Petah Tikva, Israel – The Parent-Teacher Association threatened a city-wide school strike at the start of the school year, which begins next week, unless private religious institutions in their city begin to enroll Ethiopian pupils in their schools.
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The parents gathered to protest what they have called the discrimination of Ethiopian pupils within the private religious school system, and were joined by members of the city’s Ethiopian community, who have also voiced support for the strike.
Earlier this year, private religious institutions in the city announced that they would not enroll Ethiopian pupils despite being ordered to do so by the municipality, and would instead enroll them on an individual basis only.
“It’s very simple really,” PTA member Yehuda Lanzkron told The Jerusalem Post on Monday evening. “The [private religious schools] are not practicing equal enrollment, and we won’t start the school year until they do.”
Lanzkron also said that the public schools had absorbed the majority of the Ethiopian pupils and that there was “no more room for them” in the public system.
Nir Orbach, who heads the local PTA, demanded on Monday that the city begin practicing an “equal division of immigrant absorption,” and said that if the private schools did not begin enrolling the pupils, parents would “shut down the school system in the city.”
The municipality last week ordered local private schools to enroll about 70 Ethiopian pupils while another 30 pupils were to be enrolled in the public Orthodox school system – where most Ethiopian pupils study.
While the private schools have maintained a firm resistance to all attempts to enroll the Ethiopian pupils, their institutions are heavily subsidized by both the education ministry and the Petah Tikva municipality.
Last week, the education ministry’s Director-General, Dr. Shimshon Shoshani, said that schools refusing to enroll students in a discriminatory manner would be fined and could have their licenses suspended.
Education minister Gideon Sa’ar also announced last week that schools that continue to uphold discriminatory practices would be punished.
On Monday, his office sent letters to the principals of the private schools with lists of the pupils they are required to enroll. The letters state what Dr. Shoshani said last week, namely, if the schools fail to comply, their licenses would be suspended and budgets cut.
Because of the disagreement between the private schools and the municipality, there are still 100 Ethiopian pupils who do not know which school they will be attending when the school year begins on September first.
All yidden must be treated equally. They should be able to go to frum schools.
Are the ethiopians jewish?
They converted! Its a a Taaneh on us that we can get over something so silly as skin color.it silly and childish. We all know its about pnimiyus.
question—
Israel is not importing Gentiles from Bhutan, Scotland or Armenia in large numbers for conversion to Judaism and Israeli citizenship. What’s the deal with Ethiopians?
They have been threatening to punish these private schools for years for this racist behavior and never taken action. Maybe if they put a few of these heiliege rabbonim into jail for a few months, they will reconsider their behavior which is not only illegal but a chilul hashem.
It is NOT a matter of race – it is a matter of JEWISHNESS. The Ethiopians that came to Israel believe they are Jewish, but since it’s a question they were asked to do a conversion just in case. Some did, but many refused. That’s why the article says the religious schools are going case by case – because they want to make sure each enrollee is, in fact, Jewish.
I was in Israel, I remember the Ethiopian girls we were friends with. Her best friend was “light skinned” Jewish. Both were shocked when I described racism in America. The Ethiopian girl said she never felt anything like that in Israel. Yes, some Ethiopians get angry that they are asked to do a mock conversion – but I know white baalei teshuvah whose Jewishness was proven who were also asked to do a mock conversion. It’s not racism.
“Who said that they are Jewish?”
Harav Ovadia Yosef psak that they are Jewish.
they are yidden. ask R’ Elyashiv.
They also exclude born Jewish sefardim who are very frum It is racism
1) Maybe R. Ovadia should take the Ethiopians into his schools.
2) Same goes for Zionist Chief Rabbis. They are put in place not by any Orthodox community but by pig-eating Knesset members, and are considered Halachic authority only by the Zionist state. So the State should take the Ethiopians in its public schools.
3) Private religious schools want to keep their students away from sex, drugs and AIDS, and these are broadly present in Ethiopian community. I would definitely take my children away from any school admitting every Ethiopian applying. The few exceptions who do go through Giur and behave properly are being admitted to a school appropriate for them.
4) Let them open their own schools, like we Ashkenazi Chareidim did.
why dont they open their own schools it would be better for their own culture they will never integrate look at the jails
This is not a question for Ashkenazic rabbis as the Ethiopians certainly are not Ashkenazic!
It is a bigger problem if they are jewish than if they are not, if they are not they can be megayer, if they are there is a serious chashash mamzeirus, as they were not versed in rabbinic halocho, they only followed the customs they knew, meaning that if they divorced not according to halocho and remarried and had children, the children would me mamzeirim. The gemoro in yevomos quotes many times amoroim that listed communities that had chashash mamzeirus so that people would separate from them.
I agree that anybody with doubts about halachically jewish status should undergo a conversion, and I believe that after so many generations, without paper proof, that maybe they had intermarriage (even though in Africa usually people marry within their tribe, so it would probably unaffect jewishness in this case).
Now, if Chief Rabbinate said they ALL are halachically jewish, who has the right to change this fact ?
If not all are jewish, then they should convert, I don’t know if they should go through the whole process or simply giyur l’chumra would be enough… it all depends on their beliefs, sincerity and religious observance I guess, but i’m not a rabbi.
It’s also well known that a lot of such private schools in Israel act with discrimination towards non ashkenazic Jews, such as Sefaradim, and Falasha.
Racism is everywhere, and a lot within our OWN people, let’s face the fact, we shouldn’t be blind and try to make things change.
your premise is incorrect
there is no sanhedrin today.. we both agree on that.
the common consensus in israel is that the halachic authority in israel originates and eminates through the political process.
that is no different than the chief rabbi of england being endorsed by the crown or the chief rabbi of hungary who was validated with a seat in the austro-hungarian parliament.
the chief rabbis of israel are cerified through the present government of israel and its political infrastructure. (if that bothers you it is similar to the hungarian or british governments as noted above). if you personally dont trust his haschgacha, then dont eat his meat but dont dare publicly say its not kosher.
you can do privately as you please and uphold as many chumras as you care to accept but you can not put these chumaras on other jews even if your particular rabbi ( and i am sure he is great) says otherwise..if we can all choose rabbis whom we like then it is akin to reform judaism where pick and choose is enshrined.
unfortunately being a true jew sometimes means reluctantly accepting koolas where chumras are the easy way out.
until the messiah arrives and we have a sanhedrin, we have to make do with whatever orthodox rabbinic structure exists that the almighty gives us at that particular time. in fact with unity in matters such as these, both you and I can hasten the redemption.