Directed Study: Not an Option
This being my fourth full year in Yeshiva University, I discovered that my choices for courses in my major this semester were extremely limited, and I therefore attempted to take a Direct Study. A Direct Study is a course offered at YU that is not being offered this semester (or for a student who can't make the official class time), which a student wishes to study. A student needs merely to get a faculty member to agree to meet privately with the student in a tutor fashion and the student can learn all the material normally covered in the course. Depending on the course, the student might even get more out of it, as the pace will be set by that single student and the lectures or discussions are one-on-one with a member of our excellent faculty.Click for full story

Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l noted that the grouping of the vessels of the interior of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, in the Torah portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh - the isolation of the Aron (ark of the covenant), Shulchan (showbread table) and Menorah (candelabrum) from the Mizbeyach HaZahav (golden incense altar) - highlights the dual nature of the Jewish sanctuary.Click for full story

Un-Conscience
I was talking to a friend of mine and explaining to him the perils of combat parachuting. Particularly, I was describing the danger that a jumper faces when his ripcord refuses to detach itself from the plane. This scenario plays itself out rarely, but nevertheless paratroopers are trained for such an eventuality. When it does happen, the jumper, still connected to the aircraft, is knocked about mercilessly against the plane's fuselage by the buffeting winds. In order to free him, the plane's crew must cut the ropes binding the jumper to the aircraft at which time he releases his backup parachute. However, the real danger in that situation is that of the jumper losing consciousness. If the soldier is rendered unconscious by the blows to his body, he will not be able to deploy is auxiliary chute and will plummet to his death.Click for full story