Q&A: Rejecting Children from Educational Institutions Because of Their Parents
Rejecting Children from Educational Institutions Because of Their Parents
Question
I don’t know whether the uproar in the Torah world within the very modern Haredi sub-sector has reached you, but the Beit Yaakov school in Petah Tikva decided not to accept (or to expel those who were already accepted) daughters of a Haredi “Instagram influencer.”
Last night she was interviewed as part of a report on Channel 13 (can be seen here
https://actualic.co.il/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%92%D7%A8%D7%9D-%D7%94%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%95/)
Of course, the sector’s WhatsApp groups and websites quickly filled up with debates for and against, with arguments that were more or less relevant (she isn’t Haredi at all, what are the children guilty of, etc.)
I’d be glad to know the Rabbi’s view regarding screening children in general from entering educational institutions that their parents want them to attend, and also—even if we assume that is acceptable—whether it is legitimate to screen for reasons that are obvious to everyone but that there is really no way to write into some formal policy
Answer
I didn’t read about it, so I’ll answer on the level of principle. A private school can set for itself substantive standards according to which it educates. A student whose parents do not meet those standards may certainly be refused admission because of the harm to the other students. Just as a religious school is not supposed to accept a secular student—that is, a student whose parents are secular—so too a Haredi school may decline to accept someone whose parents are not Haredi. If the Haredi community defines Instagram as beyond the pale, then that is its right.
Of course, such a decision should be under some kind of oversight. First, by a committee that accompanies the school, and above that, judicial review.
Discussion on Answer
It’s not quite as simple as you present it. Sometimes the parents want this education, even if they themselves do not always behave accordingly. Especially if their deviation seems minor to them (and not to the institution). And sometimes the child wants it and is suitable, even if his parents are not.
Anyone who wants a different kind of education from what that institution provides is welcome either to go to an institution that gives the education he wants, or to establish a competing institution of that kind.
It’s hard to send a child to a certain kind of education when you believe in a different kind of education. And if you believe in what that educational institution believes and obey its rules, then where’s the problem?