Chapter VII
All of the Shivtei Yisrael
Discrimination in admission to institutions is both an issue of bein adam l'chaveiro and bein adam l'Makom, and every student will be considered on their merits, regardless of origin, status, or connections.
Educational experience has shown that one of the greatest causes of children leaving the educational system is the feeling of rejection or being treated as less than. This issue is one deeply embedded in the current system through discriminatory screening and admission practices. It causes severe harm to children and families throughout the Charedi community - Sephardim and Ashkenazim, families of people who have become religious later in life, Torah-study families, and working families.
Discrimination in the admission of boys and girls at every stage of education, including kindergartens, chedarim, girls’ schools, junior and senior yeshivos, and seminaries, crosses the line of both bein adam l'chaveiro and bein adam l'makom. It has no place within our community and represents a direct spiritual and educational danger to the future of our children.
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv A"H, stated: “A principal who does not accept Sephardim is a thief. An institution that takes money from the state but does not accept Sephardic girls is a thief.”
Hatzibur HaCharedi believes that every boy or girl applying to an institution must be considered objectively, based on suitability and with no regard to family background, ethnicity, social status, or personal connections.
What We Will Change
1. Preferential Support for State-Charedi Institutions: Giving priority in budgets, infrastructure, pedagogic and social services to institutions in the state-Charedi system that admit students according to fair, objective standards and indiscriminately. This will establish them as a respected, high-quality choice for the entire community. We will also take decisive action against principals who practice discrimination, up to and including suspension.
2. An Intercommunal Committee for Fair Placement: Establishing a professional and rabbinically guided committee of educators from across the community to define a clear, transparent, and equal set of criteria for optimal student placement. We will also make the model available to municipalities and institutions seeking to operate fairly.
3. The “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” Program: Introducing a comprehensive educational program promoting love for Am Yisrael and preventing racism, exclusion, and discrimination in all educational institutions. This includes actual implementation as a threshold condition for receiving designated educational funding.
4. Budget Enforcement and Redirection of Resources: Immediately reducing the government and municipal funding for institutions that practice unlawful discrimination or apply discriminatory criteria, and redirecting the withheld resources to institutions that demonstrate communal responsibility, and welcome students with warmth.