A British community under threat from the State – Part 2
by Karen Harradine, TCW:
In yesterday’s Part 1 of this series Karen Harradine explained why she has come to write about Britain’s ultra Orthodox Haredi community which she believes is facing an existential crisis and threat so serious and urgent it cannot be overstated.
Rabbi Asher Gratt: ‘We live for our children. Our whole life is dedicated for our children.’
THERE are an estimated 271,000 Jews living in Britain. Around 80,000 belong to the Haredi community, a group of ultra Orthodox Jews living in areas such as Stamford Hill in north-east London. Many are descended from Holocaust survivors who arrived in Britain impoverished and ailing after most of their families were slaughtered by the Nazis. Undeterred, the Haredi built up thriving communities, establishing hundreds of their own businesses, synagogues, schools and charities, and even their own ambulance service.
Easily recognised by their distinctive dress style, the Haredi are not a uniform religious bloc but diverse in their beliefs and levels of observance. What unites them all is their devotion to God, and their commitment to their family and community. A core obligation of their faith is to give their children a Torah education, a traditional form of learning unbroken for 3,000 years. More than 60 per cent of Jewish children, including those in the Haredi community, attend strictly Orthodox schools. Now the existence of the schools is threatened by a proposed ‘missing children’ register and the re-categorisation of independent schools to exclude many faith schools that the government has outlined in a temporarily stalled new Schools Bill.
The Torah refers to the Five Books of Moses, and is used to describe all forms of Jewish learning including the Talmud, a compilation of rabbinic commentaries, religious laws and observances centred on the Torah. Haredi children study this in independent schools called yeshivas, the cornerstone of religious Jewish education. To understand the Talmud they must be versed in Aramaic, Hebrew and Yiddish.
The Haredi educate their children in private schools and at home. Religious and secular education are kept separate. According to their family customs, some Haredi children receive education in independent religious schools, later progressing to yeshivas. Others send their boys, aged 13 – 16, to yeshivas during the day. They are then are home-schooled in a variety of subjects designed to equip them with practical skills. There are around 1,500 boys in Stamford Hill yeshivas.
Schools generally devote mornings to Talmud studies and afternoons to mainstream lessons including English and maths. Boys and girls are educated separately. Orthodox Judaism has clearly defined roles for men and women, and Haredi schools reflect this. Girls are taught a more secular curriculum, often performing better in their GCSEs than the boys.
Haredi schools and yeshivas are independently funded, and receive no government finance other than for security systems necessary to protect diaspora Jews from anti-Semitic attacks.
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