Goteborg, Sweden – Religious Freedom In Sweden Under Threat

Goteborg, Sweden – Rabbi Alexander and Leah Namdar, Chabad representatives to Sweden, were served at their home with a notice by Gothenburg’s school authorities: Four of their children presently studying at an international online school must be delivered to a Swedish school by February 1. Failure to do so may result in a fine of 16000 crown—the equivalent of $2400 per week.

The notice came following a change in Sweden’s law January 1st that tightened restrictions on homeschooling, permitting it only in “extraordinary” circumstances. Religious reasons were explicitly excluded as a valid reason.

According to Richard Backenroth, the attorney representing the Namdars in their court battle against Gothenburg’s school authorities, the case will be a critical test of Sweden’s record on religious freedom. European law protects the religious freedom of its citizens, but with this action, Sweden is effectively denying the Namdars this right.

“This is a stain on the reputation of a country that takes pride in equality as a fundamental value,” says Rabbi Namdar who, like his wife, regards education as their “highest priority.”

Backenroth, who is appealing the notice and its “exorbitant fine” which came while the Namdars’ case is still pending, told lubavitch.com that “Sweden’s schools cannot possibly accommodate the needs of the Namdar children with respect to their religious requirements.”

Moreover, the law, which challenges the right of parents to home school their children, should not be applied to the Namdar children, he insists, because they are in fact, being educated “in a normal online school along with 500 international students,” as well as through private tutoring, yet Gothenburg school authorities are choosing to ignore this

Guy Linderman, a Jewish citizen of Sweden who was active in politics while living in Sala, supported the law when it was drafted years ago, but objects to its enforcement in the case of the Namdars. The law was originally motivated by concern for Sweden’s immigrant children, he explains, “many of who were denied an education, and had grown up illiterate, incapable of signing their names.”

Moreover, the law, which challenges the right of parents to home school their children, should not be applied to the Namdar children, he insists, because they are in fact, being educated “in a normal online school along with 500 international students,” as well as through private tutoring, yet Gothenburg school authorities are choosing to ignore this.

Guy Linderman, a Jewish citizen of Sweden who was active in politics while living in Sala, supported the law when it was drafted years ago, but objects to its enforcement in the case of the Namdars. The law was originally motivated by concern for Sweden’s immigrant children, he explains, “many of who were denied an education, and had grown up illiterate, incapable of signing their names.”

But the Namdar children, said Guy, who has come to know them since he moved to Gothenburg several years ago, have benefited from high educational standards. “They are more educated than their Swedish peers,” he said, pointing out that all of them pursue careers in education.

Furthermore, as the only Orthodox Jews in the city, forcing them to go to a Swedish school where they would stand out, expose them to real danger. Swedish schools are notorious for their bullying problems, and the children would become a certain target for anti-Semitic harassment.

Leah Namdar sees this as one more in a pattern of challenges that she and her husband have been faced with in the course of the last 21 years since they have made their home in Sweden. Six of their 11 children now live and study abroad at Jewish high schools, teaching seminaries and rabbinical schools, all of them pursuing careers in education.

“We gave them an education that allowed them to integrate into the schools they have gone on to study at,” Leah said. That is the same educational route the rest of her children are expected to pursue.

“They need this education through the international online school in order to continue their studies abroad,” she said.

At their individual computers from 8:00 each morning to 1:15, five days a week, the children must master a full schedule of Judaic studies including proficiency in Hebrew. The afternoon is dedicated to English, Swedish, mathematics, geography, science, music, art, and gymnastics. All the children speak English, Swedish, and Yiddish fluently. They can read Hebrew by age 4 or 5, like other Orthodox Jewish children.

Their extra-curricular activities include community work, where they regularly visit the elderly, and help out with the Sunday Hebrew school classes for other Jewish children taught by their parents, among other educational activities. The online school also ensures the children benefit from a healthy social experience.

Thirteen year-old Chanchi Namdar, an 8th grader, plays guitar and piano, and is planning her graduation trip abroad with the rest of her international classmates. 10 year-old Rochel who is on the editorial board of the online school newspaper, loves writing and drama, and runs the talent contests for her schoolmates. She will be spending her winter break at a class get-together and midwinter camp with her sisters and other children who are similarly schooled, in New York later this month.

“They have a far more diverse and intense educational program than children in Swedish schools,” says Rabbi Namdar. He also points out that while education is free in Sweden for all children, even those going to private schools, he and his wife carry the burden of paying tuition for the online school and private tutoring, which adds up to a hefty figure when you have four children enrolled at once. That they should be fined for doing this only adds insult to injury.

Although Backenroth is careful not to attribute this action by the city against the Namdars to anti-Semitism, the Swedish government has recently been singled out by Dr. Moshe Kantor of the European Jewish Congress, as “the only government in the European Union refusing to talk about anti- Semitism in its borders with the European Jewish Congress.” It has done nothing to stem the attacks against Malmo’s Jews, many who fled the city as a result.

But Backenroth prefers to chalk it up to “a complete lack of understanding of Orthodox Jewish life,” he says. “They have no idea about Orthodox Jewish life, and would not know the difference between the life of an observant Jew and that of someone coming from a tribe in the Amazon.”

No one better than the Namdars have tried to address this unfortunate ignorance among Swedes. The couple has dedicated the last 21 years of their lives to raising Jewish awareness in Gothenburg through a variety of educational programs for adults and children that empower people with knowledge of Judaism and Jewish life.

So they question the city’s determination to enforce, or misapply the law in their case, where there is no cause for concern that the children’s education will be compromised. It has more to do, argues Leah, with Sweden’s attitude towards religion in general.

“While Sweden likes to portray itself as a society that cherishes multi-culturalism, it rather prefers to see everyone blend in, and does not tolerate difference very well,” says the Chabad mother who has nevertheless raised her children to wear their yarmulkes with pride.

For this family of 13, Sweden’s ban on shechita, the ritual practice of preparing kosher meat for consumption, in effect since 1938, and its more recent laws making Jewish ritual circumcision very difficult for Jewish families in Sweden, have not gone unnoticed.

The Namdars are bracing for the fight that may prove to be “the last battle against Communism.”

“We’re two parents fighting city hall for the right to give our children a Jewish education,” said Leah, unwavering. But no matter the outcome, the Namdars say, the will not compromise on their children’s Jewish education.

Hanging in the balance then, really, is nothing less than the religious freedom of Sweden’s citizens.