The articles assembled here represent stories about Bais Yaakov in various publications.
The newspapers and journals in which these stories appeared represent the wide range of the interwar press, from serious journalism to lowbrow sensationalism, and spanning from the Orthodox to secular (or anti-religious) segments of Polish Jewish society.
While the Orthodox press ordinarily spoke of Bais Yaakov with enormous enthusiasm and respect, that is less true for the popular daily press, where Bais Yaakov was often taken as an object of curiosity and amusement.
In at least one case, the 1933 Heyntige nayes story of Sarah Schenirer writing a movie script for Bais Yaakov production, the “report” seems to have been either a fabrication or a transparent joke.
For a brief description of each newspaper mentioned, see the JPRESS website. We thank JPRESS for permission to present material from their searchable digitization of the historical Jewish press.
A Grand Tu Beshvat Celebration by the Ezra Group and Bais Yaakov: Description of a Tu Beshvat celebration put on by the Ezra group along with Bais Yaakov in Kalisz, with many speeches (some in Polish) and singing and dancing until late in the night ...
Agudah Boycotts Jewish Workers: Article (critical of the Agudah) about the initiative to build a new Bais Yaakov in Praga, and the hiring of non-Jewish rather than Jewish workers ...
The Curious Case of the Woman Who Founded Girls' Heders all over Poland: A description of Sarah Schenirer as a woman educated in both secular subjects and languages and Torah and Talmud--a "Talmid Chochom" who prays in a synagogue every day and also prays the afternoon and evening prayers. The Agudah is sending her to Palestine to continue her work there, but the writer is skeptical that she might be successful ...
Mrs. Felix M. Warburg Appeals for Support of Beth Jacob Schools; Gives $500: Report on the honoring of Mrs. Zangwill at a reception of the American Friends of Beth Jacob. Note the discussion of rescue from the international white slave trade ...
The Agudah to Make Its Own Films: After Bais Yaakov students at the Warsaw BY responded that the most famous woman in the world was Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich (the Agudah leaders were hoping they would say Sarah Schenirer), the Agudah decided to make films of their own, so the girls wouldn't go to the secular movie theater. Sarah Schenirer wrote a script, which was submitted for approval to the Agudah. (This story is almost certainly entirely fictional; it describes Sarah Schenirer as having sailed to Palestine--something she never did.) ...
A Great Uprising in the Fortress of Agudah: An article in the Warsaw daily Haynt about the argument between Shmuel Nadler and the Agudah leadership over male theatrical performances ...
Hasidic Revolt in Błonie: The article describes a Bais Yaakov play, "Akeidas Yitzkhok", in which boys dressed up as girls in order to sneak into the theater (where girls playing the roles of Abraham and Isaac were dressed as boys) ...
