Baila R. Shargel was a graduate of Goucher College and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She taught at JTS, Pace University, Purchase College, and Manhattanville College. A social and intellectual historian, Shargel was the author of Practical Dreamer, Israel Friedlaender and the Shaping of American Judaism; The Jews of Westchester, a Social History; Lost Love, The Untold Story of Henrietta Szold; several studies of Bessie Gotsfeld, an important Orthodox Zionist; and a seminal essay on the Masada myth. Baila Shargel passed away in 2021.