Fathers banned from daughters' Bat Mizva party
Ramat Gan state-religious school excludes fathers from girls' Bat Mitzvah event. Father: 'They're adopting ultra-Orthodox norms'
The struggle for the face of state-religious education continues: Fathers of girls at the Noam-Haro'e religious school in Ramat Gan claim they were not allowed to participate in a school event for their six grade daughters' Bat Mitzvah on Sunday. The reason for the ban is modesty – a halachic prohibition on men to watch women sing and dance.
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Ram Gal, a father of one of the students, told Galei Israel radio that only mothers and grandmothers were invited to the school party, although it is considered an important event for the girls. "As soon as rehearsals started we knew we would be excluded, but I didn't want to take on another hopeless cause," he said.
Gal added that his wife suggested a compromise which would allow the fathers to participate in the part of the event which does not include singing and dancing. The proposal was rejected. "I wasn't even given the chance to fight it. It was a categorical decision which could not be disputed," he said.
The father, himself a graduate of the state-religious educational system, said classes were mixed in his day. Since then, he said, a radicalization process emerged introducing ultra-Orthodox norms of modesty which he described as distasteful and unprecedented. Gal noted that in some cases separation was imposed as early as pre-school years.
Rabbi Gisser – events for the entire family
Noam Haro'e is one of Ramat Gan's oldest state-religious schools. However, over the years the neighborhood's religious communities have been replaced by more Orthodox families who direct the school's religious character. According to Gal, "they eliminate the wishes of the silent, sane majority."
Rabbi Avi Gisser, head of State-Religious Education Council, commented on the allegations, and emphasized that the council rejects such acts of exclusion, since Bat Mitzva events are meant for the entire family.
Gisser added that every school holds at least one Bat Mitzvah event that includes fathers, and that Noam Haro'e school made an error in judgment. He expressed his hope that the official position of the council will soon be translated into practice in all the state-religious educational institutions.
