Israel Orders State Schools to Permit Students to Lay Tefillin During Breaks

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel’s Education Ministry has issued nationwide guidelines requiring all state schools to allow students who wish to lay tefillin during the school day, establishing a uniform policy after years of differing practices among individual schools.

The directive, published Monday in a new director-general’s circular, requires school principals to adopt formal policies allowing the Jewish prayer ritual on campus. Schools must designate an appropriate location and schedule for students to lay tefillin, while ensuring the practice takes place only during breaks and does not interrupt classroom instruction.

Until now, decisions on the issue had largely been left to individual principals, resulting in inconsistent policies and occasional disputes between school administrators, students and parents.

Under the new guidelines, students will be responsible for bringing their own tefillin and ensuring the practice does not cause them to miss classes or arrive late. The ministry also encouraged school administrators to discuss the policy in advance with teachers, parents and student representatives to help ensure its smooth implementation.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch said the directive is intended to provide clarity and consistency across the country’s state school system.

He said the absence of a uniform policy had created unnecessary uncertainty for schools and families and that the new guidelines ensure students who wish to pray and lay tefillin can do so in an orderly and respectful manner.

The move formalizes a nationwide standard on an issue that has periodically sparked debate in Israeli schools over the balance between religious expression and school administration.