This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The chief rabbi has issued guidance for Orthodox Jewish schools on providing support for LGBT+ students, saying there is a religious duty to protect young people and their families.

The unprecedented document, described as a milestone, is likely to get a hostile reception from some Orthodox Jews who refuse to acknowledge diversity in sexual orientation or gender identity.

Some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools have been criticised by Ofsted for failing to teach pupils about LGBT+ issues and censoring textbooks that refer to sexual or gender diversity.

The Wellbeing of LGBT+ Pupils: A Guide for Orthodox Jewish Schools is produced by Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi, in conjunction with KeshetUK, an organisation that advocates for LGBT+ rights in the Jewish community. The guidance calls for a zero-tolerance approach to homophobic or transphobic bullying.

In an introduction, Mirvis says many LGBT+ students in Jewish schools “endure deep unhappiness and distress due to the mistreatment and hurt they experience”.

There is a religious obligation to provide support and guidance, he adds. Schools must introduce “robust behaviour policies that will enable all students to achieve their potential, free from bullying, discrimination and fear”.

Mirvis says: “Orthodox schools have understandably found it difficult to engage with LGBT+ issues. As challenging as the task might be, and it is exceptionally challenging, I believe that failure to address it at all amounts to an abrogation of our responsibility to the Almighty and to our children.”

Although the guide is aimed at schools, its significance is expected to resonate widely among Orthodox Jews because of its use of religious texts to challenge widespread intolerance of LGBT+ people.

Last year the Orthodox Jewish community in the UK was divided by a bitter row over a senior rabbi’s comments about homosexuality, which led to him being accused of heresy and corruption.

Joseph Dweck, the senior rabbi of the UK Sephardi community, said there should not be witch-hunts against gay people, adding there were “plenty of skeletons in everybody’s closet”.

A few months later, a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis called for a boycott of a Jewish cultural centre in London because it held a gay-themed week of events and provided a meeting space for gay Jewish parents.

The schools guide cites a passage in the Talmud, the primary source of religious law, which teaches that there is an absolute obligation to save a person in a life-threatening situation.

“Any person who doubts that there are young LGBT+ people in our schools who have been left feeling so isolated that their very lives are in danger has simply failed to grasp the reality confronting some of our students,” it says.

Quoting another passage, “Whoever humiliates another in public forfeits their place in the world to come”, it adds: “Judaism demands that we never stand idly by when someone is being bullied and humiliated.”

The guide is believed to be the first of its kind produced for any Othodox Jewish community in the world.

Mirvis said the document was a significant milestone that would have “a real and lasting impact on reducing harm to LGBT+ Jews across the Orthodox Jewish community”. He added: “Our children need to know that at school, at home and in the community, they will be loved and protected regardless of their sexuality or gender identity.”

Dalia Fleming, of KeshetUK, said the organisation looked “forward to working with schools, rabbis and educators across Jewish communities, supporting them to implement this guide so they can ensure their LGBT+ students reach their potential, free from homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, discrimination and fear”.