Volume 67, Issue 4  

Students Unite for Night of Learning

by Avi Robinson

Yeshiva’s Main Beis Medrash featured a new look on Tuesday night, October 22nd, as close to forty James Striar School, Isaac Breuer College, and Stone Beis Medresh Program students joined Mazer Yeshiva Program students for an hour of communal learning and post-Maariv refreshments. An initiative of student leaders in collaboration with Rosh Hayeshiva Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, the program represents the first of many such unity events slated to be held throughout the upcoming year.

“We held the program for two reasons,” explained Student Organization of Yeshiva President Josh Goldman. “First, a lot of students don’t even know the Beis Medrash exists. Second, some students don’t feel comfortable around MYP guys. We’re trying to bridge the gap. If students get to know even one more person from a different background then we’ve accomplished something.”

Students participating in the program found study partners through a variety of methods. Some students came in pairs or arranged to learn with prior acquaintances. Evan Rosenhaus, an IBC student, studied Tractate Megillah with a friend from NCSY. “I just picked up a new chavrusa,” he related excitedly. The pair decided to continue learning together every night, for one hour. 

Other students came alone, were greeted by ushers, and were matched with pre-arranged students from the Yeshiva. For those partners, the program represented a new experience, both intellectually and socially. As David Lessen, an MYP student, recalled, “My chavrusa told me he was learning the third chapter of Tractate Brachos, so that’s what we learned. I was impressed – he had a much better grasp of the material than I did.” Lessen and his partner planned to continue on an infrequent basis. “It’s important for me to meet people with different perspectives,” explained Lessen, who also learns Mishna Berura once a week with a JSS student. “Especially since I’m considering eventually chinuch, I have to learn how to relate to people who have more limited backgrounds.”

After the learning and the Maariv service, the students enjoyed a delicious snack of Grandma’s cookies and soda in the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy Yeshiva University High School’s lunchroom.

Student leaders plan to repeat the program every few weeks, perhaps varying the location or theme of the learning. They expect that such events will foster a feeling of unity even beyond the walls of the Beis Medrash.  Shlomo Greenwald, one of the event’s organizers, summed it up: “This event’s success will be measured in the future weeks, when we will [hopefully] have a regular display of achdus on campus.”

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