editorials
Helping Supplementary Jewish Education
T he Jewish Education Project recently issued a
troubling report: In the 14 years from 2006 to 2020,
total enrollment in North American Jewish supplementary
schools dropped by a whopping 45%, and 761 Jewish
supplementary schools (roughly 25% of all supplementary
schools) closed. This is so, even as the number of Jews in
North America increased by 43% during the same period.

The much maligned and struggling Jewish
supplementary schools — the traditional Talmud Torah or
Hebrew school model that students love to hate ― have
been the primary place where non-Orthodox Jewish
children were taught Hebrew and Jewish rituals, Jewish
history and about Israel. Whether one, two or three days a
week, the supplementary school was where most Jewish
children who attend a Jewish school are enrolled.

But much has changed. New choices are available for
those seeking Jewish education. Independent Jewish
religious programs (rather than synagogue-affiliated
schools), online communities and new Jewish centers that
open the exploration of Judaism on a more cultural and
social basis are attracting a growing number of students.

And some drop out or simply never enroll.

The JEP report encouraged educators to focus on
new “design principles” for supplementary education,
highlighting cultural identity, family life and diversity,
and redefining the role of teacher and learner. JEP also
encouraged the Jewish philanthropic world to embrace
the importance of supplementary schools, where the
largest number of non-Orthodox Jewish children get their
primary form of Jewish education.

One way to strengthen supplementary school programs
and attract more students is to make sure they have
well-trained educators who can engage, motivate and
excite students. That’s a fact known for decades. But
there aren’t enough teachers.

And that’s where the recently announced initiative of
JCC Association of North America, Jewish Federations
of North America and the Union for Reform Judaism —
currently called Project 412 — could help. The joint project,
supported by several prominent foundations, plans to
train hundreds of new early childhood Jewish educators in
the coming years. The spillover effect for supplementary
schools could be significant.

Project 412’s plans are exciting. The organizers anticipate
a three-year pilot program in 14 communities across the
country that will recruit, train and certify 30 educators in
each community — for 420 new early childhood Jewish
educators — to help address the national shortage of
quality early childhood educators in Jewish schools.

JCC and Reform movements operate some 475 early
childhood centers that serve 65,000 young children and
their families, with tens of thousands of children around
the country reportedly on waiting lists because of the
shortage of qualified, trained educators.

Through Project 412’s program, the anticipated influx
of new early childhood Jewish educators will help
sustain and grow healthy Jewish communities by infusing
heightened Jewish education, programming and culture
in our communities.

We understand that early childhood education and
supplementary school education face different challenges.

But if the teacher development approach works at
the early childhood level perhaps something similar
could be done for supplementary and religious school
education at the next age level. That could be a real
game changer. ■
T he Republic of Sudan, the northeast African
country with a population of 45 million, is
strategically located south of Egypt and bordering
Chad, Ethiopia and Libya. Until a few weeks ago,
American diplomats believed Sudan was on the
verge of a breakthrough agreement to transition from
a military dictatorship to a full-fledged democracy.

Some viewed developments in Sudan as a test
of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy goal of
supporting fledgling democracies worldwide as
Lt. Gen. Mohamed
Gen. Abdel Fattah
a means of countering the autocratic influence of
Hamdan Abdelrahman Burhan
China, Russia and others.

And then everything fell apart. In late April, U.S.

diplomats shut the American embassy in Sudan’s capital some 600 people killed and more than 330,000 displaced.

city of Khartoum and fled in a nighttime evacuation. Sudan And on a practical level, the power vacuum created by the
spiraled into a potential civil war in a bloody confrontation warring factions has created an attractive target for outside
between two rival generals — Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, military and political intervention.

the head of Sudan’s army, and Lt. Gen Mohamed Hamdan,
There is also fear that the violence could spread to
a paramilitary chief. The two had worked together neighboring countries. Most of Sudan’s neighbors are
in 2021 to carry out a military coup that toppled the either indifferent or hostile to the quest for democracy. As
country’s longtime dictator, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a result, it isn’t at all clear where neighbor interests would
but fell into conflict as post-coup responsibilities were be best served ― other than each country’s consideration
being sorted out.

of what might be gained from support for one or the other
The violence in Sudan is creating all sorts of problems. of the competing generals.

The human toll has been significant — with estimates of
And there is concern that the country’s political disarray
12 MAY 11, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
could impact Sudan’s 2020 normalization agreement
with Israel. It is because of that concern and other
regional issues that Israel’s foreign minister, Eli
Cohen, has been involved in international efforts
to bring about a lasting ceasefire, including what
Cohen reports as “an offer to host a negotiation
summit in Israel with the aim of reaching agreements
that will allow an end to the violence and war
in the country.”
Although Israel is probably the closest thing to a
neutral party in the region and wants to establish and
maintain lasting diplomatic relations with whatever
government emerges in Sudan, Israel’s offer to
mediate the dispute is almost certainly a non-starter.

There are a host of powerful, experienced and credible
mediators with interests in the region who know Sudan
well and are positioned to help work toward resolution.

And given Sudan’s strategic location and wealth of natural
resources, interested parties have an added incentive to
help resolve the dispute.

No one seems to think that there is a quick fix to the
conflict in Sudan. Nonetheless, given the stakes, there are
meaningful reasons for those interested in the region to do
everything possible to help achieve a peaceful resolution.

We hope it comes soon. ■
Photo by Kremlin.ru / Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license;
OTG Goggles Central / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
The Challenge in Sudan