Talmud Torah Tashbar London Limited

Not to be confused with the Manchester based Tashbar Manchester formerly known as Talmud Torah Tashbar (charity)

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Talmud Torah Tashbar London Limited was a private company limited by guarantee without share capital Incorporated on 17 July 2012. Dissolved on 26 January 2016. It ran a school called Talmud Torah Tashbar which was ordered to close by the Department for Education in 2016.

Talmud Torah Tashbar London Limited was a private company limited by guarantee without share capital, incorporated on 17 July 2012 and dissolved on 26 January 2016. It operated an unregistered ultra-Orthodox (Haredi or Charedi) Jewish school known as Talmud Torah Tashbar in Stamford Hill, north London, primarily for boys aged 3 to 13. The school, which had been running illegally without registration since around 1976 (approximately 40 years), focused almost exclusively on Torah study in Hebrew and did not teach English or provide secular education as a matter of religious principle. This approach was criticized for promoting cultural and ethnic insularity, severely restricting pupils' spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, and failing to prepare them for life in modern Britain by limiting exposure to different faiths, communities, cultures, and lifestyles. As of late 2015, the school had between 221 and 248 pupils enrolled. The premises also featured inadequate conditions, including a pervasive unpleasant smell, broken windows, torn carpets, large holes in walls, and a lack of health and safety policies.

Background

The school applied for registration as a private institution in the early 2010s, prompting inspections by Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills). Between 2012 and 2014, Ofsted conducted three pre-registration inspections, each finding major regulatory failings in the curriculum, pupil welfare, and overall standards. Despite these repeated warnings, no immediate action was taken to close the school until its registration application was rejected in December 2015. Operating an unregistered school is a criminal offense in the UK, punishable by up to nearly a year's imprisonment. The British Humanist Association (BHA), which obtained Ofsted reports via Freedom of Information requests, criticized the government's delay in addressing the issues and called for swift action against similar unregistered "faith" schools, emphasizing the need to ensure alternative provisions for affected pupils.

Closure

On 30 December 2015, the Department for Education (DfE) rejected the school's registration application and ordered it to cease operations by 12 February 2016, citing its failure to meet minimum educational standards. The company was officially dissolved on 26 January 2016. However, evidence emerged suggesting the school continued to operate in defiance of the order. In March 2016, reports indicated ongoing activity at the premises, with minibuses dropping off children carrying rucksacks, and neighbors noting no change in the number of boys attending. By October 2016, photographs showed groups of school-age boys arriving regularly by minibus, potentially under the guise of a community center or supplementary studies, with parents possibly using home education as a loophole. The DfE launched an investigation in April 2016, which remained ongoing seven months later, amid frustrations from Hackney Council over the lack of enforcement progress. The case highlighted broader issues with unregistered Jewish schools in Hackney, where around 33 such institutions were operating, educating about 1,000 children in similar insular environments.

An unregistered Haredi Jewish school shut down after its pupils were taught “cultural and ethnic insularity” is continuing to operate under a different guise, it appears. Recently taken photographs seen by the Hackney Citizen show groups of school age boys arriving regularly by minibus at premises formerly used by the now defunct Talmud Torah Tashbar school in Stamford Hill.

The school was officially shut by the government in January this year and was dissolved as a company in the same month. However, three months later the Department for Education (DfE) opened an investigation to find whether the school had in fact closed. Now it has emerged this probe is still ongoing seven months on – suggesting the government suspects the school is in effect still operating in defiance of its order.

People

Directors

Name	Correspondence address	Role	Date of birth	Appointed on	Resigned on	Nationality	Country of residence	Occupation
Joel Gross	1a, Rookwood Road, Stamford Hill, London, N16 6UD	Director	May 1985	17 July 2012		British	UK	Student
Sajndel Gross	1a, Rookwood Road, Stamford Hill, London, N16 6UD	Director	February 1963	17 July 2012		British	England	Housewife
Yeshaye Schlesinger	1a, Rookwood Road, Stamford Hill, London, N16 6UD	Director	April 1950	17 July 2012		British	UK	Teacher

Contact

Registered office address 1a Rookwood Road, Stamford Hill, London, N16 6UD

The school operated from premises behind Stamford Hill’s New Synagogue.

Resources

• https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/jewish-school-which-banned-english-still-open-despite-being-ordered-to-close-a3210871.html
• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/charedi-talmud-torah-tashbar-stamford-hill-jewish-school-that-does-not-teach-english-ordered-to-close-a6813041.html
• https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08146621
• https://vinnews.com/2016/01/15/london-stamford-hill-charedi-school-ordered-shut-down-for-failing-to-meet-minimum-doe-standards/
• https://humanists.uk/2016/01/15/bha-reveals-illegal-jewish-school-allowed-to-stay-open-for-years-despite-repeated-ofsted-warnings/