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ByMiriam Shaviv, Miriam Shaviv
During the month of March, I will be publishing a daily proposal to transform the British Jewish community. Email your own idea (up to 350 words) to miriamshaviv@thejc.com
Today's idea comes from the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks: Turn Anglo-Jewry into a learning community
The single greatest change in Anglo-Jewry in the past 20 years has been the growth of Jewish day schools. The challenge now is to use this energy for yet further transformation.
Jewish parents want their children to be admitted to Jewish schools and are prepared to go to great lengths to achieve this. This creates multiple new possibilities for those willing to seize the moment: better children's services on Shabbat; parent-child learning programmes; family education; adult education for parents who want to grow with their children; residential Shabbatonim for parents with young children and so on.
Change begets change, and there are extraordinary synergies to be created. The mission should be: Turn Anglo-Jewry into a Learning Community.
In 5771 I will be issuing this challenge to our communities and rabbis, and I hope to be personally involved in as many as possible of the best such schemes.
Lord Sacks is the Chief Rabbi
Check out our previous ideas: 11 - Turn Shabbat into the Greenest day of the week 10 - Focus on people, not institutions 9 - Create an online platform for Jewish students, 8 - Appoint anti-antisemitism champions, 7 - Share our synagogues and community centres with other religions, 6 - Establish a Succah in Trafalgar Square, 5 - Create a 'community service' programme for young Jews, 4 - Recruit older people to volunteer for the community,3 - Establish a fund for the Jewish arts, 2 - Pay membership fees to your community, not your shul, 1 - Make 2010/11 the year of synagogue renewal