"The government education system in the State of Israel is
lacking. A child in the government education system in the
State of Israel is not allowed the pray Minchah in an
empty room."
MK Rabbi Gafni issued these remarks during a discussion in
the Knesset plenum when he submitted a question to Education
Minister Yuli Tamir regarding a recent incident in which
students at Ohel Shem High School in Ramat Gan were banned
from praying on the school grounds during their afternoon
break.
Minister Tamir said that the principal had not forbidden them
to pray, but had only asked them to go to the nearby beis
knesses. "They wanted to pray in a place not designated
for that, thereby disrupting school life during the studies
and the break," claimed Tamir.
The Education Minister backed the principal's move, saying
that the principal also reported that despite "the fact that
he was sending them to a properly set-up prayer place, they
were [praying in the school] in a provocative manner.
Students have to coordinate this type of activity with the
principal and they did not do this."
Tamir's use of the word "provocative" in the context of
tefilloh incensed Acting Knesset Chairman MK Majalli
Whbee (Kadima), who said, "This is the first time I've seen
people going to pray and engaging in provocation in order to
pray. I say this as a statement of fact. I'm not familiar
with such a thing."
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni responded to the remarks, saying that
the Education Minister had not investigated the incident but
merely heard the principal's version and not the students'
version of what happened and replied to the question in his
name. "This response to the question is simply irrelevant,
and I'd prefer not to use harsher terms."
Rabbi Gafni said that he had looked into the matter and he
found that there had been a request by a group of students to
hold tefillas Minchah during the lunch break. They did
not want not to leave campus to avoid missing classes. "To
daven Minchah there is no need for a properly set-up
prayer location," said Rabbi Gafni. "You can stand in the
back of an empty classroom, and this is what they did. A
teacher at this school went and yanked out a child in the
Jewish education system in the middle of Shemoneh
Esrei."
MK Yaakov Margi (Shas) called on Tamir to retract her
statements rather than supporting "a startling move by a
school principal." He said all sorts of activities take place
in the school yard, including activities that should not take
place, and it does not stand to reason for prayer to be
prohibited and called `a provocation.'"
MK Rabbi Shmuel Halpert said, "What took place at Ohel Shem
School borders on a scandal the likes of which have not been
seen in the State of Israel. Students enter a peripheral room
and not a classroom during their break and not during class
time and want to pray Minchah. In comes the principal
and drives them out. Where has such a thing happened —
attacking students and kicking them out of an unused room?
What was their sin? What harm did they cause? How can such a
thing take place? And the Education Minister still judges
such a principal favorably and defends him?"
In response, Minister Tamir said that the original question
did not touch on pulling students out physically or
disturbing their prayers. "You asked me whether it was
forbidden for the students to pray. I gave you an explanation
and I continue to stand behind what I said: that the students
had been given an opportunity to pray at another place
nearby."
In light of the exchange Rabbi Gafni asked the Education
Minister to inquire into the students' complaint they had
been pushed for praying. If physical force was indeed used,
she said, "I will reprove the principal in no uncertain
terms."
