and Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel:
לבית יעקב TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB (Beis Yaakov) — This denotes the women — to them you shall speak in gentle language (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:3). (4) ותגיד לבני ישראל AND TELL THE CHILDREN (lit., the sons) OF ISRAEL — explain to the men...
וְלִמַּדְתֶּ֥ם אֹתָ֛ם אֶת־בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם לְדַבֵּ֣ר בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃
...and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up;
ללמדו תורה: מנלן דכתיב (דברים יא, יט) ולמדתם אותם את בניכם והיכא דלא אגמריה אבוה מיחייב איהו למיגמר נפשיה דכתיב ולמדתם איהי מנלן דלא מיחייבא דכתיב ולימדתם ולמדתם כל שמצווה ללמוד מצווה ללמד וכל שאינו מצווה ללמוד אינו מצווה ללמד ואיהי מנלן דלא מיחייבה למילף נפשה דכתיב ולימדתם ולמדתם כל שאחרים מצווין ללמדו מצווה ללמד את עצמו וכל שאין אחרים מצווין ללמדו אין מצווה ללמד את עצמו ומנין שאין אחרים מצווין ללמדה דאמר קרא ולמדתם אותם את בניכם ולא בנותיכם
And from where is it derived that we are not commanded to teach a woman? As the verse states: “And you shall teach them to your sons” (Deuteronomy 11:19), which emphasizes: Your sons and not your daughters.
(יב) הַקְהֵ֣ל אֶת־הָעָ֗ם הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֤ים וְהַנָּשִׁים֙ וְהַטַּ֔ף וְגֵרְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֨עַן יִשְׁמְע֜וּ וּלְמַ֣עַן יִלְמְד֗וּ וְיָֽרְאוּ֙ אֶת־ה' אֱלֹֽקֵיכֶ֔ם וְשָֽׁמְר֣וּ לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת׃
Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere the LORD your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching.
האנשים [ASSEMBLE THE PEOPLE,] MEN [WOMEN, AND LITTLE ONES] — the men, in order to learn, והנשים THE WOMEN, in order to listen to the words of the Law,
(ד) אֵינָהּ מַסְפֶּקֶת לִשְׁתּוֹת עַד שֶׁפָּנֶיהָ מוֹרִיקוֹת וְעֵינֶיהָ בּוֹלְטוֹת וְהִיא מִתְמַלֵּאת גִּידִין, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים הוֹצִיאוּהָ הוֹצִיאוּהָ, שֶׁלֹּא תְטַמֵּא הָעֲזָרָה. אִם יֶשׁ לָהּ זְכוּת, הָיְתָה תוֹלָה לָהּ. יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁנָה אַחַת, יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים, יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁלשׁ שָׁנִים. מִכָּאן אוֹמֵר בֶּן עַזַּאי, חַיָּב אָדָם לְלַמֵּד אֶת בִּתּוֹ תוֹרָה, שֶׁאִם תִּשְׁתֶּה, תֵּדַע שֶׁהַזְּכוּת תּוֹלָה לָהּ. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַמְלַמֵּד אֶת בִּתּוֹ תוֹרָה, כְּאִלּוּ מְלַמְּדָהּ תִּפְלוּת. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, רוֹצָה אִשָּׁה בְקַב וְתִפְלוּת מִתִּשְׁעָה קַבִּין וּפְרִישׁוּת. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָסִיד שׁוֹטֶה, וְרָשָׁע עָרוּם, וְאִשָּׁה פְרוּשָׁה, וּמַכּוֹת פְּרוּשִׁין, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ מְכַלֵּי עוֹלָם:
She barely finishes drinking before her face becomes green, her eyes bulge, and she [seems] filled with sinews (or "veins"), and they [the priests] say, "remove her, remove her!" so she does not defile the courtyard. If she has merit, it [the effects described above] would be suspended for her. There is merit that suspends for one year, there is merit that suspends for two years, there is merit that suspends for three years. From here Ben Azai says: A man is obligated to teach his daughter Torah, for if she drinks [as a suspected-adulteress], she will know that the merit suspends it for her. Rabbi Eli'ezer says: Whoever teaches his daughter Torah is considered as if he taught her foolishness.
Rabbi Simlai said to him: Teach me the Book of Genealogies in three months. Rabbi Yoḥanan took a clod of dirt, threw it at him, and said to him: Berurya, wife of Rabbi Meir and daughter of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon, was so sharp and had such a good memory that she learned three hundred halakhot in one day from three hundred Sages, and nonetheless she did not fulfill her responsibility to properly learn the Book of Genealogies in three years because it is especially long and difficult. And you say that I should teach it to you in three months?!
Sarah Schenirer, 70th Yahrtzeit Gathering
I could not get my dream of establishing a religious school for girls out of my head. At first [my brother] laughed at me. “Why do you want to start busying yourself with political parties?” he wrote back. But when I answered him that I was firmly resolved not to abandon this mission, he wrote me: “Nu, let us go to Marienbad where the Belzer Rav is now, and we will hear whether the tzaddik of the generation agrees to it.” There was no end to my joy. Although I did not have much money, I hurriedly prepared myself for the trip. When I arrived in Marienbad, I and my brother went immediately to the Belzer Rav. My brother, who was a ben bayis there, wrote in his kvittel: “She wants to educate Jewish daughters in the Jewish derech,” and I heard the answer from the tzaddik’s holy mouth myself: Bracha v’hatzlacha. The words were like the most expensive balsam oil, instilling fresh courage in my limbs. The blessing from the great tzaddik gave me the best hope that my strivings would be fulfilled.
R. Yosef Soloveitchik, Community, Covenant, and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communications, p. 83
As to your question with regard to a curriculum in a coeducational school, I expressed my opinion to you long ago that it would be a very regrettable oversight on our part if we were to arrange separate Hebrew courses for girls. Not only is the teaching of Torah she-be-al peh to girls permissible but it is nowadays an absolute imperative. This policy of discrimination between the sexes as to subject matter and method of instruction which is still advocated by certain groups within our Orthodox community has contributed greatly to the deterioration and downfall of traditional Judaism. Boys and girls alike should be introduced into the inner halls of Torah she-be-al peh."
"Bais Ya'akov Schools" by Deborah Weissman and Lauren B. Granite
The movement grew to include many types of institutions: supplementary (afternoon and weekend) religious schools for girls who attended non-Jewish schools during the day; all-day schools where the pupils were taught both Jewish and secular subjects; teacher training seminaries, the first of which was established in Cracow in 1924; a publishing house for textbooks, other educational materials and a monthly journal in Yiddish; summer camps, youth clubs (“Batya” for girls and “Bnos Agudat Israel” for teenagers) and international conferences for Jewish women (the first Bais Ya’akov conference was held in Warsaw in 1924). In the teacher training programs much emphasis was put on modern pedagogy. Although, as part of Agudat Israel, the movement took a non-Zionist stance, there were even hakhsharot—preparatory training centers for young women who wanted to settle in Palestine. In some of the larger cities the schooling extended through high school, offering business and vocational training.
Leslie Klein, "Sarah Schenirer and Innovative Change: Myths and Facts"
Why have Orthodox biographers rewritten the story of Sarah Schenirer and the founding of Bais Yaakov in recent years? Every society remembers its history in a way that promotes and fits in with its contemporary values. In today’s Yeshivish community, there is a stress on the importance of consulting gedolim, and great trepidation towards change, particularly with any issues related to women. Therefore, Sarah Schenirer, a woman who started a revolutionary innovation for women, albeit for traditional reasons, could be viewed as an incredibly threatening figure. Framing the founding of Bais Yaakov as having taken place with mass rabbinic pre-approval, removes the tension and fits the story squarely into contemporary Yeshivish values....
This historical disconnect has consequences for today. Advocates for change, particularly related to women, are often challenged with the criticism that they are abandoning the example of Sarah Schenirer, because these critics claim Schenirer refrained from any action until she had consulted with the Hafetz Hayyim and the other rabbinic leaders. The desire to seek the approval of multiple gedolim before suggesting or implementing even the smallest change or starting any kind of community organization or initiative is a valid approach. However, Sarah Schenirer is not representative of this approach. To claim Schenirer personifies this approach or to use her to criticize or undercut the efforts of those who are truly following her approach to innovation and positive change, is simply wrong. Instead, it effectively squelches new, positive calls for improvement and innovation.
Before the founding of Bais Yaakov, Orthodox leaders and newspapers discussed and debated the issue of girls’ education. The community was waiting for a change to come from above, from the leadership. Schenirer was not the first to suggest starting schools for girls, but instead of talking or waiting, Schenirer took action. She started on a grassroots level, from the ground up. Schenirer approached the rabbi with whom she had a connection for guidance, and she went about the work that she knew at her very core needed to be done to save the women of Klal Yisrael. And that is why history remembers her name, while so many of the leaders and detractors have fallen into obscurity.