Uncategorized
Hebrew school enrollment across US down by nearly half since 2006, report says
(JTA) — Living in Brooklyn, surrounded by synagogues and Jewish schools, Rachel Weinstein White and her husband hoped to find a place where their children could receive a Jewish education for a few hours each week.
But they knew they didn’t want to enroll at a traditional Hebrew school associated with a local synagogue. For one thing, White wasn’t interested at the time in participating in prayer services, the main offering of most congregations. Plus, her husband is Black and not Jewish, and they were not sure how well he or their children would be welcomed.
So about eight years ago, she started her own program together with a few families, setting up a cooperative and hiring a teacher in an early version of the “learning pods” that would become a pandemic fad.
“It was just this incredible, magical year,” White said. “So many people started hearing about our little class and asked to join that it became necessary to create a second class. … It just kind of grew organically from there.”
Today the school, Fig Tree, enrolls about 350 children across three locations and plans are underway to expand further. In hour-long classes on Sundays and weekday afternoons, children learn about Jewish holidays and history, engage in art and creative play, explore their local Jewish communities and learn basic Hebrew, in a program that culminates in a b’nai mitzvah year. It overlaps significantly with traditional Hebrew schools, but outside the usual setting — a synagogue classroom — that has become a cultural shorthand among American Jews for rote, uninspiring Jewish education.
That dynamic may be why Fig Tree is an outlier in a stark trend revealed in a new report: Enrollment in supplemental Jewish schools — those that students attend in addition to regular schooling in public or secular private schools — is down by nearly half over the last 15 years.
Even as the estimated number of Jewish children in the United States rose by 17% between 2000 and 2020, enrollment in Hebrew schools fell by at least 45% between 2006 and 2020, according to the report by the Jewish Education Project, a nonprofit that promotes educational innovation and supports Jewish educators in a wide array of settings.
The report identifies pockets of growth, mostly in the small number of programs like Fig Tree that operate outside of or adjacent to synagogues, and in schools operated by the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement. But overall, according to the report, just 141,000 children attend supplemental Jewish schools in the United States and Canada, down from more than 230,000 in 2006 and 280,000 in 1987.
Some of the decline in Hebrew school enrollment is countered by increasing enrollment in Jewish day schools, where students study Jewish topics for at least part of every day. The number of U.S. children attending Jewish day schools has risen by roughly the same amount, 90,000, that Hebrew school enrollment has fallen since 2006, according to the report, though a significant portion of the increase stems from population growth in Orthodox communities, where the vast majority of students attend day schools.
Miriam Heller Stern, a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion who was tapped to help design the study, said the results suggest that, as with many aspects of religious life today, Hebrew school enrollment cannot be counted on as an act of obligation or tradition.
“There’s this idea that parents send their kids to Hebrew school because they went to Hebrew school and that’s a rite of passage in North America, but that may be a myth,” she said. “People don’t want to push their kids to have to do the same thing they did, necessarily, anymore.”
The report speculates about what has fueled the enrollment decline — from demographic changes to shifts in how American Jews think about countering antisemitism to increased access to Jewish learning online — and also about what has allowed some schools to thrive. It notes that all of the supplemental schools that responded to its census said their schools help children feel connected to the Jewish people.
“We believe that many factors have led to the decline in enrollment of students in supplemental schools in the last decade,” said David Bryfman, the Jewish Education Project’s CEO. “However, it’s also a myth that all supplemental schools don’t work.”
The group is planning a series of online sessions with some of the dozens of researchers and practitioners involved in the report, with one goal the sharing of success stories identified by the survey. Of the six identified in the report, a common theme is urging experiential, community-based learning. Some of the promising models explicitly position themselves as infusing Jewish content into child care, filling a pressing need for American families.
Still, it may be hard to counter the demographic realities of contemporary American Jews: Just a third of U.S. Jews in a 2020 survey said someone in their household was a member of a synagogue. That was the case even for the majority of non-Orthodox Jews who said they identified with a particular denomination, a marker of traditional engagement.
The waning of synagogue affiliation is borne out in the Jewish Education Project’s report, which found that more than 700 supplemental schools shuttered between 2006 and 2020 — most outright, though as many as 200 have survived in a new form after merging.
Temple Solel, a small Reform congregation in Fort Mill, South Carolina, shut down its Hebrew school in recent years. The volunteer-run program had up to eight students at a time, according to Russ Cobe, a lay leader.
“We sort of hit a point where we weren’t able to sustain it,” Cobe said. “We only had a couple of people teaching and students from a wide range of ages and they wouldn’t show up every week. Also, our wheelhouse seems to be retirement age and above. We don’t have a lot of young families.”
Hebrew school mergers offer one possible approach to countering the enrollment decline. Two synagogues, one Reform and one Conservative, located half a mile apart in Oak Park, Michigan, established a joint school about seven years ago and called it Yachad, which means “together” in Hebrew.
“One day a week we meet at the Conservative congregation and one day a week we meet at the Reform congregation, so we are keeping our kids involved in both,” said Gail Greenberg, Yachad’s director. “My goal is to make it at the highest common denominator. For example, all of our food is kosher so anyone who wants to eat here can.”
The arrangement appears to be working. Last year, about 90 students were enrolled, and this year, enrollment is at 128, including 26 new kindergarteners, with even larger numbers expected in the future.
Another set of programs has grown dramatically in recent years: those affiliated with the Chabad movement, which tend to operate even when small and cost less than synagogue programs. Since 2006, the study says Chabad’s market share in terms of enrollment has grown from 4% to 10%, and in terms of the number of schools from 13% to 21%.
Those figures might represent an undercount, according to Zalman Loewenthal, director of CKids, the Chabad network of children’s programs. While the study says there are some 300 Chabad programs in the United States, Loewenthal said he is aware of at least 500 and perhaps as many as 600 — a number driven up in the last decade amid a push by Chabad to launch more Hebrew schools. His count is based on the number of customers purchasing the curriculum offered by his organization, which is also new in the last decade and in his view has contributed to improved quality among Chabad Hebrew schools.
In general, non-traditional approaches to Jewish education may be attractive at a time when American families have packed schedules and competing needs, according to Stern.
“People want to be able to have bite-sized pieces just like you sign up for a six-weeks art class, they might want a six-weeks Jewish class,” she said. “In this atmosphere, some communities are finding ways to be more modular and more flexible, and meet people’s needs in different ways.”
Stern also said, referring to six programs highlighted in the study as success stories, that the future calls for programs to offer an “immersive” experience, meaning that children become part of a community.
“They are getting something beyond just knowledge,” Stern said. “They’re also getting connection and belonging, which provides the foundation for something bigger in their lives.”
Stern said she thought the report pointed to gaps in the way American Jewish communities allocate their resources.
“Supplementary education really was abandoned as a communal priority,” she said. “Individual communities had to find ways to fund it on their own. And I think that is part of why we’re seeing a decline.”
Bryfman said he’s optimistic, both about the power of supplemental schools and the potential for them to generate new support from Jewish donors.
The Jewish Education Project had sought outside funding to pay for its study and failed, he said. But now that the numbers are clear, he is beginning to see interest from philanthropies.
“I don’t want to count the dollars before they’re granted,” Bryfman said. “But the study is already beginning to have the desired effect of bringing more resources to the field.”
Fig Tree isn’t set up to benefit in a possible future of increased charitable investments in Jewish education. That’s because the school is set up as a business — an expression of confidence in its growth and to insulate itself from the vagaries of philanthropy.
“It’s a very unusual model for the Jewish education and I would argue a self-sustaining one,” White said. “We don’t have to rely on fundraising… and we’re not beholden to some of the other requirements that a nonprofit would necessitate, which allows us to be nimble.”
—
The post Hebrew school enrollment across US down by nearly half since 2006, report says appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Iran Accelerates Ballistic Missile Production, Israel Warns
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran is rapidly rebuilding its missile arsenal following the 12-day war with Israel in June, raising alarm bells among Israeli officials as Tehran aims to restore its weakened military capabilities and extend its influence across the Middle East.
During a closed meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week, a senior Israeli military official told lawmakers that Iran has resumed large-scale production of ballistic missiles, roughly six months after the June conflict, Israeli media reported.
Israeli intelligence assessments have confirmed that Tehran resumed massive production of long-range missiles, with factories operating “around the clock” to rebuild capabilities destroyed in Israeli and US strikes.
With Israel having destroyed key missile-production equipment, including planetary mixers, the Iranian regime is relying on older manufacturing methods to restart its missile program, according to the Israeli news outlet Ynet.
Israeli officials now reportedly fear that the damage inflicted on Iran’s ballistic missile program during the June war was less extensive than initially thought.
Earlier this year, Israel, with support from the United States, carried out large-scale military strikes against the Islamist regime in Iran, targeting critical nuclear enrichment sites — including the heavily fortified Fordow facility — after multiple rounds of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program failed to yield results.
In the aftermath of the strikes, intelligence and media assessments of the damage to Iran’s nuclear and defense capabilities have been inconsistent and often contradictory, with some reports indicating only a short-term setback and others pointing to potentially years of disruption. Many experts believe the nuclear program has been set back by multiple years. However, Iran’s missile arsenal may have suffered less damage.
Earlier this week, Israel Defense Forces military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder told US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz that Iran still possesses roughly 2,000 heavy ballistic missiles — about the same number it had before the war, the Al-Monitor news outlet reported.
Since the end of the war, Iran has repeatedly threatened to respond to any future Israeli attack, as the regime has attempted to rebuild its decimated air defenses and expand its military capabilities.
Last week, Tehran conducted a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf, carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and featuring ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, as part of an effort to deter foreign threats.
Iranian state media reported that missiles struck mock targets in the Gulf of Oman with “high accuracy” and drones hit simulated enemy bases, while three air defense systems were deployed during the exercise under electronic warfare conditions.
“Utilizing artificial intelligence, these systems were able to identify flight and maritime targets in a fraction of the time and hit them with high accuracy,” according to Iranian media reports.
The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, also said that a new missile was tested during the drills, reportedly capable of reaching beyond the length of the Persian Gulf, though he did not provide specific details.
“The Persian Gulf is 1,375 kilometers long – this missile’s range is beyond that,” he told Press TV.
Built domestically, the missile can be “guided after launch” and has demonstrated “very high precision,” Tangsiri said.
Uncategorized
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict a Low Priority for Young Americans, Despite Rising Anti-Israel Views, Poll Shows
People take part in “Shut it down for Palestine!” protest outside of Tyson’s Corner as shoppers participate in Black Friday in Vienna, Virginia, US, Nov. 24, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
The Israeli–Palestinian issue barely registers as a meaningful priority when young American voters decide how to cast their ballots, despite anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment rising sharply among this voting bloc, according to a new national survey.
The findings of the Yale Youth Poll, an undergraduate-led research project at Yale University, highlight a widening generational divide. According to the poll, which surveyed a roughly equal number of voters aged 18-34 and their older fellow Americans, younger respondents indicated they were far more likely to embrace narratives portraying Zionism as racist, to reject Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, and to support reducing or ending US military assistance to Israel.
A sizable share of voters 18–22 endorsed statements long used to measure antisemitic bias, including questioning Jewish-American loyalty to their home country (30 percent), supporting boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses as a form of political protest (21 percent), and agreeing that Jews have “too much power” in the US (27 percent). Among the youngest group, only a slim majority rejected all antisemitic statements measured.
The survey also shows a deep lack of clarity among young Americans about what constitutes antisemitism. Many respondents indicated they were unsure whether charged slogans such as “globalize the intifada” were antisemitic, and nearly half of the national sample said that calling the situation in Gaza a “genocide” was not antisemitic.
Younger voters were considerably more likely to choose definitions of Zionism that frame Israel as an oppressive or colonial project, rather than as the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancient homeland. A striking 27 percent of those aged 18-22 said they believe Israel has a right to exist “but not as a Jewish state.” Just 24 percent of this age bracket believe that Israel should remain a Jewish state, according to the data. A plurality, 34 percent, said they are “not sure” what Israel’s political and cultural identity should reflect.
A large portion of young voters seem to be unaware of the definition of Zionism. Many of these Americans, according to the poll, perceive Zionism as an effort to dispossess Palestinians of their land and human rights. Among respondents aged 18-22 and 23-29, 27 percent and 25 percent, respectively, indicated they are “not familiar” with the term Zionism. Another 27 percent and 30 percent of voters aged 18-22 and 23-29, respectively, believe that Zionism is “a movement for self-determination
and statehood for the Jewish people.” A striking 36 percent of respondents aged 18-22 described Zionism as “establishing and maintaining a Jewish demographic majority in Palestine by driving out the native Palestinian population.” Similarly, 35 percent of those aged 23-29 responded with the same belief.
Yet at the same time, the poll reveals that Israel simply does not factor prominently into the political priorities of these same voters. When asked which issues would influence their vote, young Americans overwhelmingly named domestic concerns: cost of living, housing, democracy, jobs, and free speech. Foreign policy, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fell near the bottom of the list, far behind economic pressures shaping daily life. Only 25 percent of voters indicated the issue was important, ranking below Russia and Ukraine (33 percent).
This disconnect appears to show anti-Israel attitudes and antisemitic beliefs are normalizing among the youngest slice of the electorate, but without clear political salience. The danger, according to some experts, is that these views may spread unchallenged because they sit unexamined in a political landscape consumed by economic anxiety.
The poll, conducted from Oct. 29 to Nov. 11, sampled 3,426 registered voters, including 1,706 voters aged 18-34.
Uncategorized
Tensions Escalate as Lebanon Faces Year-End Deadline to Disarm Hezbollah Amid Israeli Airstrikes, Iranian Influence
A civil defense member stands on rubble at a damaged site after Israel’s military said it struck targets in two southern Lebanese towns in Jbaa, southern Lebanon, Dec. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ali Hankir
As Israel steps up pressure on the Lebanese government ahead of a deadline to disarm the terrorist group Hezbollah, Lebanese officials fear an imminent Israeli operation that could push the country toward a renewed conflict with the Jewish state.
On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah sites, including a training facility, marking the second round of strikes on the Iran-backed terrorist group in a week following continued ceasefire violations.
Amid this week’s attacks, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raji said government officials are intensifying diplomatic efforts with Israel to prevent a larger conflict, reaffirming Beirut’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement with Jerusalem.
“We have received warnings from Arab and international sources that Israel is planning a large-scale military operation in Lebanon,” Raji told Al Jazeera in an interview.
The IDF has drawn up plans in recent weeks for a large-scale strike on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon should the government fail to disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group before the year-end deadline, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News reported.
Meanwhile, Israel has reportedly informed the United States that if Hezbollah is not fully disarmed, the Jewish state will take action on its own, warning of potentially severe consequences for the terrorist group.
In the Al Jazeera interview, the top Lebanese diplomat said that all government efforts to negotiate the group’s disarmament have been repeatedly rejected, blaming Iran for its role in empowering the Shi’ite Islamist organization.
Tehran has long provided funding and support for the Lebanese terror group, which has been the Iranian regime’s chief proxy force in the Middle East.
“The role Iran plays in Lebanon specifically, and in the region more broadly, is extremely harmful,” Raji said, adding that Tehran’s policies are a major driver of regional instability.
He also emphasized that the Lebanese government is willing to engage in dialogue with Iran only if it stops funding “an illegal organization” in the country — referring to Hezbollah — and stops interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
As Lebanon stands on the brink of a major new conflict, the government is intensifying efforts to meet the ceasefire deadline to disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group, while trying to avoid plunging the nation into a civil war.
Earlier this year, the Alma Research and Education Center, which focuses on Israel’s security challenges along its northern border, released a new study revealing that Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, has been actively rebuilding its military capabilities, in clear breach of the ceasefire agreement with Israel brokered in the fall of 2024.
According to the report, Hezbollah, with support and sponsorship from the Islamist regime in Tehran, is intensifying efforts to rehabilitate its military capabilities, including the production and repair of weapons, arms and cash smuggling, recruitment and training, and the use of civilian infrastructure as a base and cover for its operations.
In recent weeks, Israel has conducted strikes targeting the group’s network, particularly south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah operatives have historically been most active against the Jewish state.
For years, Israel has demanded that Hezbollah be barred from carrying out activities south of the Litani, located roughly 15 miles from the Israeli border.
The Lebanese government is now facing mounting pressure from Israeli and US officials to disarm Hezbollah and establish a state monopoly on weapons.
As the Lebanese government works to meet a year-end deadline to disarm the terrorist group, the army has been carefully dismantling Hezbollah arms caches nationwide, seeking to avoid inflaming tensions among the group’s Shi’ite base while giving officials more time to reach an agreement on the group’s weapons elsewhere in the country.
Earlier this year, Lebanese officials agreed to a US-backed disarmament plan, which called for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed by the end of the year in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from the five occupied positions in the country’s southern region.
Even though the Lebanese government agreed to a five-stage plan aimed at restoring authority and limiting the influence of the Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah has pushed back against any government efforts, even threatening protests and civil unrest if the government tries to enforce control over its weapons.
Dynamics in Lebanon changed last fall, when Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s rocket and drone attacks on northern Israeli communities — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
In November 2024, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — calling such activity “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Both Hezbollah and Iran’s influence across Lebanon plummeted in the wake of Israeli’s devastating military campaign last year.