The Jewish Education of Today's Leadership: Day Schools, Overnight Camps & Other Educational Experencies

Author
Research Success Technologies Ltd. Sponsored by: Keren Keshet
Knowledge Topics
Fundraising & Development, Research
Catalyzing Resources
Deepening Talent

Published by Research Success Technologies Ltd and sponsered by Keren Kesher, Mem Bernstein and Arthur Fried, Trustees this report explores 

  • What is the overall contribution of Jewish education to the vitality of the American Jewish community?
  • How were today’s Jewish leaders educated in their childhood and adolescent years?
  • How do the patterns differ by denomination, political identity, age, leadership sector and marital status? 

 Highlighted key Jewish day school findings:

  • The adults now in Jewish leadership positions were widely exposed in their youth to numerous educational experiences, far higher than the Jewish public at large. As many as a third went to Jewish day schools from grades K through 8, and 2/3 of them – or 23% of the total -- continued on with day schools during their high school years.
  • Younger Jewish leaders are more Jewishly educated than their older counterparts, meaning that Jewish leadership is increasingly educated as Jews. Just a quarter of Jewish leaders between the ages of 55-64 had attended a Jewish day school, while among those twenty years their junior, the figure rises to 44 percent.
  • Among leaders with children aged 14 or older, we find remarkable inter-generational leaps in Jewish educational participation. Day school enrollment grows from 33% among the adults to 62% among their children.