The contemporary Torah society did not evolve out of a vacuum. There were three spiritual leaders: Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, Rabbi Aaron Kotler and Frau Sara Schenirer whose insight, foresight, devotion and innovation changed – indeed, created – the Yeshivah and Bais Yaakov world of today. They each faced what appeared to be the annihilation of the religious infrastructure as they knew it, and responded with far-reaching leadership that stymied naysayers and built a religious empire unparalleled in Jewish history. Their biographies – inspiring, absorbing and instructive – are fundamental knowledge for any observant Jew.