Offstage Dramatics

To the Editor:

As President of the Yeshiva College Dramatics Society (YCDS) I would like to express the society's utter dismay at what was written in a recent Commentator article. It has been suggested that Yeshiva students should be permitted to act in "drag," dressed as women, while portraying women's roles on stage. YCDS wholeheartedly disagrees with point of view for obvious religious and dramatic reasons.

The Dramatics Society follows the religious guidelines determined by the rabbinical and secular staff of the University. These guidelines are in place to ensure that all students in this university feel comfortable participating in and attending our productions. Dr. Beukas has worked for 34 years under these guidelines to avoid any controversy that would be disruptive to the YCDS organization and members of the cast, and production crews. Dr. Beukas and the Dramatics Society are happy and content with the current guidelines. We do not approve of the suggested changes made by Mordechai Levovitz.

The Dramatics Society and Dr. Beukas understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but we suggest that these opinions be based on proper research. The Commentator did not contact Dr. Beukas or any member of the Executive Board of the Dramatics Society to check on the legal status of the subject in question. The current regulations now in place meet the Executive Board of YCDS and Dr. Beukas' requirements for producing our productions for the 1998 - 1999 season. We are saddened that this article led to the removal of the author from the cast of this semester's production. The author's lack of regard for the cast, crew, and director necessitated this decision.

Any student has the academic freedom to express his views in The Commentator, but by doing so he must recognize his responsibility to the organization of which he has voluntarily become a member.

Aaron Zerykier
YC '99
President, Yeshiva College Dramatics Society

Mordechai Levovitz Responds

My article concerned the current policy relating to the dramatics society that does not allow men to portray female characters.

I also noted that the policy for Stern's dramatic society is such that women are allowed to dress up and portray male characters.

The article then went to halakhically defend my suggestion, proving that according to mainstream halakha there would be no problem with men cross-dressing for a theatrical production.

I also noted that according to the most stringent halakhic view, cross-dressing would be prohibited not only in male productions, but also in female theatrical production.

Thus, I proved that to be halakhically consistent, one policy must change - either Yeshiva College should allow male characters to cross-dress as female characters or Stern should prohibit females from cross dressing as male characters. Surely consistency within the halakhic policies of YU is a worthy goal.

I concluded, by stating I believe if YU were to rethink its policy concerning the dramatics society, we, (as in any student interested in acting) would greatly benefit from the new spectrum of acting opportunities.

Yes, it is my opinion that we would all benefit from allowing students to cross-dress as cross-gender characters in our theatrical productions!

I have every right to have and state this opinion. It is my personal opinion, not necessarily the opinion of YCDS, of Dr. Anthony Beukas, or of anyone associated with the dramatics society. Consequently, there was no reason or requirement to speak or confer with any members of the executive board of YCDS concerning this article. Furthermore, never did I misrepresent the truth or quote erroneous sources.

There is a policy that prohibits boys in YCDS from cross-dressing while portraying female characters. I am well aware that in a YCDS production three semesters ago, a boy dressed in masculine clothing and acting with masculine mannerisms was supposed to be portraying another character's mother. Consequently, as I've heard from Beukas and other members of YCDS, that character didn't work out well. Obviously, it didn't work out well; he wasn't able to properly portray a female character because he wasn't able to dress the part. This is exactly where my article comes in. I didn't mention this instance in my article simply because besides being insignificant to my point, I wanted to spare Beukas the utter embarrassment of publicizing his theatrical failures. Certainly, the pseudo-female character in that production proves all the more that permitting the dramatics society to cross-dress when portraying female characters would in fact be substantially beneficial.

The Sad Truth

On the evening of Wednesday, September 9, a day after the last Commentator was released, I was called over to speak with Aaron Zerykier, the president of YCDS, right before play practice. Aaron explained to me that the dramatics society and Beukas were receiving a lot of flack from Rabbeim and donors because of my article. I asked why that would be, being that the article was solely my opinion and really had nothing to do with the opinions of Beukas or the dramatics society. Zerykier responded, that because I was acting in the play and because I stated my opinion that we would benefit from allowing theatrical cross-dressing, some people might misconstrue my article to erroneously believe that I was speaking on behalf of Beukas or the dramatics society.

Upon hearing this, I immediately said that I would have The Commentator put a disclaimer in the paper stating that the opinions in the article "This Policy is a Drag!" expressed the personal opinions of the writer alone and do not necessarily represent the views of Beukas or the YCDS.

Zerykier refused to listen, stating that the damage was too severe and the article was too misleading, and thus a disclaimer would not be strong enough to resolve such a problem. He told me that he had discussed it with Beukas and they had decided that I must write a personal retraction. He showed me a paper on which he jotted down certain ideas that he and Beukas had discussed for my retraction, and began to dictate to me what it must include. He demanded that I include:

• An apology for embarrassing Beukas, the dramatics society and everyone associated with the dramatics society by misrepresenting their opinions.
• An admission that I misrepresented the facts.
• A statement regarding my incomplete research, in that I failed to ask Beukas or contact any member of the executive board of YCDS before writing my article. (The exact wording Zerykier used was "shoddy" research.)

After hearing this list of demands, I told Zerykier that while I sympathize with any pains the dramatics society may be feeling, I personally do not believe that I had done or written anything wrong, or anything that merited an apology. I told him that I thought my article stated the truth and certainly did not misrepresent any facts. There was no reason for me to consult with Beukas before writing my article, for why would I be interested in his opinion for a halakhic article? I didn't think Beukas could add any significant insights into the position of the Rambam or the interpretation of the Ramoh and Bach.

I made it clear to Zerykier that while I had no problem writing a disclaimer proclaiming the article was only my opinion, I would not write something that I vehemently disagreed with, and it would be morally wrong to force me to do so. There were enough ways to clarify the fact that the article didn't represent the official opinion of YCDS without disparaging its content.

But Aaron was obstinate. He explicitly told me that there was no room for compromise. I asked him what would happen if I refused to agree to his terms. He told me that if I didn't exactly write his form of retraction, I would be immediately kicked out of the play. I told him that I didn't think what he was forcing me to do was fair, and I needed more time to make such a drastic decision. He refused, and told me that I must decide right then and there.

I did what I think was the right and ethical thing to do. I refused to lie and write something I didn't believe in. I refused to give in to a blatant abuse of power; no one has the right to tell me what to think or say! I told him that I would agree to write a disclaimer, but refused to write his form of a retraction. Zerykier asked me to take my stuff and leave. So I left.

The next day I heard from a student in Beukas' speech class that the good doctor had told over my story in class. Only, he had taken creative license with the facts and had flagrantly bent the truth. He told his class that the reason I was kicked out of the play was because I had refused write in The Commentator that the opinions in the article were my own and not those of YCDS.

What chutzpah! The nerve of this man, using his public forum and privileges as a teacher to blatantly and utterly lie about a student! Not only did I agree to have a disclaimer printed, it was my suggestion. I begged Zerykier to just allow me to clarify that it was my own opinion, but he refused. Now Beukas has the unmitigated audacity to lie to his students, saying that I'd rather be kicked off the production than publicly acknowledge that my article was solely my own opinion. Why anyone would believe this is beyond me. I, unlike Beukas, am not ashamed of who and what I am. I cherish my opinions and am not afraid to express them. I don't need Beukas or YCDS to agree with me. I have the right to express both my artistic and halakhic opinions, and Beukas' personal insecurities cannot be given the right to limit my freedoms. I am deeply hurt that because of such stupidity I will have to go through four years of college without dramatics experience. This is truly unfair.

The issue is now in the hands of the student body. Does a teacher or president of a club have a right to force a student to publicly say something the student doesn't believe? Are they allowed to kick him out of their club or class if he refuses to? Can a teacher abuse his public speaking privileges to lie to his class about people? Should these abuses of power and lying be allowed to limit free speech within the sacred confines of Yeshiva University? I think not! Show your outrage that a student can be treated in such a manner, and express it to your friends and parents, teachers and deans. Let us make sure that something like this doesn't happen again to you or me. If we just stay quiet, teachers like Beukas and sycophantic toadies like Zerykier will continue to abuse their positions.

Related Stories:

• Commentator Staffer's Opinion Gets Him Fired From YCDS
• This Policy is a DRAG