Judaism Unbound Episode 389: Jewish Sunday Schools, Then and Now - Laura Yares
Laura Yares is the author of a brand-new book, entitled Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about her book -- in some ways about Sunday Schools, to be sure, but in other ways a chance to explore the broader question, "What even is religion?" , through the history of Sunday Schools in the 19th century. They also ask what the book can help us learn, today, about our 21st century Jewish landscape.
[1] Purchase Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America via this link, and enter the code YARES30-FM for 30% off!
[2] Learn more about Laura Yares via her bio, accessible here.
[3] Check out a recent article about Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America, featured in JTA, via this link. It is entitled "A new book made me appreciate Jewish Sunday schools -- and the volunteer women who have powered them."
[4] Laura Yares presented some of her work at our ShavuotLIVE event in 2022. To view her presentation, entitled “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Shavuot,” which became a chapter in the book we spoke about in this podcast episode, click here.
[5] Yares cites a biography of Rebecca Gratz, written by historian Dianne Ashton. You can purchase the biography, entitled “Rebecca Gratz: Women and Judaism in Antebellum America,” via this link. For a past episode of Judaism Unbound featuring Ashton, a teacher of ours who died in 2022, see Episode 43: Hanukkah in America - Dianne Ashton.
