Twenty-two years ago, my wife, Kate, had an Orthodox conversion to Judaism, in Israel. Later we fell in love and decided to marry, which we did in an Orthodox ceremony.
We built a kosher home, attended synagogue weekly and enjoyed a full Jewish life. After three years, we had our first child and wanted to arrange the brit. The shul told us to contact the Beth Din, as we were married outside the UK.
Our nightmare began. The London Beth Din, the Court of the Chief Rabbi, told my wife that, as she was “insincere at the moment of conversion”, they would not recognise it, a conversion that had occurred five years before they met her.
There was no explanation, no appeal, just an edict from upon high.
Fortunately we discovered the astonishing Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, who welcomed us into the New North London Masorti community.
Here we rebuilt our traditional Jewish life. Eighteen years on, I am a shammes in shul, my wife helps run the children’s services, my children attend and teach at the cheder and we maintain a kosher home.
Four years ago we tried to send our daughter to JFS, where my wife is head of English, and I was a pupil. My daughter was denied a place. Our attempts to talk to the Chief Rabbi and the Beth Din, in private, met a wall of silence.
Our only option was to appeal to the Schools’ Adjudicator, forcing the case into the public domain. His ruling was inconclusive, moving the case to the High Court, spearheaded by ‘M’, also denied entry to JFS.
The High Court ruling was challenged and last week the Court of Appeal gave its landmark ruling against JFS.
At every stage, our desire for compromise and dialogue has been met with silence and contempt. We now find ourselves ranged against the full force of the Office of the Chief Rabbi with the formidable resources and finances it can muster.
It begs the question: why is the Chief Rabbi prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds to stop two Jewish children from getting a Jewish education?
Support we have received from across all sections of the community prove that this is not a battle about Orthodoxy, it is a simple matter of right and wrong.
I cannot stand by and let this unjust situation continue and I urge all right-minded Jews to join us in this battle for justice, and to unite rather than divide the community.
David Lightman is a former pupil of JFS and the only named parent in the case.