Israeli Court Orders Elad’s High Schools to Enroll Students Based On Location

An Israeli court ordered the Elad municipality today, to hold registration for the ‘Darchei Chana’ and ‘Das Chochma’ high schools in the city, based on the location of residence of the students. The court order calls for the girl’s acceptance without any precondition if they reside in the vicinity of the school. Gedoley Yisroel have clearly stated their opinion in the past, against registering students based on location solely, regardless of the student’s life style and background.

Most Bais Yackovs in Israel have an open registration policy for all girls in the neighborhood.

There are national, national-religious and the Chinuch Atsmo’ey schools in most neighborhoods, as per the the demand of the specific institution. Students from the neighborhood are automatically excepted to the school which parallels their level observance, whether religious, secular or national religious.

The Seminarem, or high schools, have a more vigilant vetting system in place, and are more sensitive to the intake of their student body. They are more selective with who they accept; in order to ensure that girls attending their schools fit the spirit and level of the school, and share a similar lifestyle to the families who send their girls there.

The court’s decision calls for the schools to open their doors for all students who wish to enroll, so long that they live in the neighborhood of the school, regardless of their lifestyle or compatibility with the school.

The court ordered the Elad municipality to immediately issue a proclamation and publicize in the local papers that the schools will now be accepting girls based on the location of their residents. The court also placed a fine of 1,000 NIS for every day that the proclamation is delayed.

The Elad municipality was also fined 15,000 NIS, for court expenses of the organizations, which filed the petition against the City of Elad. The court divided the north of Elad, whereas girls would attend the ‘Darchei Chana’ high school, and girls living in the south side of the city to be accepted at the ‘Das Chochma’ high school.

Mayor of Elad Yisrael Porush, responded to the court order clearly stating that he was not planning to couple to the court order, “the court order is in contrast of the clear decision of Gedoley Yisroel Shlit’’a, we will turn to them and hear how to act on the matter. I thank the Chareidi Representatives for their support and encouragement during these times”.

The court order triggered a storm in the Chareidi community with many MK’s harshly condemning the order. MK Yackov Asher (UTJ) commented on the court order saying, “The decision is outrageous, Jewish girls will not get educated according to the courts embarrassing decision, the Seminarim have to act based on educational considerations solely, and not on judicial considerations”.

MK Uri Maklev (UTJ) also joined the harsh condemnations of the court’s decision. “The court is disconnected, alienates, and harasses. These decisions are the answer why we see the court as hostile to the Chareidi community. Regional registration is the essence not a technical issue. We are not talking about distributing protection kits”.

The matter of our children’s education is educational and substantial. Is the court seeking to test us with Emanuel 2?” said Maklev, referring to the Emanuel saga; a similar case where the court ordered schools to act in a manner against Gedoley Yisroel. In the Emanuel case, the schools and parents disobeyed the court order and willingly handed themselves over for a prison sentence, escorted by hundreds of thousands including Gedoley Yisroel.

Mk Yisrael Eichler, also commented on the court order saying, “the judicial intervention in the Chareidi education is a declaration of war against the Chareid community”.

Translated by Eli B.

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