“My girl is only in the first grade, where's the girls' singing [kol isha]? I do not understand. It's extreme, and we are a state religious school, not something else.…Even in terms of Jewish law restricting women's singing in front of men is [from] age 12 and over [many opinions are from age 9 and older – FailedMessiah.com], but we're talking about little girls. Even if there are girls in sixth grade choir, they’re singing as part of mitzvah (it’s a religious event and therefore permitted), and because [the songs] are sung by a choir (where the voices meld together), halakha (Jewish law) permits it, as well,” the parent reportedly said, adding that this decision to gender segregated by the school “is a radicalization.…The director notified us at night (on the eve of the event), and we did not have time to react to it at all.”
Zionist Orthodox Grade School Holds Gender Segregated Hanukkah Celebrations, Bans Fathers From Attending Little Daughters’ Event
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Parents of children enrolled in a state Zionist Orthodox grade school located in Givat Ze'ev were shocked Wednesday night to receive an email from the school’s director, Dvir Shafran, who wrote that the school would hold separate Hanukkah ceremonies segregated by gender. What’s more, Shafran wrote that mothers could only attend the girls’ event and fathers could only attend the boys,’ Walla! News reported.
The school reportedly has 400 students, some from very conservative Zionist Orthodox families and many others from more liberal Zionist Orthodox, Modern Orthodox and even non-Orthodox families.
Parents believe the minority of very conservative parents are being catered to because, like with kashrut, while everyone can eat the food made with the most restrictions, not everyone will eat the food produced with fewer restrictions.
This process, intentional or not, is hurting their children’s education, the less strict parents insist.
After one parent complained to the school administration about the strict gender segregation, the administration partially retracted. Mothers would be able to attend their sons’ Hanukkah ceremony after all, the school said. But fathers would not be able to attend the girls’ ceremony.
One parent reacted by saying the ban was bordered on fanaticism.
A parent whose daughter is in the first grader at the school was bewildered by the school’s new, restrictive behavior.
“My girl is only in the first grade, where's the girls' singing [kol isha]? I do not understand. It's extreme, and we are a state religious school, not something else.…Even in terms of Jewish law restricting women's singing in front of men is [from] age 12 and over [many opinions are from age 9 and older – FailedMessiah.com], but we're talking about little girls. Even if there are girls in sixth grade choir, they’re singing as part of mitzvah (it’s a religious event and therefore permitted), and because [the songs] are sung by a choir (where the voices meld together), halakha (Jewish law) permits it, as well,” the parent reportedly said, adding that this decision to gender segregated by the school “is a radicalization.…The director did it at night (on the eve of the event), and we did not have time to react to it at all.”
"We’re actually held captive here,” one mother said, “because there is nowhere [else] to go. The [local] council does not allow us to register in other places…why can’t my husband hear his daughter [sing]? We are simply appalled at that, it's just awful,” she said.
The school’s principal reportedly refused to comment and referred Walla! News to the Ministry of Education, which claimed the forced gender segregation would be investigated.