The book tells the life of Nathan Straus, a Jewish-German immigrant who rose to become co-owner of the largest department stores in Manhattan (Macy’s) and Brooklyn (Abraham & Straus). With his Jewish values, outsized energy, and varied gifts, Straus also lived other big lives. He was an early American Zionist leader and the co-founder of the American Jewish Congress. His NYC public service led to a NYC mayoral nomination. Straus’s most historic achievements, though, lay in four philanthropic initiatives. The most important demonstrated pasteurization’s capacity to destroy deadly infections in milk. Starting with 17 infant-milk depots in Manhattan, Straus brought his safe-milk campaign to much of America and Western Europe, often winning municipal pasteurization mandates that saved countless infant lives. Other initiatives included: a partnership with Hadassah that built much of pre-state Israel’s health system; the founding of America’s first tuberculosis preventorium for TB- vulnerable children, and the provision of food and fuel relief to tens of thousands of NYC jobless in the 1890s depression. Straus’s example speaks to us in today’s polarized and COVID-shadowed times.
Join a community of readers who are committed to Jewish stories
Sign up for JBC’s Nu Reads, a curated selection of Jewish books delivered straight to your door!
