role of a social action agenda in Jewish education – Edie Friedman, Reuven Gal; Spiritual exploration: following my head or my heart? – Zvi Beckerman, Michael Shire; Civics: should British Jews swear allegiance to Britain? – Clive Lawton, Robert Rabinowitz; D’var Torah – Raphael Zarum; The role of vision in 21st century education – Jonathan Arield, Michael Rosenak; Case study 1: Texts and Values Project of the UJIA Makor Centre for Informal Jewish Education – Raphael Zarum; Case study 2: Limmud – Jacqueline Nicholls; Case study 3: Synagogue transformation – Julian Resnick; Case study 4: King Solomon High School – Alastair Falk; Case study 5: The Saatchi Synagogue – Pini Dunner
Abstract: Between September 2000 and August 2001, more than 600,000 babies were born in the UK. Of those, around 2,800 were born within the Jewish community. These babies – our millennium cohort – have grown up in complex, exciting and
challenging times. We are interested in the changing Jewish lives of the children born in that cohort.
We are following students, and their parents, who chose one of seven Jewish secondary schools for their children. We are following the children who entered Year 7 in September 2011. As we are collecting data every two years, the third and most recent phase of data analysis has just been completed, whilst the students are in Year 11. We are comparing this group to families who chose to send their child to non-Jewish schools.
This is a unique opportunity to conduct an in-depth and sustained exploration of the changing lives of young people and their
families.
In 2016, we received completed surveys from 799 students (almost 80% of the total);
278 from parents with students at Jewish schools and a further 57 from families with
children at non-Jewish schools. In addition we interviewed 110 families.
This publication focuses on what we have been learning with regard to our students’ developing identities. To what extent do they identify as Jews? As British citizens? We wanted to find out the extent to which these elements play a role in our students’ lives, and in what ways school plays a role in that development.
