WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ten thousand Jewish men and women serve in the U.S. mili-tary, stationed across the country and the world with their 15,000 family members. For those with children who are stationed in areas without Jewish life, finding a way to give the next generation a proper Jewish education can pose a challenge. Now, the non-profit organization ShalomLearning is helping to provide cutting-edge online Jewish education and teacher training programs to U.S. military families free of charge.

“Military bases are often located in places without much Jewish life. While chaplains and lay leaders find creative ways to engage their local communities in meaningful ways, organizing and implementing their own Hebrew school is a whole different animal,” says ShalomLearning CEO Josh Troderman. “We have found that the need is there, but that existing Hebrew schools  are often underfunded and lacking time, training and pluralistic inclusive resources. There is a great need for a solution that can connect Jewish children on U.S. military installations worldwide both to Judaism and to one another.”

In partnership with JWB Jewish Chaplain’s Council®, ShalomLearning is offering the use of its programs (now in over 160 synagogues across the U.S.) to Jewish military families in three formats: 

1. The traditional classroom: ShalomLearning provided teachers with a selection of materials to plan their lessons, while students now log in at home to augment and reinforce their classroom learning.

2. The virtual classroom: Jewish children in families stationed on Army, Navy and Air Force bases around the country and in other countries are grouped by time zone and meet online for a class facilitated by a ShalomLearning-trained local community leader.

3. The homeschool model: ShalomLearning’s online platform connects military chil-dren to their Jewish roots, history and traditions through ShalomLearning’s Judaics values curricula as well as the Hebrew learning programs. Each family has a desig-nated teacher (usually the at-home parent or a community lay leader) who is trained through ShalomLearning’s virtual webinars and growing mentorship program.

For more information, contact Adina Pollak at adina@redbanyan.com or (202) 839-3527.