Sarah Schenirer

Sarah Schenirer was born to Bezalel Schenirer (of Tarnów) and Reizel in Kraków, Poland. ==Vienna==

During World War I, Schenirer and her family fled from Poland to Vienna. While there, she became influenced by Rabbi Moshe Flesch, His sermons had emphasized the role of women throughout Jewish history, which inspired Schenirer. Later on, Flesch accepted Schenirer's invitation to "please visit our school." After her first marriage ended in divorce, Schenirer occasionally attended plays, and public lectures for the women; at one Friday night meeting of the Zionist Ruth Organization, she was pained to observe them lighting candles on Shabbat (Saturday), in violation of halakha (Jewish law). == Bais Yaakov schools ==

Although Samson Raphael Hirsch's 1853-established Realschule provided girls with "rigorous elementary and secondary school education," and "thousands of girls in Russia attended female-only cheders in the 1890s,", However, he agreed to take her to see the Belzer Rebbe in Marienbad, who gave her his blessing in two words: "Mazel uBrocha." and he in fact refused to encourage the girls of his Hasidim to go to Bais Yaakov. According to the diary of a seminary student, Bracha Levin, Schenirer did tell the Belzer rebbe of her intentions of teaching young girls, to which he gave his approval, provided that she did not teach Hebrew. This was an assurance she could give, since she did not speak that language. And later on, she consulted with him on a halakhic matter concerning her school. Schenirer opened a kindergarten for twenty-five children in her seamstress studio, where she emphasized love of Torah and mitzvos. Schenirer had begun to set up lectures and a library for Jewish women but she abandoned that plan. She was admired for her sensitivity and care for others. After work, Schenirer stayed up late to study the weekly Torah portion and Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) in Yiddish translation: The lessons at her schools consisted of explaining in simple terms to the students the meaning of the Chumash (Pentateuch), and some other sections of Tanakh. She instilled pride of being Orthodox in the students through song, plays, and dancing. Schenirer encountered no resistance from Orthodox leadership in setting up her school; on the contrary, her Kraków school was aided almost from the beginning by the local Agudat Yisrael, and by other local branches of the Agudah, until it was incorporated into the Keren ha-Torah of the World Agudat Yisrael. Within 5 years, the Agudah copied Schenirer's model, growing into 7 schools, with 1,040 students. By 1933, there were 265 schools in Poland alone, with almost 38,000 students. The main goal of the schools was to In 1933, Schenirer retired from her role within the institution, but remained very much involved until her death in 1935. Teacher's Seminary In 1923, Leo Deutschlaender, together with Sarah Schenirer, set up a teachers' seminary, to train staff for the rapidly expanding network of schools. Deutschlaender, a neo-Orthodox pedagogue from Germany, and the head of the educational fund of the Agudat Yisrael (Keren ha-Torah), saw the need for professionally trained teachers. ==Personal life==

Sarah Schenirer was raised in a Belzer Hasidic family. She married young, but was divorced from her first husband. Schenirer married again later in life. Although she remained childless, her students would speak of themselves as being her children. They are considered the legacy of Frau Schenirer. though there is no evidence that any of her works were adopted in the curriculum. On Friday, March 1, 1935 (26th of Adar I, 5695), Schenirer died from cancer, at the age of fifty-one. == Legacy ==

By 1939, there were about 250 schools established, and over 40,000 students in Bais Yaakov schools. The admiration was mutual, and the girls within the movement called her "Sarah Imeinu", which translates to "Our Mother Sarah", an honorific evoking the Biblical matriarch Sarah. She had no children of her own; the girls of the movement filled that void for her. == Literary references ==

In her novel Peleh Laylah, Israeli author Esther Ettinger, who studied at a Bais Yaakov school as a girl, weaves in passages from Sarah Schenirer's writings. Her student Pearl Benisch wrote a book about Sarah Schenirer called Carry Me in Your Heart. Excerpts from the diary of Bracha Levin, written when she was a student at the Krakow Bais Yaakov seminary, and which provide new details of Sarah Schenirer's interactions with students, have recently been published by Rachel Manekin. == See also ==