Blog

"The question is no longer 'should we change?'", said Amy Asin, Director of Strengthening Congregations at the Union for Reform Judaism. "The questions are 'what should we change, and how do we get there?"

At this season of graduations, BJE congratulates the students and families marking graduation milestones in their Jewish education.   We hope each child and family will continue on their Jewish educational journey through life. 

BJE is proud to partner with 37 day schools,  49 part - time religious schools and 56 early childhood centers educating more than 25,000 children each year. 

Mazal tov!

Dr. Alan M. Spiwak
BJE President

The unlimited availability of information at the push of a button makes teaching and learning altogether different, today, than in the (ever more remote) 20th century.  Education is not about mastery of a body of knowledge; it’s about processing, synthesizing and wisely applying abundantly available information.  Project-based learning and collaborative problem solving are, appropriately, increasingly at the core of students’ educational experiences.

Learn about the impact of a Jewish High School education on one family thanks to the Jim Joseph Foundation and BJE. 

Share the impact. 

Click on the link to view video.  

Registration is open for BJE Impact: Teen Service Corps, a two session, week-long summer day camp engaging rising 7-10th graders in direct service and Jewish service learning.

Session 1: June 26-30 @ Sinai Temple

Session 2: August 7-11 @ Valley Beth Shalom

Campers earn 12 hours of community service credit while 10th graders in the CIT (counselor-in-training) Leadership program earn 15 hours. 

On January 12th, The First 36 Project recognized its first cohort of fellows and inducted its next class of twelve early childhood education professionals. The Simms/Mann Institute in collaboration with BJE and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, has brought an innovative professional development program to Parent Educators from fourteen BJE-affiliated Early Childhood Centers based on cutting-edge neuroscience.

by Dr. Gil Graff

This year marks 80 years since BJE was established by the Jewish Community Council, in a Los Angeles Jewish community that would be virtually unrecognizable today.  The 1930s were fraught with challenges, locally and throughout the world.  One of BJE’s Past Presidents, the late Bernard (“Bernie”) Levin, recalled, as a young man, joining the Anti-Nazi League, as one response to the threatening conditions of the era; this, at the same time BJE was created.

To me, education is the foundation of Judaism; the religion, our people, the community, the culture, and without it, I don’t think we’d know who we are as a people and as a religion.

My family prioritizes Jewish education. Our children are future day school participants. We want them to grow up to be thriving Jewish adults, and we think the Jewish education system is a great way to ensure that. It’ll teach them to be both mensches, and intelligent people with valuable skills.