Pajamas Media

51 Comments

1. Rich Vail:

As a religiously ovservant jew..I’m apalled by this decision of the British Court…however, I don’t think ANY religious school should be funded with public monies. Therefore, if a school is funded from the public purse, there shouldn’t be any limitations upon admission.

Aug 2, 2009 - 1:38 am 2. Ruvy:

This decision is yet another reason for Jews to leave Britain (AND America) and just come home. The rising tide of Jew-hatred world wide is more and more evident daily, and the only real shelter Jews will have will be here.

Aug 2, 2009 - 1:53 am 3. lefroy:

It’s sad to see contributors to pajamas spouting the same kind of facile judge-bashing claptrap as the tabloid press. One expects a little more discernment from conservatives.

What the Court of Appeal judges were doing in this case was their job. Interpreting ACTS OF PARLIAMENT according to english rules of statutory construction, part of the law that they have taken an oath to uphold and apply.

It’s really very simple. BLAME PARLIAMENT. The British parliament passed the Act in question. The Court of Appeal judges were applying it. They may well have found the law in question highly distasteful and indeed sinister in its implications, as I do as a christian who went to a faith school and who sends an untrammeled judicial discretion, a kind of pronouncement from under a palm tree by a judge unconstrained by the words of the statute and rules of construction. Agitate to get the law changed, but don’t attack the judges concerned. Save that sort of attack for instances of genuinely dishonest judicial activism (which some judges, by the way, have quite a talent for). There is no evidence that this judgment was such an instance.

Aug 2, 2009 - 2:27 am 4. dmgold:

If a person pays full taxes and a fair portion of those taxes is earmarked for funding their offsprings education, why should a religious Jew, Muslim or Catholic be penalised and be forced to pay for their childs education while a liberal humanist and secular child be afforded a free education paid for by a tax paying religious person.

sounds to me that the british justice system is playing politics rather than interpreting the laws of Parliment.

Why not bring in a user pays system for all then equality will prevail!!!

Aug 2, 2009 - 3:53 am 5. Mary Jackson:

The Court of Appeal is saying that religious criteria violate the same laws as those laid down against racial discrimination. In other words, if you want your kid to go to Catholic school or some other faith establishment, effectively the very concept of a single-faith environment smacks of racism.

This is nonsense on stilts. Are all faith schools now illegal then? Of course not. Catholic or any other schools are allowed to discriminate on grounds of faith. However if a Catholic school turned down a Christian of Pakistani origin on the grounds that he wasn’t Irish, that would be in breach of the law – and rightly so.

Aug 2, 2009 - 3:58 am 6. don:

Another nail in the coffin of religion worldwide . . . remember that the Emmanuel brothers (E and R) came from Israel, and under their “leadership” the world of “Soylent Green” gets ever nearer (Edward G. Robinson in his last role is a 70 + year old man in a society that exterminates the old because resources are wasted on them, he goes to a suicide center to be gently put down while watching a film of nature and listening to Beethoven). I fear for us in a world where a dominant left evaluates our schooling and our worth (alive) only through the lens of political trustability and obedience to the state.

Aug 2, 2009 - 4:24 am 7. michael:

The majority of English faith schools are Church of England. Being CoE and English, they are run in a sort of decent laid back fashion. They hope the children will be CoE church goers, but don’t make too much fuss about it. I believe, although I don’t know, that English Roman Catholic faith schools take a similar approach. If a Jewish or Muslim family opts for a Christian faith school, then the average Englishman would expect them to eat up their bacon sandwiches, secure in the belief that God, being English and fond of children, will take a lenient view of things.

Aug 2, 2009 - 4:39 am 8. Carol Gould:

Ruvy,
It is interesting that you see this as an anti-Jewish move by the judges. I think you have inspired my next article!

PJM readers may wish also to read a new piece from Melanie Phillips:

http://www.thejc.com/articles/mideast-malice-and-distortion

Aug 2, 2009 - 4:59 am 9. Lisa:

When I read the story a few months back in the British press, it was clear to me that this was not a matter of racism but about conversion. The school did not recognize the mother’s conversion because it was not done through an Orthodox synagogue and the school is governed by an Orthodox body.

As a Jewish convert through a reform synagogue and beit din (which included a woman heaven forbid), I do have an issue with the way Orthodox communities do not recognize my conversion but the government went too far.

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:03 am 10. Lynn:

In other words, if Catholic or Protestant children want to bring ham sandwiches to school or sing about Jesus

Jeez, you attempted to be clear by restating your point and yet somehow managed to sound like an idiot. Mocking perhaps?

Let me help you…

If Catholic or Protestant children want to bring sandwiches to school and sing about Jesus…

See how easy that was?

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:04 am 11. LeighB:

What the heck is going on in Britain?

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:05 am 12. jerryofva:

This story confirms my view on exposing private schools to a government voucher system. If you take government money then you are subject to the government’s control. A famous Rabbi in Roman Palestine said:

“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:59 am 13. Anonymous:

And, somehow, with the Sharia courts allowed to operate in Britain, this won’t be enforcable with the Muslim schools. I just ahve that feeling. We’ll now see Muslims suing to enroll their children in Jewish schools and have them proselytize their “Dawah” there out of religious freedom. Watch.

Aug 2, 2009 - 7:41 am 14. oldguy:

Don’t you think it’s time Ireland and Scotland joined together and invaded England?

Aug 2, 2009 - 7:53 am 15. Amber Paiva:

Vote with your feet and homeschool your precious children. It’s the only way to guarantee they will learn your values. Your faith, your example, your children.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:15 am 16. Carlos Caliente:

Allah loves it when the Jews are tormented. Allah akbar !!!!

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:16 am 17. Daniel:

I find such schools a travesty. The reason? Well it was made quite clear in the article. The school denied one of the applicants, because his mother, and I quote, “stopped living an Orthodox lifestyle.”

This whole system based on this school is only for Jews, this school is only for Muslims, this school is only for Catholics, etc is a backwards system that only separates a society. It divides. It does NOT unite.

What kind of bs is this? Imagine if the requirements for schools was skin colour? Everyone would be flipping out and call it racist. However the second it is religion everyone backs down and just lets those people do what they want.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:18 am 18. Mary Jackson:

Before all the ignorant and hysterical comments, like 2 Ruvy’s, begin, I should point out that this article is seriously misleading as it does not give the facts of the case.

The JFS rejected a child whose mother was a covert to Judaism, rather than being born a Jew. Thus the discrimination is on grounds of ethnic origin. “Racist” is a silly and overused word; however it is unfair to discriminate against someone for an accident of birth. Nobody is suggesting that the school cannot discriminate on grounds of faith.

To claim that America is so much better is a bit ridiculous, since American publicly funded schools rigidly exclude religion. A country that sends “holiday cards” rather than Christmas cards has nothing to be smug about.

Carol Gould fuels American ignorance about the UK once again.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:25 am 19. Mary Jackson:

I’m not sure why my comment keeps getting deleted.

My point is that Carol Gould’s piece is highly misleading. The child was rejected by the JFS on grounds of ethnic origin, which is, insofar as the word means anything at all, racist. Her mother was a practising Jew.

There is no implication that the JFS, or any other faith schools will not be able to select pupils on faith grounds. As for Jews at the JFS having to see lots of bacon sandwiches, this is nonsense on stilts and the author knows it.

The usual tirade, which I predicted, of comments deploring Britain’s decline into Nazism, has ensued, with ignorance being stoked by a highly selective and disingenuous piece of “reporting”.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:34 am 20. Mary Jackson:

Don’t you think it’s time Ireland and Scotland joined together and invaded England?

England is the most tolerant country in the world when it comes to religion, superior by far to the sectarian Celts.

Faith schools, including the JFS are alive and kicking. So they are no longer allowed to discriminate against children of converts? Good thing too.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:37 am 21. Kurt:

The only way this would be good is if they went after the Madrassas. But we all know that in today’s Britain, that will never happen. Instead, it will become just another way of attacking and destroying Judaism and Christianity.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:47 am 22. Dark Helmet:

Religion is a choice. Not a race. End of story. Anything else is useless and a lie.

Aug 2, 2009 - 8:47 am 23. idov:

To apply “race” to the Jews was something the Nazis made popular based on pseudo-science. In Orthodox schools in Israel you see every race in the world from black to white, all born Jews. (Of course the Nazis sent the Gypsies to the gas chambers, the most “Aryan” people in Europe, so the whole race thing was nonsense.)

Reading between the lines because I don’t have the judgment, it seems this is a conversion issue. The Orthodox bring upon themselves all kinds of trouble because they insist on exclusivity even in Israel and there are other streams. There is a long tradition of not permitting fake conversions, people looking to rip someone off or Arabs looking to cheat their way into Israel, but the Orthodox try to make the claim that every conversion not done by them is a fake conversion. It’s just not true. People stand up to them and seek justice and this is a case where the Orthodox have been called to order, once again, although it is not racism by any stretch of the imagination..

Aug 2, 2009 - 9:31 am 24. davod:

“It’s really very simple. BLAME PARLIAMENT.”

The judges also invalidate UK laws. They are a law unto themselves.

WRT state funding of religious schools – the UK government funds these schools on the proviso that the curriculam includes specific non secular subjects.

Aug 2, 2009 - 10:10 am 25. Lisa:

Mary, the discrimination here is not based upon race or ethnicity but against the authority which converted her.

Aug 2, 2009 - 10:26 am 26. paul_unalaska:

Vandenberg High School WAS a school in California attended by children of military personnel only. Though the school is located across from Vandenberg AFB’s main gate – off base. At the time it was recognized statewide for its excellence in academics, sports activities.

The parents who weren’t military and whose children attended public school complained their child should be afforded the same as the Vandenberg students.

2006 that nightmare came to fruition. What resulted is Hispanic gangs, academics plummeted, multiple physical altercations daily amongst students. The school lost its footing altogether in excellence and is now a typical mediocre school. But 3 cheers for ‘Diversity’ right?

Vandenberg school was in a similar situation whereas the American public pays for our military members which filtered down to this school. Well, the complainers got what they wanted. Everyone in that area now has mediocrity.

This article, though similar in some instances is different with regards to the religious backdrop. Though I believe the doing in for both situations is a parent(s) who is not looking to further their child’s education but to have the harder working, more responsible parties to be ‘knocked’ down to their level.

In today’s dynamic, it’s not the parent nor the child who is disciplined for their shortcomings. It’s a school administrator of some sort. Passing the buck..

Aug 2, 2009 - 10:59 am 27. lefroy:

#24 Davod

No, in fact UK judges do not invalidate UK laws. They are sometimes have to determine – because Parliament has directed them by statute to do so – whether UK laws are consistent with the Human Rights Act and the European charter. They are also REQUIRED – by Parliament – to attempt to construe the law consistently with those enactments . . because the law and Constitution of the UK by which they are bound and which they have sworn an oath to uphold require them to do so.

If you do not like the fact that jusges sometimes do this, agitate to get the UK parliament to repeal the Human Rights Act and to withdraw from the European Union. But get your facts straight.

I don’t like these things any more than you do.

(My original post was inexplicably mangled BTW)

Aug 2, 2009 - 1:05 pm 28. myth buster:

While I may question the wisdom of keeping those of other religions out of a religious school, I believe religious institutions should be able to require that people be of their faith and in good moral standing in order to join. Otherwise, the institution itself can be compromised. How could a Catholic school expect to operate successfully if they tolerated the conduct that passes for normal in most inner city public schools?

Aug 2, 2009 - 3:19 pm 29. Mary Jackson:

I believe religious institutions should be able to require that people be of their faith and in good moral standing in order to join. Otherwise, the institution itself can be compromised. How could a Catholic school expect to operate successfully if they tolerated the conduct that passes for normal in most inner city public schools?

Indeed, but the new ruling doesn’t in any way contradict that. On the contrary, by focusing on faith rather than ethnic origin, it reinforces it.

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:11 pm 30. Carol Gould:

It is notable that in a recent ‘Jewish Chronicle’ it was reported that the issues surrounding this case are so complicated that even the lawyers are stymied:

‘.. QC Eleanor Lind (New London Synagogue) said: “There are obviously very serious implications for the Jewish community to do anything that would undermine the protection it receives under the Race Relations Act.” ‘

‘Whatever the Board chose to do would be problematic, she said, because the complexity of the issues made it very difficult even for lawyers to comprehend..’

http://www.thejc.com/articles/board-may-seek-law-change-over-jfs-row

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:12 pm 31. Tolbert:

Mary Jackson,

To claim that America is so much better is a bit ridiculous

Nice attempt at misdirection, doesn’t work though because nobody has made that claim in this thread.

Aug 2, 2009 - 6:14 pm 32. Carol Gould:

In the mountain of articles and radio-TV commentary as well as editorials by
eminent rabbis this past few weeks it has been noted that the increasingly reactionary London Beth Din has penalised those who ’stopped living an Orthodox lifestlye.’

I posted a PJM message earlier on with a quote from a QC that even the lawyers cannot at this stage get their heads around the myriad of issues.
When mothers ‘depart from an Orthodox lifestyle’ by, for example, being converted by a progressive rabbi or were ‘insincere at the
moment of conversion’ these are elements that provoke the Chief Rabbi to question a child’s eligibility for entrance to JFS.

Here is one of many sources published in recent weeks citing similar cases,
this from Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg:
‘..But in two of the cases, the issue had nothing to do with “non-Orthodox”
conversions. The procedures were duly followed under the auspices of the Israeli rabbinate. Helen Sagal converted through the Lod Rabbinical Court; her papers were subsequently endorsed by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. But the
London Beth Din refused to recognise her Jewish status on the grounds that she no longer lived an Orthodox lifestyle…’

http://www.thejc.com/articles/the-deep-wrongs-lie-heart-jfs-case

Another excellent source, the JC blog, to which several legal experts have been writing about the mother’s so-called ‘non-Orthodox lifestyle:’
‘..The saddest thing about this fiasco is that, in the case of M, whose father is Jewish but whose mother is a progressive convert, it must have been appreciated that for the generally accepted norms of authentic orthodox
Judaism, M would not be Jewish. Unless the House of Lords overturns this
case (which now looks unlikely) the net result of an acceptable change to the entry requirements is likely to deprive both M and some halachic Jews, who may benefit from a JFS education, of the opportunity to enjoy one.

http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/jfs-again

Bindmans, solicitors representing the boy in question:
‘..it would be a shame if the school does take the case further. It risks
undermining the protection anti-discrimination law gives Jews in all aspects
of their lives simply to deny a handful children from Jewish families not
recognised as such by the Chief Rabbi the opportunity to attend JFS each
year..”

http://www.thejc.com/articles/jfs-boy-must-be-reconsidered

It is notable too that the ever-increasing mountain of journalism on this
subject (this weekend included) is providing a wide range of debate on ‘who
is a Jew?’ .

One of the parents of a rejected child has written about the London Beth Din
asserting that his wife was ‘insincere at the moment of conversion.’

http://www.thejc.com/articles/the-parent-i-urge-all-right-minded-jews-join-us-battle-justice

Andrew Sanger says the main points in this dispute have been misunderstood
in the Jewish press.
‘..The truth is, the JFS deserves this judgement, and has brought all its
woes upon itself by rejecting sincere converts over the years. Until the
1950s, there was no “halacha test” to attend the school. If parents
identified themselves as Jewish by religion, and wanted their child to be
educated under Orthodox Jewish auspices, then the child was eligible to
attend JFS..’

http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/appeal-courts-jfs-ruling-nothing-do-who-a-jew

Incidentally for the sake of brevity for PJM I had edited out a paragraph
about the reactionary views of Jonathan Sacks going back to his non-attendance at the funeral of the late great Reform Rabbi Hugo Gryn in August 1996 and his subsequent letter to the Dayanim rpeorted in the JC as declaring Gryn a ‘destroyer of the faith.’ This, to many watching this case, is a crucial nugget in the JFS case.
An observant friend says it is the fault of Sacks that the case ever came up and that the rules about the ‘lifestyle’ led by a sincere female convert should have been loosened years ago so as to avoid a public controversy like
this one.

Aug 2, 2009 - 7:33 pm 33. Elle:

He who pays the piper calls the tune. It was only a matter of time in Britain where Jewish schools, out of all the religious schools, would face a disruption of this sort. And certainly the court would not require a Muslim school to accept a student who was not considered Muslim by the religious figures who make that determination. Why? Because if the Judges did so their lives wouldn’t be worth a plug nickel (as we say here in America). The Jewish schools should maintain their excellence and their standards by funding through their own community.

Aug 2, 2009 - 7:43 pm 34. Carol Gould:

Lisa — spot on.

Aug 2, 2009 - 7:46 pm 35. Carol Gould:

These are some eloquent essays about the JFS decision from my ongoing collection of sources and recent research archive:

Diane Samuels, author of the acclaimed play ‘Kindertransport:’

http://www.thejc.com/articles/diane-samuels-what-i-learnt-when-i-went-back-school

Jonathan Freedland, journalist who writes novels as ‘Sam Bourne:’

http://www.thejc.com/articles/yes-if-you-will-it-you%E2%80%99re-a-jew

Professor Dr Geoffrey Alderman, an esteemed colleague and friend:

http://www.thejc.com/articles/could-whole-sorry-not-say-costly-mess-have-been-avoided

David Cohen, London essayist:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23718658-details/We+need+our+faith+schools+to+unite+not+divide+us/article.do

Aug 3, 2009 - 2:15 am 36. ISAAC:

The fascinating account about Alexander Hamilton enjoying a full Jewish education reminded me that in South Africa, in the old apartheid days, it was only a little Jewish nursery school in Johannesburg that would warmly accept a little five-year old black girl … an equal example to all

Aug 3, 2009 - 4:46 am 37. Jacob:

Religious schools that have built our entire civilization and gave you the pathetic secularism you worship should NEVER get government money?

Condoms and murdering your innocent children on the other hand..those are two noble causes that government should pay for though right?? You ignorant blood thirsty pagan heathens.

You should just all go stand around Stonehenge and sacrifice each other again because you hate goodness like demons.

Aug 3, 2009 - 6:46 am 38. Jacob:

dmgold makes the only point that needs to be made…if I’m forced to pay for public schools (where child molestation rates, drug use, depression and every other negative indicator are through the roof despite the lopsided attention 500 priests out of fifty million over fifty years received) then why shouldn’t those people be forced to pay for religious schools?

Every time they study religious schools it is proven that they have better results than public schools (again despite biased media attention)…so why is it not ok for the religious to support their schools?

For us religious it would be just as unthinkable to send our children to a public school where they have a way higher chance of ending up addicted to multiple drugs and participating in baby murder or some other “modern” evil. (They’ve been murdering innocent children in the womb for thousands of years.)

Aug 3, 2009 - 6:51 am 39. Carol Gould:

Here is another eloquent essay:

http://www.jeremyrosen.com/blog/2009/07/jfs.html

Isaac, I remember being in South Africa in 1997 and visiting the Mitzvah School and the Rabbi MC Weiler School; Weiler was a Holocaust survivior. The schools were run and funded by the Hadassah, a Jewish women’s charity, and they afforded the black children of the Townships a chance for two meals a day, a clean place to play and a wonderful education that led to a career.

Aug 3, 2009 - 8:17 am 40. Scooby:

Britain has allowed muslims to gain more and more control of their country, unfortunately this is what you get when you allow an extreme religious ideology take over.

First it was Sharia Law and now they are going after the Jews…Christians are right behind them.

Aug 3, 2009 - 9:24 am 41. Mary Jackson:

First it was Sharia Law and now they are going after the Jews…Christians are right behind them.

It’s hardly “going after the Jews” when it was a Jew who brought the case.

And this case has nothing whatsoever to do with Muslims.

Jonathan Sacks is very intransigent. Not going to Hugo Grin’s funeral was really off.

Aug 3, 2009 - 9:43 am 42. Mary Jackson:

It was only a matter of time in Britain where Jewish schools, out of all the religious schools, would face a disruption of this sort.

Who caused the disruption? A Jew trying to get his child in there. The judges are simply applying the law.

If a Muslim school rejected someone on grounds of ethnic origin – and the parents took the school to court – the verdict would be the same.

Aug 3, 2009 - 9:49 am 43. yankev:

Mary Jackson, the school is run by Orthodox Jews according to the beliefs of Orthodox judaism. According to those beliefs, the mother’s conversion was not and never was valid. She was converted by Reform Rabbis according to the beliefs of Reform Judaism. Let her choose a school of that sect for her child. Morevover,anyone who believes that the mother is now Jewish, or that the daughter is Jewish, by definitions rejects a core belief of Orthodox Judaism. Demand that this girl be treated as Jewish by an Orthodox school is nothing less than a demand that a given religion abandon its unfashionable beliefs about who is and is not a valid convert, and substitute someone else’s more fashionable beliefs on that subject.

Aug 3, 2009 - 10:36 am 44. yankev:

#42 “If a Muslim school rejected someone on grounds of ethnic origin – and the parents took the school to court – the verdict would be the same.”
It has nothing to do with ethnic origin. There is no dispute that if the girl were to convert according to the laws of Orthodox Judiasm, or if the mother had done so before the girl was born, the girl would have been admitted. There is no dispute that neither the girl nor her mother believe in the Orthodox Jewish religion; if they did, they would not be asserting the theory that the mother’s non-Orthodox conversion renders the mother or the child Jewish. If the girl does indeed believe, then she can convert and the school will admit her. What really happened is that the court said that Orthodox Jews may not administer their own religious affairs in accordance with their religion’s doctrine and laws concerning conversion because the court does not care for the doctrine.

Aug 3, 2009 - 10:42 am 45. yankev:

Mary J, I stand corrected. According to the article by Rabbi Wittenberg (who, it should be noted, is a rabbi of a movement that actively rejects Orthodox Judaism), the mother was converted by an Orthodox court in Israel but the Orthodox court in London declined to certify the conversion because they found that subsequent events showed that the conversion was not sincere. The principle remains, though, that a government must permit a religious body to determine its own standards for conversion, and in this case the court refused to do so because the court — like Rabbi Wittenberg — does not like those standards.

Aug 3, 2009 - 10:47 am 46. Carol Gould:

The intransigence of Jonathan Sacks is at the core of this issue. In 1996 when the JC leaked his infamous ‘destroyer of the faith’ letter written to Dayan Chanoch Padwa to elaborate on his absence from Rabbi Gryn’s funeral he upset vast swathes of the nation. Gryn was a beloved radio commentator on ‘The Moral Maze’ and the conroversy about Sacks and the funeral got into thet maistream press, with the TIMES even penning a leader editorial. Notwithstanding his superb scholarship Sacks is essentially a reactionary and this trickled down to JFS. It would be interesting to hear from American PJM readers if there is anyone as powerful as the British Chief Rabbi in the USA.

Aug 3, 2009 - 4:09 pm 47. Owls Fan:

Mary Jackson writes: “England is the most tolerant country in the world when it comes to religion, superior by far to the sectarian Celts.”

Mary, you might want to work on that whole tolerance thing. I don’t think you’ve got it down quite yet.

Aug 3, 2009 - 7:18 pm 48. Michael:

“The intransigence of Jonathan Sacks is at the core of this issue. In 1996 when the JC leaked his infamous ‘destroyer of the faith’ letter written to Dayan Chanoch Padwa to elaborate on his absence from Rabbi Gryn’s funeral he upset vast swathes of the nation.”

Good Lord! Which nation was this? I live in England and if vast swathes of my neighbours were upset I missed it!

Most of us in England are Christian. We might not be very good Christians. But that is what we are. The trouble is, Ms Gould writes about the fringes – the ones who are fighting each other like ferrets in a sack.

Aug 4, 2009 - 3:33 am 49. Anonymous:

I see the different denomination of Judaism like I see the difference between Christian denominations. Several inner city baptist parents send their children to catholic schools with the understanding that their children will receive a catholic education with all the the expectations that go with them. I don’t see why this principle cannot be applied here. If you want your child to coke to this orthodx school, she will be expects to follow our rules while she is here. Seems simple enough to me. I am glad that we have separation of church and state in this country(USA). Because some of this controversy does not exist here. If you want to keep outsiders out, refuse government money and support.

Aug 4, 2009 - 10:54 am 50. Carol Gould:

Michael,
The ‘fringes?’ Sacks has been nominated to the House of Lords. In 2001 he was endowed with a Doctor of Divinity from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Gryn controversy was covered in every British broadsheet. This from the Daily Telegraph of 28 Aug 2002:

‘..Dr Sacks has disappointed liberals by proving as orthodox as his predecessor on most religious issues. One of his worst moments followed the death of Hugo Gryn, the popular Reform rabbi known for his appearances on Radio 4’s The Moral Maze.

‘Dr Sacks refused to attend his funeral on religious grounds, but to avoid a public row he agreed to speak at the memorial service and found himself condemned by ultra orthodox rabbis.

‘To placate them, he wrote a letter attacking Dr Gryn as “a person who is amongst those who destroy the faith”. The letter was leaked, provoking an outcry from which Dr Sacks took several years to recover.’

The TIMES Higher education (fringe?) wrote on 14 February 1997: ‘Orthodox Jews have pleaded with Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks not to attend a memorial service for the liberal rabbi Hugo Gryn. Most non-Jews are mystified if not appalled at such an apparent lack of compassion..’

The Roman Catholic Tablet: ‘..the well-loved rabbi and broadcaster whose untimely death in 1996 was mourned so widely’

http://www.naomigryn.com/Chasing%20Shadows%20quotes.htm

Penguin Books:
‘The death of Rabbi Hugo Gryn in 1996 was an occasion of great sadness for millions who had enjoyed his contributions to Radio Four’s THE MORAL MAZE..’

Aug 4, 2009 - 3:50 pm 51. Elle:

Mary,
This woman and her child were not rejected in any way because of ethnic origin. The woman was rejected because the religious authorities found that her conversion was not sincere and that she was not, in fact, living her life according to the priciples of the Orthodox tradition.
I repeat that if Muslim religious authorities had barred an individual from a Mosque or religious school on the grounds that the family in question was not living according to the principles of that religious tradion the Court would not have interfered.
The difference is owing to the fear of Muslim violence and the disrespect towards Jews, particularly Orthodox Jews.
One may not agree with Rabbi Sacks or with all the views held by the Orthodox community. However, in a free country where they threaten noone and provide an excellent education to their students they should be left alone.

Aug 4, 2009 - 7:03 pm

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