Sarah Schenirer – Collection of Letters

Collection of letters by Sarah Schenirer, founder of Beit Ya’akov. Krakow, 1926-1933.
Eleven handwritten letters by Sarah Schenirer (1883-1935), most of which were addressed to Yehudit Ross (Frankel), a native of Frankfurt (died 1992) and to directors of Beit Ya’akov in Slovakia and Romania.
The letters contain abundant content regarding Sarah Schenirer’s unique character and the development of the Beit Ya’akov movement during the last decade of her life. In the letters, Ms. Schenirer advises regarding the establishment of new institutions and provides spiritual guidance. The extraordinary love and warmth that she bestowed upon her students, to whom she refers as “my sisters” and “my pure daughters,” is apparent.
In one of the letters, Ms. Schenirer advises Ms. Ross against expending aggressive efforts to establish a branch of Beit Ya’akov in the city of Bardejov, Slovakia, and not to oppose the local rabbi (who apparently objected to the idea). She relates what happened in another city, Frishtach, where there too the rabbi objected to the establishment of a Beit Ya’akov, whereupon the local politicos organization wrote a letter to the Chofetz Chaim regarding this matter, and his response was published in one of the Beit Ya’akov pamphlets.
In another letter, sent prior to Yom Kippur 1927, Ms Schenirer sends her wishes for a "Gmar Chatima Tova," and mentions a "Dvar Torah", in the name of the Sanzer Rabbi (referring thus to the author of the "Divrei Chaim" of Sanz) addressing the question as to why is it customary to wish in Yiddish “Gutten Gmar Chatima Tova,” because as Gutten means good, the term is repetitive.
Another letter is an especially lengthy message dedicated to the first Beit Ya’akov convention in Hungary, in which Ms. Schenirer delineates the fundamental guidelines of her movement, emphasizing in large letters the words “One entity to carry out the will of the Almighty, with a whole heart!”
The letters are all written in Yiddish, except one in German. The end of one of the letters is missing.
Eleven letters. Various sizes. Fair condition. Stains, tears, creases (taped). All the letters have been laminated. Partial summaries of the letters are included.