An Historical Case Study in Jewish Women's Education: Chana Shpitzer and Maʿaleh

Abstract

This article presents two pioneering religious Jewish schools that opened their doors to girls in Jerusalem in the first decade and a half after the end of World War I and the establishment of the British Mandate in Palestine. One of these schools, established by Chana Shpitzer, was exclusively for girls, while the other, Ma‘aleh, was coeducational. Although both schools were Orthodox in outlook and identified with the growing Zionist move ment, their approaches to Torah education for girls were quite different. I believe a comparison between these two schools offers some insights into the relative advantages and disadvantages of single-sex and mixed Jewish educational frameworks.