Volume 67, Issue 8

 Monopolies lead to complacency, while competition breeds improvement.   As the sole advocate of Torah U’Maddah for so many decades, YU strayed from its ideological focus, allowing new institutions to stake a claim around what was once its exclusive province. A new president provides the perfect catalyst to reinvigorate its mission of producing the finest leaders of the Jewish community.

In order for Yeshiva to remain at the forefront of the Jewish community, this goal must first be at the forefront of those who control the University.  This commitment must be demonstrated in one respect- the commitment of resources.  The largest building can’t be built without bricks, and, so too, our greatest ideals will never be realized if they aren’t fed the materials and components needed to produce them.

The undisputed center of Yeshiva is the Beis Medrash. It is the tie that binds our Yeshiva to the tradition of Torah study that produces the Jewish leaders of every generation. However, the loss of focus on our own role as the nursery of Rabbinic leadership has led to a neglect of our spiritual headquarters.  We now have over 1300 students registered on the Wilf Campus, and yet our Beis Medrash barely accommodates 300 seats. 

While many initiatives have been started to unite our diverse student body, the most basic premise for bringing together a group is to provide a common space.  We must enable all students to engage each other within the Beis Medrash. The need to build a new Beis Medrash building is usually overshadowed by the pressing need for additional dormitory space.  However, a new Beis Medrash, which may appeal to a different benefactor set, is every bit as vital to invigorating the pulse of our spiritual activities as a new dorm building. (Which is also critical - students not only need to study within a Yeshiva’s four walls, but to be enveloped at all times in its halls with their peers.) 

And of what use is a Beis Medrash without the life-source that brings the wisdom of the past into the context of the present?  To engage students in dialogue and to inform the leaders of the future, we need our Rabbis to be available to form bonds with the students. We cannot continue to pay our Rabbis part-time salaries, for we cannot afford to have only part-time Rabbis. Can we draw students to night Seder when their Rabbis won’t even be there to assist them? Can we expect to have a one-of-a-kind Shabbat experience on campus when we have to compete to host our own Rebbeim?  Can we afford to share our greatest living resources with synagogues and schools throughout the region because we do not cover their cost of living? 

For that matter, each Beis Medrash needs a Mashgiach (advisor) and Shoel U’Meshiv (teaching assistant) to match the growth of the student body. Is it not ridiculous that an entire Beis Medrash is currently left without any Rabbinic oversight? Before we can worry about giving these students the resources to succeed, we must ask, are we even giving them the resources to proceed?

But Rabbis aren’t the only link to our heritage. The Judaic books we access on a daily basis are the bequest of generations. And how do we expect our students to utilize these resources if we don’t have enough to go around?  And beyond that, of what value are crumbling and unlabelled books to our pursuit?  Just as the University provides a well- managed library to supplement its curriculum, the Yeshiva needs sufficient resources to provide a plentiful supply of properly organized books, ready to be drawn in the dual of Talmudic dispute.

And if our students are to be leaders, no student’s avenue of interest should be left unchannelled. In addition to our Gemara studies, we need to provide formal and informal opportunities for students to further their understanding of Judaism and its applications.  We need to bring in varied Rabbis to address different areas of Judaism on a regular basis, and be able to pay the lecturers (and arrange for the occasional refreshments) to make the endeavor successful. We need to support avenues of breaking scholarship and discourse, such as journals and conferences.  To be able to approach and direct a diverse society, we need to capitalize on the diversity inherent in our own campus, and offer a smorgasbord of opportunities for students to be given the knowledge to objectively approach the problems facing the community.

These are only some of the things that make a Yeshiva superior. In order to retain our position as the guiding shepherd of American Orthodoxy, you cannot ask the students to do it all.  The heads of our institution must re-energize our institution. It’s time resources were committed to fund innovative approaches to tomorrow’s issues.  Creativity has its price, but success repays a thousand fold.  If Yeshiva wants to be number one outside its walls, it better make sure that the Yeshiva is number one within its walls.

Correction: I would like to clarify an analogy I drew in my last column on Academic Integrity. 
I did not intend to belittle the use of Artscroll books or to equate them with cheating. For those
 who utilize these books as a manageable way of accessing the challenging world of Judaic 
tradition, Artscroll itself is serving as another valuable step of personal commitment. However, 
for those who could ultimately decipher difficult sources on their own, but instead rely on 
someone else’s summary of the material, the Artscroll allows for no more intellectual gain than 
do Cliff Notes. It is for these people (you know who you are!) that the parallel was originally 

drawn.¨

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