Comments on: Never With a Muslim School, Though

By: john ryan

john ryan — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:59:38 +0000

Muslims are about 4% of the population of the UK Why do you call this “over run”?

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:40:00 +0000

Its because nobody likes, respects or cares about the zionist. The Jews should all just go hang themselves

By: batyah

batyah — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:49:27 +0000

Ruth, I just read your post all the way through. Thank you for illuminating the details of this situation. So the mother already had an Orthodox conversion — in Israel!!! SHE IS A JEW AND HER CHILD IS A JEW!

Debbie, didn’t you know this when you wrote this post?

Go, British Government. I don’t sympathize anymore. The Beit Din of Britain as well as anyone who chooses to follow their decisions deserve what they get. You can’t bring trouble on yourself and then whine about it.

By: batyah

batyah — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:42:48 +0000

Spaceship22, I agree with you — we don’t want to risk creating deep wounds in this child that could come back on the Jewish people later in some form. Haven’t the sages speculated that if Hagar had been treated more kindly, perhaps Ishmael wouldn’t have become an enemy of the Hebrews? Or that if Leah had not been witheld from Esav, he might not have become bitter with his descendents becoming enemies of ours as well?

I think that the school could have handled this issue PRIVATELY and WITH COMPASSION but it sounds like they didn’t. I doubt seriously if the parents of this boy went to all this legal trouble just to be a thorn in someone’s side. I’m sure they are really hurting over this rejection. I’d also like to know if the mother attempted an Orthodox conversion with the British Beit Din. I’m dying to know . . . I’m going to put my money on “yes, she did.”

By: Monique Lester

Monique Lester — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:26:25 +0000

I write as a mother of a child still at this school and a child who left last year. Ruth I’ve read your comments but the bottom line here is this. Whatever the ruling of the Bet Din regarding this particular child (and it takes a long time to convert because Judaism is not a religion encouraginmg conversion of others), the state is now imposing a decision which will mean the school losing its identity over the coming generations and will set a precedent for future generations of Jewish students. I chose this school because of its excellent education and because it was a Jewish environment I ws happy for my kids to be in. Yes of clourse there are many other factors which affect assimilation, but this was not going to be one of them for me. There other schools where education is provided for kids whose parents are Jewish, but Reform or Conservative. JFS school is an OFSTED winner, and achieved the best A level results of any comprehensive school in the UK and my kids went to school with other Jews.I am halachically Jewish and definitely affiliated however I am probably what you would call nominally Jewish.

I was at the school two nights ago for my son’s graduation and the non Jewish MP who stood and spoke was also appalled at the court’s decision.

Ruth you raise a lot of points, some I agree with and some I definitely do not, but in the end it boils down to the fact that we in the UK can no longer have purely Jewish education.
Israeli politicians are wanted as war criminals, supermarkets are being told to boycott Israeli goods, so called do good Baptist Christians held a carol service to raise money for the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign; please! Don’t pretend to be ignorant of the real undercurrent of what is happening here. As Jews we can’t afford to be.

This is also not the US Ruth but the UK and I don’t care who the people in the gowns are. This school was a school for halachically Jewish kids. The courts just ruled no more.

I am not getting into the conversion issue because I am not at liberty to do so, but instead of this becoming a matter regarding whether that particular child can have access to the school, it has become another way for the UK courts to rule in favour of watering down Jewish education. No buts, that is what it is.

And also, there is hardly a plethora of Jewish schools to choose from and now there will be less.

We do not hide form the rest of the world like Muslim schools, we DO teach the national curriculum and we expect our kids to be part of society.

It’s time the UK recognised us Jews as such and started doing more about terrorism and infiltration of our society by extremeists. Now that really is worth thinking about!

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:08:48 +0000

Iftikhar

Perhaps you live in an area where children are generally given racist upbringings from the earliest age, but I assure you there would be very little tolerance for it in my locality, just as much as we don’t tend to go for sweeping generalisations as you did in your reply.

I agree that there is a need for state-funded Muslim schools, but along with state funding comes an obligation for certain state control with regards to the curriculum. Generally, this has not been met with approval or agreement by Muslim leaders and residents. My own daughters attended (the younger one is still there) a Church of England school and there is a fair level of Muslim attendance there with a very high degree of integration.

Oh, and I’m a trilingual Brit.

By: mk750

mk750 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:24:42 +0000

Your two statements are contradictory. Jews who receive Baptism, even infant baptism, to return to Judaism must undergo a conversion process. What may be true in the spiritual realm is not accepted by halachic authorities here on Earth.

By: mk750

mk750 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:22:18 +0000

Why was my reply here removed? Afraid of the truth, Debbie? If it’s been moved and I missed it, my apologies.

By: mk750

mk750 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:19:45 +0000

Unless she converted prior to their birth, then they would not be considered Jewish under halacha and would have to convert to Judaism themselves to be considered Jewish.

By: Iftikhar

Iftikhar — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:30:51 +0000

British children are being born with the virus of racism. All of them show racism even at nursery level. Muslim children are victim of racism in every walk of life. They are unable to develop self-confidence and self-esteem.. They need state funded Muslim schools right from nursery level. Since they are bilingual, they need bilingual Muslim teachrs as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place foir a non-Muslim child and a teacher in a Muslim school.

There are hundreds of state and church schools, where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools.

Bilingual Muslim children need to learn and be well versed in standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. At the same time, they need to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.

A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit