About Us The Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education (the Mercaz) is UJA Federation’s educational pillar, dedicated to strengthening, enriching and promoting the quality of Jewish education in our schools.
The Mercaz’s role is to enhance the quality, quantity and accessibility of Jewish education by:
- Placing primary attention on parents and children.
- Maintaining a commitment to grow tuition subsidies to low-income families and exploring new education financing solutions for middle-income earners.
- Monitoring the quality of all Mercaz-affiliated day schools, supplementary programs and informal education settings.
- Finding practical solutions to make a Jewish education more accessible to all families. Focusing on strategic educational planning for the community.
- Providing professional development opportunities, training, workshops and consultation services for educators
- Providing services for the community in the area of special education
The Mercaz replaces UJA Federation’s Board of Jewish Education (BJE), which was established in 1949 following a set of recommendations from a 1948 study of Jewish education in Toronto. At the time of its founding, the BJE served 21 day and supplementary schools. Today, the Mercaz serves more than 70 day schools and supplementary programs, 1,700 educators and 17,000 students in the Greater Toronto Area.
The creation of the Mercaz follows two years of research by a UJA Federation task force and an implementation committee. Read about the changes being implemented in the Executive Summary of the Implementation Committee report.
Staff members are listed below. To send email to a staff member click on their name:
Ms. Yael Seliger, Vice-President, UJA Federation, The Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education
Stacey Stein, Marketing Manager
Shai Beloosesky, Shaliach, Jewish Agency
Silvia Eilath, Day School Consultant
Beth Komito-Gottlieb, Special Education/Supplementary Schools Consultant,
Basil Rosenblatt, Controller
Anna Skorupsky, Librarian
Administrative support
Annette Davis
