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Volume 67, Issue 7
Respectful Coverage of Rabbinical Seminaries
It is difficult for us to voice criticism of RIETS. The RIETS Roshei Yeshiva provide us with the critical Torah perspective necessary to confront the challenges of a Modern Orthodox lifestyle. It should go without saying that we genuinely intend in all our coverage of RIETS to further the welfare of our rabbinical seminary and its students.
From the Editor's Desk: Yehoshua Levine
The Commentator recently received an e-mail from a college professor who had been following the Roshei Yeshivas’ public objections to Richard Joel’s candidacy for YU president. The professor, who identified himself as a “faculty member of a school with a large Jewish presence,” ignored the rabbis’ claims that they were really just concerned with Joel’s lack of Rabbinic ordination and chose instead to interpret what was going on as symbolic of the larger division amongst the various constituents of YU. According to the e-mail writer, objecting to Joel’s appointment was clearly an attempt by the Right to impede the institution’s possible shift to the Left that was now on the horizon thanks to the imminent selection of this new pluralistic president.From the Editor's Desk: Zack Streit
While riding the train to Great Neck for the Gush Shabbaton two weeks ago, I remember wondering how the forthcoming Shabbos would compare to those that I spent at Sha’alvim a few years back. As I suspected, the two ended up having a lot in common. The distinct bond forged by yeshiva students engrossed in the collective pursuit of Torah all within the same four walls for an extended period of time was fascinatingly reincarnated, if only for a Shabbos; the davening seemed to embody a certain ethereal quality that I’ve found to be so elusive post-yeshiva; and, finally, the resounding nigunim momentarily transported me back to those carefree, learning-filled days in Israel, when life was much simpler (As a matter of personal pride, I must interject that the singing at Sha’alvim was unquestionably superior.).
A Message From the SOY President: Josh Goldman
Artscroll Gemaras are kind of like cliff notes for the Talmud. The reader gets a summary of the plot, but glosses right past the intricacies of the original text. While Artscroll is beneficial to many, in the competitive world of Beis Medrash students, Artscroll use is seen as a cop-out. Amongst ourselves, an “Artscroll siyum [completion of an entire tractate]” is considered a joke, an unearned credit. For us, “Artscroll” is synonymous with “cheating.”
Message
from Yeshiva College Alumni Association
by Joshua Annenberg, Esq., YC ’89, CSL ’93, President
Yeshiva College Alumni Association and Stuart Verstandig, YC ’80, FGS
’83, RIETS ’84, Immediate Past President, Yeshiva College Alumni
Association
On behalf of the Yeshiva College Alumni Association, representing in excess of 7,000 graduates of Yeshiva College, we extend a Mazel Tov to Mr. Richard Joel on his election as President of Yeshiva University and CEO of RIETS.
Richard
Joel: The Wrong Man for the Job
by Ben Shapiro
Richard Joel should not be the next president of YU.
Let me begin with a caveat. I have nothing against Richard Joel. I met Mr. Joel at a meeting regarding UCLA Hillel, and I found him to be a warm, likeable fellow -- a people person. He has done a wonderful job of transforming Hillel from a dying Conservative-Reform college movement to a thriving organization on campus, even making Hillel more Orthodox-friendly. But he simply doesn't qualify for the YU presidency. And a look at his record reveals why.
The latest spate of burglaries in the undergraduate apartments should serve as yet another clarion call for eradicating the housing shortage on the Wilf Campus. Joining the well-worn ranks of other, graver incidents demonstrating clear security inadequacies over the past two years, these recent midday break-ins further point to the problems that have been plaguing the IHP ever since its inception.
Dear Students,
As
finals approach, we as student representatives feel the need to reiterate
the responsibility of students to maintain a high standard of academic
integrity in our Torah U Madda institution. Our community strives
to build a moral, halachic, society built upon integrity and
honesty; all forms of cheating and plagiarism strike at the root of that
endeavor. If you participate in these destructive acts, you not only
separate yourself from your fellow students, you also threaten to damage
our reputation within the Jewish community as well as the world beyond our
walls, and you corrode the environment befitting our University.
Rethinking American-Israeli Relationships
Nationalists in their Diasporas can often be more politically radical than their peers in their homeland. Some examples include Irish-Americans in the nineteenth century and Tamils in Canada today. Being in another land can make events seem greater than they are, for example, we see all the daily horror in Israel, but may forget that life goes on behind the cameras. As disgusting and obscene as terrorist attacks are, they kill no more then traffic accidents. Living in North America, with little violence in our history, violent events such as the Holocaust are not seen in light of all the bloodshed in Europe, but become even more grim events when transported to our shores.
On
Our Way Home
by Shmuel Honig
Today I traveled with Yeshiva University from New York City to Washington, D.C. for a mass rally in support of our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael. What a tremendous sight! So many thousands of Jews from so many different backgrounds, from so many different parts of America and even the rest of the world, all gathered in one place and at one time to express one common feeling and sentiment: our eternal connection to the People of Israel and the Land of Israel.
Ramblings
Discusses Fashion and Football (?!)
by Avi Mermelstein
There is a pestilence upon this land. A dark blue swarm has blown in with the first chill wind of winter. It struts about the streets with the heedless confidence of a mob, sweeping away or assimilating all who oppose it.
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