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Beth Jacob

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Topic: Beth Jacob, Name of Girl's School

Moshe Lowenberg wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Why are Orthodox girls' schools throughout the United States called "Beis Yaakov?" What was the relationship between Yaakov and girls' education? Thank you for your attention to this. We were not able to come up with an answer in our study group.


Dear Moshe Lowenberg,

Before giving us the Torah, G-d said to Moses: "Thus shall you say to the Beis Yaakov, and tell the B'nei Yisrael." Our Sages explain that Beis Yaakov refers to the women, while B'nei Yisrael refers to the men.

Hence, women's Torah institutions - whose aim is to transmit the teachings of Sinai - are fittingly called Beis Yaakov in honor of the very first link in that chain of transmission, the women who stood at Mount Sinai.

Sources:

  • Shmot 19:3 and Rashi


 
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