Education

No more violence and randomness. At least one hour of Jewish enrichment for every Jewish child in the educational system.

Restoration of honor and respectable pay to Israel's teachers – after they have been properly trained.

Jewish education that will make children proud of their Jewish heritage.

Everybody talks about education. Israel's education budget is second only to its defense budget. Israel's educational system has succeeded in producing top rate high tech professionals -- a very important achievement. But in the process, it has created a person disengaged and estranged from the values, concepts and basic heritage of the Jewish People. For these new, disconnected Jews, the most fundamental concepts in Jewish identity and history are complete unknowns.

A high percentage of Israel's public school graduates are not familiar with the age-old Jewish trademark "password" Shemah Yisrael, "Hear O' Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One" . Others do not know if Judah the Maccabbee fought the Romans, the Greeks or if he was just a player on the Macabi Tel Aviv basketball team. Sixty per cent of Israel's soldiers do not visit Jerusalem prior to their enlistment.

Judaism is not just for religious Jews. Israel's current educational system robs its students of their Jewish identity. To correct this, Israel must provide all of its public school students with a daily hour of Jewish identity, history and heritage studies.