A Letter from the Hafets Hayim
Summary
TO THE HONOURED LEADERS and those who cherish the Torah, those who tremble at the word of God who are in the town of Fristik, may God bless them and protect them.
I have heard that God-fearing people, respectful of the word of God, have volunteered to found a Bais Yaakov school in this city for the study of Torah, the fear of God and the way of the land, teaching Torah to Jewish girls. I said of their worthy endeavour, may God strengthen and establish the work of their hands, for this is a great and necessary matter in our day. When the stream of heresy, may the Merciful One spare us, reigns in all its power, and secular people of every variety prey on Jewish souls, everyone whose heart is touched by the fear of God must send his daughter to study in this school. And all those who have hesitations and concerns about the prohibition against teaching a daughter Torah have no reason or grounds for this in our times. But this is not the place to explain this at length.
Our generation is not like previous generations, when every Jewish home passed down the tradition from their grandfathers and grandmothers to walk in the way of the Torah and religion and to read the Tsene-rene every holy sabbath. But because of our many sins this is not the case in our own generation. And that is why we must try with all our spiritual energy to increase the number of these schools and to rescue what is still in our power to rescue.
Writing for the sake of the honour of the Torah and religion,
With the help of God, Israel Meir Hacohen
23 Shevat 5693 [19 February 1933]- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sarah Schenirer and the Bais Yaakov MovementA Revolution in the Name of Tradition, pp. 236 - 237Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2019