Rabbis of the Hasidic Jewish sect Belz in part of north London have instructed women that they must not drive as this breaches the “the traditional rules of modesty in our camp”. A letter sent to the community warns that children driven to school by their mothers will be turned away.
The letter, which was signed by Belz educational leaders and endorsed by rabbis, also said women could be banned from their schools if their mothers drove them from August onwards.
It cited increasing numbers of “mothers of pupils who have started to drive” which it said had led to “great resentment among parents of pupils of our institutions”.
Stamford Hill's residents are predominately Hasidic Jewish and only New York is believed to have a larger community of Hasidic Jews outside of Israel.
Many of London's Jewish community are descendants of those fleeing progroms and state repression from the 19th century onwards. Arriving poor, they followed other groups of refugees in establishing communities around the docks in East London. Like the Hugenots (French Protestants) they followed, many prospered and moved to more pleasant parts of London, especially to the north west in areas like Golders Green and Stamford Hill. The trend continues with many less religious Jews moving further to the outer suburbs and Essex, to the east of London. For the more observant, the area of NW London provided a place where the community could cohere. Several
eruvs have been set up to enable more activities, like pushing wheelchairs, to occur outside the home on the Sabbath. A number of Jewish schools, both private and part publicly funded serve the community.
Stamford Hill is, well, hilly. It is built on part of the escarpment of the Thames' river valley and as such is quite steep. For mothers with large families, the use of a car eases the burden of taking children to school, especially if the children's ages mean they go to several different schools or nurseries (kindergarten) or to separate boys' and girls' schools. The rabbis' order has therefore proved controversial:
Dina Brawer, UK Ambassador of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, said that “the instinct behind such a draconian ban is one of power and control, of men over women. In this sense it is no different from the driving ban on women in Saudi Arabia. That it masquerades as a halachic imperative is shameful and disturbing.”
While many Chasidic women do not drive, this is thought to be the first formal declaration against the practice in the UK.
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One local woman said that the policy “disables women. The more kids they have, the more they need to drive.” But she believed that some women would take no notice of the policy. “They say one thing, they do another,” she said.
A bit more background from the London
Evening Standard:
The Belz, who originated in Ukraine in the early 18th century, are one of the most prominent Hasidic sects and re-established their headquarters in Israel after the war. When its leader’s grandson celebrated his wedding in Israel two years ago, some 25,000 guests attended.
It is not the first time the Jewish community in Stamford Hill has caused controversy. In September last year posters put up by a Jewish group for a religious parade warning women to only walk on one side of the road were removed by Hackney council after they were deemed “unacceptable"
Ironically, one of the schools run by the sect had a glowing report from their official
Ofsted (government agency) inspection report last year:
The government inspectors noted that, at Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass, “the pace is good and lessons are presented in a way which encourages pupils to reflect and analyze. This is exemplified within a Year 11 Gemara lesson when pupils were gripped by the thrust and parry of analytical discourse and debate, and in a Year 6 science lesson where pupils carried out a scientific investigation into how liquids with different densities have different properties and uses.”
Inspectors investigating the Chassidic yeshiva concluded that British values were “continuously being reinforced within Kodesh [religious] and Chol [secular] lessons, and pupils are very involved in charity work.”
While a number of other fervently Orthodox schools in England have received critical reports from Ofsted, this latest inspection demonstrates clearly that it is possible to maintain a strictly Orthodox environment while simultaneously meeting state requirements.
The
current Government guidance on "promoting British values" in schools was issued last November, after the above inspection, and the guidance was strengthened after a scandal involving alleged attempts to "Islamify" schools in Birmingham. (Extended quote allowed by the UK Government license)
Until now schools have been required to ‘respect’ these values, but as a result of changes brought in earlier in the year all schools must now have a clear strategy for embedding these values and show how their work with pupils has been effective in doing so. In a letter to the Education Select Committee in March, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools Lord Nash explained the changes were designed to “tighten up the standards on pupil welfare to improve safeguarding, and the standards on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils to strengthen the barriers to extremism”.
Ofsted and the independent inspectorates now take the work of schools in this area into account during inspections.
Publishing the guidance today, Lord Nash said:
A key part of our plan for education is to ensure children become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and tolerance, regardless of background.
We want every school to promote the basic British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.
This ensures young people understand the importance of respect and leave school fully prepared for life in modern Britain.
This aspect of their work has apparently proved challenging for the Inspectors in several areas where there are schools serving a monocultural community. Ofsted's schools director Sean Harford addressed a meeting of headteachers
in March:
In particular, Mr Harford mentioned inspectors who had gone into schools serving predominantly Muslim communities in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets, Jewish schools in Hackney, and Christian schools in the North East.
It was tough to say "uncomfortable things about how these institutions were failing to prepare their pupils for life in modern Britain", he said.
"Schools, particularly those in mono-cultural areas, are on the frontline of ensuring that our society doesn't become fragmented and divided.
The Israel-based leader of the sect, Yissachar Dov Rokeach, caused another upset
last year when he reminded his women followers that they must shave their heads in accordance with its religious requirements, that any food prepared by a woman without a shaved head is not kosher and that they must not wear noisy shoes. If these requirements are taught in the sect's schools, it will be interesting to see how the Ofsted Inspectors reconcile this with preparing the students "for life in modern Britain".
