Section archive - Informal Education

Youth-movements in Israel are non-formal organizations that educate for social and political involvement and provide a broad platform for youth involvement in the community. This study explored the question: does the social activism of adolescents who both elect for membership in youth movements and a leadership role of instructing younger members also reflect itself in environmentalism? In a survey of 1496 young instructors drawn from 15 official youth movements, findings on environmental literacy variables show youth are only generally knowledgeable about environmental problems; express ‘technical-optimism’ which leads them to limited concern for the environment; show limited recognition of the importance of environmental education, and show limited acknowledgment of the necessity for changes in personal consumerism.

In the first of a series of research reports, the Community Foundation for Jewish Education of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago looks at the rising trend in families forgoing congregational education and/or membership while preparing and conducting their own bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies for their children. “CFJE Reports: A Closer Look at Independent B’nai Mitzvah in the Chicagoland Area” authored by Abigail Pickus, provides a snapshot of this trend, offering a glimpse inside the motivations of families who undertake this process, the tutors and clergy who assist them, and the synagogue professionals who struggle with the loss of these families to the congregational community.

Over the past three decades, travel to Poland for youth and young adults has become increasingly popular, to the extent that it is even seen as a “rite of passage” for members of many Jewish communities. For these groups, the accompanying guides or educators are central to their educational experience. Based on a series of interviews with educational guides, this article sets out to understand the trips from the perspective of the guides. A deeper appreciation of the guiding experience—the guides’ goals and reflections—will enable a more holistic understanding of these trips.

The annual global conference of Chabad emissaries, or shluchim, will begin at week's end in New York City. About 3,500 shluchim are expected to take part, and to discuss matters at the center of Jewish life worldwide. Ahead of the conference, the World Headquarters for Chabad shluchim has provided some numbers regarding this ever-growing unique mechanism, which was put in motion by the late Lubavicher Rebbe, in order to provide warm corners of hospitality for Jews all over the globe. The total number of Chabad shluchim worldwide is currently at 4,325, and they operate in 86 countries, in about 3,500 Chabad Houses and other Jewish institutions.