Despite unusually imposing time constraints, a diligent group of students transformed a large barren room on the fifth floor of Belfer Hall into a bookstore in time for the thirtieth annual Student Organization of Yeshiva Seforim Sale, which began Sunday February 3rd. The 2002 sale staff had a mere two-week window to complete preparations from the onset of the spring semester -- a week less than usual.

This year's sale was scheduled to begin earlier than in previous years in order to avoid its coinciding with Purim, which falls out far earlier than usual. The extraordinarily large number of Yeshiva students who went on trips over vacation, including the many students who were in Israel on Operation Torah Shield, also limited the potential help in the beginning stages of book ordering. Many of the sale's organizers, however, believe that that had little affect on the setup, since most of the quantitative work begins yearly with the start of the new semester.

"We needed everyone to put in a top effort in order to pull it off this year, and that's what we got," smiled a tired Naftali Levenbrown, chairman of this year's sale, shortly before the opening hours.

In keeping with the three-year-old tradition of beginning each sale with a lecture, Dr. David J. Schnall, first-year dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, spoke to a large crowd in Weissberg Commons. The event, which is annually sponsored by the Yeshiva College Alumni Association and was cosponsored this year by the Azrieli Alumni Steering Committee, "provides the sale with a feel of Torah U'Madda," as Robert Saltzman, Director of the Alumni Association, put it.

In previous years, Yeshiva President Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm and Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel have given the opening lecture. Dr. Schnall's speech was based on his latest book, By The Sweat of Your Brow: Reflections on Work and the Workplace in Classic Jewish Thought.

The Seforim Sale's organizers carefully chose the amounts and types of books they ordered; they have been known to offer a variety of publications, ranging from the academic to the more "yeshivish." Stephen Tolany, a senior buyer for the sale, noted how excited the sale's organizers are to be adding books from Bar Ilan University Press - one of the premier academic presses in Israel.

He said that its addition will provide a large number of worthy titles for the serious scholar, but he was especially happy that, "now American students of Tanach could benefit from the Haketer edition of Mikraot Gedolot, perhaps the best edition on the market today, at a reasonable price." Bar Ilan now joins SUNY, Wayne St. University and Harvard presses, which all made their initial runs last year and sold well.

In anticipation of another strong showing by last year's top seller, the sale's buyers ordered 250 copies of The 39 Melochos by Rabbi Dovid Ribiat. The four-volume set remained a bargain at $82.75.

Next year's anticipated tractate Kesubos has many more commentaries than this year's tractate Betzah, so the table designated for books relating to the upcoming tractate to be learned in Yeshiva was slightly more prominent this year than it was in 2001.

This year's sale also featured a first in terms of scheduling of hours. As per the requests of students on both campuses, the sale held separate hours for men and women on Tuesday, February 12th.

Organizers explained that the separate hours were an attempt to accommodate a specific customer base, while drumming up business on what has traditionally been the sale's slowest night. "If we can satisfy our shoppers and increase sales at the same time, then we will try to do so," said one organizer.