Category Archives: Extraordinary Individuals

Unique Jews In a Category of Their Own

Jew of the Week: Sarah Schenirer

The only known photograph of Sarah Schenirer, taken for a passport

Sarah Schenirer (1883-1935) was born in Cracow, Poland to a Hasidic Jewish family. She left her elementary school at age 13 due to her family’s poverty, and took on a job as a seamstress. Meanwhile, she envied her brother’s opportunities to study Torah, and dreamed of creating similar opportunities for women. One by one, her girlfriends assimilated and left the Orthodox Jewish fold. Troubled by this development, Schenirer understood that girls were losing their connection to Judaism primarily as a result of ignorance. She resolved to start a Jewish girls’ education network, and in 1917 opened a girls-only kindergarten for Jewish studies. The school was called “Beit Yakov”. (The name comes from a Biblical verse, referring to God’s command to Moses at Mt. Sinai to instruct the women along with the men.) The idea flourished quickly, inspiring a “Bais Ya’akov” movement across Jewish Europe. By 1923, Schenirer had to establish a teachers seminary to train new instructors, who taught young girls both Torah and secular subjects. The movement gave rise to camps, clubs, a monthly magazine, international conferences, and even its own publishing house to print textbooks. Sadly, Schenirer passed away from cancer, childless, at the young age of 52. At the moment of her passing, over 200 Beit Yakov schools were operating in Europe and beyond, with 35,000 girls studying diligently. Many of these girls referred to Schenirer as Sarah Imenu – “Sarah, our Mother”. Schenirer had a reputation as a wise and caring pioneer, as well as a modest and holy woman. She did not allow photographs of her to be taken, saying “I don’t need anyone to remember what I look like, I want them to remember my vision.” Her vision is alive and well today, with hundreds of Orthodox Beit Yakov girls schools still shining all over the world.

Words of the Week

God is the ultimate oneness, and everything Godly in our world bears the stamp of His unity. All evil derives from the distortion of this oneness by the veil of divisiveness in which God shrouds His creation.
– Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch

Jew of the Week: Maickel Melamed

This Man Will Inspire You

Maickel Melamed

Maickel Melamed (b. 1975) was born in Caracas, Venezuela. At birth, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, choking him and causing severe damage to his body. Doctors said he would never be able to walk or talk. Despite this, he battled on and spent his entire childhood in rehabilitation. Even when, at age 13, doctors confirmed he would never be “normal”, Melamed never gave up hope. He learned to walk, run and climb. Today, not only is he able to speak, but he now converses fluently in three languages. In 2006, Melamed climbed Venezuela’s tallest mountain. Following this he trained gruelingly and ran several half-marathons before completing his first full marathon in 2012. He plans to run several more in the coming years. Meanwhile, Melamed earned a degree in economics, as well as psychotherapy, and teaches at the Caracas Jewish School which he himself attended in his youth. In 2009, Melamed co-founded Paz Con Todo, an organization that inspires young people to work for peace around the world, and has worked together with the United Nations to promote peace. Melamed’s story has served as a great inspiration to countless people across the globe. Today, he works as a lecturer and life coach throughout the Americas, and has written his first book. He has dedicated his life to helping and inspiring others. Of his incredible ability to run marathons despite his disabilities, Melamed has said: “Every step is not a step; it’s a possibility to connect another person with their own miraculous possibilities. When you live for others, an energy that’s bigger than yourself comes in and helps you succeed…”

Words of the Week

All that is thought should not be said, all that is said should not be written, all that is written should not be published, and all that is published should not be read.
– Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, the Kotzker Rebbe

Jew of the Week: Dona Gracia Mendes

Commemorative Coin of Dona Gracia Mendes

Commemorative Medal of Dona Gracia Mendes

Hanna ‘Gracia’ Nasi (1510-1569) was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a family of conversos – aka Marranos, Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity – and named Beatriz de Luna Miquez. She married Francisco Mendes Benveniste, a wealthy spice trader and banker. When she was only 28, Gracia’s husband passed away, leaving the business to her and his brother. Gracia thus joined her brother-in-law in Antwerp (then part of the Spanish Netherlands). From there, she organized an escape network for Jews to flee Spain and Portugal from the Inquisition, smuggling them in spice ships, providing them with money and documents to make their way to the Ottoman Empire where Jews were still welcome. This saved the lives of countless Jews, who nicknamed her ‘Our Angel’. Shortly after, her brother-in-law died as well, leaving Gracia alone at the helm of the massive Mendes financial empire, dealing with the likes of European kings, the Sultan of Turkey, and several Popes. At the time, she was possibly the most powerful woman in the world. After a series of political intrigues, which included an unjust imprisonment and several attempts to seize her wealth, Gracia settled in Istanbul, where she was now free to return to her religion. She built and financed dozens of synagogues and yeshivas across the Ottoman Empire. In 1558, the Sultan granted her a lease for the desolate town of Tiberias in Israel. Gracia began rebuilding the town, allowing Jewish refugees to settle there, with the vision of reestablishing a Jewish homeland in Israel. Many historians consider this the earliest modern Zionist attempt. Today, Donna Gracia has become a feminist icon, and is celebrated as a hero around the world. Both Philadelphia and New York City host a ‘Dona Gracia Day’, and the Turkish government has sponsored exhibits in her honour. There is a museum exploring her life in Tiberias, and the ‘La Senora’ synagogue of Istanbul, named after her, still stands to this day. Dona Gracia is the aunt of past Jew of the Week Joseph Nasi

Words of the Week

One of the greatest tragedies of intellectual human experience is that we study Bible stories when we are 55 in the same manner as we studied them when we were 5.
– Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky