THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Report Says Unaffiliated Jews Still Want a Jewish Education for Their Children NEW YORK—American Jews unaffiliated with any synagogue movement would overwhelmingly opt for some form of Jewish education for their children under the age of 18, it was reported in a summary re- port of a national survey re- leased by the American Jewish Committee. According to "Secondary Jewish Education in the United States," though 34 percent of Jewish families surveyed with children under 18 would describe themselves as unaffiliated, only 17 percent of the total would not give their chil- dren some form of Jewish education. The report was released during a day-long consulta- tion on "Jewish Education and. Jewish Identity." "Ten years ago we in- itiated an historic explo- ration of Jewish educa- tion and its relationship to the formation of Jewish identity," notes Yehuda Rosenman, di- rector of the AJCommit- tee Jewish Communal Affairs Department. In our initial surveys, we discovered that the threshold of Jewish edu- cation is reached at ap- proximately 2,000 hours Boris Smolar's Between You . and Me' Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA (Copyright 1982, JTA, Inc.) INNOVATION IN ISRAEL: A program to increase knowledge in Israel about Jewish life in America has been launched under the joint sponsorship of the American Jewish Committee and the Israel Ministry of Education and Culture. The program is, so far, for teachers of elementary and high schools. It is designed to help Israel's educators and school children to get a better and updated understanding of American Jewry. It consists of 25 three-hour sessions describing American Jewish life in all its aspects. Teachers successfully concluding the course will receive formal cre- dit, leading to a salary increment. The faculty is composed of Israeli professors of Jewish history, American Jewish history, and contemporary Jewish history. THE U.S. JEWISH PANORAMA: The range of the subjects to be taught under the project is all-embracing. The program deals with. American Jewry's past since the years of early immigration; with Jews in the American Society, with Jewish communal life; with Jewish culture; with philanthropy and other fields of Jewish activities. The program reviews the functions of the national Jewish organizations and presents a picture of the structure of the local communities. Intellectual and cul- tural life in American Jewry is reflected in lectures on the Yiddish language, literature and culture in the U.S.; He- brew language, literature and culture; Jewish literature and culture in English; Jewish education; Jewish studies and research. Lectures on religious life conyey the role of the rabbi and the synagogue, and deal with each of the three religious denominations — Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.. The influence of American Jewry as a minority group is brought out in courses on the economic and social posi- tion of Jews; 'their position on the political scene; their influence in the cultural and artistic spheres in the Ameri- can society; anti-Semitism and the responses of the Jewish community; also on Jewish-Christian inter-faith relations. BUILDING BRIDGES: Jewish leaders in this coun- try will welcome the move in Israel of training teachers for a better understanding of American Jewish life. The inno- vation will actually help to build a new bridge between Israel and American Jewry. The new training program will serve the purpose of 1111. stimulating interest of school children in Israel, and their parents, in the Jewish way of life in America and will simultaneously improve the quality of those teachers who come from Israel to the United States to teach in schools here. - Joint Purchases Aid Synagogues NEW YORK (JTA) — Some 100 New York City area synagogues have joined a program of the Fed- eration of Jewish Philan- thropies for savings in fuel oil costs through joint pur- chases of heating oil. The synagogues par- ticipating in the federa- tion's Joint Purchasing Corp. program, which had been buying fuel at $1.22 and more per gallon are now purchasing fuel at $1.12 per gallon. The' JPC estimated small synagogues will save about $600 each this winter and large synagogues up- wards of $3,000 each. The JPC contracts for more than 23 million gal- lons of heating oil annually i energy-efficient lighting equipment also is available through the JPC. of education, whether it be in the form of a Jewish day school or afternoon school. In addition, we determined that one's Jewish education must continue through high school years." He added that the statis- tical survey, now being completed, reviewed a representative sample of Jews from all segments of the U.S. population. for asked When synagogue affiliation, the response was: 35 percent Conservative, 28 percent Reform, six percent Or- thodox and 31 percent un- affiliated. Of those surveyed, the largest number (52 percent) had attended a part-time (afternoon) Hebrew school, folkshule or heder as a child. An additional 21 percent had attended Sunday school or another once-a-week program, six percent a pri- vate tutor, and three- per- cent had gone to a yeshiva or day school. Almost one- fifth (19 percent) had had no Jewish schooling. Of the total sample, more than one-fourth have children under the age of 18. In this group, Conservatives are 36 percent, Reform 26 per- cent, Orthodox four per- cent, and other Jews 34 percent. When ques- tioned what type of Jewish education they would chose, they selected: Hebrew/afternoon school (two-three times a week) 41 percent, Sunday/one day schoo' 19- percent, yeshiva/ day school 15 percent, no formal education 15 per- cent, Bar/Bat Mitzva train- ing eight percent, none of the above two percent. _ In addition to surveying the types of school that each synagogue affiliated Jew attends, the survey , re- viewed curriculum nation- wide. Listed most frequently in course studies was the Bi- ble. Hebrew language, Jewish history and Jewish life and observance are stressed by Conservative schools. Comparative reli- gion and ethics appeared most often in Reform school listings. All denominations offer courses on the Holocaust and Israel, while some teach Yiddish, literature, or phi- losophy. Friday, March 5, 1982 25 ISRAEL ORAL THE MOST IMPORTANT SUMMER OF YOUR LIFE TEEN-AGE CAMP (13-14) • TEENAGE TOUR (15-17) LEADERSHIP TRAINING COURSE (16-19) MACCABI INSTITUTE FOR SPORTS TRAINING (15-18) (Tennis, Soccer, Basketball etc) SUMMER IN MOSHAV—(17-22) All of our programs are coeducational and include: Guided Tours • Hiking • Camping • Swimming & Snorkling • Sports • Folk Dancing • Conversational Hebrew & Seminars • Meet with Israelis your own age Home hospitality • Supervision by English-speaking professional staff • Kosher Food • Medical facilities. For free color brochures and information, call or write: MASADA ISRAEL SUMMER PROGRAMS ZOA House, 4 East 34 St. New York, N.Y. 10016 OUTSIDE NY STATE Call TOLL FREE 800-847-4133 The U.S. and Israel A_Relationship in Trouble? Hyman Bookbinder Washington Representative American Jewish Committee Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit Delegate Asseitibly Wednesday, March 10 — 8 P.M. Congregation Beth Shalom 14601 West Lincoln, Oak Park The Community is Invited — No Charge Social Hour following program FrA Quality Education - Vibrant With Our Heritage Come to the HILLEL DAY SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE Monday, March 15, 1982 8 p.m. Accepting enrollments for Fall 1982. Kindergarten and first grade. Hillel Day School - Kindergarten through ninth grade. Rabbi Robert Abramson, Headmaster June Weinberg, Executive Director 851-2394 - 32200 Middlebelt - Farmington Hills, Michigan 48018 Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit admits Jewish students of any race. color. national or ethnic origin Its admission and scholarship programs are non-discriminatory. No child.will be denied an education at Hillel_ because of parents inability to pay the full charges Tuition allowances will continue to be granted based on individual needs.