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Many Jewish communities around the world are shrinking in size. Fewer people are committed to their Jewish identity, and the sense of connection to the Jewish People and Israel is declining. Assimilation and intermarriage are more common and the spiritual rescue of young Jews and the Jewish People is becoming more challenging. In response to these threats, the Jewish Agency is increasing its efforts to ensuree the future of a large and vibrant Jewish community. The 2000 Intifada in Israel has brought the participation of young Jews in Israel Experience programs to a low not seen since the Gulf War of 1991. After years of rising participation in educational programs in Israel and the success of Birthright, fewer youngsters are now having a quality educational experience in Israel. After years of under-investment in institutions and personnel to educate children and adults, the Jewish community is attempting to catch up. Jewish educational systems - both formal and informal - suffer from a severe shortage of human resources. The demand for professional teachers, informal education leaders, curricula, methodologies and so forth is greater today than ever. Smaller Jewish communities find it particularly difficult to maintain the vitality of their Jewish educational systems without external help and ongoing connections to resources outside their own communities. Even large communities are finding it hard to find people with acceptable knowledge, skills and commitment to build and staff their institutions. There is a need not just for "bodies" to fill job slots, but for educators and teachers who can present a compelling case for why a young person should want to be connected to the Jewish people and to Israel. In addition to the personnel shortage, there is a need for innovation in Jewish education. The Jewish Agency works to find new educational models, new ways of presenting Jewish content, new points of engagement for its young people and for the unaffiliated. There is an urgent need to address the issues of Jewish peoplehood and identity in the context of modern day Israel. The Jews of Israel conduct their lives in the Hebrew language, live the rhythms of the Jewish calendar and hike the trails of the ancient land. Yet they are in danger of losing their connection with their Jewish cultural and religious roots and with their brethren throughout the Jewish world. The Jewish Agency works together to enhance the Jewish identity of young Israelis and to nourish their personal sense of belonging to the Jewish people. It is important that the next generation feels that it belongs to the Jewish people, a people with a proud history and a promising future. No one can tackle this alone and the tremendous educational resources of Israel must be made available to the Jewish people and adapted for their needs. Only through a global concerted effort to upgrade the quality of formal and informal educational institutions and personnel while utilizing the educational resources of Israel to create opportunities for the young generation to have positive Jewish and Israeli experiences, can we sustain a functional Jewish educational system capable of meeting the enormous challenges in this area. This must go hand in hand with utilizing the educational resources of Israel to create opportunities for the young generation to enable them to have positive Jewish and Israeli experiences. Through global partnerships, the Jewish Agencytogether with Israel, offers a young Jew the sense of belonging to the global Jewish people and a sense of being connected to Israel, two major elements of modern Jewish existence. Programmatically, the Jewish Agency works to meet the challenges in education and Jewish Identity by focusing on the following areas: creaing a global human resource system, building an educational bridge, and ensuring that the Jewish experience of Israel is at the core of developing Jewish identity. In addition, the Jewish Agency provides educational services in the former Soviet Union and strengthens the sense of Jewish peoplehood among young Israelis. |