This fas­ci­nat­ing and orig­i­nal study blends biog­ra­phy, the his­to­ry of an edu­ca­tion­al move­ment, and pri­ma­ry sources into a sig­nif­i­cant and acces­si­ble book that brings Bais Yaakov to a wider audi­ence. Nao­mi Sei­d­man takes the Bais Yaakov move­ment as a lens through which to explore ten­sions between tra­di­tion and moder­ni­ty and the para­dox­es of gen­der roles and oppor­tu­ni­ties in inter­war Poland and beyond. Bais Yaakov schools were found­ed in 1917 by the indomitable Sarah Schenir­er to pro­vide Jew­ish girls with an alter­na­tive to assim­i­la­tion that would also expand their edu­ca­tion­al and aspi­ra­tional options. The move­ment grew quick­ly, offer­ing young women the oppor­tu­ni­ty to com­bine free­dom and reli­gious com­mit­ment, and attract­ing the inter­est — and con­trol­ling influ­ence — of male com­mu­nal lead­ers. Sei­d­man traces the tra­jec­to­ry of the Bais Yaakov move­ment from its charis­mat­ic roots to insti­tu­tion­al­iza­tion, point­ing out how seem­ing­ly oppo­si­tion­al ten­den­cies, such as reli­gious strin­gency and rad­i­cal­ism, could also be mutu­al­ly enforc­ing. And she enrich­es her nar­ra­tive by weav­ing her per­son­al con­nec­tions to the Bais Yaakov move­ment into the sto­ry; these reflec­tions illu­mi­nate the ongo­ing rel­e­vance of both the Bais Yaakov tra­di­tion and the con­flicts at its heart.

Seidman’s vol­ume is enriched by Eng­lish trans­la­tions of Schenir­er’s Yid­dish and Pol­ish writ­ings. Mak­ing these pri­ma­ry sources in Schenirer’s own voice avail­able to a gen­er­al read­er­ship illu­mi­nates her pro­found con­tri­bu­tions and com­mit­ment to the sig­nif­i­cant move­ment she founded.