On Tuesday, September 11, the Yeshiva University Office of Student Services designated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary student Ezra Berenholz as the Coordinator of Student Life on the uptown campus. Hoping to fill the void created by the resignation of former Assistant Director of Housing Rabbi Marc Spivak, Yeshiva administrators created the position in early September and placed the Shabbos Enhancement Program which Spivak had previously overseen under its jurisdiction. However, despite the fact that Berenholz will direct the Shabbos Enhancement Program, he will remain on campus only one out of every three shabbosos, a detail that is already causing significant problems.

The brainchild of former Yeshiva College Student Council President Sruli Tannenbaum, the Shabbos Enhancement Program was inaugurated in the fall of 1995 for the purpose of making the shabbos atmosphere of the uptown campus more appealing to students. Fueled by an initial generous grant from the President's Circle, the Program has, over the past six years, organized discounted shabbos meals in the cafeteria, arranged for scholars-in-residence, and coordinated special shabbos programs such as tisches and discussion groups. The fact that the average number of undergraduate males remaining on campus for the weekend has dramatically risen throughout the past five years attests to the Program's tremendous success.

Acting as a representative of Yeshiva's Housing Department, Spivak had served as the Shabbos Enhancement Program's director. In addition to organizing weekend events ahead of time, Spivak also spent every shabbos at Yeshiva running the meals, entertaining the guests, organizing the kiddush reception, and solving unexpected problems when they arose. "When Rabbi Spivak was here, everything worked out perfectly well," one of this year's resident advisors recalled. "He was always around to make sure things ran smoothly."

When Spivak resigned this past summer, Dean of Students David Himber and Assistant Dean of Students Dr. Chaim Nissel scrambled to fill the vacant position. "Throughout the past few months, we decided to implement a new administrative post, the Coordinator of Student Life," Himber pointed out. "This person's overall goal would be simply to be helpful to the students, but specifically, he would coordinate the Shabbos Enhancement Program, as well as give informal counseling and assist [Director of Housing] Ron Lamb with housing problems, duties formerly held by Rabbi Spivak."

Both Himber and Nissel acknowledged that finding a replacement had proven quite difficult. "We realized then that we had been very fortunate to have Rabbi Spivak," Nissel said. "It was very hard to find someone who was able to stay in every shabbos, because most candidates did not live in the Yeshiva area. And when we did find people who were able to commit themselves every week, it became clear that they weren't the right ones for the job they lacked certain skills, [most specifically] the ability to connect with people and necessary organizational experience."

The deans explained that it was as a result of this difficulty that they redefined the responsibilities of the Shabbos Enhancement Program director. According to Himber, he and Nissel "became more and more open-minded as the interviewing went on," as they realized that few candidates were well qualified for the job. "Ezra [Berenholz] clearly had the necessary skills for the job," he continued, referring to the new Coordinator's extensive experience as a Yachad advisor, his studies in Yeshiva's Wurzweiler School of Social Work, and his enrollment in RIETS. "So we were happy about hiring him. Since he was unable to commit for two-thirds of the shabbosos, however, we decided to redesign the [Shabbos Enhancement Program directing] position."

Himber specified that from now on, Berenholz will set up all the details ahead of time, from arranging speakers, to organizing the kiddush, to insuring that there will be cholent for the tisch. The head RAs, however, will actually run shabbos. "Ezra will deliver to the head RAs a 'finished package' ahead of time," Himber revealed, "and the RAs will in turn be there for shabbos to move things along and deal with unanticipated situations, should they arise." Responding to whether the RAs would be expected to sit with the scholars-in-residence at the dais table on shabbos, as Spivak had traditionally done, Himber pointed out, "there may no longer be a dais."

Both Himber and Nissel, while emphasizing that they are "confident that this year's shabbos program will be super," nonetheless claimed to understand the student frustration with the changing role of the Program's director. "It's a natural human phenomenon that people have difficulty with any change," Himber remarked. Nissel added that the Housing Department is currently forming a student committee for shabbos enhancement that will be working closely with Berenholz during the week. Furthermore, although Berenholz will remain on campus only one out of every three shabbosos, this committee, along with the Office of Student Services, will decide which weekends he will stay. "We'll make sure that he'll stay for certain shabbosos like Shabbos Shuva, for instance, when many students generally remain on campus," promised Nissel.

Despite the deans' assurances, RAs still doubt the viability of the Shabbos Enhancement Program's new system of leadership. "I was called ninety minutes before mincha and told to ask [a certain number of] people to speak," one disgruntled RA recalled. "Rabbi Spivak did these arrangements in the past and was always there to make sure people would be speaking. I'm worried that now, these types of problems will continue." Another RA griped, "We are simply being mistreated and asked to take on additional responsibility because Student Services couldn't get its act together and find someone who could be here for shabbos on a regular basis."

Himber, while downplaying these mishaps as characteristic of any job turnover, nonetheless stressed that problems may still arise even after the dust settles. "There will be glitches that'll hit the road, but they'll be inevitable," he stressed. "I don't think future problems will have anything to do with Ezra's not being here on campus."

Himber qualified that while "it's physically impossible to oversee everyone in one department [student services]," Berenholz will report directly to Director of Housing Ron Lamb, rather than to Himber himself. Nissel was quick to point out, however, that it will not be a "direct hierarchy," as he, Lamb and Himber will all be working with Berenholz as a team. Himber also mentioned that students should come to him with grievances or suggestions. "The goal of this department is to appoint people who will prove helpful to the student body."

Students wonder, however, whether the "appointed people" Himber refers to are merely the RA's. "It's easy to dismiss problems as 'glitches,'" one RA griped, "but when these 'glitches' happen regularly, and we are required to clean up the mess, we have to wonder who is really taking responsibility for student services on campus."