Building a School with a Mission

As Bais Rivkah celebrates 85 years since its founding, a fascinating historical account sheds light on the school’s earliest beginnings and the efforts that brought it to life under the direction of the Frierdiker Rebbe.

The account is excerpted from The Rebbe’s Chief of Staff, a book about Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov.

The excerpt traces the establishment of Bais Rivkah through Rabbi Hodakov’s dedicated efforts, including the opening of its first classes and its early expansion. It also features a recently discovered document believed to have been written by Rabbi Hodakov, shedding new light on the school’s founding and its connection to Chof Cheshvan, the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab.

The account offers a rare glimpse into the origins of an institution that has since grown into a cornerstone of Lubavitch chinuch worldwide.

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Building a School with a Mission

The establishment of Bais Rivkah

Shortly after Sukkos in 5701 (1941), the Frierdiker Rebbe informed Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Isaac Hodakov that he would fund the establishment of a girls’ school in Crown Heights for six months. He asked that the new school be named after his maternal grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, with whom he had shared a particularly close bond.

Caption: Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov speaking at a Beis Rivka gathering, mid-1940s.

A few days later, Rabbi Hodakov reported to the Rebbe that while there was interest among families in Crown Heights, there was an even stronger demand in the nearby community of Brownsville, then known as the “Jerusalem of America,” where many Lubavitcher and frum families lived. The Rebbe agreed wholeheartedly and instructed that the school be opened as soon as possible.

Just two weeks later, Rabbi Hodakov was able to report that a class had already begun operating in Brownsville, and that preparations were underway to open a second class in Boro Park. In his diary, he recorded how pleased the Rebbe was to hear this development.

Working together with local residents of Boro Park, plans for the new branch soon took shape. While the earliest Beis Rivkah classes in Brownsville and later in other Brooklyn neighborhoods were afternoon programs, the Frierdiker Rebbe expressed a strong desire for the Boro Park branch to function as a full-day school. At an organizing meeting with two prominent local activists, Rabbi Yehudah Goldberger and Mr. Maurice Pappenheim, the Rebbe quoted the pasuk, “And your beginning shall be small, but your end shall greatly flourish” (Iyov 8:7), emphasizing the long-term vision for the new institution.

When one of the attendees asked for a blessing for the school, the Rebbe replied, “There must first be concrete action that can serve as a vessel for blessings,” underscoring the practical foundation required for success.

On Chof Cheshvan 5702 (1941), the first class in Boro Park opened in the Chabad shul Tzemach Tzedek, under the leadership of its rabbi, Rabbi Eliyahu Nachum Simpson. His daughters served as the school’s very first teachers.

The school expanded quickly. Many newly arrived immigrants from Europe and Russia enrolled their daughters, and for countless families the school became a transformative force. Some girls came from homes that were not yet fully observant or where kosher standards had lapsed; through the warmth and chinuch of the school, they were deeply reconnected to Yiddishkeit. Others who already kept mitzvos found in the school an environment that strengthened their identity and helped them continue growing in Torah and chassidus.

Caption: One of the earliest classes of Beis Rivkah in Brownsville.

Before long, half a dozen Beis Rivkah afternoon programs were operating throughout Brooklyn. After the passing of Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, some were renamed Beis Sarah. These programs, along with the developing full-day school, came under the direction of the newly established Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, overseen by Rabbi Hodakov together with the Frierdiker Rebbe’s son-in-law, the future Rebbe.

As the Lubavitch community in Crown Heights grew and the official Beis Rivkah system relocated and expanded there into a full elementary, high school, and seminary network, Rabbi Hodakov did not want the original Boro Park institution to be shut down. Instead, he approached Agudas Yisroel with the proposal that they assume responsibility for the school, ensuring its continued service to the community. It was at that point that the school was formally renamed Beis Yaakov of Boro Park, which is now the largest Bais Yaakov elementary school in North America, with approximately 2,000 students, 350 staff members, and 75 classrooms.

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Recently Discovered Note on the Founding of Beis Rivkah

A recently discovered note believed to be written by Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov, the chief secretary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, pegs the birth date of the Beis Rivkah network of schools on this day, Chof Cheshvan, 5702 (1941), which is the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab.

The following is a translation of the note:

Or L’Yom Beis, Chof Mar-Chesvan, 5702, which is the day of the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab, took place in the Shul of Rabbi Eliyahu Simpson at 1546 46th Street in Boro Park the official start of learning of the school for girls, Beis Rivkah in Boro Park. The name of the Moisad, Beis Rivkah, is in memory of Rebbetzin Rivkah, the wife of the Rebbe Maharash.