She was a dedicated educational and social activist, an extraordinary teacher and an exceptional writer. Sarah Schenirer zichronah l’vracha, was one of the most important figures in the history of Jewish education. Schenirer, a seamstress from Kraków, saw the urgent need for a system of formal Jewish education for girls, an innovation that became necessary in order to stem the tide of the Haskalah, Enlightenment, which lured many Jewish girls away from the ideals of the Torah. The youngest of nine children, Frau Schenirer founded Bais Yaakov in 1917, but not without first overcoming some pretty substantial societal and political obstacles.

In his later years, a group of men came to the home of the Chofetz Chaim zt’l to inform him about a new breach in the ramparts of Torah tradition: the Bais Yaakov women’s seminary that had been established in Kraków. They argued that the Torah forbids all such innovations and cited the Gemara (Sotah 20a) as proof to their position. While they were trying to persuade the Chofetz Chaim to condemn the seminary, a second group arrived to ask for his blessing for the same institution. The first group was confident that they had proven conclusively that the existence of such a seminary was strictly forbidden, and they were sure that the elderly sage would denounce the newcomers in no uncertain terms. His response, however, was the exact opposite of what they expected. “Oy,” he cried, “such a holy undertaking, and I have no part in it!”

With the blessings of great Torah leaders such as the Gerrer Rebbe, the Belzer Rebbe, the Chofetz Chaim and Rav Elchonon Wasserman, she opened her first Bais Yaakov school in Kraków in 1918 with a class of 25 girls. From these humble beginnings, her school expanded into an educational network that – at the time of her passing – boasted more than 200 schools attended by some 25,000 students all across Eastern and Central Europe. She was nifteres after a devastating illness at the young age of 52, on a Friday afternoon as she gazed at the Shabbos candles she had just lit.

Before the Jewish people receive the Torah, Hashem gives Moshe instructions on how to teach his children: כֹּה תֹאמַר לְבֵית יַעֲקֹב וְתַגֵּיד לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (Shemos 19:3). Aren’t the “House of Yaakov” and the “Children of Yisroel” one and the same? Rashi tells us that in fact the verse refers to two groups within the nation. “Bais Yaakov” refers to the women while “Bnei Yisroel” refers to the men. Moshe taught the general principles of the Torah to the Jewish women, the Bais Yaakov, after which he learned the minutiae of the laws with the men. It is this distinct differentiation that helps us define the unique roles which men and women possess in Jewish life.

Yeshaya HaNavi (2:5) says it clearly, בֵּית יַעֲקֹב לְכוּ וְנֵלְכָה בְּאוֹר ה – Bais Yaakov, come let us walk in the light of Hashem. It is the Bais Yaakov, the women, who lead the way for their husbands and children, and maintain the spiritual light of our people. In the words of Sarah Schenirer, “…because it is the Jewish mothers and teachers who raise the next generation, only they can make the children love the Torah, it is them who guarantee the spiritual survival of the Jewish nation and, contrary to popular belief, the expression “Bais Yaakov” does not tell the Jewish woman that her place is at home, but that the Jewish woman IS the home. One should remember that in Yiddishkeit, the home is seen as something more than just a shelter for people. It is also the representation of the mishkan in which Shechinah resides.”

Rav Yechezkel Sarna zt’l (1889-1969), one of the founders and former Rosh Yeshivas of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Chevron, famously told a crowd of people that the person who had done the most for Am Yisrael in the past 100 years was not a rabbi, but Sarah Schenirer – the founder of the Bais Yaakov movement and teacher of a generation of young Jewish women. From Sarah Imeinu and the Imahos, to Miriam HaNeviah, Esther HaMalkah and the countless virtuous women who followed, we are forever in debt to the undisputed guardians of the Jewish home. May Hashem continue to grant them the strength and foresight necessary as they guide our precious children into becoming the bright lights of our people’s future.

Yehi Zichrah Boruch – the memory of Sarah Schenirer should be a blessing for us all.

Bais Yaakov was composed by Yerachmiel Begun and was first recorded for Kol Salonika, Vol. 3 way back in 1975. Following his debut Toronto Pirchei record the year before, Begun was becoming a household name in the world of Jewish music. At the same time, child soloist David Buzaglo, also first introduced on that Toronto album, was establishing a fine reputation of his own. An inspiring anthem, this melody demonstrates a balance of beauty, grace and strength – much like the mission of Bais Yaakov that Sarah Schenirer left us with so many years ago.