Chinuch Habanos

Question

My husband and I have been blessed with six girls, the oldest just turned nine. After much discussion, debate, and distressing arguments between us, friends, and relatives, we all agreed to ask you this multifaceted question.

Chinuch Habanos — Girls’ education — seems to have evolved greatly since its inception in 1917.

1. How can we determine which schools today truly represent the values of that movement?
2. What are the most important values we should be seeking in choosing schools for our daughters?
3. How important is the student body and how do we prioritize when there are conflicting values?
4. What can we do for our daughters besides school to keep them safe in a world that seems to have gone crazy?

Answer

One or two quotes from the founder of the movement will help us focus on all your questions. “The Main goal of the Beth Jacob School,” wrote Sarah Schenirer, “is to train the Jewish daughters so that they will serve Hashem with all their might and with all their hearts; so that they will fulfill the commandments of the Torah with sincere enthusiasm and will know that they are the children of a people whose existence does not depend upon a territory of its own, as do other nations of the world…

“The Bais Yaakov School has as its goal the training of the Jewish woman to fulfill the commandments of the Torah and to educate its daughters in the Torah spirit. Not by the construction of beautiful edifices or large libraries will the fire of knowledge be implanted. No! Only when they will study the holy Torah, disseminate and spread it, fan its flames, open the Jewish eyes and warm the Jewish hearts with it, will the law of the Torah remain the law of life. And how can this happen if not through intensive religious schools for Jewish daughters? Therefore, we must organize only truly Orthodox schools for your daughters which will imbue them with the Jewish faith and will implant in their hearts a Jewish consciousness.”