Sarah Schenirer was born into influential rabbinic family in Krakow, Poland on July 15, 1883. Her parents, Bezalel Schenirer (born in Tarnów) and Reizel were both descendants of well-known rabbis. Her father provided her with religious texts that he had translated into Yiddish. In her memoirs, she describes herself as the unassuming and withdrawn daughter of Belzer Hasidic parents. She was intelligent and had a strong Desire to learn, and was envious of her brothers' opportunity to learn and interpret the Torah.
Schenirer returned to Kraków in 1917, where the inspiration she received in Vienna led her to seek to establish a school for girls. She initially approached her brother, who suggested that the idea wouldn't catch on. However, he agreed to take her to see the Belzer Rebbe in Marienbad, who gave her his blessing in two words, "Mazel uBrocha." However, it's noted that in Schenirer's own description of the meeting, she stated only that she wanted to "lead Jewish girls in the path of Judaism," without specifying that she planned to open a school and teach Torah; and he in fact refused to encourage the girls of his Hassidim to go to Bais Yaakov.
In 1923, Schenirer set up a teachers' seminary to train staff for her rapidly expanding network of schools. The main goal of the schools was to
In 1933, Schenirer stepped down as the official head of the movement, but remained very much involved until her death in 1935.
On March 1, 1935, Schenirer died from cancer at the age of fifty-one.
By 1939, there were about 250 schools established and over 40,000 students in Bais Yaakov schools. One of her students was Rebbetzin Vichna Kaplan, founder of the first Bais Yaakov high school and teachers' seminary in America. In her will, she wrote: "My dear girls, you are going out into the great world. Your task is to plant the holy seed in the souls of pure children. In a sense, the destiny of Israel of old is in your hands." The admiration was mutual, and the girls within the movement called her "Sarah Imeinu," which translates to "Our Mother Sarah." She had no children of her own, so the girls of the movement filled that void for her.
On the 70th anniversary of Schenirer's death in 2005, an "archival repository" was installed in Jerusalem in her honor. In the same year, some of her women supporters set out on a mission to restore her tombstone. Her original tombstone was destroyed when the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp was built. Her tombstone was restored in 2005. Upon the restoration, the Director of the Central Bais Yaakov gave a eulogy for Schenirer, and closed it by saying, "Frau Schenirer, we are not merely placing a memorial on your grave site. We are placing it upon our hearts: for us, and for all the generations who will come after us."
