Court allows Jewish school to ban boy for not being right type of Jew

Anthea Lipsett and agencies Thursday July 3, 2008 EducationGuardian.co.uk A Jewish school's entry criteria did not racially discriminate against an 11-year-old boy that it refused to admit, the high court ruled today. The JFS in north-west London rejected the boy, known as M, because his mother was not regarded as "an approved Jew", the court heard. Dinah Rose QC, representing M's family, told a previous hearing his application was rejected because the school gives preference to children whose "Jewish status" is confirmed by the United Synagogue (US). A child's Jewish identity is inherited through the mother, but the US did not accept that M's mother was Jewish. She was born a Roman Catholic, but converted to Judaism before her son's birth, although not to the Orthodox movement. Rose claimed that amounted to racial... [read full story]