Dr. Lawrence Schiffman on the Growing Popularity of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Why are literally hundreds of thousands of people streaming to exhibits of the Dead Sea Scrolls all over the United States and the rest of the world? Why should anyone even care about these remnants of close to 900 scrolls from the second and first centuries BCE and the first century CE? What possesses some of us in academia to devote our professional careers to teaching and research about the Scrolls?

Yeshiva University presents its first annual Dead Sea Scrolls conference on May 19.

The discovery of the first scrolls by Bedouin in 1947 in Cave 1 at Qumran, on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, set off a wave of excitement. But this initial interest was misused by scholars who were intent on understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Second Temple period Jewish sect that gathered them as a precursor of Christianity. To make matters even worse, the long delays in publication that ensued understandably fostered conspiracy theories worthy of Dan Brown and the Da Vinci Code, and served as a great distraction from the Scrolls’ real significance and message. After all, they are Second Temple period texts authored, copied and left for us by Jews who lived and breathed devotion to God’s Torah and its commandments, even if they represented an approach that, from the point of view of the sweep of Jewish history, was sectarian.

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Graduate Profile: Nuttha Udhayanang, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology

A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.

Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.

In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU News will feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.

Meet the Class of 2013.

Ferkauf’s Nuttha Udhayanang hopes to assist those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in her native Thailand.

Name: Nuttha Udhayanang

School: Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology

Hometown: Bangkok, Thailand

Research Focus: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Sciences Student Research Conference Highlights Diverse Fields of Study at YU

On May 10, Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School for Psychology and Center for Public Health Sciences hosted their 10th annual Behavioral and Social Sciences Student Research Conference Program. Known as YU Research Day, the interdisciplinary event highlights the work of students at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva College and the Sy Syms School of Business alongside presentations from students at YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Wurzweiler School of Social Work and Ferkauf.

“I am constantly reminded that people go into the field of psychology because they want to build civilization, they want to explore ideas and they’re wise enough to know that they don’t want to live in an enclosed bubble,” said YU President Richard M. Joel in his opening remarks to students. “They want to break down silos, bring their disciplines to play with other disciplines and inspire young people to explore their dreams and make those dreams come true.”

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Yeshiva Wins Conference Sportsmanship Trophy for Fourth Time in Six-Year History of Award

For the second consecutive year, Yeshiva University has captured the Skyline Conference’s Sportsmanship Trophy for displaying outstanding team sportsmanship during the 2012-13 academic year. The Skyline Conference instituted the Sportsmanship Trophy in 2007-08 to gauge team sportsmanship among its member schools.

YU has been awarded the conference sportsmanship trophy for the second straight year, its fourth overall.

“At Yeshiva we believe that proper sportsmanship is a cornerstone of competition,” said Joe Bednarsh, YU director of athletics, physical education and recreation. ”It’s important to our student-athletes that they be seen as fiercely competitive, determined and tough, all while keeping to a high standard of fair play. It says volumes that our teams can be successful and also be recognized as good sportsmen.”

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Four-Year $720,000 Grant will Enable Stern College’s Marina Holz to Investigate Breast Cancer Cell Growth

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded Dr. Marina Holz, assistant professor of biology at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, a $720,000 Research Scholar Grant. The four-year grant will be used to continue her work researching how the mTOR pathway affects the growth of estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer.

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Chani Wiesman Berliant on the Need for Genetic Education and Testing

In my role as genetic counselor, I meet with men, women and families who have personal or family histories of cancer. I take a detailed medical and family history, assess the chance for an hereditary risk for cancer, and recommend appropriate genetic testing. Genetic testing can help identify what that “hereditary factor” is. When the results come back, I interpret them in the context of the family history and help make screening and management recommendations.

Chani Wiesman Berliant is a genetic counselor at YU’s Program for Jewish Genetic Health

Inevitably, the following statement would come up in discussion:

“…and if you carry one of these BRCA mutations, it means that there’s a 50/50 chance that you could have passed it on to your kids…”

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Graduate Profile: Eli Shapiro, Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education and Administration

A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.

Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.

In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU News will feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.

Meet the Class of 2013.

Azrieli’s Eli Shapiro hopes to professionalize the Jewish education landscape.

Name: Eli Shapiro

Hometown: Far Rockaway, NY

School: Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education and Administration

Passion: Professionalizing Jewish education

Why Jewish education?

Jewish education is the foundation of our community and the basis of our future, but we often approach it in a “this is what’s done” fashion that causes us to miss out on best practices. I feel very strongly that if in some way I can effect a positive change and bring more deliberate practices to such a significant component of Jewish life, I have an obligation to do so. To quote Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

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Inter-Institutional Collaboration Between HUC-JIR, JTS and YU Offers Opportunity for More Innovation

To cultivate creativity and knowledge-sharing surrounding the effective use of educational technology in Jewish higher education, Hebrew Union College– Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and Yeshiva University (YU) have launched an inter-institutional eLearning Faculty Fellowship. On May 7, the 20 faculty members of Cohort 1 participated in the first of five live sessions to learn strategies, tools and approaches for using educational technologies to improve student engagement and learning. All five live sessions and five additional online workshops will be created and led by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) at Columbia University.

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Gavriel Brown’s Essay on Hurricane Sandy Awarded First Place

Gavriel Brown, Yeshiva College junior and member of YU’s Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program, won first place in the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Prize in Ethics Essay Contest. The annual competition challenges college students across the country to submit thought-provoking personal essays that raise questions, single out issues and are rational arguments for ethical action.

Gavriel Brown was awarded the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics

Brown’s winning essay, “Losing Self, Finding Self,” focuses on lessons he learned while volunteering, and eventually coordinating many services, at a Washington Heights shelter after Hurricane Sandy.

“Hurricane Sandy taught me that you don’t need to fly half-way around the world to do meaningful and urgent community service. Sometimes, the most pressing needs are right under our noses, in local schools, in shelters, in community centers,” said Brown, an English major from Silver Spring, Md.

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Graduate Profile: Savyon Lang, Wurzweiler School of Social Work

A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.

Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.

In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU News will feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.

Meet the Class of 2013.

Wurzweiler’s Savyon Lang hopes to use her personal experiences to assist the deaf and hard of hearing communities.

Name: Savyon Lang

Hometown: Somers, NY

School: Wurzweiler School of Social Work

Passion: Supporting deaf and hard of hearing populations

How did you decide to go into social work?

My sister and I are hard of hearing. All my life, people have been fighting to ensure that our needs are met—speech therapists, speech pathologists, audiologists, special education teachers, my mom and dad. Even my hearing brother learned Cued Speech, a phonemically-based hand supplement to language, to better communicate with my sister and me. I have been touched by the love, acceptance, help and care I have been shown and really felt that I needed to give back as well.

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