UK Jews Lose Right To Racially Discriminate (w/ Tax Money)

A landmark decision by Britain's Supreme Court ruled last Wednesday that it was illegal for a state-funded Jewish school to base its admissions policy on whether or not the applicant's mother was Jewish.

The ruling concerns the highly sought after Jewish Free School in Northwest London. A boy referred to only as M was denied admission there because -- although he came from an observant Jewish family -- his mother (a convert) was not recognized as Jewish by the chief rabbi affiliated with this school. Jews have long been defined by a matrilineal test. And although it is often sufficient for the mother to convert to Judaism to count as a Jew, some more traditional movements within the religion do not always acknowledge the validity of conversions by more liberal movements.

On the face of it, this is a simple discrimination case. Because there is no separation of church and state in Britain, the government funds a certain number of so-called "faith schools" (whether Church of England, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc.). These schools are allowed to give priority to applicants who share the faith of the school.

But in this case, M's father sued the school, claiming that its policy amounted to racial discrimination. In June, the Court of Appeal ruled in his favor. The school appealed that decision, but the Supreme Court sided with the Court of Appeal in a 5-4 decision last week. Going forward, children who apply to one of the U.K.'s 50 Jewish schools will now have to take religious practice tests to ensure the schools are not discriminating against children on ethnic grounds. See Chick's WHERE'S RABBI WAXMAN?