...of a full democracy. Those who feel, for whatever reason, that the state is overstepping its authority should utilize that option. On the other hand, it is the right of the democracy to throw them in prison. In the end it will go to court, each side will be given their chance to explain their positions and justice, hopefully will prevail. I think we cannot really understand what is the issue here that these parents and leaders feel so strongly about this separation. If my kids were in a school where the government insisted, by pain of imprisonment, to integrate the math and gym clases - I'd probably be the first to stand up against the authorities. I can't imagine whether there is any comparison, but it seems to be felt very deeply. Each side should have its day in court.

and lost. So what in the world are you talking about? Or is it all right to deny the court's authority with impunity by declaring a rabbi's edict trumps any court order?

Is the Independent Education Center, supported by Israeli tax dollars, or is it privetly funded.

..because a religious leader has none and won't lead. Who dares to say that there should be a separate education for one tribe and the other. Torah is one law for everyone in Israel and brothers should be united by the very least the leaders that lead. This Rabbis should be arrested for encouraging hate and racism in Judah. What else is new?

Was there discrimination or not? If there was then this ruling appears justified.

over six decades old. During this time, we have tried to integrate Ashkenazi Jews with those ultra religious Jews who have populated Eretz Yisrael for centuries. Then came the Sephardim, in great numbers. In time, came the post-communist Russian and Georgian Jews (over one million) plus Black Jews from Ethiopia and a smattering of Jews from India. In addition, we are obligated to integrate Arab Israelis, Christians, Bedouins, Druse and Circassians. The pressures have been astounding. There are also the tensions between various forms of Orthodox and Chassidic Jews as well as Jews who practice less strictly and those who barely practice at all. So, to put this in perspective, the fact that there is a justifiable outcry with respect to the school problem on the part of the Court and, I presume, on the part of the public, is an advancement in Israeli society. We have been required to integrate many varied segments of society more quickly than any other country I can think of and, seen in this light, we have done an outstanding job.

I gave my back to those who strike me,and my cheecks to those who pluck out my beard,I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting so his appearance was marred more then any man and his form more then the sons of man,surely our griefs he himself bore,and our sorrows he carried,yet we ourselves esteemed him striken of elokim,and afflicted but he was pierced through for our transgressions,he was crushed for our iniquities,the chastening for our well-being fell upon him,and by his scourging we are healed,isaiah

THE DUMB LITVAKS AND OTHER GENIUSES REFUSED TO FLEE THE NAZIS BECAUSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL DATELINE AND FEAR OF BEING IN ATHEIST SIBERIA RELATIVELT SAFE FOR FIVE YEARS ITS CALLED PIKUACH NEFESH.

You state your opinion that we have done an outstanding Job as far as integration is concerned, particularly under our difficult and extenuating circumstances. Fifty odd years ago and well into the sixties the North African immigrants were treated with compassion in respect of their plight, they arrived homeless and penniless and destitute, but in respect to their standing in the community as equal members of society they were treated with utter contempt. I found myself many a time hanging my head low with shame at witnessing the inhumane treatment, especially in the military. In this respect we have indeed done an outstanding job because today we have citizens of North African origin in all walks of life, from dustman through the free professions and on to Minister. I am very proud that we overcame what I termed an unhealthy social stigma. As far as education is concerned we are lacking and so we shall remain as long as the present system prevails. All the ethnic groups and religious groups that you mentioned have their own educational demands and requirements and facilities which are provided by the State. This is one of the biggest mistakes ever made by us. This is not the way of "The Great Melting Pot",and you can not argue with its success. The day that black and white, Ashkenazi and Sepharadi, together with Arab, Druze, Circassian Christian and Moslem, religious and secular, sit together on the school bench, on that day shall I state that we have done an outstanding job. What we have at the moment is not only not integration, it is institutionalized separation which is compounded by encouragment from the family and next of kin. We have ghettos in this country and the sooner we admit to it and we make an attempt to erase them the better. We are in bad shape and getting worse. The religious ghettos are a bane on society and not something to be proud of. They are conducive to slum qualities and indeed that is how they exist.

"Slonimer rebbe ordered his followers who live in Emanuel not to abide by the court ruling, despite the threat of imprisonment. " Stand tall on behalf of what all common sense states is evil? Sages?! hahah One law for all and one teaching for all. If the Rabbi cannot lead brothers to get along but rather encourages people to go to jail to maintain hatred and alienation, what good is that leadership? Run away from this evil. It is a curse.

Follow the law of the land was coined by our sages of old and the intention was that when in a foreign land you must do so. The covert intention, and subtle sequitur is that when in The Land ( Israel ) there is only one law to be followed. Your advice to them will not be heeded, it is empty of content as far as they are concerned.

You can't suspend Torah. Sorry you just can't.(Sarcasim - I am not sorry) Bayblonian Jewry obviously would never been in disporah IF THEY HAD DONE TORAH to begin with.Thank the corruption by the Levis and Kohens for not heeding the prophets warning to give up magic of loose the city. The whole creation of this dina de-malkhuta dina is because Rabbis became politicians instead of spiritual leaders. Call it helsinki syndrome if it makes you happy. Call it Babylonian brainwashing, which is more likely. that would explaine all the conter-Torah traditions they implimented. It is chet to say that a law of Torah can be suspended. Whether of not I personally like it or not. whether or not all Hebrews agree or not. Even Moses could not suspend a law of Torah, yet men who lack even the slightest qualifiaction of a prophet none the less demonstrating those of whacky Devarim 13 type actions, certainly should not be quoted above Torah.

I'm not aware of all the details in this case, but it seems that there are talkbackers who believe that the whole thing is a case of discrimination against particular groups as opposed to a particular group wanting to pass on its traditions. In countries outside of Israel, Jewish parents pay a lot of money to send their children to Jewish schools so they'll learn Jewish laws and traditions. This usually means that the children's friends come from the Jewish school, and have the same laws and traditions. Here in Israel, there are families who want to do the same sort of thing within a particular group.

Who cares what that old fool has to say, way past his sell by date.

reporting on the dirt in your own community is a serious offense. Brackman who claims to be religious will soon be ostracized from his community if he has not already. Then he will lose his job at ynet since he no longer is a part of the religious community enough to be a part of the dirt. I hope this happens soon. Unfortunately ynet will likely find another loser willing to sell his soul for money and recognition who will assume the position of community grave digger looking for dirt to dislodge

A Jew is not a Jew when a local Rabbi does not want to recognize his Jadishness. In the land of Israel it is important that we leave the Diaspora behind us. All Jews should be welcomed in any Jewish institution or school. By not accepting Sephardic Jews this group is perpetuating the Diaspora. The supreme court is correct the protesters do not seem to understand that they are no longer in the Diaspora.

BEFORE THIS SOME SCHOOLS BUILT A FENCE SEPERATING SEPHARDI RELIGIOUS GIRLS FROM ASHKES. THIS IS WHAT RABBINIC JUDAISM ENDS UP LOOKING LIKE!

Ynet loves making orthodox people look bad!!!!

...they are doing it all by themselves. Ynet is only reporting what that do.

Torah states it is one law. Devarim states these laws this day. Rabbis claim the Torah bPeh additions passed from Har Sainai to today unadulterated. In fact you were standing there according to their teachings. You might be like me and can't rember who stood next to you several millenum ago on the holy mountain which none were supposed to approach and touch. Of course the so called Prophets and clear history show the Levis out of control, Kohens and San Hedrin doing magic, and increaseing sacrafic/taxation because of their greed, Great inconsistancies between what is actually written in Torah by a prophet, what was written by unkonw thord persons, and how expensive Rabbis have made Torah today for their observant, thus causing a riff between all those who add to Torah despite Devarim 4:2. How could there be two traditions? Three religions? Because of lies of course. So who was right, Moses, Askanazi or Sephardim? I shouldn't have to give anyone a hint on this one given that Devarim 13 and 18 make clear what you are to do to verify what is right in instances as such. Find the truth if you have a stomach for it.

knowledgeable in these regards and I am glad that you pointed out that separate education systems have led not to social integration but separation in Israeli society. The great "Melting Pot" of America or the "Mosaic" of Canada has definitely been retarded in Israel as a result. Thank you for the elucidation.

I live in Emanuel. The girls who attend the Beis Yacov Chasidi in Emanuel have their roots in the following countries: Iraq, Persia, Morocco, Kurdistan, Yemen, India, Egypt, The Old Yishuv here in Israel, Tunisia, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Germany. What makes this school different is its standards, in particular standards concerning tznius (length and tightness of dress), no makeup, no MP3s, exposure to media, etc. The parents who objected to the current standards of the city Beis Yakov either bussed their girls to Bnei Brak or tried to start another school. The demographics here changed. Chassidim were moving out, and the flavor the original Beis Yacov was becoming more modern. Outreach programs began in order to encourage people to move the original Beis Yacov back towards its original narrower interpretation of the Israeli Haredi lifestyle. This did not succeed on a wide level. The formation of the Beis Yacov Chasidi was an effort by members of the original Chassidic population here to re-create the kind of Beis Yacov that they had a decade ago. It was a stricter school – in terms of dress, exposure to media, even to some aspects of Haredi culture that they feel is not for them as in Haredi “rock music”, choice of careers, etc – and certainly NOT of an “Ashkenazic” school. One of the original founders of the Beis Yacov Chasidi, in 2007, was Rav Ba’adani, a gadol (very well respected Rabbinical authority) who happens to be Sephardic. Additionally, there were two families who had daughters in both the original Beis Yacov and the Beis Yacov Chasidi at the very same time, I love the variety here, some of which must be preserved in diverse educational institutions. Variety has been instrumental in the survival of the Jewish people, both nationally and individually. Emanuel was a fairly easy target – deep in the Shomron, an unlikely place for many to visit and check the facts for themselves. Not a well-off community, with few resources for self-advocacy. Because of its small size, Emanuel has been a nice place for people to get to know members of different kinds of communities more easily than in a large city perhaps. That makes this horrendous media fabrication all that more ironic – and painful. Next time you hear a news story that touches you, please contact people who live locally to get a sense of what is happening. What this story really is about is media provocation and misinformation, a public who does not scrutinize its journalists enough, and inappropriate judiciary activism. Shulamit Amichai, the mankal of the ministry of Education in 2007, is not religious, nor is attorney Mordechai Bass, who came from the Mevaker HaMedina (the Israeli equivalent of the Better Business Bureau) to investigate the situation here. He spent three days in Emanuel, speaking to a wide variety of people here. He found that there was NOT ONE person in Emanuel who said, “I wanted to come to the Chasidi school and was not accepted.” NOT ONE said, “I know someone who applied to this school and was not accepted.” He thus said, since there was no rejection, how can there be disctimmination? His conclusion was that the new school was based on religious differences and not on ethnic differences. There were at least seven Ashkenazi families who did not attend the Chasidi school when it first opened. Some were not interested philosophically, others has a wait and see attitude. The parents of the girls in the Beis Yaakov Chasidi who happen to be Sephardic petitioned to meet with Supreme Court Judge Admon Levi, who handed down the recent decision. He refused to meet with them. Please use your energy to question the media and judicial activism. Do not let them dupe you. I live in Emanuel. Come visit.

Attorney Mordechai Bass’ evaluation of the Beis Yaakov Emanuel case: A brief synopsis “On January 28 2008 I was invited to evaluate the complaints of ethnic discrimination made against the Beis Yaakov Emanuel administration. I have thoroughly reviewed relevant material … and have met with administrators from the ministry of education, the chinuch atzmai (independent religious schools’ network, which Beis Yaakov is under), and I visited the two schools in question.” “The percentage of Ashkenazi families in the original school is 23%, and in the new (Chasidi) school, 73%.” (Footnote at bottom: “Such figures are not totally accurate – firstly, the schools do not note the ethnicity of their students in the registration – and this is a good thing! Secondly – this figure was…partially based on the tenor of the family name, which can also be inaccurate.” ) “All parents wanting to sign up their daughters to the new school, and were ready to accept upon themselves the school’s conditions, were accepted (lit. “not refused”). Since there was no rejection (of any applicants), where is the discrimination?” Physical separation between the two schools – fact or fiction? “…photographers claimed that the cloth that was placed on the (pre-existing) fence prevented the girls from seeing each other. This is not true. Only part of the fence was covered. The yard surrounds the school from four directions, and the girls (from both schools) are able to see and play with each other. The (media) portrayal of two completely separate sections of the school yard…is not true.” “Were the students in the two schools divided according to ethnicity? The original school has 107 Sephardic girls and 32 Ashkenazim. The percentage of Ashkenazim is thus 23%. The new (Chasidi) school has 58 Ashkenazi girls and 21 Sephardim. The percentage of Sephardim is thus 27%....I repeat that…anyone interested in registering their daughters in the new school and ready to accept the school’s way of life was not refused. “I spoke to the plaintiffs and asked for one instance of parents who asked to register their daughter and was refused and they had no such case. “The division was not ethnic, it was religious. I am convinced that there is no ethnic discrimination.” “When ethnic discrimination actually occurs, we must combat it with all our might. I express my sorrow about complaints like these - thrown in the air - that increase hatred among Israel, and are totally baseless.”

at least write "R" elyashiv show respect