Bessie Gotsfeld (1888-1962) was the inspired leader and founder of the Mizrachi Woman's Organization of America (MWOA). Gotsfeld abandoned a comfortable life in New York to live in Mandatory Palestine and conduct the MWOA's business. Gotsfeld was driven by a fervent dedication to Orthodox Zionism and modern education, especially for girls. Her innovations included the establishment of three vocational schools for adolescent girls and two large farm villages that offered religious instruction to girls and boys on an equal basis. Every step of Gotsfeld's journey and leadership involved a...

This book, the first full-scale biography of Israel Friedlander, sheds new light on the life and times of this scholar-turned activist. It follows him through the six major turning points of his brief life: his choice of Semetics as the focus of his scholaraly study, his joining the newly reorganized Jewish Theological Seminary, and his triumphs and disappointments in the academic and public arenas. It attemps to unravel the mysteries surrounding his appointment during World War I to an abortive Red Cross Commission to Palestine, and the subsequent mission of mercy which ended with his murder.