When the rebbe (teacher) came on Sabbath afternoon, to examine the boy in the hearing of the family, everybody sat around the table and nodded with satisfaction, if he read his portion well; and he was given a great saucerful of preserves, and was praised, and blessed, and made much of.

No wonder he said, in his morning prayer, "I thank Thee, Lord, for not having created me a female." It was not much to be a girl, you see.

Girls could not be scholars and rabbonim.
I went to my brother's heder, sometimes, to bring him his dinner, and saw how the boys studied.

They sat on benches around the table, with their hats on, of course, and the sacred fringes hanging beneath their jackets.

The rebbe sat at an end of the table, rehearsing two or three of the boys who were studying the same part, pointing out the words with his wooden pointer, so as not to lose the place.