Aish3d ago
Born into a Chassidic family in Krakow, Poland, in 1883, Sarah Schenirer grew up in a society where girls received no formal Jewish education. For eight years, Sarah attended a Polish public school, as was required by the country’s compulsory education law. Once or twice a week, the school was visited by a rabbi, who gave the Jewish students some basic lessons in Judaism. This did not satisfy Sarah’s thirst for knowledge.
Naturally inquisitive, Sarah read, in her native Yiddish, every Jewish book she could get hold of. Her father encouraged her learning and bought her a book of stories from the Talmud translated into Yiddish.
As a teenager, Sarah, like most girls in her community, was faced with the necessity of earning a living. She became a seamstress and eventually started her own successful dressmaking business.
In her personal life, Sarah did not see as much success. She remained single until age 27, when she gave in to societal pressure and married a local Jewish man with whom she did not have much in common. The marriage was unhappy from the start, and Sarah initiated the divorce proceedings a year later. The divorce was finalized when Sarah was 30 years old.
As a seamstress, Sarah encountered many girls and their mothers. She wrote, “When I saw how concerned people were with the smallest detail when I was cutting and measuring their dresses, I would think to myself, ‘And what do the “garments” of their souls look like?’”
This spiritual crisis unfolding in Poland was publicly discussed at the Rabbinical Congress in Krakow in 1903. Drawn to intellectual stimulation available in the secular world, hundreds of Jewish girls were leaving Judaism. Their connection to Judaism was so superficial that some readily converted to Christianity, whether for social acceptance or for marriage. In addition, too many Chassidic girls, lured by exciting promises, naively fell victim to human trafficking and were forced into prostitution.
At the Rabbinical Congress, rabbis and community leaders bemoaned the plight of Poland’s Jewish girls. As a solution, they discussed opening Jewish schools for girls and providing them with authentic Torah education. They encountered some opposition, along with practical difficulties. Though the conversation continued in the ensuing years, no one actually took the first step of opening a school.
As a woman, Sarah did not participate in any public discussion, nor did she have a husband to speak up for her. However, the disconnect she observed pained her immensely and she was eager to share her own love for Jewish texts with other women. In 1910, she wrote in her diary:
"When I open my books on the Sabbath and discover there the words of Torah and Midrash and so on – I forget everything else in this world and float above it in a higher realm of pure delight… The hearts of young girls are captivated by propagandistic lectures on secular subjects… I doubt very much that any girl in the gymnasium could possibly be as happy as I am during those hours when I immerse myself in sacred books."
At the same time, Sarah doubted that she could change anything. She wrote, “[M]aybe, at some point, I will have the courage to speak these thoughts aloud. But can this really happen? I, who am shy to let out a word…”
In 1914, World War I broke out and Sarah fled from Krakow to Vienna with her family. The first time she attended a local synagogue, she was astonished to see the rabbi step up to the pulpit and address both men and women. Sarah recalled
"Riveted to my seat, I listened with great fascination to the fiery, spirited words of the rabbi.
"In his sermon, he depicted the greatness and sublimity of the historical figure of Judith, and through her, he eloquently and passionately called upon Jewish women and their daughters to act according to the model of this Jewish heroine… Even as I was caught up in the spiritual description of the character of Judith, it occurred to me: ah, if only all those women and girls in Krakow were here now to learn who we are and where we come from.
The rabbi Sarah met in Vienna was Rabbi Moses David Flesch, who had studied in Frankfurt, where Jewish schools for girls already existed. He was accustomed to teaching women and was happy to recommend books by German Jewish thinkers to Sarah. Later, these books, along with the notes Sarah had taken at Rabbi Flesch’s weekday lectures, formed the basis of Sarah’s school curriculum.
In the summer of 1915, Sarah returned to Krakow, determined to bring Jewish education for girls to her hometown. She recalled, “On my first day back I presented my proposal to a small circle of well-known religious women… who listened to me with evident joy.”
But Sarah’s idea faced many practical challenges, from lack of a suitable location to skepticism from potential students. Sarah wrote, “Nevertheless, I persevered, and by that Sabbath had prepared a lecture for a gathering of 40 girls.”
Despite Sarah’s eagerness and passion, the girls were not impressed. “I could see the ironic smiles on many of their faces, and without a fare-thee-well, some of them just disappeared,” recalled Sarah.
Filled with self-doubt, Sarah had to persuade herself not to give up. She wrote, “I kept coming back to the same idea: We must open the eyes of our sisters, so they will see the great light of Israel! Forget any doubts, ignore all the obstacles! What do I care if people smile at me and mock my plan?... If the intentions are true and the goal is noble, will they not bear fruit?”
Sarah continued teaching, slowly gathered an interested audience, and founded a Jewish lending library. But she found that inspiration did not last. Girls enjoyed her lectures but did not commit to Jewish observance. Sarah reflected, “[M]ost were young women already, and it wasn’t easy to persuade them to take on a new, truly Jewish life, with all its customs and traditions.”
Thus, Sarah came to the conclusion that she had to begin educating Jewish girls at much younger ages.
In November 1917, Sarah wrote in her diary, “Finally, finally, the goal has been reached! I’m sitting now in my very own schoolroom.” Her first class consisted of 25 girls, “most of them children I sewed dresses for, and now I ask their mothers, Will you also allow me to provide them with spiritual clothing?” wrote Sarah.
Pearl Benisch, one of the early students, wrote that Sarah “resolved to start with these innocent little girls like me. She would tell them about the great love that our Father [God] has for His children, His concern for their well-being, the beauty of our heritage, Jewish history, and the truth of the Torah".
Sarah’s tiny apartment served as the classroom. It had old benches and no blackboard, but the girls’ eyes sparkled, and Sarah was overjoyed. One of her first students, who came to attend the school from a nearby town, recalled:
"We were crowded in that room during the day, but we were happy, indescribably happy, as our revered teacher opened new worlds for us… We prepared our simple meals in her kitchen… and ate at the same table… At night, we slept in the same room on the floor, and if we were lucky, we had a straw bed."
Later, Sarah would define her school’s mission: “to educate Jewish girls so that, with all their strength and with every breath, they will serve the Creator and fulfil the commandments of the Torah with seriousness and passion.” She described the Torah as “a holy fire from the One God that gives sustenance to the Jewish soul.” Sarah’s own passion was contagious, and her students appreciated and absorbed it.
The news of the school spread, and it grew quickly. By November, Sarah had 40 eager students. Others, especially parents of young girls, volunteered to help. Sarah found herself busier than ever.
Continue to the article: https://aish.com/taking-responsibility-how-sarah-schenirer-revolutionized-jewish-education-for-girls/
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