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Predictably, a fair amount of criticism has greeted the new entry rules that JFS and other secondary schools have been forced to adopt after the Court of Appeal ruling which said that they could no longer use the Jewish status of parents to determine admissions.
Take the Jewish Tribune columnist Ben Yitzchok who in the latest edition, condemns the “stupidity” of the new religious test introduced by JFS, which is based on synagogue attendance and other practice.
To stand a chance of entry, children have to score a minimum three qualifying points (attending synagogue over all the High Holy Days and going to cheder or Jewish primary for two years will get you over the threshold).
The new system is “a sheer and utter mockery of basic Jewish values which must be resisted by all means”, Ben Yitzchok thunders.
But whatever the drawbacks of the new rules – and they are a headache for synagogue administrators who must arrange for parents to obtain a new certificate of practice testifying to their children’s observance - surely some religious observance would be better than none, from the Tribune’s point of view.