I am the mother of 4 beautiful children, 3 of those are girls, one went to a co ed orhodox yeshiva and two went to Bais Yaakov. All 3 girls had mefarshim, and torah learning with navi. The bais yaakov education always was respectful to the girls, what i liked best about bais yaakov is the balance. Always Bais Yaakov put the wonders of being female and the positives of being female forward. They do have home economics and balancing a check book in math class and not as electives. The other school i was involved with my oldest daughter did not, they baked cookies.
Women are not just home in the household raising children. Have you seen those tuitions lately!! There is no way that that can be. At the same time women are intelligent and beautiful people as are men and are entitled to the same education and benefits. Those Bais Yaakov girls are the future rebbetzeins that you respect, teachers of boys and girls for future generations, not to mention bread winners of the family if a husband wants to learn. We must allow women to advance in the Jewish community. I myself am a regisitered nurse and due to my circumstances I am a single mother, affording 3 days school tuitions in addition to a mortgage and all that comes. Without my education into chemistry, biology, and algebra I would not have been able to accomplish this. Also when a child enters school do we know if she will be a future fire leitenent (see pikesville fire department first orthodox woman- who is a pediatric social worker as well), doctor or nurse. So why limit in the beginning.
I already turf questions about religious women being subserviant in an orthodox home to their husbands or the men, from fellow jews! as well as non jews. The Jewish community needs to be highlighted in a positive towards our men and women of today. As the rabbi mentioned earlier, these benefits seemed to be given to women of our past, as demonstrated by devorah, chana, and esther. these women needed to be strong and educated in order to be the ones to have made a differance in our lives. Without Esther’s knowledge do you think she would have shined above others and been picked to save the jews?? If we all hung, we would not be having this blog.
As for my background I did grow up in a leaning orthodox home. I went to public school while my brothers went to yeshiva (Long Beach, NY), because my “jewish education was not as important as the boy’s”. I went to talmud torah to learn hebrew and chumash. I did not have mefarshim and other topics that bais yaakov teaches. You would not want me for your son’s wife not because I am not frum enough but because I don’t know enough. I do keep a jewish home, keep shabbos as much as I can, and give my children a jewish education all that my ketubah says i have to. But I do wish I was given that Bais Yaakov education.
I learnt later on that jewish women should be prideful of who they are. I learnt later on that women are the foundation of a jewish home, and most of all I learnt and know that being a girl/female/woman in a jewish home is NOT subserveant.
The one thing I wish Bais Yaakov and other frumkites would learn and model is not to be derogatory. Kids listen. Hearing the words goyim and shvaltz in no different than using kike or nigger. it has become a derogitory use of words. My children being in a secular neighborhood can tell you there are still many righteous gentiles out there. I wish the school and community members would be more sensitive to the choice of words they use. I know we are the chosen people to carry on Hashem’s torah and teachings, many gentiles do too. I have more gentiles with more respect for me for being an observant jew. This I convey to my girls and son.
Education is important for both girl and boy and both should have a balance. We must live in a Jewish world, and we must live in a secular world harmoniously.