Jewish Community Devising Plans to Meet Educational Needs of Younger Generation

The Jewish community here is taking a long look at local Jewish educational needs and is devising programs to “meet the needs and desires of a new generation with new objectives.” The status of Jewish education and the need for change was discussed at length in a symposium on Jewish education sponsored by the Conference of Jewish Organizations (COJO). Louis I. Zorensky, president of the Jewish Federation and the keynote speaker, said it was with the adaptation of the Jewish school system in mind that the newest Federation agency, the Central Agency for Jewish Education, was founded with Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews working together to provide quality education for Jewish youths. He said that apart from studying the needs and aspirations of Jewish day schools, the new agency is working with the Jewish Community Council to introduce greater Jewish content into its summer camping programs. “Our inventory committee is concerned with finding and using all materials available on a community wide basis,” he said. Zorensky cited the Tannie Lewin Judaica Library and the audio-visual materials at Temple Emanuel as examples. Mrs. Yusef Hakimian, a local Jewish educator, observed that Jewish education in the area is “overwhelmingly limited to the elementary and junior high school levels.” She noted that 86 percent of local children studying Hebrew attended part time Hebrew schools where they received only a minimal amount of Jewish education.