Sarah Bayla Hirschenson

Sarah Bayla Hirschenson,(1816-1905) a magnetic Rebbetzin from Pinsk was the first Ashkenazi woman of her time to learn to speak Arabic; she helped her husband establish Yeshivas in Tzfas and Yerusalayim and contributed much to Yiddishkeit in the old Yishuv.

Rabbi Shmuel Salant, Jerusalem’s Chief Rabbi would stand up for Sarah Bayla when she entered his presence. Moses Montefiore would dine in her Yeshiva’s dining room. The Ottoman Pashah as well as German, French and Russian Consuls were frequent guests of hers.

“Ask Sarah Bayla” was the usual refrain whenever intervention was needed between the Jews in Eretz Yisroel and the government officials, especially when tension arose because the expansion of the Jewish community.

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Sarah Bayla Hirschenson was a descendant of Rabbi Shlomo Luria as well as Rabbi Yechiel Shlomo Heilprin, Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Minsk and author of Seder Hadoroth. The Gaon of Vilna and Rabbi Yitzchak Elchonon Spektor were both related to her family.

Her father, Rabbi Yehudah Leib, an outstanding` Talmid chochom was known for his generosity and as a trustee of the philanthropies of the two wealthiest men in Pinsk, Shaul and Moshe Isaac. Rabbi Yehudah Leib endowed his daughter with a complete Torah education. She studied like other girls Menorath HaMaor, Tzenah Ure’enah , Nachlat Tzvi and Nefet Tzufim. In addition, she was taught Tanach, Pirkei Avos, Chovos Halevavos, and Sefer HaKuzari of Rabbi Yehudah Halevi.

In those days shidduchim were made at a very young age and Sarah Bayla’s husband was handpicked by her father for her when he was only a nine year old orphan. Rabbi Yehudah Leib set his eyes on Yaakov Mordechai who was known even as a small child as an illui. He engaged Rabbi Yaakov Meir of Padua as Yaakov Mordechai’s private rebbe and then sent him for a number of years to the yeshiva of Brisk. Upon his return Yaakov Mordechai married Sarah Bayla. After having been married a year, young Sarah Bayla (like Rabbi Akiva’s wife Rachel) urged her husband to return to Brisk to learn while she remained at home in PInsk. When Yaakov Mordechai returned, he was acclaimed as a very distinguished scholar and was offered rabbinic posts from large cities in Russia.

He demurred because he did not want to uproot Sarah Baylah who was active in Pinsk in charities and her father’s affairs.

Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai headed the Yeshiva in Pinsk and his fame spread rapidly.

In the meanwhile Sara Bayla gave birth to babies that did not remain alive. She secretly hoped that in the merit of moving to Eretz Yisroel she would be fortunate enough to have children who would survive and be healthy.

Her husband unaware that she wanted to move to Eretz Yisroel, at the same time became withdrawn and sad. He did not reveal to his wife or father-in-law the reason of his sadness. He did however confide in his Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Meir Padua that night after night he dreamed that his father was studying with him the Moreh Nevuchim with its commentaries. After they would learn together, Rabbi Yaakov Moredecahi would escort his father to the door. He would then hear a loud voice proclaiming Baruch Kevod Hashem Mimkomo (Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His abode) and his father would suddenly vanish. Sarah Bayla’s husband interpreted this recurring dream as a sign that he should go to Eretz Yisrael the land of the Beis Hamikdash, Hashem’s abode, and establish a yeshiva there.

Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai did not want to ask Sarah Bayla to leave her parents and sacrifice herself by moving to Eretz Yisroel. He was unaware that was actually her wish too.

He was thrilled to learn that it wasn’t a sacrifice for Sarah Baylah, that it was what she desired as well. Sarah Bayla was pregnant at the time and they hoped to have the baby in Yerushalayim. However because they had to wind up their affairs, the couple only managed to leave when that baby, young Yitzchok had reached the age of two in 1847.

They stopped over in several countries on the way and the trip took a year. They met in Germany and Austria with Rabbi Yaakov Ettlinger, Rabbi Shamshon Raphael Hirsch and others. They hoped to render the Reform movement insignificant by creating a Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael which would yield spiritual authority all over Eretz Yisrael.

They were offered by Rabbi Eliyahu Gutmacher, the Rothschilds of Frankfurt, the elder Rabbi Hildesheimer, the Berliner family and other Jewish leaders funds to help establish a Yeshiva Settlement. They even had an audience with the Chancellor Bismarck who secured them German citizenship and the surname Hirschenson. In Turkey they received from the Sultan a permit for the publication of a newspaper. The Sultan also assured them his protection.

Dr. Ludwig Frankl a poet, writer and secretary of the Viennese Jewish community offered substantial support to their yeshiva but only on condition they introduce the teaching of the German language. They rejected his offer.

When they reached Eretz Yisrael the Hirschensons decided since Jerusalem already had some famous rabbis.they would establish a yeshiva in Tzfas, not far from Teveria the site of the Kever of the Rambam whose sefer kept on appearing in Rabbi Hirschenson’s dream.

When the Hirschensons arrived in Tzfas they found it deserted. A little more than ten years earlier it had been the scene of an earthquake there and thousands had perished. Several years after the earthquake, a plague wiped out some of the people who had returned to the city.

At the time there were several people who settled in Tzfas and and took advantage of the Turkish homestead law, according to which, living on a property, entitled the dweller to call it his own. However, Sara Bayla refused to take possession of any land until she had located the Arab owner and paid him for it.

Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai established not only a yeshivah in Tzfas but also the first Perushi (non chassidic) synagogue in the city. Sara Bayla’s family came from Mithnagedim while her husband came from Hasidic stock. He had become a perushi at age nine before he met his wife’s family.

Since a minyan for the new synagogue could not be secured, Sarah Bayla went from village to village searching for Jews and promising them free dwellings and food. She ground wheat that the Arabs brought from afar, baked the bread in an outdoor oven, raised chickens, kept goats and planted a vegetable garden all in order that the Torah scholars could keep learning.

Her husband’s fame spread and the yeshiva overflowed with Talmidei Chachamim, even coming there from Jerusalem.

When their son Yitzchak reached the age of five, they engaged a teacher from Yerushalayim who stayed with him a number of years to teach him Torah.

When her second son Chaim was born she brought him to the cheder in his crib so that the first sounds he hears should only be of Torah. The Melamed was paid full tuition for allowing the cradle to remain there while he was teaching. She stipulated though that the Melamed was not permitted to hit any of the children in the presence of the cradle so that the idea of hatred should never enter his heart. Sara Bayla would also make candy and distribute it to the children so that they associate Torah with sweets.

When Talmudic discussions took place in the Beis Medrash, she would sit on the stoop of the Yeshivah and listen attentively. It was said about her in Tzfas that she was as knowledgeable as a man when it came to learning Gemorrah.

After the Hirschensons had lived in Tzfas for about fifteen years, they were to learn Christian missionaries had come to Yerushalayim and built seventy houses to shelter Jewish newcomers. Sarah Bayla and her family then decided to move to Yerushalayim to increase Jewish settelment there to combat the missionaries. They wanted to establish a Yeshiva there and create harmony in the holy city. Ludwig Frankl who had originally offered the Hirschensons funds had established a German Jewish school in Yerushalayim in memory of Baroness Lipper Herz Laemel’s father. This school had begun to cause much tension in the Holy City.

Frankel had secured one hundred and seventy recommendations from the highest officials of the Austrian government as well as from prominent rabbis including Rabbi Eliezer Horowitz, Rabbi Baruch of Vienna and the Chasam Sofer’s son, Rabbi Shimon Schreiber. These Rabbonim did not appreciate that they were creating tremendous distress to the Rabbonim of Eretz Yisroel who viewed the institution of German studies in the Holy City as tantamount to heresy.

At the time, because of the establishment of the German Jewish school, the Jewish community of Yerusalayim gathered at the Kotel and spent the night davening and reciting psukim of Yirmiyohu lamenting its secularization. They feared that science would become the fundamental teaching and that Torah would be relegated to the back burner. Frankl eventually turned over the school to the Sefardim who accepted it willingly and maintained it for three years. Since it had very few students, the school did not grow significantly.

The famous Rabbi Shaul Benjamin Hacohen, a direct descendant of a long line of sixteen generations of great Rabbonim, had arrived in Yerushalaim a few years earlier. He had been immediately elected a trustee of Va’ad Hakolelim and was befriended by Rabbi Meir Auerbach. Rabbi Yaaov Mordechai and Sarah Bayla wrote to Rabbis Binyamin and Auerbach then suggesting they try to regain the shul of the Ramban. The Moslem family which had possession of it since 1475 refused to sell it regardless of the price they offered. However, Rabbi Shaul Binyamin Cohen was able to obtain the property adjoining it and there was much rejoicing when the beautiful synagogue, called Beth Yaakov was completed. Rabbi Cohen also renovated the building and built a new roof for the shul that became known as the Hurvah Synagogue.

The Yeshiva Etz Chaim was established and it developed at a rapid pace. It was headed by Rabbi Shaul Benyomin who had studied under Yitzchak Volozhiner for more than ten years.

Since there was tension between the yeshiva of Rabbi Shaul Binyamin Cohen and that of Ludwig, Rabbi Eliyahu Guttmacher hoped that the presence of Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai and Sarah Bayla would establish harmony in Yerushalayim.

The Hirschensons also wanted a better education for their children and decided to relocate.

Their arrival in Yerushalayim was hailed by all the rabbonim. Their yeshiva was welcomed since Sarah Beylah did not find it necessary to be a recipient of the Halukah and would not infringe on Yeshiva Etz Chaim’s money. The Hirschensons were able to heal the breach between Rabbi Shaul Binyamin Cohen and his opponent and unite the sefardim with the Ashkenazim.

They purchased a large tract of land not far from the Kotel in the section leading towards Sha’ar Shchem.

Sarah Bayla attended to the construction of the yeshiva. She bought the materials and supervised the Arab laborers. She dealt with the Arab officials from whom permission had to be obtained for every step of the construction. Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai in the meanwhile was highly honored because of his Torah greatness and his fame spread throughout Yerushalayim. Sarah Bayla’s elder son would accompany his father to the Yeshiva while seven year old Chaim was taught by a tutor recommended by Rabbi Auerbach. Since the tutor did not teach Chaim Navi, only Chumash, Sarah Bayla promised her son ten cents for every perek (chapter) he would memorize.

Sarah Bayla’s granddaughter Nina Alderblum (whose mother was the daughter of Rabbi Shaul Binyamin Cohen) relates that her father as a result knew most of Navi by heart and would recite many of the prakim by the age of twelve before Chacham Bashi, Rabbi Shmuel Salant and others.

With his accumulated coins Chaim bought his first seforim which served as the nucleous to a growing library.

In a letter written by Chacham Bashi David Chaza to Chacham Yaakov Tzvi of Salonica, there is a description of Sarah Bayla:

“The Ashkenazim are way behind us in the study of the Tanach, but recently they have received fresh stimulus from a noble woman of an honored family who came here to build a yeshiva with a number of innovations.”

Among these innovations was the one of marking the siyyum with an original dissertation by the head of the Yeshiva to be published and circulated among Talmidei Chachaim abroad. To some siyumim, Rabbi Eliyahu Gutmacher, a Talmid of Rabbi Akiva Eiger who was known as the Tzaddik of Graz would send a treatise which was studied and commented upon at the Yeshiva sessions. Rabbi Yaakov’ Mordechai’s later treatises were accompanied with introductions by his sons.

The architectural layout of the yeshiva, Sarah Baylah and her husband established was also unique. It emphasized her love of sunlight. There were windows in each room with sills for flower pots. Special care was taken to preserve whatever trees were there. Even though one tree which had tiny yellow flowers interfered very much with the building plans, the tree remained.

The even hapina, the first cornerstone laid was that of the Beth Hamidrah followed by the synagogue for women, then by a large hall to serve guests and as the dining room for the communal meals of the Yeshiva on Shabbasos and Yomim Tovim.

Little cottages of two and three rooms were constantly being added for the Avreichim and their families. The terrace of hewn stones fenced with cactus and shrubs, and built especially for Kiddush Halevana (blessing the appearance of the new moon) became the town’s favorite place. The built in sukka was the first of its kind. The cisten was planned to provide sufficient` water the whole year around; there would be no need to buy water during the summer months out of the leather pouches carried by the Arabs. A lot on the hill behind the cottage was set aside for a playground so that the Beth HaMidrash would not be disturbed by the children playing,

The name of the Yeshiva “Sukkat Shalom uMe’or Yaakov” was to symbolize Jerusalem as a center of peace. Sara Bayla wanted not only unity between the Sefardim and Ashkenazim but also between Chasidim and Yemenite Jews. She wanted to prevent the latter from intermarrying with the Arabs.

The first Talmidei Chachomim of the yeshiva came from Tzfas. Because of Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai’s learned reputation abroad and Sara Bayla’s requests, the philanthropists of Pinsk agreed to finance the immigration of anyone who wished to make aliyah and join the community in Yerushalayim. Day after day Sara Bayla would dictate to Rabbi Shimon the sofer and letter writer known for his beautifully artistic handwriting to businessmen in Pinsk to transfer their business to Eretz Yisrael. She would have Shimon write to carpenters, tailors, locksmiths, iron casters and shoemakers. Labor was needed in Yerushalayim and she was urging them to come. She also corresponeded with Drs Berlinter, Hildesheimer, Hurwitz, and the Rothschilds of Frankfurt.

Sara Bayla would prepare breakfast at dawn for the Yeshiva and her day would end at midnight. She desired Torah to be learned day and night. On Mondays and Thursdays when bochurim would be learning all night she would go up and down the stairs with trays of coffee and rolls.

There were special sessions in the Yeshiva for carpenters, storekeepers and shoemakers. A few doctors would come for a while between office hours, among them was the famous pious Dr. Moshe Wallach.

A Jewish attache to the Russian Consulate would attend the yeshiva several times a week.

Sarah Bayla also hoped that the newly founded colonies of Rishon Letzion, Zichron Yaakov and Petach Tkvah would be absorbed into the holy spirit of Yerusalayim She would say “The sap of a healthy tree runs through the branches, the leaves and allows nothing to wither.”

She would go these colonies made up of primitive huts with their muddy, bumpy roads and plead with the Jews there that they not desecrate the Holy Land. She would offer to take those children who were interested in learning Torah to stay with her in Yerushalayim. She invited the early colonists to her seder, would send them ethrogim and Lulavim for sukkos, Mishloach Manos on Purim and gifts to Bar Mitzvah boys. On many occasions she arranged with the colonies to have Halacha lectures delivered to them by the younger students of her yeshiva, the topics of which pertained to land of Eretz Yisroel.. When the railway from Jerusalem to Jaffa built by a French company opened in 1892, Sarah Bayla was one of its first passengers and she carried along with her a number of siddurim for the colonies. She also wrote to Wilhelm Rothschild of Frankfurt about the urgent need of water supplies to the colonies.

Wilhelm Rothschild and Wilhelm Posen of Frankfurt both kept files of Sara Baylas’s letters. These letters contained information and keen analysis of the situation in Eret Yisrael.

When the Prince of Wales (who was to later become Edward VII) was Chacham Bashi Avraham Ashkenazi’s guest at the Seder, Sarah Bayla sent them the tiny colorful flowers from her hill and a silk napkin for covering the matzos, artistically embroidered by one of the many young brides she married off.

Sarah Bayla was also involved in the printing plant that her son Chaim established to publish rabbinic writings, the works of Sarah Baylas’s husband and manuscripts discovered by Sarah Baylas oldest son Yitzchok. She would even turn the wheels and set the type when labor was short. Sarah Baylah’s son Chaim did not like to be dependent on donations from abroad and he worked on establishing several factories for iron, soap, seltzer, beds and mattresses. She would give jobs to Yemenite immigrants at these factories. The soap factory introduced a liquid soap in order to avoid chillul Shabbos with the use of soap bars Sarah Baylah gave out free liquid soap to colonists who became frum.

Sarah Bayla’s wonderful rapport with the Arabs can be illustrated with the following two stories:

A large vacant lot stood between the houses of two Arab owners, each of whom claimed ownership of most of the adjacent lot. They argued vehemently and decided to choose Sarah Bayla as judge and promised to abide by her decision. Ibn Abrahaim, she said to one Arab, don’t you have a fourteen year old boy? Ibn Mousah, don’t you have a ten year old girl? Let them marry each other and let this property be theirs. You both have enough land to endow your other children with other property. The two Arabs enthusiastically accepted it and said, “Allah be with you. King Solomon could not have rendered a better judgment.”

A small group of young rabbinic pioneers would try to purchase land from the Arabs to expand the Jewish settlement. After one Arab landlord had made up sell a large piece of land on the way to Hevron, he reneged and refused to close the deal. It dawned on him that the buyers were presumably going to establish a Jewish village. No amount of persuasion and higher bid were of any avail. The pioneers appealed to Sarah Bayla who said she knew him a little and she would try to see what she could do. She invited the Arab to her home, which he accepted. The Arab admitted to Sarah Baylah that Allah would not be pleased if he were to turn over his property to be inhabited exclusively by Jews. At that moment the singing of the Yeshiva was reaching their ears, and Sarah Baylah turned to the Arab, Mustapha Pasha, she said to him. Such people mean no harm; they want to study peaceful and live in peace with you. The newcomers may not spend all their days in the synagogues but whatever they do they will not cease to be peaceful and law abiding.