It is a fear that will strike through the heart of every parent: the day their child comes home with a question they cannot answer.
The risk of this increases around the holidays, when tradition is met with curiosity and the inevitable “why?”
And make no mistake: while some questions may be trivial, the answer may have enormous repercussions, especially when it comes to shaping a child’s Jewish identity.
At least, that is what Seed believes. That is why, over the past 10 years, the Hendon-based educational charity has been working with Jewish schools to show parents how to teach their children and providing lessons that cross generations.
It is now expanding its efforts and aiming to make parental education a prominent feature inside Jewish primary schools.
“Schools are important, but they won’t work by themselves,” says Rabbi Malcolm Herman, Seed’s associate national director. “One has to create a learning environment at home. We must equip parents to give their children the right values.”
When it was founded 20 years ago, Seed conducted the majority of its work inside synagogues.
Back then, there were far less Jewish schools than today, meaning far more children attended cheder classes. As a result, shuls held a different function as the epicentre of a family’s Jewish education. But now, with the majority of Jewish children (especially those in London) attending Jewish schools, the foundations of their religious education have inevitably shifted.
The result is a split between their Jewish knowledge and that of their parents, especially those who have lost touch with their early learning.
According to Rabbi Herman: “Recent JPR research found that the most important factor in defining a student’s Jewish identity is their home upbringing. My goal is that the community will recognise that parental education is critical for Judaism.”
In recent years, Seed has worked as an external body that visits schools and offers parents short courses — covering topics ranging from Torah learning to dealing with secular issues that affect their children. From January to November last year, it ran more than 700 courses inside Jewish schools in the UK, attracting 6,000 participants.
“We found that over 70 per cent of parents who came to our programmes felt more able to support their children,” Rabbi Herman says.
Last September, Seed launched its new phase in education, placing an educator inside a staffroom specifically for pupils’ parents. The programme started in September at Sinai Jewish Primary School in Kenton.
“The educator was paid for externally, with the specific brief of offering parents an education within the school framework,” Rabbi Herman explains. “My dream, if all goes well, is to see every secondary school employing a ‘family educator’.
“Our finding is that many parents start off learning for the sake of their children, and then become engaged for their own sake.”
He adds: “We feel that tomorrow’s adolescent will relate to a Judaism that makes sense. If we cannot give that to them around the Shabbat table, it will undermine their respect for Judaism.
“My favourite thing is to see parents and children working together.”
Moving forward, Seed is hoping to raise the funds to roll the scheme out into more Jewish schools.
In the meantime, it will continue to offer external courses. Current programmes include “Babies and Bagels”, an hourly slot held at its Hendon headquarters for young mums, and “Links”, a 10-week mother-daughter programme aimed at “passing down lessons” between generations.
“Whatever you want to learn, wherever you want to learn, we try to find a way of doing it,” Rabbi Herman says.
“We believe that if you educate a parent, you create a teacher.”
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