Balak 5769 Another fine mess you've got us into Rabbi Aaron Goldstein 4 July 2009

V’khol banayich limuday Adonai, v’rav shalom banayich – All your children shall be taught to know God, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isa 54:13)

Do not read banayich – your children – rather, bonayich – your builders. (bBer 64a)

This week has seen court rulings on two cases that show how important education of our children is held, not just in the Jewish Community but also by conscientious parents seeking the best education possible for their children throughout the country.

The first is a case that failed but that highlighted loopholes in the system which could be exploited by overly conscientious parents. Harrow Council became the first to prosecute a mother for lying on an admissions form to get her son into a good school, under the Fraud Act 2006 but has now withdrawn its action. Of this case, Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: "It's really important that parents who are playing properly by the rules are not disadvantaged by some parents who break the rules or provide false information. That's not fair and we should be tough."

As the Governor for Clore Shalom School with responsibility for Admissions, I am only too aware of the hurt and pain that is felt by parents who are unable to place their child in a school of their choosing.

I am also aware of the incredible work that has been done over the years to develop our education system into one that enables all children to develop as fairly as possible. Naturally, there are exceptional cases of bad practice. No system is ever fair for everyone and the teaching standards are not always as we would wish them to be. But I do believe that the work of local authorities, teachers, parents and pupils to raise standards across the board is working and that the trend is towards an ever-improving education system. We all have a role in being bonayich, the builders of a sound education system for our children. Subverting it, no matter how painful, does not ultimately do best for our banayich, our children, for it sets them an example by our practice, that it is okay to subvert the Law of the Land.

The second case which was won, has ignited a fuse in the heart of the Jewish Community. It highlights an education system that is failing. The case of child ‘M’ who was refused entry to the Jewish Free School, a Faith school operating, and this is a most important point, within the State School system, has been successfully prosecuted. The boy has a Jewish father. His mother converted to the Jewish faith before he was born, but the conversion was not recognised because it was conducted in a Progressive not an Orthodox synagogue. Whilst the state-funded Jews' Free School, is heavily over-subscribed, it gives preference to applicants whose "Jewish status" is confirmed by the United Synagogue. Therefore, it has pupils from a wide range of religious and cultural backgrounds including from atheist, Catholic or Muslim families - but whose mothers are, in its terms, Jewish.

The three judges - Lords Justice Sedley and Rimer, and Lady Justice Smith - said it was clear that Jews constituted a racial group defined principally by ethnic origin and additionally by conversion.
To discriminate against a person on the ground that they were or were not Jewish was therefore to discriminate on racial grounds."The motive for the discrimination, whether benign or malign, theological or supremacist, makes it no less and no more unlawful." They said: "The refusal of JFS to admit M was accordingly, in our judgment, less favourable treatment of him on racial grounds."This does not mean ... that no Jewish faith school can ever give preference to Jewish children. It means that, as one would expect, eligibility must depend on faith, however defined, and not on ethnicity."

I will leave the issues for other sermons, of whether Judaism is bnest defined by the terms religion and faith or ethnicity or race; or the undoubted difficulties that, if upheld, this ruling will have for all Jewish State Schools, including Clore Shalom and the other Progressive or Pluralist schools,. another sermon; but for today, let us focus on whether this ruling will help our banayich, our children, to become bonayich, builders.

It is rare to find myself agreeing with Geoffrey Alderman but in this week’s Jewish Chronicle, he succinctly outlines the fine mess that the United Synagogue and its Chief Rabbi has got itself into. It should have heeded the outcries to the steady flow of cases in which the desire to create exclusive rights over Anglo Jewry outweighed the desire to provide a free and quality education to enable our banayich to become bonayich. The United Synagogue and its Chief Rabbi and the establishment of the Board of Deputies, has to accept that although they still represent the majority of Anglo Jews in a head count, there is no longer one Anglo Jewish Community and even those counted in a head count, do not agree with much of what their Chiefs now say on their behalf.

The United Synagogue and its Chief Rabbi’s intransigence has been ruled against as much as the admissions criteria of the JFS. They alone are using the term ‘racist’ to whip up fervour from the conservative, defensive, old school establishments of Anglo-Jewry. Now is the time for the Board of Deputies to stand up as the true representative of the variety of Jewish Communities that make up Anglo-Jewry and step aside from the shoulder of the United Synagogue.

As a Governor of a Jewish School with responsibility for admissions, I hope that there is a successful appeal against this ruling. I do not believe that we are ready for the Jewish pluralism that this might force, or the possible discrimination that might be even worse than we have now. However, I would be happy to accept it, if there was no sense of remorse or progression on this issue from the old school establishments of Anglo-Jewry.

But what of our young people and the education in our Cheder. At NPLS, we are in an interesting situation that is bucking the Jewish trend in a number of ways.

Firstly, the majority of our members are either not supportive of a Faith School education for their children, or do not live near enough to Pinner, Finchley or Shenley to access a Jewish Day School. Rather, those who have chosen to live in this area for education reasons, have done so because of the excellent schools, both State and Independent, that this area offers.

Secondly, our Cheder and being and active participant in our Community, provides and excellent foundation for living a Jewish life. This foundation was laid over the years by our Emeritus Rabbi and Suzanne Haffner and has been developed upon by the Rabbi to the Cheder, Rabbi Hillel, the exemplary leadership of our Head Teacher, Judy Fox, and the vital support of Deborah Boffey, and the superb teaching staff that is largely homegrown. We have had a 25% growth in our banayich attending Cheder this year; the only turnover in our teaching staff has been from those leaving to go to University, and the quality of education has been evidenced by the whole Community during the Mitzvah Day, our Chanukah and Purim celebrations, in the Pesach stained glass haggadah project and the establishment of our Junior Choir, and in the establishment of a strong connection to our national youth movement, LJY-NETZER.

Zoe, Lara, Harly-Joe, Jordan, Alon, Chloe: You have been our banayich, our children.  At this moment as you become Kabbalat Torah, those who embrace the Torah and its principles as we understand it as Liberal Jews, you are at a pivotal point in your Jewish Education. You have been given a fantastic foundation. Now you become our bonayich, our builders. We are always banayich, children, in the sense that we can always learn and improve. Your teachers are still improving and it is that quest which makes us bonayich.

You have been given a gift by your parents, who have supported your development as good Jews and good human beings. They have built for you a Community that is vibrant and exciting, supporting and caring. Now, I hope and pray, that you will be its future bonayich.

May the dreams of the generations, the great-grandparents, grandparents and parents, have been recognised in this service today. Now, may your dreams begin to take root, may you ever seek to develop, improve and grow, so that in turn, you, our bonayich make turn your dreams into realities to create the foundation for your children, your banayich to flourish.

Keyn y’hi ‘lratzon