by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

August 20, 2009

Local kids can virtually play with children in Israel through an on-line, interactive game site, in a project getting a boost from the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey.

The federation is offering free registration for the site — called JLand — to the first 200 local children between ages four and 10 whose parents, grandparents, or friends request it for them.

JLand, developed by the Israeli educational software company Compedia, offers kid-friendly ways to learn Hebrew, Jewish history, holidays, and traditions.

The federation is the first on the East Coast to present this offer. According to Compedia founder and co-owner Gil Ilutovich, other NJ federations are in discussions about a similar offer, and 12 in the Midwest and South have already signed on.

Compedia is splitting the cost with the Central federation for the first 200 children registered.

The JLand offer is part of the Central federation’s ongoing effort — using new media — to support Jewish cultural connections for affiliated families, and to provide a no-pressure connection for those who are not affiliated.

In 2007 it introduced the PJ Library, a free source of Jewish-themed bedtime reading and music, and last year it provided participating synagogue religious schools with interactive software to use in teen classes.

Amy Cooper, the Central federation’s associate vice president, said the PJ Library has been a great success, and they are anticipating that JLand will be equally popular. “We’re hoping people will take advantage of the offer,” she said. “It’s really a wonderful, creative way for children to learn.”

‘Question of continuity’

In a phone interview from Israel, Ilutowich said that he began thinking of the project after hearing of the high percentage of Jewish children in the Diaspora whose families are unaffiliated with any Jewish organization.

“For me, that is like a new Holocaust,” he said. “In another generation, those children will be lost to the Jewish people. The question of continuity is very important for me.”

Ilutowich, the son of two Holocaust survivors, said he grew up obsessed with what had happened in Europe — in that “black box” of memories his parents refused to discuss. It is the subject matter of the three novels he has written: Is There Someone Here?, Wedding Pictures, and The Coal Eaters. The first two have been published; the third is due out soon.

While his company develops software programs for a variety of subjects, his greatest passion is for those that promote a sense of Jewish identity and peoplehood. He sees the need in his own three children, a 10-year-old son, and seven-year-old twins — a boy and a girl. “My seven-year-old son was very puzzled when I told him that an American singer we were listening to is Jewish,” Ilutowich said. “He couldn’t understand how someone who speaks English could be a Jew.”

On the other hand, he added, “35 percent of secular Jewish children say that they don’t see a future for themselves in Israel. For us, the problem isn’t intermarriage; there is very little intermarriage in Israel. But if people have very little sense of Jewish identity, why would they put up with the danger and the stress of living in Israel? There are better jobs overseas.”

Ilutowich admits he has had a complaint about JLand. A parent in Texas said he couldn’t get his daughter to stop playing it at bedtime. There is a parental control feature that sets a limit on what and when kids play, but this dad said, “How can I tell her to go to sleep when she’s busy learning about being Jewish?”

Of the JLand partnership with Diaspora federations, Ilutowich said, “If I can do something to strengthen Jewish identity in Israel and the USA, I’m thrilled to do it.” He has also established a deal whereby 5,000 Jewish children in France will have access to the site.

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