Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education

Educational Resources

LINKS TO JEWISH EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Subject Areas:

Jewish Early Childhood Education and Children's Sites

Lesson Plans, Curricula, Educational Resources Site

Local Jewish Philadelphia Sites

Middot and More: Moral Education Sites

Special Needs Education Sites

Sites compiled by Nancy M. Messinger and Bonni Kraus of the Seidman Educational Resource Center and Auerbach CAJE consultants.

American Jewish History Site

http://www.challengeandchange.temple.edu/ - This site contains information about Challenge and Change, a new set of textbooks on American Jewish History; primary documents; and links to more than 350 additional American Jewish History sites.

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Divrei Torah Sites

Three cycles of discussion of the weekly Torah and Haftarah portions for adults & children

http://www.jrf.org/recondt.html

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (Reconstructionist)

http://urj.org/torah/index.cfm

Union for Reform Judaism - Reform Voices of Torah

http://www.uscj.org/Torah_Sparks__Weekly5467.html

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism - Torah Sparks

http://www.ou.org/torah/

Learn Torah and study the Parashah HaShavuah
The Orthodox Union (Orthodox)

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Hebrew Education Sites

http://www.akhlah.com
Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network includes a Hebrew area with interactive lessons, a dictionary, coloring pages, and much more.

www.dictionary.co.il

My Hebrew Dictionary contains an online English-Hebrew dictionary, divided by topic.

www.foundationstone.com.au

Foundationstone is a free online Hebrew tutorial designed to teach Hebrew with vocabulary, verb charts and grammatical construction charts for teens and adults.

www.Hebrewresources.com

This site features a free demo of the CD-ROM, "At Home with Hebrew." It also offers other free web-based program demonstrations and promotes online Hebrew study programs.

www.ivrit.org

This is the site of the National Center for the Hebrew language, a full Hebrew resource center. It contains additional links, as well as headlines in Hebrew, ulpan directory, articles about Hebrew (in Hebrew), milat hayom, and milat haparashah.

http://www.jr.co.il/hotsites/j-hebrew.htm

Jacob Richman's comprehensive list of Hebrew Education sites - for all ages. Great links!

www.milingua.com

Milingua features an online course that teaches Hebrew to English speakers

(teen-adult) and features a "Hebrew word a day" delivered to your E-mail.

http://www.milon.co.il/

The site of "My Hebrew Picture Dictionary" - great for both children and adults!

www.morim.com

This site provides a Hebrew keyboard, and vocabulary quizzes, and interactive games with pictures for beginners.

http://www.njop.org/html/interactive_hebrew.html

Listen to the sounds of the alef-bet and vowels at the National Jewish Outreach program's site.

www.ualberta.ca/~yreshef/nurit.htm

This site, developed by Nurit Reshef, Curriculum Coordinator of the Talmud Torah School of Edmonton, Alberta, offers several Hebrew language fun pages, as well as other Jewish educational resources and links. Click on "language fun" to find Hebrew vocabulary, quizzes with pictures, Hebrew word match and picture fun.

http://www.zigzagworld.com/hebrewforme/

Entitled "Hebrew for Me," this interactive, instructional site for conversational Hebrew is fun! It includes games, activities, puzzles and more!

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Holocaust Education Sites

Anti-Defamation League: http://www.adl.org
Educational resources and teaching guides on the Holocaust, denial, combating hate, and antisemitism. Reports on current intergroup tensions. Includes the World of Difference program.

Cybrary of the Holocaust: http://www.remember.org
Online collection of research and resources related to the Holocaust, including art and photographs, stories by survivors and their children, lesson plans, timelines, and teacher's guides.

Facing History and Ourselves: http://www.facinghistory.org
Orientation to Facing History program and resource books, supplementary materials available through resource center and web resources. Study guides for documentaries, films, books and exhibits. Extensive educational opportunities for teachers. Jewish Educators' Program.

Ghetto Fighters' House: http://www.gfh.org.il
Archive of photographs, art, documents from Israeli museum of the Holocaust and Jewish resistance. Detailed site on Janusz Korczak. Summer study opportunities in Poland and Israel.

Museum of Tolerance Learning Center of Simon Wiesenthal Center: http://motlc.wiesenthal.com
Online multimedia learning center, teacher resources, documents and photographs.

Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council - http://phec.org/
Educational opportunities for PA teachers, online newsletter, comprehensive listing of Holocaust resource centers, bibliography/videography in association with amazon.com

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust, Florida Center for Instructional Technology College of Education: http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/default.htm
Comprehensive site with history, documentation, art and photo archives, well-developed lesson plans for Holocaust literature, music and visual arts, and links.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org
Learning site for students, online exhibits with teacher's guides, archives, photographs, request form for teaching materials, applications for educational workshops for teachers

Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority: http://yadvashem.org.il
Comprehensive site of history; online exhibits; photographs, documents, artifacts and scholarly articles from Israeli museum and research institute. Summer study programs in International School for Holocaust Studies.

Please also see:

Prepared by Josey G. Fisher.

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Israel Education Sites

GENERAL

www.adl.org/Israel/road_map_peace.asp

ADL Analysis: “Roadmap to Mideast Peace? Opportunities and Concerns”

http://www.aipac.org/

AIPAC's Near East Report
AIPAC's biweekly report on American Middle East policy. Check it out.

www.embassyofisrael.org/kids

Embassy of Israel Educational Website for Young Students

The product of a considerable investment of time, thought and resources, this innovative website will fill a critical void in young American students' familiarity with the history, symbols and major sites of Israel . Both visually stimulating and designed to appeal to students of diverse backgrounds, the website entertains while it educates. Its sections relate to varied aspects of Israel in a manner concise yet substantive; facts presented are interesting and plentiful, without being politicized. Using cutting-edge Internet technology, educators' insights, and vast creativity in design, the content of our children's website has been composed without taking for granted existing knowledge of Israel - even as it is careful not to "talk down" to young visitors.

www.israelhighway.org
The Israel HighWay is a weekly e-mail publication prepared specifically for high school students. While exploring the context of today's complex issues in the Middle East, the Israel HighWay highlights Israel's diverse contributions to society and informs high school students about the importance of Israel on many levels. Israel HighWays' goal is to instill a love for Israel and pride in its accomplishments over the years.

http://israeloncampuscoalition.org/

The Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) is committed to promoting Israel education and advocacy on campus. The nearly thirty organizations currently participating in the ICC are dedicated to working collaboratively to assist students in fostering support for Israel on the college campus. Check out their resource guides & materials.

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/downloads/rot.html

Right on Time is a series of educational booklets designed by the Israel-based Centre for Educational Technology's Department of Current Events and Values. Each month, hundreds of Israeli educators use these booklets to discuss current events with their students. The 5 booklets produced, to date, cover:

Democracy vs. Terrorism
The State of Israel as a Jewish State
My Israel – Why Israel?
Army and Society in Israel
The Path of Peace

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/israel/

The Jewish Agency for Israel Department of Zionist Education

History, Society & Culture, Israel Trips, Contemporary Issues, Israel Diaspora Relations, Timelines, Books & Resources, Glossaries, etc. An excellent starting point for Israel education resources.

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/
Use the library for information on such topics as history, biography, and politics by visiting the Web site.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pub/oof.html

“On One Foot: A Middle East Guide for the Perplexed, or How to Respond on Your Way to Class, When Your Best Friend Joins an Anti-Israel Protest” by Dr. Mitchell Bard. This pocket-size, 75-page book provide three short responses to the 52 toughest issues students face along with a brief paragraph on the history of each issue. The book covers the roots of conflict, peace, disputed territories and settlements, human rights, refugees, Jerusalem , violence, and the United Nations. It also contains maps, a bibliography, and a web-ography. For information on how to order copies, please call 1-310-364-0909 or e-mail ononefootbook@earthlink.

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.htm

Myths & Facts Online - A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Dr. Mitchell Bard
A continually updated Web site that challenges long-held myths by presenting clear, sourced facts, reports and analyses.

www.jr.co.il/hotsites/j-hdayil.htm

More than one hundred links dealing with Israel

www.peacenow.org

Americans for Peace Now has posted an easy-to-use reference guide to the Road Map for Middle East peace on its Web site. It provides a detailed breakdown of the three phases of the Road Map, including preamble language and specific steps that various participants in the peace process are expected to fulfill in order to meet their obligations in different fields.

NEWS

www.idf.il
Israel Defense Force web site, containing a lot of helpful information which is updated frequently.

www.isranet.org
Daily news briefings from the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research.

www.mfa.gov.il - Official Israeli government web site, containing articles on Israel and the Middle East, as well as the latest news.

PUBLICATIONS

www.haaretz.com
Haaretz newspaper in English

www.jpost.com
The Jerusalem Post, daily newspaper

SITES FOR RESPONSIBLE FORWARDING

http://www.boycottwatch.org/

http://urbanlegends.about.com/

Sites to help with responsible forwarding. Check the information you receive about Israel (and anything else) before you forward.

MEDIA MONITORS

http://www.adl.org/media_watch

This site scrutinizes the media for anti-Israel bias and then mobilizes readers to complain directly to the news agency involved.

www.camera.org
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is a nondenominational, educational organization devoted to promoting balanced coverage of Israel.

http://cms.hillel.org/Hillel/Israel/Israel+on+Campus/Take+Action/MediaWatch.htm

Israel media monitor for college campuses.

www.honestreporting.com
This site scrutinizes the media for anti-Israel bias and then mobilizes readers to complain directly to the news agency involved.

http://www.imw.org.il/ - Israel media watch

www.memri.org
The Middle East Research Institute analyzes and translates media from the region.

COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html
Myths and Facts Online: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard.

www.mideastweb.org
Web site devoted to coexistence in the Middle East. Provides news, commentary and cultural information.

TEACHING RESOURCES

www.akhlah.com
The Jewish Children's Learning Network. Special section on Israel includes time-line of Israel history, geography and symbols. Section on Hebrew includes worksheets and coloring pages for learning Hebrew.

www.conceptwizard.com
An excellent Flash(video like) presentation. Providing background to the Middle East conflict. Contains a timeline from 1920-1973, "to provide a brief summary for those who don't have the time to go into the deeper details of the conflict".

www.jajz-ed.org.il
Jewish Agency for Israel Pedagogic Center web site. Contains education, information and resources, etc.

www.jewishprograms.org
Program Bank from all over the world collected and presented via the Paris office of the American Joint Distribution Committee. The "morim" web site contains a database of programs and resources arranged according to age group, type of program and thematic field.

www.knesset.gov.il
From virtual tour to members' profiles - all about the Knesset.

SUPPORT

www.helpingisrael.com
A public service news, information and crisis center that provides a means to directly assist the people of Israel.

www.jr.co.il/hotsites/sh-il.htm - Hot sites for shopping Israel

http://www.shopinisrael.com/
The goal of this site is to give worldwide friends of Israel the opportunity to shop in Israel.

www.soaringwords.org
Links American school children to Israeli children in hospitals and schools via the exchange of artworks and written messages.

www.ttt.org.il
Overseas - Israel connection for teens. Provides online bulletin board and e-pal program.

Compiled by Steve Burnstein.

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Jewish Early Childhood Education & Children's Sites

http://www.akhlah.com
Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/child/israel/teaching/index.asp

Israel in Jewish early childhood education: abstracts of articles

http://www.learningplant.com/

The Learning Plant: Jewish educational products, including music, books, & software

http://www.torah4kids.com/

Dancing through the Torah: For kids and tots on the Weekly Parashah

http://urj.org/educate/childhood/bedtime/

http://urj.org/educate/childhood/wakeup/

Union for Reform Judaism's bedtime and morning rituals for children

http://www.yourpage.org

Stories, games, puzzles, crafts, and recipes for Jewish children

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Jewish Family Education

Jewish Family-Friendly Web Sites

http://www.akhlah.com
Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network

http://www.babaganewz.com/parents/
A parent link with the new magazine for Jewish middle school students.

http://www.behrmanhouse.com/cat/free/h2s/index.shtml
Information for Family Education Committees about the options for implementing Family Education

http://lists.bjeny.org/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=shabbat_table&A=1
To subscribe to a family oriented guide to the weekly Torah portion, check out "Around the Shabbat Table" It consists of twenty family discussion starters, especially written for families with religious school students in grades 7 - 10. The discussion starters are being written by a team of rabbis and educators.

http://www.clickonJudaism.org
A project of the Reform Movement's UAHC-CCAR Commission on Synagogue Affiliation. The purpose of clickonJudaism is to provide doorways into Judaism for Jews in their 20's and 30's, as well as those considering Judaism.

http://www.idealist.org/kt/familyvolunteer.html
A resource for family volunteering research, ideas and opportunities.

http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/htmls/Home.aspx
For a visual understanding of the time of the Exodus, look at the virtual tel dig of the Israel Museum Youth Wing. Focus on the types of walls and homes and the related artifacts: grinding bowls, arrow heads, and jars that were used in the Canaanite period.

http://www.jewishfamily.com
Jewish Family & Life - an online magazine with features and information for today's Jewish families.

http://www.jewishgen.org
The primary Jewish genealogy site that assists families in tracing and preserving their family history and roots.

http://www.joi.org
Jewish Outreach Institute – advice, research, and connections to the Jewish community for Interfaith families and professionals who work with interfaith families.

http://www.jopp.org
Jewish Outreach Partnership of Philadelphia: Making Connections - provides families with online, user-friendly home-based educational materials (Home Study Kits)

http://www.myjewishlearning.com

My Jewish Learning is a transdenominational website of Jewish information and education geared toward learners of all religious and educational backgrounds.

http://www.nmajh.org
A family experience in Philadelphia's Museum of American Jewish History

http://www.mentsh.com
Contains a guide and translation of Pirkei Avot for family discussion and an on-line chat opportunity for families.

http://www.mishpacha.org
A virtual community for Jewish families with many helpful tips on Jewish parenting. The virtual communities provide an opportunity for groups of parents to come together online, encountering each other and their Jewish identities. New groups start throughout the year.

http://urj.org/educate/parent/
The Union for Reform Judaism's Parent Page.

http://urj.org/shabbat/index.cfm?
URJ Family Shabbat Table Talk

http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=66311
Israel Education Month Materials for the Family

General Family Sites

http://www.beliefnet.com
Offers answers to many questions families have about what is special about Jewish life and how it differs from other religious traditions.

http://www.familyeducation.com/home
Family Education Network: a parenting and education

http://www.interfaithfamily.com
Advice and network for interfaith families who seek information about the Jewish community and living in an interfaith relationship.

http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutyourkids/index.html
The Whole Family Center offers parenting and family advise from experts and other parents. Useful tips and solutions to everyday family issues.

Compiled by Barbara Mollin Lerner.

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Jewish Teen Sites

Youth Movements

Betar – http://www.betar.org/

B'nei Akiva - http://www.bneiakiva.org

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization - http://www.bbyo.org

Habonim Dror - http://www.habonimdror.org

National Conference of Synagogue Youth - http://www.ncsy.org

North American Federation of Temple Youth - http://www.nfty.org

United Synagogue Youth - http://www.usy.org

Young Judaea - http://www.youngjudaea.org

Jewish Teen Program Resources

B’nei Akiba Program Resources - www.bneiakiva.org/resources

Includes ideas for Shabbatonim, ice breakers, Israel activism, and more.

JESNA Youth Initiatives - http://www.jesna.org/sosland/resources/Youth-and-Young-Adult

Site includes articles, research publications and reports on Jewish teens, and an on line program bank (under “Youth Initiatives Portfolio”) which includes programs on leadership development, “engaging the unengaged”, teen philanthropy, and peer networking .

The Jewish Agency for Israel - www.jafi.org.il/education/hadracha/index.html

Includes resources for madrichim, including a handbook of games, facilitating discussions on a variety of Jewish topics, and leadership development.

Jewish Education Center of Cleveland - http://www.jecc.org

Offers response curricula for national and international events and occurrences.

NFTY Resource Center - http://www.nfty.org/resources/

Provides programs and resources for leadership development, social action, and Jewish study. Also, there is an additional program bank on the NFTY-Pennsylvania Area Region’s (NFTY-PAR) website at www.nfty.org/par.

RAC Program Bank - www.rac.org

Search under “congregational tools” for Social Action Program Bank. Created by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Focus on service programs.

Teen Curricula

Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York - www.bjeny.org

Search under “Educational Resources.” Site includes high school lesson plans on current events, Jewish values, Jewish holidays and more.

Jewish Education Center of Cleveland - http://www.jecc.org

Offers response curricula for national and international events and occurrences.

The Lookstein Center - www.lookstein.org/lesson_plans.php

Includes lesson plans for high school students on various topics including Jewish Holidays, TaNaKH , Jewish History, and Jewish Law .

General Jewish Teen Sites

CYI: Philly - http://www.jewishphilly.org/teens

Site maintained by the Community Youth Initiative for Jewish teens in Philadelphia. Includes information and community calendar for all youth events in the area.

Jvibe http://www.jvibe.com

A teen webzine - with teen discussions, articles, advice, games and more.

Teen to Teen http://www.ttt.org.il

A webzine completely written and designed by Jewish teens from around the world. There are teen profiles, poetry, an advice column, an art gallery and more.

Jewish Social Justice

Social Action.com - www.socialaction.com

An on-line Jewish magazine dedicated to pursuing justice, building community, and repairing the world. Social justice-related curricula are available on the site.

spark: Partnership for Service http://www.sparkpfs.org

Organization that develops resources, curricular materials, trainings and workshops, and programs to enhance and expand high quality Jewish community service. Site includes information on volunteer opportunities.

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Lesson Plans, Curricula and Educational Resources

These sites offer a wealth of lesson plans, curricular materials, and additional resource links!

http://www.babaganewz.com/teachers/ - Lesson plans that accompany articles in their magazine, as well as other planning guides on mitzvot and middot themes are online here.

http://www.bjeny.org/102.asp - The Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York's educational resources include material on Holidays, Israel , Bible, Current Events, Jewish History, etc.!

http://www.bje.org.au/educators/index.php - The New South Wales Board of Jewish Education of Australia's web pages for educators contain teaching resources, online learning, holiday ideas and much more! The site also contains resources for kids, teens and adults.

http://www.e-chinuch.org - features a searchable and browseable database of thousands of copyright-free, educator-created materials in various areas of Jewish studies.

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/datajem/ DataJem is a database of Jewish educational materials, is a project of The Pedagogic Center of the Education Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel and is searchable by subject, material type, age group, language, keywords, title, author, and publisher.

www.jecc.org/index.htm - The Jewish Education Center of Cleveland site features curricula and links.

http://www.lookstein.org/lessonplans.htm - The Lookstein Center provides lesson plans on several topics, divided by grade levels.

http://www.meltonarts.org – Learning about Judaism through the Arts contains teaching units on Holidays, Bible , Israel , Prayer, Life Cycle and more.

http://www.morim.org – A resource center with many programs and activities for community professionals.

http://www.jesna.org/sosland/home - The Jewish Education Service of North America's Sosland Resource Center contains an extensive searchable curriculum database .

http://urj.org/learning/index.cfm – The Union for Reform Judaism's resources for educators.

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Local Jewish Philadelphia Sites

www.balchinstitute.org
A collection of records from the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center at the Balch Institute.

www.gratzcollege.edu
Gratz College’s web site.

http://jewishphilly.org/page.aspx?id=178418
The Jewish Community Relations Council’s web site.

www.jewishexponent.com
The Jewish Exponent’s web site.

www.JewishPhilly.org
The site of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

www.nmajh.org
National Museum of American Jewish History - offers education, exhibits, programs, American Jewish history, and culture.

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Middot and More! Moral Education Sites

www.aish.com/spirituality/48ways/
Jewish personal and moral behavior linked to spirituality.

http://www.ajlpittsburgh.org/links-mitzvot-and-midot.html

Agency for Jewish Learning with links on mitzvot and middot

www.darchenoam.org/discussion/dis_home.htm
Sources and discussion of traditional Jewish values (middot).

http://mentsh.com/pirkei_avot.html
Commentary of Ethics of the Fathers.

http://urj.org/shabbat/middot
Sources and explanation of middot, with questions for discussion.

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Mitzvah/Tzedakah Sites

www.thebreastcancersite.com
www.thechildsurvivalsite.com
www.thehungersite.com
www.thelandminesite.com
www.therainforestsite.com
These sites, linked to each other, provide funds for these deserving causes - just for a click of your mouse. Be sure to visit every day!

www.giraffe.org
This site, entitled "Giraffe Country" contains information about the Giraffe Project and the Giraffe Heroes Program, both dedicated to encouraging "mitzvah heroism."

www.igive.com
Shop at specific stores on the net and up to 15% of your purchase will benefit a worthy cause.

www.socialaction.com
An online Jewish magazine dedicated to pursuing justice, building community and repairing the world.

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Online Jewish Learning

Learn about the Torah portion of the week, and lots more, at these sites.

http://www.lookstein.org/
The Virtual Resource Center for Jewish Education contains various resources for educators including: On-line Judaic Studies Lesson Plans; mini-sites on heterogeneous Instruction, curriculum integration and dealing with trauma in schools; archives of Jewish educational digests; and an online database of all day schools in North America.

www.mishpacha.org
Mishpacha is a community of learning about Jewish life, practice, and culture for Jewish parents, sponsored by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com

My Jewish Learning is a transdenominational website of Jewish information and education geared toward learners of all religious and educational backgrounds.

www.torah.org/learning/parsha
Includes special features, such as "parsha parenting," "teen Torah," and Torah study on-line for beginner through advanced levels.

www.Teach613.org

This site is a portal for Torah Education at Cherry Hill and provides both essays on Jewish thought as well as information about Torah learning opportunities in southern NJ.

http://urj.org/torah/ten/
www.urj.org/shabbat/
The Union for Reform Judaism's sites for family Torah study.

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Religious Movement Sites

www.ou.org
OU - Orthodox Union. Information on Jewish resources, Torah learning, Shabbat candle lighting times, OU’s activities and keeping kosher.

www.shamash.org/jrf
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation - Information on the Reconstructionist movement, directory and links to affiliated congregation web sites, and other resources.

http://www.shamash.org/reform/uahc
Union for Reform Judaism - offers information on synagogue arm of Reform Judaism, and includes directories and educational resources.

www.uscj.org
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s site includes information on congregations, a directory of Solomon Schechter Day Schools, and other material.

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