A new course and booklet from adult education provider Seed has found a ready domestic and international market.
The five-week course, Foundations, offers parents an "adult useful, child friendly" guide to Judaism. More than 1,000 copies in two editions have been produced and the course is currently taught at five schools. The material has been given to Israeli leadership training and outreach organisation Ner Le'Elef and an American group has also expressed interest.
Seed reaches 3,500 people every year and programmes director Rabbi Malcolm Herman said the booklets were among a number of initiatives intended to take the organisation forward.
"The focus is on parents and young children," he said. "We want to strengthen the link between home and school. The home is the centre of Jewish education. Jewish schools have improved tremendously over the past 30 years but this has to be supported by the home. Today's parents haven't been given the knowledge and skills to address questions increasingly informed children ask."
Courses include the popular Babies and Bagels for new mothers and Parent Academy, covering issues such as sibling rivalry.
"Parenting is difficult today and the parent-child relationship has changed," Rabbi Herman noted. "The balance between love and tolerance is more of a challenge than it used to be and children have a lot more. There is a lot of Jewish wisdom on what creates a good relationship."
Last year saw the establishment of a community director programme which has now expanded to four communities - Edgware, Bushey and Borehamwood and Elstree United and Prestwich Hebrew Congregation.
"We approached various United shuls and said we'd like to partner in creating a stronger education programme within the shuls," Rabbi Herman explained. "It's impossible for one rabbi to do the whole programme. We felt there was a need for more investment."
The recession had halted the expansion of the community director programme and residential seminars had been reduced from five to one a year. Yet Rabbi Herman was positive about the future, saying: "We're expanding what we do into different areas. We feel we've got a very good formula here."