The first volume to examine the contributions of women who brought the forces of American progressivism and Jewish nationalism to formal and informal Jewish education
The conventional history of Jewish education in the United States focuses on the contributions of Samson Benderly and his male disciples. This volume tells a different story—the story of the women who either influenced or were influenced by Benderly or his closest friend, Mordecai Kaplan. Through ten portraits, the contributors illuminate the impact of these unheralded women who introduced American Jews to Hebraism and Zionism and laid the foundation for contemporary Jewish experiential education. Taken together, these ten portraits illuminate the important and hitherto unexamined contribution of women to the development of American Jewish education.
Endorsements:
“Three cheers to Carol Ingall and her accomplished collaborators. From the masterful introduction through to the last of this volume’s ten vivid portraits, this book engages the intellect and the emotions. Readers will find themselves humbled by the lives of service and creativity so vividly described, saddened that it has taken until now for these remarkable women’s lives to be reconstructed, and excited by the potential of the accounts to inform and inspire new generations of scholars and practitioners.”—Alex Pomson, Melton Centre for Jewish Education, Hebrew University
“The stories in The Women Who Reconstructed American Jewish Education, 1910-1965 provide a powerful reminder that the negative stereotype of Jewish education in America tells only part of the story. Carol Ingall and her co-contributors recover the lost other half and give lie to the view that is so prevalent in literature and the popular mind. They recount how eleven women combined their love of Hebrew language and Jewish culture with their passion for the arts and progressive education to create institutions and programs that stirred the minds and touched the hearts of Jewish children and adults.”—Michael Zeldin, Director, Rhea Hirsch School of Education, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion
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CAROL K. INGALL is the Dr. Bernard Heller Professor of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
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