Beit Yaakov (בית יעקב translated from Hebrew as “Yaakov House”, in Ashkenazi pronunciation “Beis Yaakov”, see Exodus / Shmot 19: 3) - a system of orthodox Jewish religious educational institutions for girls. Currently, it includes kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as vocational schools located in many cities of Israel and in various countries of the world where there are large Jewish communities.
Content
Title
“Beit Yaakov” goes back to the quotation from the Book of Shemot / Exodus (19: 3) “... say so to the house of Yaakov and to raise to the sons of Israel”. According to the traditional commentary of the Jewish sages, dating back to the Talmud, the "house of Jacob" refers to Jewish women.
History
The first Beit Yaakov school was founded in 1918 in Krakow (Poland) by Sarah Schnirer .
For many centuries, there was a Jewish educational system for boys, including headers , where training began at the age of three, yeshiva and beit midrashi . At the same time, girls did not receive formal education. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, more and more girls went to study in general non-Jewish schools, which contributed to further assimilation and a departure from the Jewish traditional way of life. To slow down this process, the dressmaker from Krakow Sarah Schnirer in 1918 opened a school for girls in her workshop. Her initiative was supported by authoritative rabbis of that time such as Hafets Haim and the Rabbi of the Gur Hasidim . Within a few years, school branches opened in many cities in Europe, as well as in America and Palestine.
Training Program
The school day at the school (as in all Jewish religious schools) begins with prayer.
At Beit Yaakov schools, along with general educational subjects such as mathematics, history, geography, and others, much attention is paid to religious disciplines. The girls deeply study the books of Tanakh, halacha (the laws of the Jewish way of life) and musar (ethics).
Particular emphasis is placed on the upbringing of spiritual qualities and a Jewish worldview.
School Charter
The appearance of the students, their behavior during school and in their free time are clearly regulated by the rules of the school. Girls should be modestly dressed in accordance with the religious norms of Judaism. There is a compulsory school uniform . As a rule, this is a blue blouse with long sleeves and a dark blue skirt below the knee. It is also mandatory to wear white or blue tights. In Israel, Beit Yaakov schoolgirls wear pink uniforms.