A Few Remarks Regarding the Education of Women

So, is it not an injustice for girls to be so neglected that the refined feelings which are God’s gift to all mankind are often destroyed in them? But if you speak to Jewish parents they will tell you that a girl does not need to be taught anything. They say that even if some day she has to write down a laundry list or carry on a conversation, she will learn that on her own when she becomes a housewife. The question of bringing up children does not even occur to them. Thus a girl grows up rough and crude. Every year she gets better at plucking feathers. She sees no one except the water carrier and the dairymaid. Then she gets married and goes out into the world, dealing with people in exactly the same manner she did in her mother’s kitchen.

At the same time, she has a good memory and recalls accurately all the stories of demons and ghosts she heard from the old maidservant while sitting on the stove during the long winter nights. She passes them on to her children down to the last detail. She has no notion of prayer; she merely knows how to repeat every morning the words of the modeh ’ani [“I thank,” prayer said upon awakening]. But she does not understand what she says and to whom she is saying it. Can one hope that such a mother will be a good raiser of children, a good mistress of the house, and a devoted wife who will be of benefit to her husband? Just look at the children of such a mother and you will see how coarse they are, what bad habits they have, how their understanding of higher things suffers from the superstitions that she has unfortunately instilled in their hearts. Their great natural talents have been ruined by the foolishness they listen to all day long in the heder from their mentor—the behelfer [assistant] who teaches them respect—and from the ignorant and foolish melamed [traditional teacher].

It is certainly not pleasant for any educated person to contemplate how Jews damage their children. But it is even worse when you see how some parents, who belong to the so-called educated classes, bury their children so deeply they will never be able to rise again. It breaks my heart when I remind myself of the wretched education they give them. For them, education is just a matter of fashion, like a big crinoline gown and the like. But the truth is they know nothing about education. And these idle people boast and pride themselves that they are European. They call themselves aristocrats and want to be considered the upper crust. But let us look at how such fathers guide their daughters. Up to the age of fifteen she grows up without any learning. But when she is a bit older and begins to meet people, she suddenly learns that she is an educated mademoiselle! Now her life begins. Of course when a shadkhen [marriage broker] arrives and starts to arrange a match, the parents start to say that it is not refined for their daughter to speak plain Yiddish and then they hire a tutor to teach her to play the piano and speak a smattering of French. You can imagine what kind of education a girl receives whose studies began with her engagement and ended on her wedding, but who thinks that she has in this short time learned the entirety of knowledge. Where does all this lead for such educated young ladies? Do they reach the goal that education is supposed to provide? No! It is quite the opposite. They are even more ruined than those girls who have not studied at all. Why is that? Because they have in fact received no education and because the parents thought that by providing their daughter with a big wardrobe they have discharged their duty to her in full. Afterwards, not only is she ignorant, but she starts to take on airs. And since she once read novels—though she doesn’t really understand them—she would like to find in her future husband an extraordinary man who is exactly as depicted in the exaggerated novel from which she has derived her entire education. And if she does not see in the future husband all those fine qualities which in her opinion are indispensible, then he isn’t the right man for her. [ . . . ]

Afterword by the Editors

Ever since Kol mevaser began appearing there has been an uproar over the question of the education of girls among Jews. Everyone sounds the alarm demanding only education and yet more education. All make fun of our grandmothers. Yes, it is indeed right to educate daughters, but how and by what means? It is easy to shout: “I don’t like this building—it must be torn down.” But a wise man asks: “Show me your plan and tell me how the new structure will be better.” Our dear correspondent indeed speaks wisely. But his eagerness for education has led him astray. He ought to describe the issue from both sides and not in such a simple way. He sets up the women of the past merely as fools and the women of today as coquettes. The only difference is that he makes no distinctions among the women of the past—they are all worthless. Today’s women, however, are only bad if they study between their engagement and their wedding. It follows therefore that those who have studied since childhood are fine. We, however, because we are editors and know that the world takes some notice of our words, are required to express our opinions impartially. Our grandmothers should not be so easily dismissed. It is thanks to them that our Jewish identity survived those difficult times when Jews throughout the world had to suffer greatly for their faith. What other nation in the world can boast of such honest and faithful wives? It was not love that tied the Jewish wife to her husband. When she married at an early age she knew nothing of love and desire. Religion was the tie that bound her to her husband. [ . . . ]

We, today’s enlightened children of those simple, old-fashioned mothers, ought not to be ashamed of them. We are nourished to this day by the spiritual fruit of the tree of faith that our mothers planted in our hearts.