Volume 67, Issue 3  

Guide to the Perplexed Now Available
by Michael H. Chiert 
 

Attending school in New York City affords students the incredible opportunity to explore the greatest city in the world.  From the theaters that line Times Square, to the plethora of Kosher restaurants dotted around the city, to the shopping boutiques buried in the Village, incoming and returning students know that they’re in for some fun.  But, where to begin?

In order to make life a little easier, the Yeshiva Student Union annually publishes “The Guide for the Perplexed,” an easy-to-use handbook on how to exploit City-living.   After a delay in printing, Part I of this year’s Guide was finally distributed to the students last week. 

The Guide contains data such as addresses and telephone numbers for kosher dining establishments, Broadway shows, museums, theaters and more entertainment throughout the city. It also includes schedules for all local sports teams and a listing of radio and television stations. On the campus-front, the volume also has data germane to the Wilf and Midtown Campuses, including contact information for select administrators and faculty members.

The debuting Guide also sports one major modification: it is now a paperback book, as opposed to the large, three-hole binders. Gennady Gelman and Emily Novit, who comprised the production crew, welcomed the change, which was implemented to cut baseline production costs.  “While we encountered some kinks in the process, the end result was smooth," said Gelman.  The smaller size is also more practical, allowing students to fit the compendium in their back pocket.

Students have also responded positively to the Guide.  After reading through it, Yeshiva College Junior Josh Becker was quite impressed. “The great amount of effort that went into the production of the Guide is easily apparent.  It is possibly the most useful book I will read this year,” he said.

In terms of other smaller changes, this year’s Guide has a “magic eye” effect on the cover and a Spiderman theme. Though many students have failed to recognize the effect, staring intently at the cover and then slowly relaxing one’s eyes reveals the words "The Guide" on the cover.  As for the Spiderman theme, students should not expect any webs flying towards them, but rather only a few different quotes from the recent movie, to correspond to each section of the book.

Other new changes include an updated kosher dinning section, with input from Rabbi Yosef Blau, Yeshiva’s Mashgiach Ruchani. Restaurants that remain open on Shabbos have been ommitted.

The Guide will, as always, have a sequel published in the upcoming weeks. This section will have the contact information – phone numbers and email addresses – for Stern and Wilf Campus faculty members, students, and student leaders. 

The Guide staff also has plans to make this information available online. Currently, YUstudents.org, a recently-opened website run by the Yeshiva University Computer Society, is soliciting contact information from students who wish to make their data known, from phone numbers, to email addresses, to Instant Messenger screen names. The future availability of the website, however, will depend on the amount of interest demonstrated by the students. As for the print version of Part 2, information gathering will continue on YUstudents.org, with distribution expected within six weeks.

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