Samson Benderly (1876 – July 9, 1944) was a major figure in promoting Jewish education in the United States.
[6]: 276–281 He also supported the founding of the Jewish Teachers Association, seen as “a counterweight to the immigrant dominated Agudath Ha-Morim Ha-Ivrim, the Hebrew Teachers Union of New York.”[6]: 213 A cadre of young men that he encouraged, mentored, and taught went on to be leaders of Jewish education in the United States and became known as the “Benderly Boys.”[6] This group included Alexander Dushkin, Isaac Berkson, Albert Schoolman, Emanuel Gamoran, and Barnett Brickner.
[1] The Bureau was also a professional home for other Hebraists in the USA, including Zevi Scharfstein, although Scharfstein, an immigrant, believed Benderly favored American-born recruits with weak Hebrew abilities and credentials over better qualified immigrants because he had greater influence over his local recruits.
[7] Morris Waldman, executive secretary of the American Jewish Committee from 1928 to 1945, wrote of Benderly in his autobiography Nor by Power: "If a future Jewish historian were some day to write the biographies of, say, the ten most decisive Jews in American history, Benderly would have to be one.
They were generally governed by local boards of directors and supported through a combination of donations, charity benefits, and tuition collections.”[6]: 91 Benderly was inspired by the writings of Johann Pestalozzi, Herbert Spencer, and John Dewey, and the concept of cultural Zionism.