Reading the Archives

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Bais Yaakov in the DP Camps

An Object: Among the few items my parents brought with them from Europe when they emigrated to America is a Hebrew textbook my mother (Sara Seidman, née Abraham) wrote by hand, from memory, for the

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Bais Yaakov, the Talmud, and Me

“Whatever strategic impulses may have led Schenirer to avoid discussing what Rabbi Eliezer may have thought of her enterprise, she helped construct an alternative value system that shaped my own attitude to the Jewish library…”

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Bais Yaakov in the Olomeinu Magazine

Confession: My area of specialization is not Bais Yaakov. My knowledge of Bais Yaakov’s history comes from my work on this website, in fact. My area of specialization – or at least one of them

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Tishrei Thoughts from Sarah Schenirer

In the 35th issue (1928) of the Bais Yaakov Journal, Sarah Schenirer wrote about Tishrei in a column titled תשרי-געדאנקען – Tishrei Thoughts. Read a translation in this week’s blog post.

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When Plans Go Awry

“Sources like student publications, class notes, and teachers’ lesson plans are equally as important. They demonstrate what happened in schools in great detail, while official documents tend to provide a much broader picture.”

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Ephemeral Treasures

After a summer hiatus during which we strategized and brainstormed (and wrote grant applications), we’re back with more material from the archives!  This week, I’m highlighting some materials donated by individuals from personal archives: class

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Extra-curricular Memories

The choir on stage at YIVO, March 24, 2019. L-R: Naomi Seidman, Michelle Miller, Roni Mazal, Dainy Bernstein, Rivky Grossman, Batya Okunov, Basya Schechter. Photo: Steve Beltzer. Two weeks ago, Naomi Seidman wrote about the

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A Songbook Come Alive

Among my favorite Bais Yaakov finds in the YIVO archive, and one I discovered almost at the very start of my journey, is Undzer Gyzang: Lider far Bais Yaakov shuln, Basya Farbands, un Bnos Agudath

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When a Book Is Not Really Done

There’s something a little ambivalent and paradoxical about the process of seeing a book you’ve worked on for years finally appear in print. It’s certainly gratifying to finish a book and watch it take its

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When Bais Yaakov Girls Were Movie Stars

On February 22, 1933, the Yiddish daily Hayntige nayes published a news report with the eye-catching title: “The Agudah Is Making Its Own Films: It aims to turn Bnos-Yaakov girls into movie stars.” As the

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In the Birnbaum Archives

The great scholar and historian Yosef Hayyim Yerushalmi once wrote: History is the faith of fallen Jews. But what of Jews who are not fallen? Have they no need for history? Might history be a

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From Sister to Sister: #1

SHIDDUCHIM LETTERS This is the first installment of a column from The Bais Yaakov Journal called “From Sister to Sister,” translated from the Yiddish by Sandra Chiritescu.  “Shidduch Letters” appeared in issues 78 and 79

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Was Bais Yaakov a Feminist Movement?

In 1934, the Agudah secured the right to distribute a share of certificates for immigration to Palestine, from Zionist organizations that had previously controlled them. But the certificates were precious and competition for them was

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Report Card Revelations

What can a few simple report cards tell us about Bais Yaakov schools? A lot, actually. One of the purposes of the Bais Yaakov Project website is to foster scholarship of the Bais Yaakov movement

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