The fallout of the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel has sparked a strong interest in Jewish communal life, especially when it comes to growing Jewish Day Schools – a place where children can become confident young Jews — by making them more affordable and accessible.
 

That’s why Jewish Federations of North America are so proud to be partnering with the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism, UnitEd, and Prizmah to launch Project Aleph Bet – an unprecedented philanthropic initiative focused on increasing Jewish Day School enrollment.

“Jewish Day Schools are incubators for Jewish leaders who strengthen their Jewish communities, have strong relationships with Israel, are equipped to stand up to antisemitism, and are committed to raising their own children with a strong Jewish identity,” said Jewish Federations President & CEO Eric D. Fingerhut. “Jewish Federations are proud to collaborate on such an impactful initiative.”   

 
Project Aleph Bet’s first initiative is a $4 million allocation that will support and enhance the efforts of seven grantees focusing on critical areas affecting enrollment: affordability, strategic marketing, academic excellence, new school creation and strengthening early childhood entry points.  Phase one also includes an emphasis on professional development around Israel education for school faculty and staff. 

 
“We decided to launch Project Aleph-Bet specifically now, despite the challenges facing the State of Israel and the budgetary difficulties - because now is the moment to reinvest in Jewish education, from early childhood to college. With our partners, we will succeed in providing quality Jewish education and shaping the future generation” said Minister Amichai Chikli.   

 
Central to this initiative is the chance for grantees to regularly convene as a network to strengthen relationships, identify and share best practices, better understand their impact on Jewish children and their families, and disseminate learnings throughout the broader day school ecosystem. 

“UnitED is proud to lend its global perspective and expertise in Jewish education to this new and innovative initiative aimed at enriching Jewish learning in North America” said Hana Dorsman, UnitEd’s CEO. “Israel has chosen to continue investing in Jewish education abroad, while Jewish communities around the world are mobilizing to support Israel. This reaffirms the deep bond that unites our eternal people.”
    

The seven partners in this initial phase of Project Aleph Bet are: EarlyJ, Emet Classical Academy, the Jewish Community Professional Tuition Grant (Atlanta), Lauder Impact Initiative, NorCal Jewish Day Schools, Prizmah JDS Endowment Initiative, and Tamim Academy.   

 
Prizmah: The Center for Jewish Day Schools, plays an important role in this endeavor. Prizmah not only joins the Project Aleph Bet Network as a grantee  but also as a strategic partner in informing, generating and sustaining field-wide impact and ensuring that the new learnings and discoveries, emanating from the Project Aleph Bet experiment, will reach and resource the hundreds of Day Schools serving Jewish children and their families all across North America.