YNET reports:
Last Friday, parents from both ultra-Orthodox Beit Yaakov schools in the central city of Elad caused the termination of first grade classes in light of the court order to allow the admission of a Sephardic girl.
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court demanded that the Beit Yaakov school in the Emanuel Local Council change its code of conduct and erase any apparent discriminatory signs.
Due to the ongoing coverage of this phenomenon, Ynet spoke to MK Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism), who comes from the world of education and who served as the deputy education minister.
Ravitz told Ynet that “the ethnic discrimination stems first and foremost from the desire to maintain the school’s educational atmosphere, which Sephardic parents are also interested in maintaining.
‘Haredi schools are educational institutions’
Ravitz explained that “the secular public does not understand that in the haredi public, school is not just a place in which you study and one plus one equals two. The haredi school is what everyone thought should exist. It is an educational institution.”
Moreover, the MK said, “We educate on internal and external values and there are differences amongst the different ethnic groups.
“Even amongst the Ashkenazis, there is a great distinction between the ethnicities. A person who enters a Hasidic school will not see an inkling of a child from an alternative Hasidic group. Because then, what songs will be sung? Which leaders will they follow? The master of Gur or the master of Vizhnitz?”
He opposed the over-simplification, saying, “There is definitely a difference between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. It is really simple to come and say you need to accept everyone, but that’s not the way it is.”
In actuality, “since there is a very large population of boys and girls from Sephardic homes who within a short period of time became interested in studying with Ashkenazim, there are schools that were swarmed with Sephardic students during admissions period.
“Thus, absurdly, the Sephardic students did not want to attend those schools anymore because the majority turned Sephardic within a short period of time.”
‘They think Ashkenazi education is better'
Supporting the proactive approach Ravitz said, “If we don’t ignore the problem but rather assess it in a real manner and not in the way that bleeding hearts present it, it is likely that people who are actually like me, who have been interested in mixing Ashkenazim and Sephardim to begin with, will be compelled to understand that we must maintain a certain balance in order to keep those institutions attractive next year as well.”[...]
Last Friday, parents from both ultra-Orthodox Beit Yaakov schools in the central city of Elad caused the termination of first grade classes in light of the court order to allow the admission of a Sephardic girl.
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court demanded that the Beit Yaakov school in the Emanuel Local Council change its code of conduct and erase any apparent discriminatory signs.
Due to the ongoing coverage of this phenomenon, Ynet spoke to MK Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism), who comes from the world of education and who served as the deputy education minister.
Ravitz told Ynet that “the ethnic discrimination stems first and foremost from the desire to maintain the school’s educational atmosphere, which Sephardic parents are also interested in maintaining.
‘Haredi schools are educational institutions’
Ravitz explained that “the secular public does not understand that in the haredi public, school is not just a place in which you study and one plus one equals two. The haredi school is what everyone thought should exist. It is an educational institution.”
Moreover, the MK said, “We educate on internal and external values and there are differences amongst the different ethnic groups.
“Even amongst the Ashkenazis, there is a great distinction between the ethnicities. A person who enters a Hasidic school will not see an inkling of a child from an alternative Hasidic group. Because then, what songs will be sung? Which leaders will they follow? The master of Gur or the master of Vizhnitz?”
He opposed the over-simplification, saying, “There is definitely a difference between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. It is really simple to come and say you need to accept everyone, but that’s not the way it is.”
In actuality, “since there is a very large population of boys and girls from Sephardic homes who within a short period of time became interested in studying with Ashkenazim, there are schools that were swarmed with Sephardic students during admissions period.
“Thus, absurdly, the Sephardic students did not want to attend those schools anymore because the majority turned Sephardic within a short period of time.”
‘They think Ashkenazi education is better'
Supporting the proactive approach Ravitz said, “If we don’t ignore the problem but rather assess it in a real manner and not in the way that bleeding hearts present it, it is likely that people who are actually like me, who have been interested in mixing Ashkenazim and Sephardim to begin with, will be compelled to understand that we must maintain a certain balance in order to keep those institutions attractive next year as well.”[...]
I am Moroccan.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was entering High School, I won a scholarship to a prestigious Ashkenazic High School. My mother encouraged me to go with the hope that I would marry a yeshivish guy and have "an easier life".
To make a long story short, the other girls tortured me and so did the teachers. Most of the parents would not let their daughters socialize with me. The teachers responded to my questions by becoming annoyed and often told me that I was not smart enough for the school.
My biggest problem was my hair and my skin because kinky hair is not "aidel". My teachers flat out told me to have it chemically relaxed. One of the teachers even sent home a note to my mother to soak my cuticles in lemon juice because they look "dirty" (no, sorry, the dark color doesn't wash or bleach off).
I would not recommend that Sephardic parents send their children to an Ashkenazic school. I have seen too many really nice, smart, religious girls torture themselves with skin bleaching, hair straightening and the "Dod Tom" attitude that results.
Better that Sephardic children should learn about OUR glorious heritage and the great Rabbis from which WE descend.
Jersey Girl said...
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem was my hair and my skin because kinky hair is not "aidel". My teachers flat out told me to have it chemically relaxed. One of the teachers even sent home a note to my mother to soak my cuticles in lemon juice because they look "dirty" (no, sorry, the dark color doesn't wash or bleach off).
Wow.
The human capacity for stupidity never ceases to amaze me.
Wow.
I can't get over it.
Wow.
("Dod Tom" - funny!)
Amazing. And I though aidelkeit was about middos. Silly me.
ReplyDeleteBtw, what about all the Ashkenazi women with naturally kinky hair (you know who you are)? Now I know why they all get shaitels that are STRAIGHT as a razor once they get married.