Jewish schools in the UK will be forced to tear up their entry rules after the admissions policy of the largest school, JFS, was today ruled racially discriminatory.
In a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal said that it was illegal for Jewish schools to admit pupils on the basis of whether their mother was Jewish or not.
In a unanimous decision, Lords Justice Sedley, Rimer and Lady Justice Smith concluded: “The requirement that if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act 1976.”
The appeal was brought on behalf of M, who was refused a place at JFS in 2007 because his mother was a Progressive convert, making him non-Jewish according to the Office of the Chief Rabbi, the school’s religious authority.
Last summer a High Court judge took the view that the school’s policy was based on religious, not racial, grounds and therefore lawful.
But the Court of Appeal ruled that using matrilineal descent as a criterion for entry was based on race.
JFS governors said they now intended to appeal against the decision to the House of Lords.
A spokesman for the United Synagogue, which has already spent £150,000 on legal fees, said: “Unless the Court of Appeal decision is overturned on appeal it will have a very serious effect on all Jewish schools and on many of our communal organizations.”
John Halford, of Bindmans solicitor which represented the boy’s case, said; “We welcome the strong statement of the Court of Appeal that the fundamental right to equality before the law regardless of race applies to the admissions criteria of a faith school.
“We have never sought to interfere with the right of Orthodox Jews to define for their own religious purposes whom they do or do not recognise as Jewish.
“However, it is unlawful for a child’s ethnic origins to be used as a criterion for entry to a school. Such a practice is even more unacceptable in the case of a comprehensive school funded by the taxpayer.”
He added that the JFS should do “what the law demands” and admit M immediately to the school. The school should also draw up “inclusive admissions criteria that are fair to all who want their children to have a Jewish education.
“We would be more than happy to insist them in that endeavour, free of charge.”
But the Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks pledged his support for a legal challenge to the court’s ruling. In a statement, he said: “The principles underlying membership of the Jewish faith have been maintained consistently throughout Judaism’s long history, as has our duty to educate our children in the principles and practice of the faith itself.
“These principles have nothing to do with race and everything to do with religion. Ethnicity is irrelevant to Jewish identity, according to Jewish Law. Education has been the crucible of Judaism throughout the millennia, and the development of Jewish faith schools is one of Anglo Jewry’s greatest achievements.
“I have advised the leadership of JFS, the United Synagogue and the Board of Deputies on behalf of our community that they have my full personal support and encouragement to use the necessary avenues available to them to maintain our historic rights to be true to our faith and a blessing to others regardless of their faith.”
If the Court of Appeal’s decision stands, it could have widespread implications for other Jewish schools.
It would mean that they would have to introduce faith-based tests – such as synagogue attendance, for example – similar to Catholic schools to determine entry.
It would also mean that the children of Progressive converts who were denied a place this September could re-apply or else sue the school for damages.
(Source: The Jewish Chronicle)
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11 Responses
a very sad day for the religious orthodox.
Faith based tests could include acceptance of religious doctrines, such as limiting a school to children whose families keep kosher and Shabbos.
Who sort of Jewish school would have a rule that allows a child whose parents are practising Christians but whose maternal grandmother was an assimilated Jew.
Who was the yenta who said that the Great Britain of today is a malchus shel chesed?
What arrogance!
Since when did the Right Honorable justices of the English courts become experts in Jewish Halacha?
Don’t think we are immune to this type of problem here in the U.S. It is just around the corner. Especially as toayva “marriages” become accepted in more and more states, what will be forced on the yeshiva world in terms of curriculum and acceptance of teachers and students will be a disaster!
akuperma – family practice (shabbos and kashrus) might work at some schools, but the children at JFS are mostly from non-frum homes.
Flatbush Bubby – Of course it is a medina shel chesed. The point here is that this is a government funded school. You don’t get that in Flatbush. If you take government money, you have to follow their rules.
The British will never be happy until everybody is turned into a low-moral persona like their dead princess. They want to drag everybody into their mud.
Stand firm, Jews of Britain!
It seems like judges do not rule with wisdom anymore.
Interesting this is in the UK where Islam is festering at a record pace; and the UK is caving to their demands. Would they rule someone would be admitted to a Muslim school if the requirement for “who is a muslim” were not met?
The situation here is not so uncommon; an improper conversion and then a desire for their children to have a more religious upbringing. I am not sure if the article mentioned the father was Jewish and wanted his child to have a proper Torah upbringing. If the mother is agreeable to her son going to a frum school, she should be willing to “strengthen” her conversion. But a nationwide ruling? I dont think it was called for.
When are we going to stop being like the naive Jews of 1930s Germany, loyal to the Fatherland to the end, only realizing the awful truth when it was too late?
In the U.K., in France, in Scandinavia, in North and South America, anti-Semitism is once again becoming a scourge. Nevertheless, Jews are clinging to their comfortable lives in golus, in these places where we no longer belong. We sit here, with our golus-mentality, in our cocoons of denial.
I truly believe that the Ribbono Shel Olam is sending us message after message: “Wake up Yidden. The era of the ‘malchus shel chesed’ is over. It’s time now to go home.”
dd — You write, “The point here is that this is a government funded school. You don’t get that in Flatbush. If you take government money, you have to follow their rules.”
The following, from the BBC article on this story, says that the ruling affects even non-government funded schools:
The United Synagogue said the decision affected any branch of Judaism that defines who is a Jew on the basis of descent (whether matrilineal or patrilineal).
It said Jewish schools of any sort – Reform, Liberal, Masorti, Charedi, Orthodox, Federation and so on – would be prohibited from giving priority to applicants who were a member of the Jewish faith.
It added: “In future, all Jewish schools (whether state or independent) will need to adopt a religious practice test, until such time as the Court of Appeal’s ruling is successfully overturned or a legislative amendment is made.”
“Unless the Court of Appeal decision is overturned on appeal it will have a very serious effect on all Jewish schools and on many of our communal organisations.”
1) If you take government money, then follow the law of the land.
2) As a former orthodox (though not haredi) Jew, I left the more traditional forms of Judaism precisely over this insanity. What is the purpose of excluding PRACTISING JEWS who want to send their child to a school that teaches Torah, Talmud and Zionism? what do you gain? Religous “purity”? Ugh, can anything be more ghastly than the idea of purity, especially with our history.
3) According to you, my wife and children aren’t Jewish (my wife’s mother converted through a non-Orthodox movement). They all read Hebrew, attend Hebrew school and they go to Jewish camps in the US and we go to synagogue regularly. We keep a kosher home, visit Israel etc… IF THEY AREN’T JEWISH, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE? I tell you one thing, they are better Jews than those anti-zionist horrors that live in Meir Sharim.