In an unprecedented move, every Rav in London’s Golders Green neighborhood has signed a joint letter directing all mosdos haTorah not to begin the upcoming school year until every child has been accepted into an appropriate educational institution. The extraordinary directive comes amid an ongoing placement crisis that has left more than 20 children without schools for the new academic year.

The letter, addressed to principals and administrators of the community’s mosdos, instructs that neither the boys’ Talmudei Torah nor the girls’ schools may open their doors as long as even one child remains without a proper educational placement.

Widely viewed as a historic step within Britain’s Chareidi community, the directive calls for postponing the start of the zeman until every student has secured a suitable place to learn. The Rabbanim said the decision reflects their commitment to stand with families who have spent months enduring the anguish of not knowing where their children will study.

The letter opens by expressing profound appreciation to the principals and administrators who devote themselves tirelessly to maintaining the community’s educational institutions, praising their unwavering dedication to the chinuch of the community’s children and to strengthening its mosdos haTorah.

The Rabbanim then explain the reason for their extraordinary ruling. They note that more than 20 children, for various reasons, still have not been accepted into an appropriate school for the coming academic year. They write that these children and their parents have spent months waiting in deep distress for a solution that has yet to come. Therefore, acting together under the authority of the city’s Rabbanim, they are instructing that the doors of the schools and Talmudei Torah for the new classes remain closed until every child has found a suitable place to learn.

The Rabbanim openly acknowledge that postponing the opening of schools will inevitably result in lost Torah learning for thousands of other students. Nevertheless, they explain that the severity of the situation justifies such a step, writing that this is a time when extraordinary measures are required for the sake of Heaven.

The letter concludes with a heartfelt tefillah that peace and truth will prevail within the community, that every child will merit an education according to his or her proper path in the traditions of Yisroel Saba.

{Matzav.com}