Jewish school must stop asking parents about sex lives Published duration 13 October 2015

image copyright Google image caption Hasmonean High School is a state secondary for Orthodox Jewish pupils

A Jewish state school in north London has been told to change an admissions policy that asks parents about their sex lives.

Hasmonean High School in Barnet asks rabbis to confirm that families "observe the laws of family purity".

Under these laws, a couple must abstain from sex for 12 days from the start of the woman's period.

The school has defended the policy as "in no way embarrassing or intrusive" to Orthodox Jews.

But after a complaint from the Fair Admissions Campaign (FAC), the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) has ruled that Hasmonean must amend its admissions policy.

'Shocked'

The OSA said that whether or not parents found the question intrusive, it was impossible for a rabbi to confirm whether this aspect of Jewish law was being followed.

A member of the local Jewish community told the FAC: "As a prospective parent applying to the school, I was shocked to see that they thought it either appropriate or relevant to ask about adherence to these rules, not simply due to their extremely intimate nature, but also because they don't affect anyone apart from husband and wife."

Orthodox Jewish couples who observe the laws of Niddah abstain from sexual relations during the wife's period and for seven days thereafter.

The wife then takes a ritual bath to purify herself.

During this time the couples avoid physical contact with each other.

Source: London Beth Din

The adjudicator also said that rabbis could not be reasonably expected to confirm whether a family was observing Jewish dietary laws regarding kosher (permitted) foods and separating milk and meat in the kitchen.

It asked the school to alter its policy by the end of February 2016.

The Hasmonean School has been unavailable for comment.