Promised Lands - by Sharon Ann Musher (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Drawing on the records of Hadassah Kaplan, a daughter of Mordecai Kaplan - founder of Reconstructionism -- this work shows how travel to Palestine in the Interwar period shaped a cohort of American Jewish women who went on to center Zionism in American Jewish institutions and communities"--

Book Synopsis

How adventurous Jewish women's travels upended Jewish norms

In 1922, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, first initiated the bat mitzvah as a rite-of-passage for Jewish girls. Characterized as a lifelong supporter of women's rights, Kaplan's family, including his wife and four daughters, played a role in shaping his ideas about women, culture, and Zionism. This was especially true of his second daughter, Hadassah Kaplan, who joined a small but influential cohort of American Jewish women who studied, worked, and volunteered in British Mandate Palestine.

Promised Lands provides a window into the lives of American Jewish women in both New York City's Upper West Side and Palestine during the interwar period. By tracing Hadassah's journey, the volume offers a sense of what drew this generation of adventurous women to Palestine, and helps us to understand their impact on American Jewry. Drawing on a rich personal archive of diary entries, photographs, and letters, Sharon Ann Musher displays how unconventional women like Hadassah Kaplan were able to challenge cultural norms and experiment with ideological commitments while still remaining "good" daughters, wives, and mothers. Their knowledge and experience in volunteering, philanthropy, and education within the United States helped them to build Jewish institutions and communities abroad, and to center Zionism in American Jewish education, institutions, and identity. Crafting a compelling portrait of an influential Jewish woman, Promised Lands showcases the legacy of Hadassah Kaplan and her fellow travelers on American Jewish life.

Review Quotes

"Captivating ... compulsively readable ... This isn't just a work of history or a compelling story: it's a family odyssey."-- "Lilith Magazine"

"A deeply researched biography that sheds light on the life of a trailblazing Jewish woman, her groundbreaking family, and the influence of American Jewish women on Zionism."-- "Jewish Women's Archive"

"Mush-er draws from a vari-ety of sources, includ-ing Kaplan's writ-ings, trav-el-ogues, cor-re-spon-dence, and oral his-to-ry inter-views. Writ-ten in an engag-ing and acces-si-ble style, Promised Lands brings Hadas-sah Kaplan's sto-ry to life through her own words and Musher's detailed research ... a com-pelling and thought-pro-vok-ing read that sheds light on a remark-able woman and leaves read-ers with much to pon-der about the mean-ing and poten-tial of inquis-i-tive trav-el, then and now."-- "Jewish Book Council"

"Sharon Musher brings her grandmother to life on the page with extraordinary passion, thoughtfulness, and grace."--Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink

"Historian Sharon Musher's engrossing reclamation of her grandmother's journey to Palestine in the fateful year of 1932-33 opens a distinct angle of vision on many dimensions of American Jewish womanhood and meanings of Zionism before the State of Israel. Reconstructing Hadassah Kaplan invites readers to travel with this articulate, insightful, adventuresome, and emotionally vibrant twenty-year-old on an illuminating trip into the past."--Deborah Dash Moore, author of Walkers in the City: Jewish Street Photographers of Midcentury New York

"Sharon Ann Musher has made excellent use of an incredibly rich family archive to tell the tale of the fateful year her grandmother Hadassah Kaplan spent in Palestine at the height of the Great Depression. She sets her grandmother's journey in the context of American women's history, American Jewish history, and Zionist history and applies her acute analytical skills to her own family history in the process. The book also showcases the many ways in which women fostered meaningful Jewish life and culture throughout the twentieth century."--Melissa R. Klapper, co-author of Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890-1940

"Restores a vital missing piece to Jewish historiography: the role of Zionism in empowering American Jewish women. In lovingly telling the story of her remarkable grandmother, Hadassah Kaplan, Sharon Ann Musher has given a new generation of American Jews the gift of memory. Here you will find part of the answer for why the Jewish people came to overwhelmingly embrace Zionism as a repository of the Jewish future."--Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation

About the Author

Sharon Ann Musher is Professor of History at Stockton University. She is the author of Democratic Art: The New Deal's Influence on American Culture. She is also a great granddaughter of Mordecai Kaplan and a granddaughter of Hadassah Kaplan Musher.