Thousands of Charedi men and boys have taken part in a public display of prayer and fasting in Stamford Hill, in protest against aspects of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in committee stage in the House of Commons.
The demonstrations took place in three locations — Yesodey HaTorah School, Bobov and Vizhnitz synagogues, and were organised by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC) , which claims that the Bill “poses an unprecedented threat to the autonomy of yeshivas and the Torah upbringing of Jewish children”.
Young men taking part in the protest against the government Child Wellbeing Bill (pic Dudi Braun)
The protesters recited the entire book of Psalms followed by afternoon prayers including the Torah reading of “And Moses pleaded”, as on public fast days. It was noted that no public fast had been declared in England since World War II. A similar prayer day will be held next week in Manchester, though without fasting.
The Yeshiva Liaison Committee (YLC), operating under the UOHC, has been at the forefront of advocating against the Bill, which, in one section, seeks to redefine yeshivas as schools, thereby subjecting them to Ofsted inspections and government oversight that would completely dismantle them.
Rabbi Yitzchok Moshe Kornbluh, director of the Yeshiva Liaison Committee (YLC), explained: “Yeshivas are not schools in the conventional sense; they are spaces dedicated to the spiritual and intellectual development of Jewish youth and operate alongside home schooling. The government’s proposed legislation threatens to dismantle this centuries-old tradition and community, replacing parental and religious rights with secular state-imposed uniformity.”
Shimon Cohen of Roath PR, a public relations and public affairs expert, is supporting the protesters. He said: “It is extremely important to fight this, battling the huge amount of misinformation being spread about the Charedi community. Sadly, yeshivas are being unfairly targeted based on narratives that do not reflect their reality or the families they serve.
“The message to Parliament is a clear one: faith communities must not be unfairly singled out, and Jewish parents must retain the right to bring up their children in accordance with Torah values”.
Rabbi Benjamin Stern of the UOHC expressed his gratitude for the overwhelming support at the event, stating: “The turnout was a resounding declaration of our community’s commitment to Torah chinuch. (education). We will not stand idly by while our way of life is threatened. Our unity in tefillah (prayer) and fasting reflects our deep resolve to protect our sacred heritage for generations to come.”
Supporters of the event claim that “the law would require all educational institutions to include secular studies with content that in some cases contradicts sacred Torah teachings. The new law carries criminal sanctions that would be imposed personally on yeshiva students. The law may also intervene in Orthodox frameworks that until now operated under ‘home education’ definitions, posing a real threat to the existence of holy yeshivas in the United Kingdom”.
