Israel – Principal of Beit Yaakov School is Refusing to Sanction Parents in Integration Row

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    Israel – The ultra-Orthodox Beit Yaakov school in Immanuel is not taking measures against parents who are refusing to send their daughters to school in the wake of a High Court of Justice order to integrate the institution’s separate classes for girls of Ashkenazi and Mizrahi origin.

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    About 150 students are enrolled in the school’s two tracks: “Hasidic,” for girls of Ashkenazi (European) origin, and “General,” for those of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) background.

    In August the High Court ordered the removal of “every formal and material sign of this rampant discrimination,” and the Education Ministry ordered a merger of the two tracks.

    Since mid-December around 75 students, most of them of Ashkenazi descent, have been studying in private homes. In response, the ministry ordered the Immanuel Local Council to take legal action against the parents for violating the mandatory education law.

    Several sources say that in a High Court session last week, it was disclosed that the Independent Education Center had instructed principal Rivka Stern not to take measures against the parents on the grounds that such action would be considered a violation of din moser – the religious prohibition against revealing information about a Jew to non-Jewish authorities.

    Attorney Menahem Yanovsky, who represents the independent school system, confirmed that Stern would be exposed to din moser if she sent letters to the parents as part of the procedure for getting them to return their daughters to the school or to prosecute them.

    “Even the judges told the Education Ministry attorney that the principal will not sign the letters,” an education center official said yesterday. “We won’t be policemen and the matter doesn’t concern us. It’s the parents’ decision not to send their daughters” to the school.

    Stern declined to comment, and Yanovsky did not respond to messages from Haaretz.

    Most of the girls who stopped attending school now study in a nearby two-story apartment building. Yesterday their lessons were clearly audible from outside the building.

    “Because the parents don’t want to violate the court’s decision that the girls have to study together, they decided to hold separate classes,” one Immanuel man explained yesterday. “It’s not a racist thing, but rather a question of different levels of religious observance. It’s the parents’ right to choose the Hasidic track for their daughters,” he said.

    According to a parent at the school, “The Mizrahi students don’t feel a connection to the Hasidic track. The High Court and the Education Ministry have to recognize that these are two different worlds.”

    Last month the Education Ministry was harshly critical of the Ashkenazi parents. Ministry officials yesterday said the Immanuel Local Council is responsible for dealing with the affair. Local Council head Ezra Gershi said that the first step in the procedure is for the school to send letters to the parents, which “has still not been done. We’re waiting for the High Court’s ruling,” Gershi said.


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    46 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    the end is near, we have lost our way

    glatekup
    glatekup
    14 years ago

    The parents are totally correct. Sefardim and aschkenazim in eretz yisroel are generally very hashkafically diferrent and it is incorrect to put them in a class together. Just like sending a modern orthodox girl to a satmar girls school. Whould that work?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    These parents should be thrown in jail for violating the court order, but more importantly using a phony issues of “degree” of religious observance to continue this racism and discrimintion. Maybe a few nights in prison will provide the opportunity to “educate” them on observing the law.

    Cadd9
    Cadd9
    14 years ago

    The way to end the racism is simple. All the students who are out of school lose government funding for three years. We’ll see how many of the pure parents will be willing to forgoe 6K
    The government should stop the fundng of the teudat zehut (the citizen number)of the student not the funding for the school. If the government stops funding the school they will just register to the dummy schools set up by the Eida Charedis to circumvent their prohibition of government funding for schools.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Racists period

    Loshon Hora
    Loshon Hora
    14 years ago

    A few weeks ago VIN reported that Reb Ovadia Yoseph claimed the Authentic Hebrew dialect & Halacha is the Sefardi way, Moshiach will correct all Ashkenazim.Is that racism maybe? Probably not.
    Another report I read somewhere, wanted the Sfardi girls in Ashkenazi schools to keep their dialect & Halachic traditions & the Ashkenazim to teach them that way.So the Aschkenazim have no right to their traditions?
    Basically they want to take over the school system & run it their way. the court knows nothing of minhag, custom & culture and under rascist laws want to coherece all together.
    Unfortunatly it doesn’t work, it makes all sides miserable & causes machlokes.
    The Talmud explains that the Torah permitted divorce , because a man & snake cannot reside together in one basket. Some people are so different that they have to live seperatly, that isn’t racism it is a fact of life, live let live & live with? Good fences make good neighbours.
    Could we force all Misnagdim to be chasidim all Chasidim to become Breslov, is that racism if we don’t? Racism is to deny someone a job or ahome based on color sex religion or orogin? If alady wants to be a chazon, could we deny her?

    mosheklass
    mosheklass
    14 years ago

    Is it known if any of the Mizrachi girls wanted to be together? Can someone elaborate how the “Din Moser” has any legal status in Israel? From the article it seems so.

    shlomozalman
    shlomozalman
    14 years ago

    Considering the nonsense that they teach in these Bes Yaakov schools, staying at home is not a bad alternative.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Cut off all funding. Then no hypocrisy when talking of din moser at least.

    get a life
    get a life
    14 years ago

    you people are really self-hating jews.
    every person has a right to send their children to any school of whatever type they choose. and it’s not as if the sefardic girls didn’t have their school. separation does not have to automatically mean racism. different mentalities are brought up differently, and no one can deny that. if a parent does not want their daughter to be exposed to something that is accepted in another mentality, it is their basic right. and keep in mind, the sefardic girls were not THROWN out. the classes were just seperate. they should just say thank you that chinuch atzmai (which is an ASHKENAZI organization) accepted them. i am chassidish-of the more open-minded type-and i would fully understand if some of the more “heavy” chassidish schools wouldn’t want to accept my daughter. even though she is in no way modern, and we are a good family, there are many things that we do that are not accepted by those crowds.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    there is no racist here peapole have right to do what they want

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    forced integration of different traditions, hashkafahs = religious oppression

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I happen to agree with # 1 let the parents start there own school

    Lawyer
    Lawyer
    14 years ago

    1. In the United States, parents have an absolute, constitional right to educate their students as they wish — which includes parochial school and home education. There is a whole “home schooling” movement in the U.S. Why are these parents obligated to send their children to this particular school?

    2. I don’t see anything racist here. Chassidic schools have a particular hashkafa and set of minhagim. (I would not send my children there.) They are entitled to send their children to a school that preserves that tradition.

    What about Shas schools? They present a Sephardi masorah. Is that racist?

    3. Where the parents parties to the original Court proceeding? If not, they are not bound by its order. The Court can order the school to act in a certain way. It cannot order parents to send children to that school. See # 1.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Rav Shach opposed even the formation of the town of Immanuel and said they would lose a lot of money. He was also harshly opposed to this type of discrimination. Obviously they are mamrim Daas Torah.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    As an Ashkenazi woman with Israeli parents and a Sephardi husband, I can assure you that what these parents are doing is RACIST. If they truly believe that their minhagim are different, then why can’t the girls have recess together? Eat lunch together? Have secular classes (if any) together?

    Are they segregating Satmar from Bobov? Munkatch from Belz? Of course not!

    There is an unfortunate tendency in Israel to classify Sephardi as inferior, especially among the religious. It is hypocritical for religious Ashkenazim to look down on their Sephardi co-religionists, yet quote Rambam, Ibn Ezra, etc.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Everyone is talking about the parent’s rights. Don’t these girls have the right to be exposed to a variety of ideas so they can decide how to lead their lives? Don’t these girls have a right to not be poisoned by racism and not to be indoctrinated to be hate-filled bigots?

    shanak10
    shanak10
    14 years ago

    How do we expect the world to have peace with us if we cannot have peace amongst our very own people? What kind of a message are we sending to our youngsters, the future of our generation? How are we different from the terrorists who train their kids at a very young age to kill? Words and actions that come out of our mouths are killing as well.

    Cadd9
    Cadd9
    14 years ago

    The Rabbinic leaders of the chareidi community don’t support the segregation. They actually came out against it.
    There are serious Halachic issues and social ramifications involved with openly rejecting children. For parents to do this without the backing of the top tier of Gedolim is very serious. It shows a lack of decency ,foresight and basic boorishness.
    None of the claptrap on this board about different havara,minhagim even remotely justify this type of behavior.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    What about Gender segregation, what if a boy wants to attend the girls school or vice versa, of course they will be rejected, isn’t that discrimination as well? I am not condoning discrimination of any sort, just making a point.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Surely such hatred is what’s delaying Mashiach.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I teach in an integrated school that is mostly Ashkenazi. The Sephardi girls are wonderful and the girls get along nicely. I always feel bad though that the Sephardi girls have to learn and be tested on Ashkenazi minhagim. It makes no sense to me. Each Mesorah needs to be preserved until Moshiach comes and unites us.