The Benderly Boys & American Jewish Education

by Krasner, Jonathan B.

• ISBN13: 9781584659839
• ISBN10: 1584659831
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-10
• Publisher: Brandeis Univ

Summary

Samson Benderly inaugurated the first Bureau of Jewish Education in 1910 amid a hodgepodge of congregational schools, khayders, community Talmud Torahs, and private tutors. Drawing on the theories of Johann Pestalozzi, Herbert Spencer, and John Dewey, and deriving inspiration from cultural Zionism, Benderly sought to modernize Jewish education by professionalizing the field, creating an immigrant-based, progressive supplementary school model, and spreading the mantra of community responsibility for Jewish education. With philanthropist Jacob Schiff and influential laymen financing his plans, Benderly realized that his best hope for transforming the educational landscape nationwide was to train a younger generation of teachers, principals, and bureau leaders. These young men became known collectively as the "Benderly Boys," who, from the 1920s to the 1970s, were the dominant force in Jewish education--both formal and informal--in the United States.

Author Biography

Jonathan B. Krasner is Assistant Professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College, New York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Making Order out of Chaos, 1900-1939	p. 11
The Making of the Master: Benderly in Baltimore	p. 17
The New York Bureau and Its Critics	p. 37
A Few Good Men (and Women)	p. 55
The Struggle for a Modern School System	p. 91
The Organization of a Jewish Education Profession	p. 117
Progress under Threat: Jewish Education and the Great Depression	p. 159
Jewish Learning for Jewish Living, 1910-1945	p. 185
Education as Enculturation: Progressivism and the New York Bureau	p. 191
The Jewish School Curriculum and the Limits of Progressive Reform	p. 213
The Central Jewish Institute: The School Center as a Model for the Modern Talmud Torah	p. 237
ôAn Environment of Our Own Makingö: The Origins of the Jewish Culture Camp	p. 268
Between K'lal Yisrael and Denominationalism, 1940-1965	p. 323
Unity in Diversity? The Jewish Education Committee	p. 328
Rebuilding, Renewal, and Reconciliation in the Postwar Era	p. 375
Conclusion: The Benderly Revolution	p. 409
Notes	p. 421
Index	p. 479
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.