A major dispute over school admissions has erupted in London’s Chareidi community, with leading rabbonim ordering all of the city’s schools to remain closed until placements are secured for every girl who has not yet been accepted into a school.
The unusual psak, issued Monday, 11 Elul 5786, by the Bais Din Tzedek of the Hisachdus Kehillos Hachareidim, was signed by Rav Chaim Menachem Galitzky, Rav Yosef Yehuda Padwa and Rav Yoel Stein, among London’s prominent rabbonim.
The psak states unequivocally: “Since not all the girls in the city have yet been placed in the schools, we hereby announce that, having no alternative, all the seminaries must remain closed until the matter is resolved and everyone is accepted.”
The directive is intended to place collective pressure on the city’s schools, preventing the new school year from beginning normally while some girls remain without an educational institution.
The latest decision comes amid a broader battle over admissions to Chareidi educational institutions in northwest London.
Approximately three weeks ago, some 50 rabbonim from the community reportedly instructed six yeshivos ketanos not to open for the new school year until arrangements were made for more than 20 bochurim who, at the time, remained without placements. The rabbonim made clear that the institutions shared a collective responsibility to ensure that every bochur had an appropriate place to learn.
That directive concerning the boys led to an extraordinary development at one institution. The leadership of Bais Hamedrash Elyon in Hendon — owner Akiva Adler, chairman of the board of trustees Yoel Jacobs, and board member Betzalel Landau — announced that they were resigning and transferring responsibility for running the institution to the rabbanus.
Explaining their decision, they wrote: “To our great regret, we have reached a situation in which we are no longer capable of carrying the heavy burden that has been placed upon us.”
The effort to guarantee a place for every child has now expanded to the girls’ seminaries as well.
Under the new psak, the rule is sweeping: Until every girl in London who requires a school placement has been accommodated, all of the seminaries are to keep their doors closed.
The directive places significant pressure on the schools and communal leadership to resolve the outstanding admissions cases before the schools are permitted to begin the new school year.
{Matzav.com}
