Sarah Schenirer yarzheit

Last night, I attended a lecture given to commemorate the yarzheit of Sarah Schenirer (1883 - 1935) the founder of the first Jewish Orthodox education system for girls, known as Bais Yaakov, which she established in Poland in 1918.

“The Main goal of the Beth Jacob school,” wrote Sara Shenirer, “is to train the Jewish daughters so that they will serve the L-rd 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 whose existence is predicated upon a territory and similar racial background. The Beth Jacob ideology stresses the following: religion; the fight against assimilation; the attachment to the Yiddish language.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Schenirer

An article in the Jewish Observer states, "She was not blessed with children of her own. And yet she was a mother. In fact, one could rightly say that no mother in our generation had as many children as she did.
When she departed this life in 1935, hundreds of Jewish girls walked behind her aron, towards the Cracow cemetery, and wept with heartrending outcries, as one does for one's own departed mother. And when news of her petirah became known throughout the cities and towns of Jewish Poland, thousands of Jewish girls tore kriah and sat shivah as if for a mother. The very same year hundreds of young Jewish mothers named their new-born daughters Sarah, after a woman, who - two decades earlier - was still an unknown Jewish seamstress, but who had since become: Sarah Schenirer, the legendary mother of a new Torah-true generation of Jewish women in pre-war Eastern Europe. "
http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/jo/tworld/schenirer.html

The article continues, "At the age of thirteen she completed school. She wanted to continue with her studies, but her parents’ material poverty prevented her from doing so, and she became a seamstress. When one client was unusually particular about the measurements of her dress Sarah recorded in her diary:
People are such perfectionists when it comes to clothing their bodies. Are they so particular when they address themselves to the needs of their soul? "

The rabbi who spoke last night said that when Yosef was in Egypt, Potiphar's wife tried to commit him to sin. What ultimately saved him from sinning was seeing the image of his father. So, too, was Sarah Schenirer the image that the Bais Yaakov girls saw in their minds as they lived through the war years, even striving, to the best of their ability, to observe the mitzvot in the concentration camps.
The lecturer stressed that parents must strive to set a good example for their children, just as Yosef was able to conjure up his father's image to sustain him during his tribulations. The rabbi spoke about how he had gone to shul, one day, and saw a boy davening next to him. As the rabbi was reciting the first beracha in Shemoneh Esrei, the boy had already completed the whole prayer. He wondered how the boy could rush through his prayers. But, a short while later, he had the occasion to daven with the boy's father in shul, and he was able to see how the father's rushed davening served as a lesson for the son on how to pray. So, let's remember that our behavior impacts upon our children. They will grow up to be copies of their parents, in many cases. So, let's set a good example.
I would also like to offer a special appreciation to the organizer of the annual Sarah Schenirer tea in my area, who tirelessly and devotedly, works to bring to fruition an event where thousands are raised for the special mitzva of covering the expenses of poor brides in Israel.