JERUSALEM — Several Torontonians were honoured in absentia May 4 at the dedication of the Schechter Institute – Legacy Heritage Center for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, the pluralistic Jewish educational centre’s new main campus and national headquarters.

A central part of the institute’s 25th anniversary celebrations, the dedication ceremony was attended by Natan Sharansky, the chairman of the Jewish Agency and a former Knesset member, along with hundreds of graduates and supporters.

“We have some wonderful donors in Toronto,” said Rabbi David Golinkin, president of the Schechter Institute and the centre’s Jerome and Miriam Katzin Professor of Jewish Studies. Not only have Toronto donors contributed significantly to the new campus, he said, but it’s also thanks to the longtime support of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto that the institute was able to open a TALI school branch in Eilat. TALI schools and preschools offer Israeli children a pluralistic education.

Among the Canadian honorees who contributed to the $8.2-million Scherchter Institute campus were Harold and Carol Wolfe, Ab and Phyllis Flatt, Shoel Silver (through the Nathan and Lily Silver Family Foundation), and Barry and Paula Sonshine (in honour of Mildred Sonshine and in memory of Joseph Sonshine).

The new building, located in Givat Ram next to the Israel Museum, is slated to open in September, in time for the new academic year. Its five storeys and 2,300 square metres will be home to the Liebhaber Center for Jewish Education; the Harvey L. Miller Family Bet Midrash (study hall) for students of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, which trains rabbis for the Masorti/Conservative movement; 14 classrooms and lecture halls for the more than 600 educators enrolled in the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies Graduate School MA program; the TALI Education Fund Pedagogic Center, the Institute’s nationwide Jewish studies enrichment program for secular public schools and kindergartens; and a new expanded library.

Until now all of these activities have been housed in a building that used to serve as a Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) dormitory, dating back to 1963. “It was totally inadequate for what we do. It was not meant as a space for learning,” said Rabbi Golinkin. “We really needed this new building.” The old building will be converted into administrative offices.

The old building also wasn’t large enough to accommodate the institute’s rapid expansion. Since it was founded in 1985, the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies has grown from a four-student learning group into a multi-faceted educational facility with programs serving more than 40,000 students across Israel and in Ukraine, including modern Orthodox, traditional, Reform, secular, and even a few non-Jews. The MA program is the largest Jewish studies program in Israel, with more than 1,000 graduates. The TALI school program has been implemented in 184 schools and preschools across Israel and enrolment is expected to reach 40,000 children this fall. Midreshet Yerushalayim, the institute’s Jewish learning program for Russian-speaking immigrants and Jewish communities in Ukraine, recently expanded in Israel to include a learning program for Hebrew speakers. Over the last decade, the institute’s full-time faculty has doubled and its library stacks have more than tripled.

“We take this as a good sign that our mission – to spread Jewish learning throughout the State of Israel as well as the Ukraine – is a worthy one. Now more than ever, secular Jews in Israel are thirsty for Jewish education,” said Rabbi Golinkin.

“The State of Israel has accomplished many incredible feats since 1948, but in the areas of Jewish identity and Jewish education we have failed to teach most Israelis about Jewish history, culture and tradition,” he said. The only Jewish studies subject taught in Israeli schools is Bible, and it’s only required to be taught two hours per week. “It’s not enough,” added Rabbi Golinkin.

According to a poll published in the Jerusalem Post last July, 59 per cent of Israelis consider their level of Judaic knowledge to be “mediocre or lower.” The same poll indicated that 43 per cent of secular Israelis want to increase their knowledge of Judaism.

“There is a growing trend of secular Israelis searching for Jewish meaning,” said Rabbi Golinkin. “This is why our institution has grown so rapidly over the last 25 years.”

This was the institute’s rationale behind opening a centre of learning, The Schechter Center for Jewish Culture – Legacy Heritage Building, in the heart of secular Tel Aviv, in the Neve Tzedek neighbourhood. The $3.2-million facility was also dedicated during the 25th anniversary celebrations.

“We were very overcrowded in Jerusalem, and in Tel Aviv we didn’t have a campus at all. Our growth was restricted because of our facilities,” said Rabbi Golinkin. “Now we expect all of our programs to continue to grow, as they have been growing for many years.”