The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life)
“[A] well-written, deeply researched, and richly annotated volume.”—H-JUDAIC“The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education is an outstanding work of scholarship. It has a strong narrative drive, yet captures the big themes beyond a mere recitation of facts. Superbly documented and compelling, this work establishes Krasner as the leading historian of American Jewish education for the present generation. I eagerly look forward to what he will produce next and what his work may inspire in other scholars.” —The Forward“[A] fascinating story.”—Jewish Journal of South Florida“Jonathan Krasner’s excellent book tells the story of Samson Benderly and his disciples and the effect that they had on American Jewish education in the first half of the twentieth century. Because the history of Jewish education in America is very much the story of how American Jews have sought to define themselves in this land, Krasner’s work also is valuable to general students of American Jewish life. The Benderly Boys is meticulously researched. It uses personal letters, interviews, detailed organizational minutes, photos, and close reading of curricula and other texts to construct a vivid picture of the individuals studied and the age in which they worked. Krasner is a gifted writer, and his analysis is uniformly fair and insightful.”—American Jewish Archives