Page 31 - HaMizrachi Pesach 5782 USA

Mizrachi Girls School, Jerusalem 1950

the years that preceded the Second World War: “Every suit- through the years… the same discussions, the same joy
case, every bag, every pressed collar, every leather belt from a newly introduced idea, from a beautiful and stirring
matched to the color of the dress attested to the parents’ literary expression, you find among these girls as well…
care.” Professor Leibowitz added that the girls who came in Apparently such is the soul of a young man or woman of
those years with attractive clothing from their comfortable Israel: its purity withstands the gates of defilement and is
homes in Germany knew not a word of Hebrew when they unmarred. Fortunate is the home that takes in such youth
arrived in the country. Professor Leibowitz lamented the to educate them, to guide them, to teach them Torah. How
fact that a large part of the two years they were afforded great is its task, and how grave its responsibility!” (Nechama
to study at the institution was dedicated to learning rudi- Leibowitz, HaTzofeh, “The Immigrant Girls”, October 21, 1947)
mentary Hebrew vocabulary instead of engaging in study
that would enrich the intellect and the soul. Expansion of the Mizrachi Girls School
Upon completing their studies, the girls were assimilated in of Jerusalem
the workforce in various places in the country. Some joined In 1945, a cornerstone was laid on the grounds of the school
the kibbutzim of Tirat Tzvi, Ein HaNatziv, Yavneh, and those
of Gush Etzion. The goal was to train them as pioneers who for the construction of an additional building that would
house Holocaust survivors of elementary school age. The
would help build new religious communities.
assumption was that the girls attending the high school
would be able to help the younger children and assist
After the war the existing staff while gaining experience in childcare.
In the same HaTzofeh article, Professor Nechama Leibowitz Construction ended in June 1946, and the institution then
described how different the students who arrived from opened its doors.
Europe in the two years after the war were from those who In August 1951, a cornerstone was laid on the grounds for
had come in the early days of the school. The girls who came the construction of the Esther Shapiro Vocational High
after the Holocaust knew Hebrew better and were thirsty School, named after a member of Mizrachi Women of
for knowledge, despite the atrocities they had endured. America. Present at the cornerstone laying ceremony was
“You might have thought that girls who had spent five Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog, who noted in his remarks that
or six years – one-third of their lives! – in such horrific “many daughters have done great things”, but the Mizrachi
surroundings, in places where every trapping of humanity Women of America have surpassed them all by founding
had failed, where every moral law had been annulled, where establishments dedicated to the glory of education.
all values had been trampled, would not be able to receive
the words of the living G-d; that the Torah and the Prophets
would no longer find inroads to their hearts due to apathy
or cynicism.
“You stand there in wonder and amazement… because the  Originally published in Hebrew at ReshetAmit.org.il
very same reactions we saw from the best of the youth all

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