Horev, a Jerusalem girls’ high school (Ulpena) has aroused significant controversy with a satirical video stereotyping various demographics of students. The video shows the girls portraying the stereotypes of the East European Ashkenazic community, as juxtaposed to the Mizrahi (the term referring to Jews from North Africa and the Middle East) community.
The video begins with the students applying dark face-paint and changing their last names to represent the Mizrahi community and goes on to focus on a portrayal of cultural differences between the two congregations.
Although the video was intended as a comedy, it has nevertheless aroused considerable public disapproval. Haaretz reporter Haim Levinson commented: “There has never been, nor will there ever be, a faction more discriminatory towards the Mizrahi community than the Religious Zionist community.” Haredi reporter Yossi Elituv commented: “I am, unfortunately, forced to agree with you. I would only add – racist towards Mizrahi, racist towards haredi.”
The Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch, said that he ordered representatives from the educational staff at the institution to be summoned to a meeting for clarification. “I was horrified to watch the appalling video that shows horrible manifestations of racism that we must not accept in any way, in society as a whole and in the educational institutions in Israel in particular.”
“I instructed the director of the Jerusalem district and the director of the educational system to call for an immediate investigation of all those concerned and to report to me in the immediate future. Racism is not allowed in our schools”, said Kisch.
The Jerusalem municipality said: “The school belongs to a private chain and is not municipally owned. At the same time, the municipality and the municipal education administration take the issue seriously and are working to clarify the circumstances of the case with the management of Horev.”
Shas Chairman MK Aryeh Deri commented, “The video that was shot at the Horev high school in Jerusalem and mocks Mizrahi students hurt me a lot. Shameful and outrageous racism, prejudices, contempt, and mockery of our great rabbis. I appeal to the heads of the school: this is not just a video for Purim, this is pure racism against very large communities in the country. Do everything to uproot it.”
MK Naama Lazimi (Labor), a member of the Education Committee, commented, “The harsh racism of the Horev girls breaks my heart. How deep is the hatred and contempt for the Mizrahim of their community and the educational environment that is the expression that came out of them. Horrible”.
“While the coalition is pushing a law that will deny funding from discriminatory institutions, this is exactly the policy they are enforcing in front of their eyes. I will continue to fight for the promotion of the law and expect the Ministry of Education to act immediately against the school and its management, this racism must be uprooted,” said Lazimi.
A statement from the school reads: “It would have been best if this video had never been made, and it was a serious error. The school apologizes for and regrets its content, even though it was made by teenage students as satire and parody and part of the Purim festivities. Anyone who has been exposed to the school’s activities over the years knows that it does not at all reflect what is happening at the school, which manifests itself in harmony and connection between different demographics in Israeli society. The Horev management will gather next week for a discussion in which lessons will be learned so that something similar does not happen again, along with educational work that will be done with the education staff and school’s students.”
Rabbi Oded Maizlish, rabbi of the school, commented to Israel National News: “I am ashamed of the content and deeply regret it, but it does not reflect who we are.” The rabbi notes that it was a parody intended, on the contrary, to express a sympathetic position towards Mizrahi, but things were blown out of proportion.
He also points out that it was intended to celebrate an award for a student who was of Yemenite origin. “The central theme of the award ceremony was Moroccan henna and they wanted to make fun of the Ashkenazic community. But what could we do, no one could have guessed that it would go out of proportion and go beyond the boundaries of the school.”
A student of the Kochav Yaakov girls” high school claimed that “the nuances were not understood”. “Manifestations of racism and sectarianism are a sensitive point in Israeli society, there is no debate about that, and it is certainly appropriate to call out injustices and racism. But this time your cry is an injustice in itself and originates from a misconception of reality.”
“Parody videos are insider jokes of the school. A stranger will not understand this. It’s ridiculous to look critically at personal jokes of a “sectarian mixed” studio (it’s stupid in my opinion to present this fact at all).”
“What is it similar to? To the Yeshiva that makes a video “If students were women”, do all the women sing in the shower or say every morning that they have nothing to wear? I guess not. This is a joke, in essence, it is inclusive”. But did the women’s public in Israel come out to protest a funny parody intended for a cheerful and good-spirited formal atmosphere? No. It was H-U-M-O-R.”
“I saw the video. With the exception of one slightly jarring joke that might have been omitted, the jokes were in a good spirit and respectful and genuine. I will point out the fact that there is the Ashkenazi side as well, which no one minded.”
“And as a comparison – many secular and religious high schools produce finals videos. Many of them deal with sensitive issues, domestic violence, harassment, as well as issues of racism and discrimination. No one ever shouted about it, why? Because it’s a show.”
“This is only the work of girls of all shades of the people who laughed at themselves with love, respect, and simple innocence of humor. Enough slander without understanding nuances.”
The video drew sweeping denunciation from numerous political figures in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu commented: “I outright reject the manifestations of racism on the part of schoolgirls at the school in Jerusalem, who do not represent the national religious public. Discrimination and racism have no place in the State of Israel. We are all one people.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich commented: “Religious Zionism believes in all-Israeli integration, in families, communities, and its magnificent educational institutions. The video in question produced by the students of Horev as part of the Purim events is bad, painful, and offensive and has no place, period.”
Minister Smotrich defends the school itself, however: “From my acquaintance with the school, with the educational staff and with the educational work that is done in it day by day, hour by hour, I am convinced that it does not reflect the mindset, belief or actions of the school. I spoke with the head of the school and I am confident that the event will teach, lessons will be learned and what needs to be corrected will be corrected in a thorough educational work.”
“Lapid and his friends make cynical and evil use of the video to divide and conflict the national camp and to attack religious Zionism and weaken it. We will not accept hypocritical moral preaching about the love of Israel from Lapid and his friends who never cease to incite and stir up strife and condemnation.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir commented: “There are things that are not done either on Purim and in jest. It is disgusting and we must not in any way descend to the level of Eretz Nehederet (a much criticized satirical Israeli television program which did an insulting parody of the wives of the religious Zionist Knesset members). This thing does not in any way represent the national religious society where my children (descendants of immigrants from Tunisia, Kurdistan, and Iraq) also learn with love and joy with children of all denominations.”
Member of Knesset Hili Tropper (National Unity)commented: “I do not want to deal with the girls who participated in the video, and I ask that they not become the target of criticism. Leave them alone. The failure is in the educational atmosphere, from which such a video was created and its screening was possible. The collection of low stereotypes and racist motifs shows that the most basic values have not been assimilated in education. Religious Zionist education in general, and the Horev school in particular, has many educational successes, but those who deal with education know that when there is such a deep and blatant failure, soul-searching and hard work are required to correct it,” Tropper said
MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism) commented: “As a proud Mizrahi member of the religious Zionist list, I can say that expressions of racism can be found in every sector. The attempt to make every pointless nonsense that someone does or says the center of the agenda and through this to vilify each other is folly and an inappropriate act. Racism is an obscene thing, period, but so are the attempts to divide us.”
Former Yamina MK Yomtob Calfon commented: “Instead of hitching a ride on the Horev studio video to discredit an entire institution/sector/political camp, how about a real discussion about racism in Israeli society?”
“Yes, there is racism in religious Zionism, but not only that. Regarding the discrimination of Sephardi girls in haredi institutions – I advanced a law in on the subject. Even in the secular public, there is no shortage of things to correct, not only in the Supreme Court.”
“Regarding religious Zionism, there is indeed something to be corrected – for example the prayer which is always in the Ashkenazi style, including in institutions where half/most of the students are Sephardic – something that personally has always bothered me, it has become a cultural matter, that this is how people pray in the entire community. I have seen places that have started to change and mix prayer customs and that is a blessing. The same goes for the number of selichot prayers for Sephardic communities.”
“Knowing the Sephardic heritage. The heritage I mean is the Torah heritage, not just the folklore. It is necessary to teach about the great Sephardic rabbis and their books, there is a generally positive trend on the subject in recent years, according to the relevant committee.”
“The more they know the greatness and depth of thought of those rabbis and thinkers, the less they will lampoon them as you see in the video. This is also expressed in a place that is given not only to the Sephardic rabbis of previous generations but also to our contemporaries.”
“More than once I have been moved uncomfortably reading rabbinic notices of religious Zionism (regardless of the topic) which are signed by dozens of Ashkenazi rabbis and only a few Sephardic ones. They come, rightly, with claims about the lack of representation at the Supreme Court but fall short in the same place.”
“I wrote above about corrections in religious Zionism to prevent racism, and full disclosure: I have a son in the Yeshiva of Horev and a daughter in primary school and despite the video, I do not hesitate to enroll her in Horev, because I believe in correction. But what about the other sectors? Discrimination of Sephardic girls in haredi seminars, I saw that Aryeh Deri tweeted, why did he oppose my law on the subject?”
“I saw that Yair Lapid also tweeted about the Horev video, but what is he doing against the discrimination in the Supreme Court, in the academia, and in the elite units of the IDF, with the small percentage of Sephardic individuals there? Instead of everyone slandering the other sector, let’s all work together to correct it. We’ll see that in the 75th year of the country if it’s really important for us to have a place for everyone.”
Horev schools in Jerusalem were founded in 1934 by Orthodox German immigrants who wanted to educate their children according to the educational philosophy of Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch (d. 1888) known as Torah and Derekh Eretz, that is, preserving an Orthodox lifestyle in the contemporary world. Horev has an elementary school for girls and one for boys as well as a Yeshiva and Ulpena, all known for a high level of scholastic achievement. The Ulpena has always made an effort to absorb the diferent waves of aliya and today has a population which includes a large number of French, American and other immigrants in addition to Israel-born students.
