The new $3 million annual Fund for Jewish Education (FJE) of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York will make its first allocations this fall, it was announced today by Solomon Litt, chairman of the FJE.
The necessary application forms for four different programs are now being sent out and schools will have until Sept. 20 to submit their requests to Federation’s Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York which is administering the Fund, Litt said. It is expected that allocations will be made early in November, he said, noting that aid is available to day schools and supplementary schools of all religious denominations.
The FJE was created within the past year through an alliance between Federation and the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York, and the Joseph S. Gruss family, long-time benefactors of Jewish education. In a matched fund arrangement, the Gruss family, UJA and Federation agreed to contribute annual sums of $1 million each for a five-year period.
The 16-member committee, which has evaluated and set objectives, comprises four subcommittees, each responsible for a key aspect of Jewish education here. According to Litt, funds will be allocated in the following areas of education: demonstration grants for formal and informal Jewish education — essentially for innovative projects; financial assistance in the form of basic grants and block grants to schools; grants for educator welfare benefits; and grants for school mergers.
LARGEST COMMITMENT EVER MADE
“This unprecedented $15 million program is the largest commitment ever made to upgrade and support Jewish education in the Greater New York area, “says Harry Mancher, president of Federation. “Too few children here receive any form of Jewish education, and much of what they do receive is limited and inadequate. We need to increase the number receiving the education; improve the quality of the teaching, and add to the financial stability of the schools.”
Stephen Shalom, president of UJA of Greater New York, said UJA’s Involvement in this fund is equally without precedent, as, normally, UJA funds go to meet overseas Jewish needs. “Unless we have future generations here who understand that they are Jews and that they are related to fellow Jews throughout the world, the future for Judaism is bleak,” Shalom said. “At present we know no better way to transmit this to our children than through Jewish education — whether formal or informal.”
Federation has undertaken to raise its share of the new Fund through the solicitation of special gifts earmarked for this program. The UJA portion will be raised as part of its “Project Renewal,” a special program that has among its goals support of Jewish education and preservation of Jewish neighborhoods in the city.
Members of the FJE committee, in addition to Litt, are: Robert Arnow, Rabbi Eugene Borowitz, Dr. Gerson Cohen, Arthur Dixon, David Gottesman, Dr. Irving Greenberg, Gruss, Dr. Albert Hornblass, Matthew Maryles, Leon Meyer, Edgar Nathan 3rd, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Mrs. Laurence Tisch, Dr. Isadore Twersky, and Clarence Unterberg. Litt headed Federation’s predecessor project, the Program Development Fund, for the past six years.
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