Jewish Talmud school rejects child with "stained genealogy"

[Jamroll]

Haredi school rejects 'Sephardi' child


Talmud Torah school rejects four-year-old due to Sephardi grandfather. Principal says child has ‘stain’ in genealogy

Zvi Alush Published: 09.02.07, 10:09 / Israel Jewish Scene


Anyone who thinks that racist rules are a thing of the past is wrong, according to the mother of a four-and-a-half year old child who was rejected from a Talmud Torah school because of his grandfather’s ethnicity.

“They are alive and kicking in all their ugliness in Ashkenazi haredi educational institutions,” the mother said.

Israel 2007

Melting pot or not / Yuval Kinar

An Ethiopian, Arab, Russian, strictly Orthodox, Ashkenazi and Sephardi go out to find a job, rent an apartment and enroll a child in kindergarten. Discrimination? Racism? Absolutely
Full story

The child was denied admission to a Talmlud Torah school in Beit Shemesh because of what its principal called a “stain” in his genealogy.

“Tell the child’s dear father that although he himself is completely Ashkenazi, his wife’s father is Sephardic, and we therefore cannot accept his son into our institution. We have to maintain a certain standard,” the principal said.

The child’s mother made several attempts to change the principal’s mind, to no avail.

“I begged the principal. I explained that my child is truly Ashkenazi and looks exactly like his father. Our son also speaks Yiddish, but nothing helped,” the mother said. “They explained to a friend of ours that they didn’t want to ruin their Talmud Torah with ‘damaged goods’.”

The Talmud Torah school had previously given the same explanation to several other frustrated parents who petitioned MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) for help.

The Knesset member tried several times to convince the principal to allow the rejected children admission to the school, but the principal insisted there was “no room” in the institution.

“This is a complicated problem. I don’t deal with condemning these things, just like I don’t condemn kibbutzim, which sometimes select who to accept as a member. There are communities that wish to be strict about their religion or social character. It’s not simple,” Porush said.

The school’s principal, who had previously said he only wanted “100% Ashkenazim” at his institution, told Yedioth Ahronoth he had no idea how many, if any, Sephardic children were enrolled in the school.

“There is no clause in our educational institution’s regulations about this. We only make sure that our students are good children from explicitly haredi families. Whether someone is Sephardic or Ashkenazi makes no difference to me,” the principal said.

In a statement, the Education Ministry issued a statement saying, “The ministry takes any attempt to discriminate against students because of their ethnicity or their sex very seriously.”

“The claims will be looked into, and should investigations show that the students were rejected because of their ethnic group, the ministry will take steps to force the institution to accept them.”

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...444634,00.html

[Arabesque]

I just pray that this "rejected" kid doesn't grow up holding a grudge and venting out his frustrations at Palestinians.

They have a history of doing that, no? Slap me with a holocaust in Europe, I'll take it out on the Muslims in the East

[shadha]

Jewish Talmud School? Doesn't surprise me for I personally find the entire Talmud to be one big racist handbook.


shadha-

[Aryan_]

Wow that's harsh. Even the Nazis would consider someone a quarter jewish to be German.

[ChotooMotoo]

What's the difference?

[Revert]

basically sephardis are brown therefore not real jews...thats bull.

[IbnMardhiyah]

How dumb.

The Ashkenazim are only there because of mass conversion so many centuries ago. They don't even date back to the time of Prophet Muhammad, much less Prophet Musa, so that kinda conflicts with their Haredi views.

Racism.

[tinkerbell]

Aryan_ said

Wow that's harsh. Even the Nazis would consider someone a quarter jewish to be German.

no they wouldnt....

[Jamroll]

Revert said

basically sephardis are brown therefore not real jews...thats bull.

IbnMardhiyah said

How dumb.

The Ashkenazim are only there because of mass conversion so many centuries ago. They don't even date back to the time of Prophet Muhammad, much less Prophet Musa, so that kinda conflicts with their Haredi views.

Racism.

Yeah, it's almost ironic that the Sephardis are the "real" Jews, the middle east jews. I think it's probably got something to do with the racist idelogy inherent in Zionism which is the foundation of the modern state of Israel. I think the Sephardi are looked upon as the "Arab" Jews, so they have an inferior status.

[ChotooMotoo]

Jamroll said

Yeah, it's almost ironic that the Sephardis are the "real" Jews, the middle east jews. I think it's probably got something to do with the racist idelogy inherent in Zionism which is the foundation of the modern state of Israel. I think the Sephardi are looked upon as the "Arab" Jews, so they have an inferior status.

Is that why so many Sephardi jews are anti-Israel?

[Jamroll]

ChotooMotoo said

Is that why so many Sephardi jews are anti-Israel?

Hmm I dunno. Could be.

I don't know the politics of Sephardis, but as I understood it, the Sephardi are the ones who have always been kicking it in the Middle East for thousands of years. They're like the descendants of the "tribes of Israel" and apparentely can trace their lineage back to Moses (as) and his people. The Ashkenzai are European, originally a tribe from Central Asia who converted to Judaism and ended up moving to Europe.

[Aryan_]

tinkerbell said

no they wouldnt....

Quarter Jews or half jews that were not practicing were considered "Mischlings" (mixed blood) and were allowed to serve in the Wehrmacht. The idea that all Jews were targeted is a myth...Nuremberg laws were designed mainly against the religious Jewish community.
Amazon.com: Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military: Books: Bryan Mark Rigg

ChotooMotoo said

Is that why so many Sephardi jews are anti-Israel?

In my experience Sephardi jews tend to be the most fervent Zionists. And all the one's I've met have hated Muslims. The Iranian ones were the worst.

[psychoteddybear]

khazaria.org

Although many deny it...there are many people who claim modern day Ashkenazis descend from these people.

That's terrible that they'd deny a child education based on that..if anything Sephardic Jews are more "Jewish" than they are....

Ironically, if anyone even has a grandfather or any type of distant relative in their family who's Jewish...they can use that as an excuse to emigrate to Israel.

But not surprising at all...there's a huge amount of racism in Israel. Especially against Ethiopian Jews, Sephards, etc...

Many of the Ethiopian Jews I went to school with lived in caravan communities...I felt real bad for them...

[Haramoobobi]

that child was me.

[SoSoHalalish]

psychoteddybear said

Islamica Community - Home

Although many deny it...there are many people who claim modern day Ashkenazis descend from these people.

That's terrible that they'd deny a child education based on that..if anything Sephardic Jews are more "Jewish" than they are....

Ironically, if anyone even has a grandfather or any type of distant relative in their family who's Jewish...they can use that as an excuse to emigrate to Israel.

But not surprising at all...there's a huge amount of racism in Israel. Especially against Ethiopian Jews, Sephards, etc...

Many of the Ethiopian Jews I went to school with lived in caravan communities...I felt real bad for them...

Well the Orthodox community in Israel doesn't really agree with the States definition of what constitutes a "Jew". American Jews had to put A LOT of pressure on the Israeli Government to get the current definition of a jew, which is especially lax compared to the standards of Orthodox Judaism- its been a big, ugly debate in the Jewish community for years.

But I really don't see how the orthodoxy can be divided over how being Ashkenazi or being Sephardic can determine the legitimacy of your jewishness. Maybe this article is misleading, or maybe the people at this school are just wrong. I'm not saying that this racism doesn't exist- but I've never heard of it being justified in religious terms over this division, u know?