In Jewish life, informal Jewish learning plays an important part. The role of informal Jewish learning in Jewish life stretches back for decades and is embodied in institutions like community centers, camps and youth movements. Through the years, informal Jewish learning methods have evolved to include modern techniques and the changes in Jewish life.

Informal Jewish learning comes from several sources. First and foremost, informal Jewish learning revolves around Jewish history and tradition. Secondly, informal Jewish learning draws on general intellectual thought. A third important source is contemporary social sciences including areas like sports and fashion. The fourth source of informal Jewish learning is formal research into developments in informal education.

Jewish history and tradition is an important focus of Jewish life. The records in Jewish history from the talmudic texts, the descriptions of Jewish communities in Babylon, the writings of the great rabbis and scholars through the ages, and Jewish youth movements in the twentieth century are a primary source of the development in informal Jewish learning.

The thoughts and writing of great thinkers form another basis for informal Jewish learning programs. The works of Socrates, St. Augustine, Sigmund Freud and Maria Montessori among others are part and parcel of the effort to shape a more complete structure for informal Jewish learning that is all-encompassing. While most of these people did not tackle informal education directly, their thinking has come to influence approaches that are important to the informal learning process.

Informal Jewish learning attempts to include the modern aspects of Jewish life. The new trends in thinking spanning the broad spectrum of modern life like advertising and marketing, literature, music and art are all folded into the crafting of new approaches to informal Jewish learning. The developments in technology, to which Jews have contributed significantly, is an area outside of the traditional zones of education which informal Jewish learning is also focusing on.

Inasmuch as informal learning is not an exclusive Jewish concern, serious research into the different forms around the world is an important part source of material for the advancement of informal learning methods as part of Jewish life. Because the field is still in its infancy, the ability of the Jewish nature to explore and choose from different sources is an advantage in the development of a system that will produce beneficial results.

As it has done throughout the ages, informal Jewish learning will play an ever-increasing role in the enhancement and progress of Jewish life.