Geordie: “I have heard in the name of Gedolim, (I forget who but perhaps someone can let us know) that any girl who studies in a seminary nowadays, has the status of of a bas Talmid Chochom of old. This is the great achievement of Sarah Schneirer”
I have heard this also, but I also don’t remember who said it. I didn’t think it specified “seminary” though – I think it was “Bais Yaakov”. My understanding was that it referred to high school. But I could be wrong.
On the one hand, it is due to the achievement of Sara Schnirer, but I had also thought that it had to do with the fact that nowadays the home is not the biggest influence on a girl.
This can either be a positive thing or a negative thing, depending on what her home is like and what her school is like. But it does seem to put more control in the girl’s own hands. Even if a bas – non-Talmid-Chacham was doomed in the olden days, it seems that this is less likely to be the case today.