Most Israelis Want Liberal Jewish Education

May 27, 2008

A new survey has shown that 71 percent of secular Israelis want to see liberal and pluralistic Jewish studies in Israeli schools. The survey, initiated by veteran NIF grantee Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) of the Movement for Progressive Judaism in Israel (Reform), also showed that 48 percent of Israelis who define themselves as traditional want to see more liberal Jewish studies programs in the country's education system.

The survey was published just two days after Israel's Education Minister Yuli Tamir told the 18th Biennial IRAC Conference that they should "bring more Reform Jewish content into the education system."

Tamir said: "I see in the Reform Movement a potential inroad for the introduction of Jewish subjects in our school system. There is a thirst for knowledge especially among our youth, and I expect you to quench that thirst."

Yuli Tamir: “I see in the Reform Movement a potential inroad
for the introduction of Jewish subjects in our school system”.

"As a minister and a human being with a pluralistic approach to the world," she added, “I identify with Reform Judaism. When I pray, I pray in an egalitarian Reform synagogue."

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Associate Director of IRAC, said that the Reform Movement had already made a major impact on Israel's education system with dozens of TALI schools and kindergartens educating thousands of the country's schoolchildren. "We also have our own youth movement and a pre-military academy in Jaffa," he said.

This latest boost for the Reform Movement comes just three weeks after it dedicated the first-ever synagogue building erected with State funding. The synagogue in Modi’in was built following an appeal by IRAC to the Supreme Court.