Finding your Jewish Voice

In October last year Jewish think tank the JPR published a 70-page report based on the results of the 2011 National Jewish Student Survey. One of the survey’s many findings was that Jewish students often experience diminishing levels of Jewish practice  while on campus, compared to what they grew up with at home.  An antidote to this, concluded the report, is that “the more you do, the more you do”... in other words, students who join Jewish societies and organisations and engage positively with their Jewish identity are more likely to retain or advance their levels of Jewish practice. Furthermore, the report discovered that many students are unhappy with their perception of the British Jewish community, but feel powerless to change anything – “I really feel that I don’t have much of a voice”, one commented.

Here at PaL, where hundreds of our learning partners  are drawn from the student community, we strongly believe that ‘knowledge is power’.  By enabling Jews (of all ages, student and otherwise!) to delve further into their heritage, we are giving them a voice and the ability to forge their own Jewish path, making informed choices about the lives they wish to lead, rather than just following a well-trodden route because they didn’t even know that other options existed.

Recently, PaL launched a new brand new free resource for Jews of all ages who would like to firmly establish or simply brush up on, the very basics of a Jewish education, before moving on to a more specialised area of Jewish study. The PaL edition of seed’s Foundations programme is available in multi-media format (both email and cd) and covers a wide range of topics in a highly user friendly, practical and informative style.

For more information about this programme, or any of the other resources we are able to provide you with, please don’t hesitate do get in touch!