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.
Curious News from Small Towns: Report about a Bais Yaakov teacher in Chmielnik, a graduate of the seminary hired by a young Agudah activist, caught in an "un-Agudistic pose" with a married Hasid ...
A Bais Yaakov Children's Play: A review of a Bais Yaakov performance in Włocławek, with dance, skits, and songs; the reviewer mentioned that the hall was crowded and noisy, so that the performers could barely be heard ...
On the Question of Chinuch HaBanos: Bais Yaakov is a new school for keeping our daughters religious. It started in Europe and we hope it will flourish in Israel too ...
Agudath Israel Conference: Bais Yaakov in Europe already has 235 branches with 35,000 girls, but the rich people in the Jewish community still send their daughters to non-Jewish schools ...
Agudah Institutions in Israel: Friedenzon, the manager of Bais Yaakov and the editor for Bais Yaakov journal (who established and executed Sarah Schenier's idea) came to Israel for a visit in the goal to strengthen the institution in Israel ...
Bais Yaakov Teaching Hebrew and Organizing to Make Aliyah: Report about the pressures on Bais Yaakov from the left (and the right), and their recent efforts to teach Hebrew and organize "Bais Yaakov Pioneers" to prepare for labor in Palestine ...
School Closes Over Controversy About Wearing Pants for Sports: Report on a controversy between different factions in the Agudah over the permissibility of girls wearing short pants to do gymnastics and other sports, a controversy that led to the closing of the school ...
