The Bais Yaakov Journal
The Bais Yaakov Journal was a publication of Bais Yaakov and the Agudah. It was edited by Eliezer Gershon Friedenson, from his office in Łódź, and it appeared monthly (or sometimes more often) from 1923 to 1939. A Polish supplement accompanied the Yiddish journal beginning in 1924. The Polish supplement was discontinued in 1929, when Bais Yaakov embraced Orthodox Yiddishism (see bio of Solomon Shlyome Birnbaum). Below are links to selected issues, digitized and presented here with generous permission from YIVO. (Some issues are missing from the YIVO archives.)
We have provided summaries of the highlights of each issue, but along with these were regular features, including:
- reflections by Sarah Schenirer on the parsha, Jewish holidays, and Bais Yaakov topics in nearly every issue
- letters to the editor
- a column by ELiezer Gershon Friedensohn called “From Month to Month”
- an advice column called “Sister to Sister”
- book reviews
- announcements about Bais Yaakov events
- reports from local Bais Yaakovs and Bnos chapters
- announcements of births, engagements, marriages, and deaths
- advertisements.
Some of the regular journal topics came and went. For instance, in the late 1920s, Bais Yaakov published Yiddish translations of poetry by Rabindranath Tagore in nearly every issue, participating in the general European passion for his poetry.
As part of the ongoing nature of the Bais Yaakov Project, we will finish uploading the print runs of the Bais Yaakov Journal though 1939, and add the print runs of the Bais Yaakov Ruf (Lithuania), Bet Yaakov (Israel), and Beth Jacob (United States).
We also plan to translate the Yiddish, Polish, and Hebrew journals. If you would like to contribute your time and expertise, please contact us.
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 64 (1931)
- An essay by Sarah Schenirer on the Torah portion
- An essay about songs that are sung in Bais Yaakov by Dr. Shlomo Birnbaum
- Benjamin Zusman writes the exemplary story of "Beautiful Dina", Dina Yekhia, from Lisbon, Portugal. This 15th-century woman refused to convert to Christianity, was saved by a miracle, and was forced into exile with her family
- Three scenes from a play by ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 65-66 (1931)
- An obituary for Rabbi Eliyahu Kirshbraun (1882-1931), a leader in Agudath Israel
- An essay by Sarah Schenirer on the Torah portion
- Special section on the holiday of Purim: a photo album, an essay about the story of the Book of Esther by Shmuel Ostersetzer, a poem for the holiday and a play of the Megilah in five acts by Eliezer Schindler, an article by ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 67-68 (1931)
- Various essays celebrating the work of Bnos Agudath Israel on the movement's five-year anniversary, by Eliezer Gershon Friedensohn, Sarah Schenirer, Judith Rosenbaum, Hava Landsberg, Reizl Roza, and Sarah Pesa Gutmorgen
- Congratulatory messages from members and leaders of Bnos on the fifth anniversary of the movement; signatories include: Sarah Hana Guter, Basia Nashelska, Rivka Tzernitz, Blime Klein, Malka Stockman, S. Y. Grebmacher, Elka Rothstein, Rivka ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 69 (1931)
- An essay by Sarah Schenirer about the Counting of the Omer
- News from Bais Yaakov: Eliezer Gershon Friedensohn reports on the celebration of a new building that will be built for students in the summer colony of Długosiodło and the Central Secretariat announces that two years after the Bnos conference in Lodz, they are now organizing a conference in Warsaw
- An article by Dr ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 70 (1931)
- An essay by Sarah Schenirer calling for uniting the Bnos movement, with a fundraising advertisement
- A summary of the three-day Bnos conference in Warsaw: Speech by Reizl Roza, greetings from different members, a report from Chaya Rosenblum, discussions and debates, and a report from Sime Kluger on the resolutions published by the Central Committee of Bnos Agudath Israel
- An article by Yehuda Leib Orlean ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 73 (1931)
- A report on the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the summer colony “Yehudis” in Dlugosiodlo (with photographs of the event)
- An article by Pese Gutmorgen about the importance of Jewish press and literature as a political tool, and encouraging the promotion of the Bais-Yaakov Journal.
- A diary entry by Sarah Schenirer describing the last night in the old building of the Teachers’ Seminary on Augustianska Street. ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 75-76 (1931)
- Two essays for the High Holidays, one by Sarah Schenirer and the second by Dr. A. Cohen
- An article about a Jewish community in India by Benjamin Mintz, part of a series of articles about Jews around the world
- A short story by Shmuel Nadler called “Swastika”, and other short stories and poems by V. Leichter, Ish Levi, Eliezer Shindler, Itzhak Shapiro, B. Yavetz ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 77 (1931)
- A survey which includes ten questions for the readers of the Bais Yaakov Journal
- An article by Eliezer Gershon Friedensohn about the efforts to bring back Yiddish into the Bais Yaakov schools and the youth movement Bnos
- Dr. Nathan Birnbaum’s translation of his book Im Dienste der Verheissung (In Service of the Promise) (continued in issues 77, 80, 81, 84, 87-88)
- An essay on ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 78 (1931)
- An essay by Sarah Schenirer about the importance of hospitality
- An essay by Yehuda Leib Orlean about the importance of poetry that derives its materials from the Jewish religion and from the deepest Jewish sources, as opposed to secular or non-Jewish poetry
- An article by Benjamin Mintz about the Converso community in Portugal, quoting the work of Shmuel Schwartz, a historian
- Poems and short ...
Bais Yaakov Journal Issue 79 (1931)
- An essay by Sarah Schenirer about the patriarch Jacob; the moral of his story is that every Jewish person should build a Jewish home on which the shekhine can rest
- Poems and short stories by Eliezer Shindler, Herzl Tzeizler, Esther Shoshana, and V. Leichter
- An essay by Yehuda Leib Orlean about the importance of Yiddish children's literature as an educational tool
- Continuation of the ...