It is 2,500 years s<strong>in</strong>ce the first event and1,900 s<strong>in</strong>ce the second. So too, as long asJews live, we will remember Auschwitz andTrebl<strong>in</strong>ka, Bergen Belsen and Sobibor. Butthere is a <strong>Jewish</strong> way <strong>of</strong> remember<strong>in</strong>g. Forevery tragedy there is the promise <strong>of</strong> redemption.Every nightmare is succeeded byhope. We were never paralysed by our past,because we lived toward the future. That iswhy the <strong>Jewish</strong> response to catastrophewas to have children and build schools andcreate a <strong>Jewish</strong> future. The children <strong>of</strong> theyeshiva and Hasidic communities are theirHolocaust memorials, made not <strong>of</strong> stonebut <strong>of</strong> new life.These three moments are sem<strong>in</strong>al to an understand<strong>in</strong>g<strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> history. At each <strong>of</strong>them, the <strong>Jewish</strong> people confronted its ownmortality. In none was the response thateventually proved successful by any meansthe obvious one. Who <strong>in</strong> his right m<strong>in</strong>dwould have suggested that the answer tothe Babylonian conquest, the might <strong>of</strong>Rome, or the Holocaust lay <strong>in</strong> schools,teachers, and houses <strong>of</strong> study? Yet Judaism’sgreat visionaries, the architects <strong>of</strong>its survival, said just that. Alternativeswere tried. They failed. The ten tribes <strong>of</strong>the Northern k<strong>in</strong>gdom disappeared. So didthe Sadducees and Essenes.In each case the survivors were ostensiblythe weakest group. The southern k<strong>in</strong>gdom<strong>of</strong> Judah was small <strong>in</strong> comparison to thek<strong>in</strong>gdom <strong>of</strong> the north. The Pharisees werepoorer and less powerful than the Sadducees.After the Shoah, the Hasidic andyeshiva communities were a fragment <strong>of</strong>their <strong>for</strong>mer glory. But <strong>in</strong> each caseZechariah’s prophetic maxim proved true.<strong>Jewish</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>uity happens “not by mightnor by power but by My spirit.”In our time, those diaspora communities that have failed to place <strong>Jewish</strong> education at the centre<strong>of</strong> their lives are disappear<strong>in</strong>g too.Recent Research F<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gsThus far the test <strong>of</strong> history. What <strong>of</strong> currentresearch? Can we quantify the impact <strong>of</strong><strong>Jewish</strong> education on <strong>Jewish</strong> identity? Theanswer is that we can.The 1990 National <strong>Jewish</strong> Population Survey<strong>in</strong> the United States is the most comprehensivestudy <strong>of</strong> a diaspora communityundertaken <strong>in</strong> recent years. Its results arestill be<strong>in</strong>g analysed. But <strong>in</strong> March 1993 thefirst f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs emerged <strong>of</strong> the effect <strong>of</strong> educationon <strong>Jewish</strong> commitment, us<strong>in</strong>g thesurvey data. The study, by Sylvia BarackFishman and Alice Goldste<strong>in</strong>, divided educationalexperience <strong>in</strong>to four categories: [1]no <strong>Jewish</strong> education, [2] m<strong>in</strong>imal education(less than three years <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> school orup to five <strong>of</strong> Sunday-only classes), [3] moderateeducation (three to five years <strong>of</strong> supplementaryor day school, or six years <strong>of</strong>Sunday-only classes) and [4] substantialeducation (six or more years <strong>of</strong> supplementaryor day school).Its f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs were these. In the 25-44 yearoldage group, those who had substantial<strong>Jewish</strong> education were between six and tentimes more likely to observe <strong>Jewish</strong> ritualthan those whose <strong>Jewish</strong> education wasm<strong>in</strong>imal or non-existent. They were nearlythree times more likely to belong to a <strong>Jewish</strong>organization, three times more likely tobe members <strong>of</strong> a synagogue and twenty percent more likely to contribute to <strong>Jewish</strong>causes. They have more <strong>Jewish</strong> friends, aremore opposed to <strong>in</strong>termarriage and are significantlyless likely to marry out. Of thosewith no <strong>Jewish</strong> education, only three out <strong>of</strong>ten are <strong>in</strong>-married. Of those with substantial<strong>Jewish</strong> education, the figure is eight out<strong>of</strong> ten. The authors conclude:The 1990 NJPS data show us the strongcorrelation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> education and enhanced<strong>Jewish</strong> identification. The mere fact<strong>of</strong> hav<strong>in</strong>g received some <strong>Jewish</strong> education<strong>in</strong> childhood has little impact on <strong>Jewish</strong> attitudesand behaviours dur<strong>in</strong>g the adultyears. However, extensive <strong>Jewish</strong> educationis def<strong>in</strong>itively associated with higher measures<strong>of</strong> adult <strong>Jewish</strong> identification. Its impactis demonstrated <strong>in</strong> almost every area<strong>of</strong> public and private life.Here then is further confirmation <strong>of</strong> thethesis that the fate <strong>of</strong> the Jews <strong>in</strong> the diasporawas, is, and predictably will be, determ<strong>in</strong>edby their approach to education. Thisproposition has been subjected to twotests, one <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g critical moments <strong>in</strong><strong>Jewish</strong> history, the other us<strong>in</strong>g the latestand best available research. Together theyshow that Jewry’s triumphs are triumphs<strong>of</strong> education. Our renewal depends oneducation. Our traditional strength, ourgreatest gift, our highest value is education.Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Daniel Elazar, <strong>in</strong> his encyclopaedicsurvey <strong>of</strong> world Jewry, People andPolity, draws the simple conclusion:The history <strong>of</strong> the Jews has been ahistory <strong>of</strong> communities built aroundschools. They are the key <strong>in</strong>stitutionsbecause they convey learn<strong>in</strong>g. Greekcivilization survived <strong>for</strong> five hundredyears after the Roman conquest <strong>of</strong> theGreek city-states, because the Greeks,like the Jews, had developed academiesand they could live around those academies.When the academies failed, Greekcivilization disappeared. The <strong>Jewish</strong>people has never allowed its academiesto fail. That is the secret <strong>of</strong> our collectiveimmortality.P A G E 16 • C O N T I N U I T Y M A G A Z I N E
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