Volume 67, Issue 7

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.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that this fervor for academic integrity is witnessed in all our intellectual engagements on campus.  In their few years wandering here, students spend more time searching for shortcuts than it would take for them to just follow the path.

Incidents of cheating have multiplied on campus to the point where they raise less commotion than denial of tenure to professors.  While tenure decisions may affect our institution, cheating - and the acceptance and apathy of it on campus - utterly delegitimize it.  Of what worth is a Yeshiva diploma that can be “earned” through cutting-and-pasting?

Sure the slope of cheating is steep when it comes to breaking into offices and stealing tests.  But is smuggling notes into an exam, getting test questions from earlier classes, peeking over your neighbors shoulder when the proctor looks away, or turning in a report “compiled” from sources on the internet any less of a crime?  These may seem like varying degrees of maliciousness, but they all reveal the same offense– the student’s corrupt character.

The first step towards cheating begins when the subject matter is belittled. Demanding truthful behavior is not dependent on a student’s priority of Torah vs. Madda.  Ideally, you should take advantage of every learning opportunity, and with a little work, earn the “A”. But if you are afraid of using up your talent all on one subject, make just a slight attempt, and, in YU, you can still get the “A”. And if you really don’t feel the class material is worthy of your effort - then take the “F”. 

If you don’t feel any lesser for being ignorant of the topic, than what is gained by showing a better grade, the sole purpose of which is to measure knowledge of the subject? Why hide your attitude towards the class? Be upfront and flunk the test or paper.  If you perceive a need to “do good” in a class, then shouldn’t you be worrying about mastering the material? By lying about your performance, you lose all credibility and respect.

Knowing that cheating is just a quick road to failure, a person recognizes that the “easy way out” is the real waste of time, no matter how accepted it may be by others.  Even our beloved “Mesorah” tests, like Artscroll in the case above, will be recognized as cheating by the intelligent student. If it’s helping improve your grade without you learning more, then it’s wrong.

Most people are going to be looking for a job after studying in college. Recruiters that select you based on your grades are hoping that you will know the material as well as your transcript testifies. And if you think your future colleagues are going to appreciate you cutting corners or taking credit for someone else’s work, you’re wrong. In the real world, take the shortcuts and get fired. Can we take pride in Yeshiva and produce people in the workforce that are looked down upon for their dishonesty?  That’s why we must have zero tolerance for cheaters at our University.

As a religious institution, our campus should be the benchmark for integrity and our graduates should be the embodiment of honesty and hard work.  We should be embarrassed enough that many other schools trust their students alone in a test with an honor code, while we require deans overseeing every exam.  Of all that Yeshiva has to offer, the one product it should outpace all other institutions in is virtue.  Very simply, we should be bewildered and exasperated with the lax ethics of Yeshiva students.

Students who fail to apply their integrity consistently should be helped to find another school. Not because we need to punish the severity of their crime or to deter others from following their poor example. But cheaters don’t belong in Yeshiva. As Mr. Richard Joel expressed his disbelief and disappointment in the proliferation of cheaters at our religious institution, “We’re better than that.”

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