New York Jewish Week — When Will Eastman, a fundraiser for Jewish camps in New Jersey, recently sought to transfer his daughter, the eldest of four children, from public school to a Jewish day school, his immediate reaction was “sticker shock.”

“The minute we walked in the door, it was $27,000 for kindergarten at one place and $17,000 at another,” he said.

The tension between the desire for Jewish education and the crushing price tag is what UJA-Federation of New York is aiming to relieve with a new three-year $15 million pilot fund to help cover day school tuition. The program, announced this week, will provide grants of up to $20,000 per student for middle-income families and Jewish communal professionals in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island.

Even though his family is outside UJA’s catchment area, Eastman said his family “should be happy for others — hopefully this starts a domino effect in other federations.”

The money comes from what UJA calls its “surge” fund, part of a national Jewish Federations campaign to respond to a wave of post–October 7, 2023, engagement in Jewish life. Across North America, federations have used the “surge” label to describe a spike in demand for Jewish schools, camps and synagogues, and they are investing extra dollars to meet it.

Applications open in mid-November for awards that begin with the 2026-2027 school year.

In interviews, UJA leaders and field experts cast the program as both a response to a surge of Jewish engagement since October 7 and a test case they hope to scal