Rabbi Scot A. Berman, Director of Project Aleph Bet and the English-speaking Countries at UnitEd, discussed in a conversation with Idan Kweller, White House and Diplomatic Correspondent for Walla News, at the Jerusalem Post Washington Conference yesterday the significance of the Israeli-supported initiative. He described it as “one of the most important projects in Jewish education across the diaspora.”
Berman, a seasoned Jewish educational leader who previously served as a school principal across North America before making aliyah five years ago, explained that UnitEd was launched following a strategic shift by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs. “The ministry changed its question,” he said. “It used to be, what can the diaspora do for us? Now we began to ask: What can Israel do for the diaspora?” This shift fostered a new emphasis on formal Jewish education. Project Aleph Bet, the brainchild and initiative of the current Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli is our attempt, in partnership with JFNA and Prizmah, to address “another battlefield we face.
That battlefield beyond antisemitism is the fight for the Jewish identity for our children.” In the U.S., he said, “less than 10% of our Jewish children are enrolled in Jewish day schools,” excluding Haredi and Modern Orthodox communities. Acknowledging that affordability poses a significant challenge, with Jewish day school tuition ranging from $20,000 to over $60,000 per child, Berman emphasized that cost alone doesn't account for the enrollment gap. “Expense is part of it, for sure,” he said, "but the percentages of children attending Jewish day schools are much higher in other countries.”
Project Aleph Bet collaborates with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), a partnership made possible by JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut’s recognition of the importance of Jewish education. They are testing six U.S. initiatives with different approaches, from affordability programs, marketing strategies, and creating new schools to using Jewish early childhood education as an entry point into day schools. "In 12 months’ time we observed a remarkable increase of 5%+ in enrollments," he said. Looking forward, Berman hopes for another 5% increase next year and for these pilots to inspire other communities to adopt similar models. He highlighted the stakes as being about future generations, stressing, “We cannot lose the next generation. We must invest in the future, and that requires strong Jewish education.”
Written in collaboration with Diaspora Affairs Ministry