French Jewish organizations have joined together to expand private Jewish education in France.

Seeded with 25m Euros, the new Fondation Gordin, created by the Fonds Social Juif Unifie (United Jewish Social Funds), the Foundation for Holocaust Remembrance, the Rothschild Foundation, the Sacta Rashi Fund and private donors, will focus on both refurbishing existing school buildings and constructing new ones.

According to French Jewish businessman and philanthropist Pierre Besnainou, president of the United Social Funds, one-third of France ‘s estimated 100,000 Jewish children study in Jewish private schools, another third in public schools and the last third in Christian private schools. Some one-half of private-educated Jewish children study in Christian schools because, Besnainou believes, the schools are better.