Beit Daniel offers a range of educational programs for everyone across the broad spectrum of ages from daycare, pre-school, and kindergarten, to special programs in the public schools, Bat/Bar Mitzva studies, young adults, a Beit Midrash (study of Torah, Talmud, and Mishna), and daytime lecture series for retirees.

The pre-schools are operated in cooperation with the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, which has provided the use of three buildings (five classrooms), three in the Bavli quarter, neighboring Beit Daniel, and another in Ramat Aviv Gimel. Plans are currently being drawn up for the initiation of a first-grade curriculum, next year, which features religious enrichment from the perspective of the modern streams of Judaism.

Beit Daniel has instituted an ambitious series of Jewish-enrichment units called "School and Shul."  Since Israel does not exclude religion from the public schools, unlike the United States and other countries, religion-based programs are not only permitted, but welcomed. This ambitious program, which expects to reach over 8000 people during the current school year (children, educators, and parents), is targeted at transmitting knowledge and understanding of important celebrations in the Jewish calendar cycle and imparting the tools for observing them in the family and community.  The program already promises to exceed its numerical goals. Part of the reason for this is explained by the Ha'aretz article:

The Reform Movement in Israel has not yet succeeded in becoming a central religious movement, but the continuing polarization between the Orthodox and secular is playing into its hands. The anger that the Orthodox institutions have engendered among many of the secular has made the Reform Movement and its institutions an address for these seculars - whether for identity or as a means of protest. The call of the authors and cultural leaders Amoz Oz, A.B. Yehoshua, David Grossman, Yair Tzaban, and others ... to join the movement as a part of the struggle against the ultra-Orthodox is a prominent example of this process which, though it did not bring a lot of new members to the Reform Movement, brought it a lot of publicity and support.

The phenomenon is particularly dramatic in Tel Aviv, the glatt-secular city.  About 10% of the weddings in the city take place through the Reform synagogue, Beit Daniel. Last year, 217 Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrations took place there.  In addition, many of the elementary schools in the city conduct the traditional 2nd-grade First-Tanakh ceremony at Beit Daniel, and the synagogue is also active in organizing celebrations for Tu b'Shevat.

The real flourishing, however, is not even in the religious sphere -- these religious services are basic requirements for secular people whose religious needs are limited - but on the level of education.

Educational programs have ramifications far beyond the immediate experience. "If we currently have 180 children in our pre-schools, we can expect to see many of them, again, eight or nine years from now, when they're ready for Bat and Bar Mitzva," notes Rabbi Meir Azari."  If parents come to Beit Daniel for their children's First Tanakh ceremony and see how dynamic the building and community are, they are apt to return for additional features and programs.  All of this contributes to greater acceptance of modern Judaism in Israel and plants the seeds for a new dynamic in years to come."

Education Programs
Beit Daniel seeks to enhance Jewish awareness in the context of modern, liberal Judaism among Israelis, to provide the spiritual dimension which so many are known to be seeking as an alternative to secularism.  If presented in the context of a Jewish stream which promotes pluralism, egalitarianism and acceptance of "the other," love of the Jewish experience can be nurtured through celebration of the holidays and studying the classic sources of Judaism and their modern applications.  These can create a new Jewish consciousness in each individual which also will subsequently be passed along to others.

Although only about 10% of Tel Aviv's 400,000 population describes itself as "Orthodox," Beit Daniel is the only liberal-stream congregation with a building large enough to serve as a community center.  Thus, while only several hundred families comprise the membership of Beit Daniel, some 30,000 people come in contact with it or enjoy some of its services and programs, annually.

Increasingly, growing interest is being exhibited among so-called secular Israelis to explore the sources of Judaism, such as Bible and Talmud, and to bring more spiritual content into their lives.  This interest in exploring Judaic sources is even becoming a national phenomenon, described in the cover story of the December 26, 1996, issue of "The Jerusalem Report" as "Zionism: Phase II."  In its introduction, the story states:

"A movement of stunning popularity is drawing secular Israelis, determined to break the Orthodox monopoly on Jewish sources, to study traditional texts like the Bible and Talmud. Now that Zionism has liberated the Jewish people, they are out to liberate Judaism."

" ... 'Something is happening which almost none of the experts predicted: that at a time of rising secular-Orthodox tensions, many secularists would begin seeking their place in Judaism rather than opt for a 'post-Jewish' Israeli identity. And while it is too early to predict where the trend will ultimately, lead, activists say it will transform Israeli culture and prevent the country from dividing into two rival peoples - one with little interest in Judaism, the other with little interest outside it."

Perceiving the growing interest among the so-called secular Israelis to explore the sources of Judaism in October, 1996, Beit Daniel established a Beit Midrash -- a classic Jewish "study hall" -- as part of its varied education and outreach programs.  Studies were expanded to include: Bible, Talmud, Mishna, and modern Jewish philosophies and commentary.  Lecturers are drawn from the area universities; men and women, alike, including enlightened Orthodox educators.  Furthermore -- just as the daughters of Rabbi Akiva studied alongside men -- women enjoy the opportunity otherwise denied them to study on an equal footing in this Beit Midrash.

The Beit Midrash adds an important element to the spectrum of ages and interests which the congregations serves through its education programs. These include:

• Six full-time pre-schools in four locations, operated in cooperation with the Education Department of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality

• "School and Shul" Jewish-identity programs conducted on the secular schools - elementary through high schools -- to develop knowledge and appreciation of the customs and ceremonies of the Jewish calendar, observances and celebrations.

• Teacher-training seminars, to impart tools to educators for the teaching of Jewish heritage and observances.

• Egalitarian Bat/Bar Mitzva studies

• Judaism courses in three languages (Russian, English, Hebrew) for personal enrichment and/or leading to conversion

• A rich range of adult-education programs at various times of the day, to accommodate both full-time workers and retirees

• Studies for Russian immigrants in Judaism and Jewish/Israeli heritage

• Women's studies in the context of the religion.