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Volume 67, Issue 4
From
the Editor's Desk
by Zack Streit
The mind is an enigmatic creature. It seems to sneak up on us capriciously. Take the late-night conversation I had one day last week, following a grueling series of midterms. Though sleep was beckoning, my mind seemed to have a plan all its own. I soon found myself drifting to a friend’s dorm room well past midnight. The conversation there was indeed eye opening.
From the Editor's
Desk
by Yehoshua Levine
We all remember the bizarre case of Phineas Gage, the unlucky railroad worker of the nineteenth century who had apparently not taken his iron-welding education seriously enough. After missing his mark on the metal hold of the tracks and slamming his hammer down on a loose piece of steel, causing it to fly upward at a sickeningly fast speed, he ended up with a 2-foot-long steel rod wedged in the frontal lobe of his brain.
The Culture of
Limitations
by Avi Robinson
Scanning the various faculty and student contributions to the ongoing debate on academic free speech at Yeshiva, the reader senses that a communication gap has emerged between the two sides. Professors decry censorship and homophobia, even as students demand cultural sensitivity and respect for religious values. Each side seems to acknowledge the other’s point but cannot convert to, or even understand, the alternative position. For our faculty members have graduated from a post-modern academic world that idolizes individualism, freedom, and relativism; whereas Yeshiva University students mature within a culture of limitations.
A Message From the YSU President Shai Barnea
Two weeks ago, I spoke at length with a woman who is writing a book on religious institutions. One of the things we discussed is the diversity of the student body here at YU. While some students spent a year in Israel, others have never been to the Holy Land. Whereas some students attended Jewish high schools, some didn’t. And though some students have an extensive Judaic background, others have only recently come into contact with religion. YU, at least in her eyes, is a hodgepodge of diverse people from widely varying backgrounds.
From the SOY President
Josh Goldman
“I.D.?” It’s the first word you hear from the security guard when you enter any Yeshiva building. As we get used to wearing these cards on our necks, key chains, and belts, we adjust to being identified by a piece of plastic.
A
Rosh Yeshiva's Response to Cheating
by Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva
The Ramban, commenting on this weeks’ parsha on Avraham Avinu’s comment, “vgam omna achosi bas avi hi – and besides, she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter”, makes an interesting comment. He writes: “I don’t understand what kind of excuse this is. Even if it were true that Sarah was in fact his sister and his wife, and when they were interested in a single woman he said “She’s my sister” in order to deceive them, he had already sinned by misleading them and entrapping them so they would commit an aveira, and at that point it didn’t matter whether what he said was literally true or whether it was literally false, [either way it was a sin] (Breishis 20/12).”
Career
Fair Reaps “Benefits” for SSSB Students Only
by David Weinberg
I feel the need to be blunt. This year's fall career fair was an abomination. The night before having two midterms along with a grand midterm project due, I spent what turned out to be wasted time preparing for and attending another Weissberg Commons shenanigan.
A
Democrat Torn by War and Israel
by Alexander Chester
Like most American Jews, I consider myself to be socially liberal, and I have generally supported the Democratic Party. Also like most American Jews, Israel is of extreme importance to me, and when she is more prominent in the news, it is reflected in my voting tendency. The attacks last September 11th and the resulting “war on terror” have had a radical effect on the political leanings of most Americans in terms of foreign affairs – causing a shift to the right that is very similar to what has taken place in Israel since the beginning of the Intifada.
The Commentator has long decried the lack of administrative attention attributed to students’ concerns, especially when our objections are iterated time and time again. For years, students have condemned the shoestring budgets appropriated to our academic departments and corresponding services by the Vice President for Business Affairs Dr. Sheldon Socol, especially in light of our school’s endowment, one of only two in the country to appreciate this past year. While we considered this condemnation of budget appropriation justified, the administration apparently didn’t. Until now, that is.
From the perspective of the college student, it seems intuitive to write off the agunah problem as pertaining only to communal organizations. Legal bodies such as the Beit Din of America possess the halachic authority to punish or even excommunicate recalcitrant husbands; students may not control even their own finances. They fecklessly ignore the sad reality that despite the widespread public rallying on behalf of agunot in recent years, the problem refuses to disappear.
Kippot on Campus: Our Readers Respond
A Message from IBC President Elior Shiloh
For the past couple of weeks, many students have been engaged in debate over whether students attending Yeshiva University should be required to wear a kippah at all times. We all understand that there is an unwritten rule that all students attending Judaic Studies classes should wear a head covering. But, the questions is, should that unwritten rule encompass secular classes, the cafeteria, or even strolling around the Wilf campus? Well, a quick glance around campus these days, which would reveal quite a few bare heads, will tell you that the unwritten rule seems to apply only in the classroom, revealing a sharp contrast between the religious and nonreligious students on campus. In fact, the Kippah issue is merely scratching the surface of the religious differences in this institution.
Ramblings
Stays Up Way Past His Bedtime
by Avi Mermelstein
It’s that time of the month again. No, not that time of the month. What’s wrong with you people, stooping to the lowest common denominator this early in a column? Is that the type of column you want? (I keep writing “article” instead of “column.” Sad how I’ve been reduced to writing real articles as well as columns. So much so that I keep writing “article” instead of “column.” But I think I mentioned that already...
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