A headline in Thursday's (December 4, 2014) Israel HaYom email edition reads: Religious school shut for refusing to admit Sephardi students. (Click on the link to read it yourself.)
Why not admit the two brothers, one 5 and the other 6?
One reason suggested by Zichron Yaakov Regional Council Head Eli Abutbul
"It is obvious that they are trying to get them to leave," he said. "The haredi community is saying that it is because one of the parents uses a smart phone [forbidden in certain ultra-Orthodox circles], but that is just a terrible excuse."
Responding for the school, Attorney Ori Keidar, , said, "We have mixed (Ashkenazi and Sephardi] students, but these children do not come from a conservative haredi background."
That begs the question: Just what IS a "conservative haredi background."
According to the Israel HaYom article, Two students, brothers aged 5 and 6, were not accepted to study at the school, despite having been with the same group of students in kindergarten. Their parents went to the Education Ministry's appeals committee six months ago to complain that the refusal was based on their ethnic background.
The article continues:
The Education Ministry, which funds about 60 percent of the religious school's activities, ordered the school to accept the students, but when the two young boys arrived for their first day, they were met by the parents of the other children, who were protesting their acceptance to the Ashkenazi school.
Racism bottom line
Meanwhile, reports Israel HaYom, the conflict between the brothers' parents and the ultra-Orthodox community in the area has worsened. The boys' parents say that members of the community protest outside their home and have thrown stones causing property damage. They were even offered large sums of money to move to another city and to enroll their children in a school there.
This and similar acts by Ashkenazi haredim - and probably Sefardi haredim from Shas and similar "we're Jews and you're not" groups as well - blemishes Israel's pretty good efforts to integrate Jews from all countries and all traditions. It gives non-traditional groups, e.g., Conservative/UK Reform and Reform/UK Liberal, more reason to point the finger at traditional Jews, even the non-haredi Jews, and say "We're not like THEM."
Fortunately not all Jews are Litvaks and Syrians (outside of Israel) who live in closed societies.
The two boys would, in my opinion, be better off in a regular government school where they will get a complete education without sacrificing Jewish knowledge. (I briefly taught in an Israeli pubic school in Zefat; I lack the talent - and patience - to be a teacher.)
You cannot legislate kindness nor intelligence; that's proven everyday in the U.S., the U.S. Jewish community is a bad example of quiet racism, despite what the Torah demands of us.
As one parent told the Israel HaYom reporter, he is not concerned about the school's closure, which he thinks will not last. "Despite all the threats -- everything will go back to what it was."
That' sad.
