Sarah Schenirer and the Bais Yaakov Movement

by Naomi Seidman

Sarah Schenirer is one of the unsung heroes of twentieth-century Orthodox Judaism. The Bais Yaakov schools she founded in interwar Poland had an unparalleled impact on a traditional Jewish society threatened by assimilation and modernity, educating a generation of girls to take an active part in their community. The movement grew at an astonishing pace, expanding to include high schools, teacher seminaries, summer programmes, vocational schools, and youth movements, in Poland and beyond; it continues to flourish throughout the Jewish diaspora.

Naomi Seidman explores the movement through the tensions that characterized it, capturing its complexity as a revolution in the name of tradition. She presents the context which led to its founding, examining the impact of socialism, feminism, Zionism, and Polish electoral politics on the process, and recounts its history, from its foundation in interwar Kraków to its near-destruction in the Holocaust, and its role in the reconstruction of Orthodoxy in subsequent decades.

A vivid portrait of Schenirer shines through. The book includes selections from her writings published in English for the first time. Her pioneering, determined character remains the subject of debate in a culture that still regards innovation, female initiative, and women’s Torah study with suspicion.

Genres: Jewish, History, Judaism, Nonfiction

448 pages, Hardcover

Published January 31, 2019

Reviews

[Frieda Vizel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Placeholder for a review that I plan to write on my blog. Whenever that will happen. In the meantime, this is a book with such crisp insight on the context and historical importance of the rise of the Bais Yaakov movement and its fascinating matriarch, Sarah Schenirer.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story of the life of Sarah Scheniner and the Bais Yaakov Movement she founded, with a lot of historical context of Europe between the two world wars, as well as lots of material written by Scheniner that the author has translated into English for maybe the first time.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of these days (perhaps when I’m not stressing about finals) I need to go back and read this properly, for enjoyment, and not to see if I can squeeze out any information on how Schenirer might have been influenced by Zionism (spoiler alert: I could not). It seems like a great discussion on not just the history of Bais Yaakov, but how the movement has gained popularity and became an entire culture today.

[Perlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing glimpse into the unknown life of the founder of Bais Yaakov.
Read for dissertation. The translation of Schenierer's works is worth the price of the book.

[Yossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subversive thought: Require Bais Yaakov girls to read this book. That might not be fair as the author is Bais Yaakov educated but left Orthodoxy later in life. To be fair, this fact is mentioned up front in the book. I especially enjoyed parts of the second half of the book - a translation from the original Yiddish of the 1955 edition of Sarah Shneirer’s Collected Writings.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, well written and rigorous examination of the history of Bais Yaakov’s founding and its exceptional founder. Could not put it down. Very moving.

[Victoria Lisek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive, and quite inspiring, survey of Sarah Schenirer and her establishment of the Bais Yaakov Movement; an Orthodox Jewish school system for girls founded in 1920s Poland.

[Yitzchok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book!

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

could have had 20% less content about the minutiae of Agudah politics in interwar Poland, engrossing book otherwise though