Department History

In 1941 the World Zionist Organization created the Youth and Hechalutz Department, with the overall mission of fostering Zionist Education in the Diaspora. Within this overall mission, specific areas of educational activity were quickly identified. Consequently, in 1949 the Department for Culture and Education in the Diaspora was established, responsible for formal education in the Diaspora and three years later, the Department for Torah Education in the Diaspora was formed to deal specifically with formal education within the religious Zionist sector. The Youth and Hechalutz Department now became responsible for all informal education, focusing primarily on the growing field of youth visits to Israel. In 1984, the Student Department was set up to work with Diaspora students studying in Israel.

While each department dealt with similar issues within Jewish Zionist education, each focused on different populations and worked in different settings. As a result, in some cases services and resources overlapped and were not fully coordinated. In 1991, The Joint Authority was formed to unite these separate but related departments into a cooperative body, aimed at making the most efficient use of their resources. The Joint Authority consisted of a management office to coordinate activities and a central lay board in the form of the Education committee of the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors. For the mot part, however, the three departments functioned independently.

In 1998 the Department for Jewish Zionist Education was created, bringing together under one central body all of this educational activity, thus breaking down the barriers between formal and informal education and religious and secular. This step has enabled efficient use of the resources and personnel and allows for a comprehensive approach to Zionist Education in the 21st century.