Still

by Rebecca E. Bender, Kenneth M. Bender

More than four hundred Russian and Romanian Jewish homesteaders settled on about eighty-five farms in McIntosh County, North Dakota, beginning in 1905. After clearing rocks and boulders, growing wheat and flax, raising cattle and chickens, and selling cream from their sod houses, most were successful enough to own their own land.
Still is a history of five generations, a family we meet first as they flee Odessa and last as they make their ways as American Jews...and as Dakota farmers, as students and storekeepers, as soldiers and lawyers, and even as a teen in an international competition who stands face-to-face with Netanyahu. Rebecca Bender and Kenneth Bender answer the question recently posed to Rebecca by a newspaper Are you still Jewish?

Awards

Independent Press Award - Winner in Judiasm

Interviews

If you would like to learn more about Rebecca, her family, and her book, listen to her interview on Prairie Public Radio's Main Street segment, found on Prairie Public's website.

368 pages, Hardcover

Published March 19, 2019

Reviews

[Camden Patterson]

Cool to read a story about Jewish influence in the Dakotas. Some chapters were more enjoyable to read, and others felt more academic.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting overview of life in the Great Plains for its early Jewish settlers and current Jewish residents, as told through the memoirs of one Russia/North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota family. The narrative will, I'm sure, prove invaluable for anyone studying this particular historical slice of life or this region.

[Larry Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a rural Jew, you should read this book. If you're an urban Jew, you've had it too good and you need to read this book.

[Ann Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read -- very informative and interesting non-fiction read.