I am sure you are all aware of the case being considered by Britain’s Supreme Court over the issue of rejecting a student because the mother converted to Progressive Judaism, and not Orthodox at JFS (Jews’ Free School). If not, or if you want to read more details, I have provided several links throughout this blog entry.
The debate is over whether or not the admissions policy goes against the Race Relations Act, according to a Time Magazine article. By the end of the year the British Supreme Court will decide if Jewish schools can decide admissions cases on the issue of the student’s parent being Jewish or not. Currently, JFS is opting to give a test to applicants to determine their Jewish identity. There is a possibility that JFS, along with other state-funded religious schools in England, will have to change their admissions policy for good. According to a New York Times article, another father who had his daughter rejected admittance to JFS said, “How dare they question our beliefs and our Jewishness?â€
Jews are known by nearly all other cultures for their emphasis on education. With this in mind, it is interesting to consider “Jewishness†as an admittance factor into an institution of education. While it is logical that in a Jewish state-funded school for there to be Jewish students, I am unsatisfied with their angst against one for not being “Jewish enough†for admittance.
Maybe it is because of my Reform upbringing that I feel this way. While I attended temple and celebrated Jewish holidays, I also attended public school my entire childhood in a town with an adequately diverse population. Westfield, New Jersey, my hometown, is roughly 25% Jewish, with one large synagogue in town. It is normal for Westfield children in seventh and/or eighth grade to have a social life based roughly around Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties, in addition to their sports and club activities. With this childhood, I think I have an open-minded view to a Jew being a Jew, according to his/her own definition. Just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I see religion as being in the eye of the beholder as well. It is a personal matter with specifics that are decided solely by the believer, and not those around him. I agree that there needs to be some general principle for definitions, such as defining who is Jewish versus who is Catholic; however, I think it is wrong for a child to be rejected from a Jewish school because they are not “Jewish enough.â€
While I realize that the school defines Judaism under the Orthodox definition, I have trouble grasping the fact that a state-funded school can be this strict. I realize the division between state and religion is different in Britain than in the United States, however I still am unsatisfied with JFS’ past admittance policy.
I am not criticizing Orthodox beliefs or anything of that kind, I am just stating my surprise that individuals from the Jewish religion would deny education to a child wanting to attend their school, which again—let me repeat—is state-funded.
Additionally, what do you think this shows the child and the mother about the Jewish religion? Clearly, they had a large enough issue with it to bring it to the government’s attention. However, I wonder how the conversation went between the mother and son when the family was informed of the rejection. As the applicant was only 12-years old at that time he was probably just in the midst of preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, which leads me to speculate how this affected his confidence to preach his belief in Judaism in the coming-of-age ceremony.
Yes, I realize Orthodox Jews and other groups have reasons for being so meticulously selective in their decisions; however, I never thought I would see this emerge in an example like this.
Please feel free to comment on this issue or to read up more about it in the links provided. I recognize that I do not have extensive knowledge on the definition of Judaism according to each movement so please feel free to enlighten me if you have anything to offer.
