It has become apparent that the media’s presentation of the situation in Emanuel, Israel, is grossly distorted. For the sake of clarity, I would like to state the facts about the circumstances.

First and foremost the parents are following the direction of gedoli yisroel including Maran Hagoan Harav Eliyasiv shlita, Maran Hagoan Harav Steinman Shlita, Maran Hagon Harav Chaim Kaniefsky Shlita, Maran Hagon Harav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz Shlta as well as many others.

For those of you who don’t know, the Bais Yaakov School in Emanuel was sued for discrimination against Sephardim. The petitioner in this case is not a resident of Emmanuel and never was. He is an individual that is backed by The New Foundation of Israel which works along with the reform movement to uproot Torah Jewry the same group that was behind the “Goldstone Report” against Israel in “Operation Cast Iron”. There was no opposition by the parents in Emmanuel to the Bais Yakov School in fact it was applauded by the residents when it was established because of the diverse background of the Emmanuel. The Residents have made no claims of discrimination. This town was chosen as a test case to uproot Chinuch Atzami Schools from Israel so the reform movement could snake their ways into religious homes. A case of discrimination was started in Emmanuel because it’s a small poor town the chances to succeed because the parents lacked the means to defend themselves. They prey on the weak and defenseless.

In reality, the school’s student body does presently consist of many wonderful, charedi, Sephardic girls. All the parents that refused to send their children to school lest they be tainted by their classmates’ negative influences were sentenced to two weeks prison time: the fathers are presently serving and the mothers will serve upon their husbands’ release.

The imprisonment of the parents is entirely unjust because:

1) Over 35% of the student body is Sephardic. Their parents make up 35% of the incarcerated.
2)The parents’ Civil Rights have been violated as follows:

A) The parents are not the named defendants in the case. This sentence only occurred through an abhorrent miscarriage of justice and a complete disregard for any judicial procedure.

If one were to go through the court transcripts, they would see that the judge repeatedly admonishes the parents to remain silent because they are not a party!  So how did this non-party end up being fined and jailed? It is a case of Incarceration without representation!

B) All parents in Israel have the liberty to choose where and how to educate their children whether they are Arab, Christian, or Jewish. This includes homeschooling. Now this right is being taken from the charedi parents.

It is clear that we are dealing with a judge whose hatred for charedim has transformed him from an impartial jurist to a vehement, first degree anti-Semite.  Not since the era of Stalin has religious education been challenged thus.

Imagine in the United States if the government forced all Jewish schools from all walks of Judaism to be “integrated” we would all scream in unison we are not racists for having separate schools we have different values and standards and that’s why there is a full spectrum of schools so we each have a school thank g-d to educate our children according to our understanding and way. In Emanuel any girl regardless of her Jewish lineage would have been accepted as long as the polices of the school were followed

This is a battle for chinuch yehudi- Let us stand with our brothers!

Thank You

Yidedie Emanuel.

NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.