Charedi Jews opposed to the regulation of yeshivot wore controversial yellow stars in a demonstration outside the Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Westminster this week.
Around a hundred demonstrators from Stamford Hill in north London gathered outside Parliament on Tuesday, claiming that the Government’s plan was a “spiritual Holocaust” which would “tear apart” their rights.
Rabbi Chaim Sofer told the JC: “We’re here to say that as the British government has gathered parliamentarians from around Europe to discuss freedom of religion, at the same time they are creating a law to suppress us from giving a Jewish education to our children.”
Rabbi Sofer defending the use of the Holocaust-era yellow stars, saying: “This is an antireligious law suppressing Jewish freedom of religion.
“It is antisemitic because it is not targeted at the general population. The House of Lords admits it would affect mainly yeshivot.
“Nazi Germany wanted to destroy the Jewish body. The British government wants to destroy Jewish souls.”
Schools bill protestors in Westminster
Up to 1,500 boys from the age of 13 to 16 are currently thought to be educated in unregistered yeshivot in Stamford Hill. The government’s Schools Bill is designed to treat such institutions as independent schools, which would compel them to teach some secular subjects as well as comply with requirements for relationships and sex education. They would also be subject to inspections from Ofsted.
Protestor Rabbi Stolzberg said he was protesting to defend his community’s freedom of religion.
The yellow stars were justified, he claimed. “In 2022, they can’t build gas chambers,” he said. “But they hate the Talmud and our traditions.”
He added: “I feel the Department of Education… has not consulted before this legislation with the ultra-Orthodox.
“My question to the Department of Education is why of the 65 million people in the UK does the Department of Education focus on six or seven thousand Charedi families?”
In a statement handed out to passers by, protest spokesperson Rabbi Asher Gratt said: “It is baffling that whist this conference is promoting freedom of religion, Parliament is seeking to tear it apart.”
As Charedi demonstrators gathered on the street, representatives of Mavar, an organisation that helps people exit the Charedi world, appeared on stage at the conference to discuss how those who leave a closed religious community could be protected.
Charity CEO Amos Schonfield said the current system of yeshiva education keeps people within the confines of their community, but for many, that may not be the life they later want.
“What happens is we’re making the decision really early on behalf of people who don’t have a say,” he went on.
“We shouldn’t have to be in a situation where Mavar is helping people get basic English and maths qualifications, well into their 20s and 30s.
“It shouldn’t be the case that a basic English and maths education is somehow seen as a radical decision. It should be for everyone.”
