The first part of the Chief Rabbi’s Schools Review made for sobering reading. In sum: graduates of Jewish schools leave with much pride in their Jewish identity but do not quite know what Jewish identity is.
There is much to celebrate. Jewish schools create warmth, belonging and pride. Shabbatonim, Israel and Poland trips, tefillah experiences, visiting speakers and tzedakah initiatives can and do shape lives. Informal Jewish education — what I call the “kiruv” model — is exceptionally good at awakening feeling and forging identity.
Yet experiential kiruv is sometimes offered not as a supplement to formal classroom learning — “chinuch” — but as a substitute for it. As one secondary head explained in the report: “Yes, I would love the kids to be fluent, to be more knowledgeable, but at the moment I’m happy with their engagement and their pride, as a sacrifice.”
This sets up a false choice between kiruv and chinuch. It implies that serious academic rigour in Jewish education somehow undermines enjoyment and belonging. That is not only wrong; it risks weakening long-term Jewish continuity. Quite simply, pupils shouldn’t be left with the feeling that chemistry or history are more intellectually demanding than their studies in Judaism. Kiruv may ignite the spark, but chinuch must feed the flame.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks himself resisted this split. Jewish education, he wrote, had traditionally meant “the acquisition of knowledge, understanding and skills”; in the modern diaspora, it must also create identity. We need both.
I want to suggest three pathways by which our schools might pursue both kiruv and chinuch.
First, we need an answer to the most basic question: what does success look like?
Every secular subject has aims, outcomes and benchmarks. Every discipline within Jewish education deserves the same clarity. What should a Jewishly educated 18-year-old know, understand and be able to do?
Dr Moshe Sokolow of Yeshiva University has produced such guidance for American yeshiva high-school graduates. As he argues, “without an objective standard, it is difficult to assess progress and accomplishment.” We can and must develop an equivalent for Britain.
Encouragingly, the Etgar Challenge already offers a model at primary level. Its success shows not only that we can identify what pupils should know, but that knowledge-rich learning can be enjoyable and inclusive.
Second, just as Jewish identity is multifaceted, Jewish education must nourish its many dimensions. Ivrit is already central to the Jewish-school offering, but we can go further. Serious Tanach and Talmud study should remain at the heart of the curriculum, but alongside courses in Jewish history, literature, philosophy, art, film and music. We need a curriculum broad enough for diverse pupil bodies to find meaningful points of connection. Whether grappling with an Agnon story, studying a Chagall masterpiece, or tracing the rise of modern Israel in depth, the possibilities are exciting and empowering.
Third, alternative forms of accreditation can give schools greater latitude. The highly successful Extended Project Qualification at A-level allows pupils to pursue an area of academic enquiry of their choosing. Its GCSE equivalent, the Higher Project Qualification, could support similarly bespoke pathways. A year-10 course in modern Jewish history might culminate in an HPQ essay on the rise of Zionism; a course in Jewish art might be assessed through an artefact created by the pupil. Tanach and Talmud courses could also provide a richer alternative to the current Religious Studies GCSE, which all but eschews sustained engagement with Jewish texts.
None of this requires abandoning the affective power of informal Jewish education. On the contrary: experience gives knowledge emotional resonance, while knowledge gives experience roots. Our schools already help young people feel proudly Jewish. The next step is to ensure that they leave knowing what they are proud of — and equipped to keep learning for themselves.
Glenn Bezalel is the Deputy Head (Academic) at City of London Boys School and a governor at JFS
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