In this week's parshah the Israelites stand at Sinai, men (Bene Yisrael) and women (Bet Yaakov). While the parallel language represented in Exodus 19:3 might simply have been poetic, it is understood in the Mekhilta (as transmitted by Rashi) to represent a differentiation between men and women. How has this notion of "Bet Yaakov" as women at Sinai come to be understood in terms of Torah Study, both in the rabbinic imagination and in modern times? We will look at some (in)famous passages in the Talmud regarding women's Torah study before we move on to look at the Bais Yaakov movement started by Sarah Schenirer in Cracow in 1917.
(ג) וּמֹשֶׁ֥ה עָלָ֖ה אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֤יו יְהֹוָה֙ מִן־הָהָ֣ר לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לְבֵ֣ית יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְתַגֵּ֖יד לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
(3) and Moses went up to God. יהוה called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel:
(א) בְּצֵ֣את יִ֭שְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם בֵּ֥ית יַ֝עֲקֹ֗ב מֵעַ֥ם לֹעֵֽז׃
(1) When Israel went forth from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,
(ג) לבית יעקב. אֵלּוּ הַנָּשִׁים, תֹּאמַר לָהֶן בְּלָשׁוֹן רַכָּה (מכילתא):
(3) לבית יעקב TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB — This denotes the women — to them you shall speak in gentle language (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:3).
Pirkei d' R. Elizer
When the men came to take their wives' gold earrings for the golden calf, the women refused to hand them over. They told their husbands, "We will not obey you and help you make an abomination that has no power or salvation." God rewarded them in this world [for this refusal] by granting them a greater degree of observance on Rosh Chodesh. And God rewards them in the World to Come by giving them the power of constant renewal which characterizes Rosh Chodesh.
(Book of our Heritage, Eliyahu Ki Tov, pg. 222)
When the men came to take their wives' gold earrings for the golden calf, the women refused to hand them over. They told their husbands, "We will not obey you and help you make an abomination that has no power or salvation." God rewarded them in this world [for this refusal] by granting them a greater degree of observance on Rosh Chodesh. And God rewards them in the World to Come by giving them the power of constant renewal which characterizes Rosh Chodesh.
(Book of our Heritage, Eliyahu Ki Tov, pg. 222)
(ה) יוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹחָנָן אִישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אוֹמֵר, יְהִי בֵיתְךָ פָתוּחַ לִרְוָחָה, וְיִהְיוּ עֲנִיִּים בְּנֵי בֵיתֶךָ, וְאַל תַּרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה. בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ אָמְרוּ, קַל וָחֹמֶר בְּאֵשֶׁת חֲבֵרוֹ. מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאָדָם מַרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה, גּוֹרֵם רָעָה לְעַצְמוֹ, וּבוֹטֵל מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, וְסוֹפוֹ יוֹרֵשׁ גֵּיהִנֹּם:
(5) Yose ben Yochanan (a man) of Jerusalem used to say: Let thy house be wide open, and let the poor be members of thy household. Engage not in too much conversation with women. They said this with regard to one’s own wife, how much more [does the rule apply] with regard to another man’s wife. From here the Sages said: as long as a man engages in too much conversation with women, he causes evil to himself, he neglects the study of the Torah, and in the end he will inherit gehinnom.
שָׁאֲלָה אִשָּׁה חֲכָמָה אֶת רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר: מֵאַחַר שֶׁמַּעֲשֵׂה הָעֵגֶל שָׁוִין, מִפְּנֵי מָה אֵין מִיתָתָן שָׁוָה? אָמַר לָהּ: אֵין חׇכְמָה לָאִשָּׁה אֶלָּא בְּפֶלֶךְ, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר: ״וְכׇל אִשָּׁה חַכְמַת לֵב בְּיָדֶיהָ טָווּ״.
The Gemara cites another question posed to Rabbi Eliezer. A wise woman asked Rabbi Eliezer: Since all bore equal responsibility for the incident of the Golden Calf, due to what factor were their deaths not equal? Some of the people were killed by the sword of Moses and the Levites, some were killed in a plague, and others were struck with an intestinal illness. He said to her: There is no wisdom in a woman except weaving with a spindle, and so it states: “And any woman who was wise-hearted spun with her hands” (Exodus 35:25). Therefore, it is unbefitting for a woman to concern herself with such questions.
אִם יֵשׁ לָהּ זְכוּת הָיְתָה תּוֹלָה לָהּ יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁנָה אַחַת יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים יֵשׁ זְכוּת תּוֹלָה שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים מִכָּאן אוֹמֵר בֶּן עַזַּאי חַיָּיב אָדָם לְלַמֵּד אֶת בִּתּוֹ תּוֹרָה שֶׁאִם תִּשְׁתֶּה תֵּדַע שֶׁהַזְּכוּת תּוֹלָה לָהּ רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר כׇּל הַמְלַמֵּד בִּתּוֹ תּוֹרָה (כְּאִילּוּ) לִומְּדָהּ תִּפְלוּת
The mishna limits the scope of the previous statement: If she has merit, it delays punishment for her and she does not die immediately. There is a merit that delays punishment for one year, there is a larger merit that delays punishment for two years, and there is a merit that delays punishment for three years. From here Ben Azzai states: A person is obligated to teach his daughter Torah, so that if she drinks and does not die immediately, she will know that some merit she has delayed punishment for her. Rabbi Eliezer says: Anyone who teaches his daughter Torah is teaching her promiscuity [tiflut].
Naomi Seidman, "'In a Place Where There Are No Men': Before Bais Yaakov" from Sarah Schenirer and the Bais Yaakov Movement
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/pdf/j.ctv1198tfk.6.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ad97805fddbeb65690be9a6ac0ef051ab&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6646_phrase_search%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/pdf/j.ctv1198tfk.6.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ad97805fddbeb65690be9a6ac0ef051ab&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6646_phrase_search%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results
Sarah Schenirer, "Pages from my Life," from Naomi Seidman, Sarah Schneirer and the Bais Yaakov Movement
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/pdf/j.ctv1198tfk.17.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ad97805fddbeb65690be9a6ac0ef051ab&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6646_phrase_search%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/pdf/j.ctv1198tfk.17.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ad97805fddbeb65690be9a6ac0ef051ab&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6646_phrase_search%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results
Bais Yaakov in Historical Perspective, Part III (Naomi Seidman)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flvqAb-8d68&ab_channel=TorahinMotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flvqAb-8d68&ab_channel=TorahinMotion