Article Photo From left to right: President Richard M. Joel, Presidential Fellow Menachem Menchel, Joey Small, and Shuli and Avi Steinlauf, who received an award for their support in hosting the gala event.

Feb 28, 2007 — Yeshiva University brought Los Angeles and New York closer together when it held a gala reception and dinner in LA for the Jewish community at Edmunds.com on Feb. 11.

The dinner featured a live video-conferenced town hall meeting connecting LA students on YU’s campus in New York City, with YU President Richard M. Joel, YU staff, and other attendees of the dinner. During the video hookup, students spoke to the LA audience from the heart about what the YU experience means to them.

The event—hosted by the Yeshiva University Los Angeles Community Council and the YU Office of Alumni Affairs—was part of a broader effort to build stronger ties with the Jewish community in LA, where there is a vibrant network of more than 2,000 YU alumni, parents, and friends.

The Office of Community Affairs for Yeshiva University, and more recently the Office of Alumni Affairs, has worked with the LA Community Council for some time, developing a partnership between the alumni, the larger LA Modern Orthodox community, and YU.

“We may be situated on different coasts, but we share a yearning for Torah values, Jewish education, and meaningful engagement with the world,” President Joel told the 125 alumni, donors, prospective students, and friends at the dinner.

Past and prospective students and their parents learned more about the latest developments at the university from President Joel and from Dr. David Srolovitz, the dean of Yeshiva College, and Dr. Karen Bacon, The Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of Stern College for Women, who presented awards of recognition to more than 25 scholarship donors during the dinner and met with high schools students in the area during their trip.

Joey Small ’06Y also spoke during the dinner about the Give Back Fellowship, which he created so that undergraduate alumni can return to their home communities and teach at the high school they attended, in turn gaining valuable work experience in the field of education.

The gathering took place at the newly designed offices of Edmunds.com, a resource for the automotive market owned by the Steinlauf family, including YU alumni Avi ’93Y and Shuli Steinlauf YH, ’95SB.

“The event was a great step towards strengthening the relationship between YU and the LA-based alumni and friends of YU,” Mr. Steinlauf said. “People were enthusiastic about the program and the exciting things going on at the university.”

Funds raised at the event will support need-based scholarships for students from the West Coast and The Fund for Yeshiva University.

David Makovsky

Feb 16, 2007 — Are Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations a necessary component to finding a comprehensive solution to the war in Iraq? Two experts on Middle East issues – David Makovsky and Raghida Dergham – will discuss “Does the Road to Peace in Iraq Go Through Jerusalem?” on Monday, February 26 at 8 pm at the Schottenstein Cultural Center of Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, 239 East 34th Street.

Mr. Makovsky, is a Senior Fellow and Director of The Washington Institute’s Project on the Middle East Peace Process, and an adjunct lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Mr. Makovsky will report on his recent meetings with Israeli officials and Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf.

Ms. Dergham is the Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat, the leading independent Arabic daily. Ms. Dergham is also a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News and a member of The Council on Foreign Relations. She will present first-hand accounts on her meetings with diplomats at the Davos World Economic Forum and how world leaders perceive future diplomacy on this issue.

The Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence Program is sponsoring the event. Dr. Robbins-Wilf, a founding member of the Stern College Board of Directors, established and funded the program, which brings top scholars, authors, artists, and
policy-shapers to Stern College, offering students unique perspectives on the world.

Admission to the panel discussion is free with valid photo ID. For information and to RSVP email events@yu.edu.or or call 212-960-5400 x5869.

Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University offers a challenging, rigorous dual-track education of liberal arts and sciences and Jewish studies to approximately 1,000 undergraduates at the School’s Beren Campus in midtown Manhattan. Stern is known especially for excellence in sciences, social sciences, and humanities and for graduates who, as leaders in their communities and chosen careers, bring to all their activities deep knowledge of Jewish values and heritage.

Feb 14, 2007 — Students from the Yeshiva University High School for Boys recently returned from a winter break visit to Istanbul, Turkey, and Northern Israel where they spent their time learning from and helping the local Jewish communities.

In Istanbul, the 12 students—all from the New York/New Jersey area—met with local rabbis and Jewish communal leaders in an effort to learn more about the distinct challenges confronting the Turkish Jewish community. They visited a home for the aged, interacted with young people at a local Sunday school, ran a program for youth groups, and visited local synagogues for daily prayers and learning programs.

“We met two or three times with students at schools in Istanbul,” said Ira Suss, a senior from Riverdale. “We told them about our lives; they told us about their lives. We were there to plant the seeds for a continued connection with Jewish life for the students we met.”

The trip gave the students an inside look at a community that Jews from the US know little about. “Turkey has a formal relationship with the state of Israel and a rich Jewish history, but despite that, the Jewish community is somewhat isolated,” said Daniel Schuval, coordinator of special projects for the high school, who accompanied the students on their trip.

Local Jewish community members showed the students interesting sites in Istanbul. The school worked with the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Turkey to arrange the visits and tours. Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future also helped the high school plan the mission.

The students were selected for the trip based on their ability to learn from the experience and share its lessons with others, which they are expected to do now that they have returned. “We also selected students who could bring their Torah Umadda (the view that religious studies and secular studies enhance and enrich each other) experience to life for others,” Mr. Schuval said.

On January 22, the students traveled to Northern Israel to help groups that were affected by the Lebanon war last summer. The students provided hands-on assistance to relief centers, renovated facilities, and distributed food.
Yeshiva University High Schools teach and perpetuate the values of Torah Umadda. The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys and the Samuel H. Wang

Yeshiva University High School for Girls are dedicated to preparing our students for adulthood both as broadly educated and caring members of general society and as knowledgeable and committed Jews.
Two photographs of the students from their trip are attached, and captions follow. A list of the students participating in the program, their hometowns, and contact information follows below.

Michael Walzer

Feb 14, 2007 — Michael Walzer, renowned political theorist and writer on society, politics, and ethics, will present a lecture on “Terrorism and Just War” on March 19 at 7:30 pm at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street. This is the inaugural event of The Center for Ethics at Yeshiva University which was founded in 2006 to foster research and public discussion on ethical issues and the integration of ethical analysis into the curriculum throughout all the undergraduate and graduate schools of Yeshiva University (YU).

On Tuesday, March 20, Professor Walzer will present a second lecture on “War and Death: Reflections on the Lebanon War” at 7:30 pm on the Beren Campus in the Levy Lobby, 215 Lexington Ave. (33rd St.).

Prof. Walzer has written about a wide variety of topics, including just and unjust wars, nationalism and ethnicity, and economic justice. He has contributed to the revival of a practical, issue-focused ethics and the development of a pluralist approach to political and moral life. He is currently working on the toleration and accommodation of “difference” and on The Jewish Political Tradition, a multi-volume collaborative project on the history of Jewish political thought.

He is one of three Permanent Faculty Members at the School of Social Science of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Prof. Walzer is a contributing editor to The New Republic and is an editor of Dissent magazine. To date he has written 27 books and has published more than 300 articles, essays, and book reviews.

Under the direction of Adrienne Asch, Edward and Robin Milstein Professor of Bioethics at YU’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work and Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at the university’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Center for Ethics supports original scholarship on major ethical and policy issues, and serves as a resource for ethics and applied ethics both within and beyond the university.

The lectures are free and open to the public with a valid photo ID. To reserve a seat, please email events@yu.edu or call 212-960-5400 ext 5869. Both events are wheelchair accessible and ASL interpretation will be provided.

Feb 14, 2007 — Yeshiva University (YU) will present a Community Day of Learning on the topic of “Preparing for Pesach” hosted by the Beth Israel Congregation, on Sunday, March 11, from 9 am to 12:00 pm, at 770 West 40th Street, in Miami Beach.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, will feature Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchahan Theological Seminary , Rosh Kollel, the Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel; and Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter university professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought at Yeshiva University.

The Community Day of Learning is a program of the Legacy Heritage Fund Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative at Yeshiva University. Support for the Legacy Heritage Fund Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative has been generously provided by Legacy Heritage Fund Limited.

Free babysitting is available during the entire conference. To RSVP or for more information call (305) 538-1251. More information is available at www.bethisraelmiami.org.

Founded in 1886, Yeshiva University brings together the heritage of Western civilization and the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. More than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students study at YU’s four New York City campuses: the Wilf Campus, Israel Henry Beren Campus, Brookdale Center, and Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus. YU’s three undergraduate schools –– Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, and Sy Syms School of Business ––– offer a unique dual program comprised of Jewish studies and liberal arts courses. Its graduate and affiliate schools include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. YU is ranked among the nation’s leading academic research institutions.

Feb 12, 2007 — Richard Steiner, PhD, professor of Semitic languages and literature at Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, deciphered the earliest connected Semitic texts and presented the results of this research publicly for the first time at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr. Steiner’s lecture, entitled “Proto-Canaanite Spells in the Pyramid Texts: A First Look at the History of Hebrew in the Third Millennium BCE,” was sponsored by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in cooperation with the Hebrew University and the World Union of Jewish Studies. His lecture is posted online at http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il.

In his presentation, Dr. Steiner interpreted Semitic passages in Egyptian texts that were discovered more than a century ago, inscribed on the subterranean walls of the pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara in Egypt. The pyramid dates from the 24th century BCE, but Egyptologists agree that the texts are older. The dates proposed for them range from the 25th to the 30th centuries BCE. No connected Semitic texts from this period have ever been deciphered before.

“This finding should be of great interest to cultural historians,” said Dr. Steiner, a past fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University and a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. “Linguists, too, will be interested in these texts. They show that Proto-Canaanite, the common ancestor of Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite and Hebrew, existed already in the third millennium BCE as a language distinct from Aramaic, Ugaritic, and the other Semitic languages. And they provide the first direct evidence for the pronunciation of Egyptian in this early period.” The texts will also be important to biblical scholars, since they shed light on several rare words in the Bible, he said.

The passages, serpent spells written in hieroglyphic characters, had puzzled scholars who tried to read them as if they were ordinary Egyptian texts. In August 2002, Dr. Steiner received an e-mail message from Robert Ritner, professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago, asking whether any of them could be Semitic. “I immediately recognized the Semitic words for ‘mother snake,’” Dr. Steiner said. “Later it became clear that the surrounding spells, composed in Egyptian rather than Semitic, also speak of the divine mother snake, and that the Egyptian and Semitic texts elucidate each other.”

Although written in Egyptian characters, the texts turned out to be composed in the Semitic language spoken by the Canaanites in the third millennium BCE, a very archaic form of the languages later known as Phoenician and Hebrew. The Canaanite priests of the ancient city of Byblos, in present-day Lebanon, provided these texts to the kings of Egypt. While the Egyptians took a disparaging view of their neighbors’ culture, their fear of snakes and desire to protect royal mummies against them made them open to the borrowing of Semitic magic

“This is a sensational discovery,” said Moshe Bar-Asher, Bialik Professor of Hebrew Language at the Hebrew University and president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. “It is the earliest attestation of a Semitic language, in general, and Proto-Canaanite, in particular.”

The discovery has made news around the world, appearing in USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, National Geographic, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, and MSNBC.com.

Dr. Steiner plans to publish his findings in an English article or monograph intended for specialists in Semitics and Egyptology.

Founded in 1886, Yeshiva University brings together the heritage of Western civilization and the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. More than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students study at YU’s four New York City campuses: the Wilf Campus, Israel Henry Beren Campus, Brookdale Center, and Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus. YU’s three undergraduate schools –– Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, and Sy Syms School of Business ––– offer a unique dual program comprised of Jewish studies and liberal arts courses. Its graduate and affiliate schools include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. YU is ranked among the nation’s leading academic research institutions.

Feb 9, 2007 — Wurzweiler School of Social Work students interested in careers in Jewish communal service got an insider’s view of the fabric of Israeli society when they participated in a 12-day trip to Israel over the winter break.

“It was a trip with a difference,” says Rachel Jacobson, a first-year master’s student enrolled in the school’s Certificate in Jewish Communal Service Program.

“I’ve been to Israel many times, but I never encountered the country in this way,” says Ms. Jacobson.

Ms. Jacobson was one of six Wurzweiler students who joined a group of students from other schools, including New York University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Hunter College on the study seminar to Israel.

The trip was the brainchild of Associate Professor Saul Andron, PhD, coordinator of the Certificate Program. He joined Wurzweiler’s faculty last September to “educate and energize” students interested in Jewish communal work and strengthen the Certificate program.

The Israel trip—coordinated by Lyn Light Geller of UJA Federation— turned out to be “invaluable,” Dr. Andron says, “a real-time educational experience for students committed to professional careers in the Jewish community.”

“We met with professionals ‘in the trenches,’” he says, pointing out that the seminar aimed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the social issues facing Israel, the state of its social services system, and the challenges North American Jewish communal professionals face in interpreting and integrating Israel into their work.

“The students met with academics, policy experts, members of the Knesset [the Israeli Parliament],” and representatives of various agencies. They also did on-site visits to places affected by the war “to see how Israeli social services met challenges or learned important lessons.”

First-year Wurzweiler student Steven Mark says “getting to ask any questions you want of people in the highest level of the field in which we’re interested is a better educational tool than 100 classes.”

Feb 8, 2007 — Yeshiva University (YU) will present a Community Day of Learning on the topic of “Jewish Medical Ethics and Contemporary Case Studies: The Role of The Doctor, The Role of The Rabbi,” hosted by the Congregation Beth Hakneses Hachodosh, on Sunday, February 18, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, at 19 Saint Regis Drive N, in Rochester, NY.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, will feature Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, associate professor of emergency medicine and of philosophy and history of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and attending physician at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center. There will also be a panel discussion which will include Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, Rabbi Mordechai Hochheimer, and Rabbi Shaya Kilimnick. Free babysitting is available during the entire conference. To RSVP or for more information call 585-244-2740. More information is available at www.congbhh.org.

Community Day of Learning is a program of the Legacy Heritage Fund Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative at Yeshiva University.

Founded in 1886, Yeshiva University brings together the heritage of Western civilization and the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. More than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students study at YU’s four New York City campuses: the Wilf Campus, Israel Henry Beren Campus, Brookdale Center, and Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus. YU’s three undergraduate schools –– Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, and Sy Syms School of Business ––– offer a unique dual program comprised of Jewish studies and liberal arts courses. Its graduate and affiliate schools include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. YU is ranked among the nation’s leading academic research institutions.

Feb 8, 2007 — Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) has developed what is believed to be the first formal program at any rabbinical school in America designed to give rabbis’ wives the opportunity to meet with professionals to discuss issues of self, family, and community in a safe and supportive environment. The second Annual “Rebbetzins’ Yarchei Kallah” program will take place from February 12-14 at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, NJ.

The conference is for wives of rabbis who are participants in the Yarchei Kallah Program which is part of the Legacy Heritage Fund Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative.

Rabbis’ wives face an increasingly complex series of opportunities and challenges in the 21st century. Many seek their own identities while striving to assist their husbands and fill the traditional role of a rabbi’s wife. Until recently, there wasn’t a “road map” that addresses their evolving role and provides them with guidance on how to navigate family and professional responsibilities.

“Rabbis’ wives play a pivotally important role, indeed many roles, in their communities,” said Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, the internationally prominent rabbi who serves as Senior Scholar of the CJF and is directing this initiative. “Contemporary Orthodox Jews, from rabbis and rabbis’ wives to lay leaders and community members, are sophisticated, intelligent and rooted professionally and culturally in the secular world while living traditional Jewish lives,” said Rabbi Schacter. “We must ensure that they have the tools and guidance necessary to lead these lives creatively and intellectually, now and in the future.”

Over 40 rabbis’ wives, from 32 cities throughout the US and Canada will attend this conference where they will partiicipate in sessions such as “The Blessing and Fulfillment of Being a Rebbetzin,” “Physical and Mental Abuse in Families,” “Raising Healthy Children.” In addition, they will have mentoring sessions in which more experienced rebbetzins will provide insights and respond to questions raised in the sessions.

Feb 8, 2007 — A group of 14 undergraduate students from Yeshiva University (YU), under the direction of university’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), traveled to Rabinal, Guatemala, during semester break on a humanitarian aid mission to volunteer in a developing community. The trip was organized in cooperation with American Jewish World Service (AJWS), who also sent two staff members to join the trip.

The YU students helped Fundación Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Foundation) at a school in Tacux, a small village approximately 20 minutes away from Rabinal. The school has flooding problems during the rainy season, and the YU group helped community members and students from the school dig a trench to provide drainage.
When the students were not using hammers, nails, and other construction equipment, they studied Talmudic texts related to social justice ¬¬¬¬– all while living in a village that follows Maya-Achi culture and norms.

The group also confronted challenges because of their religious observance. They brought new pots and pans to prepare corn meal daily. No kosher meat, dairy, or fish was available, so they ate corn meal, rice, beans, and vegetables — plus any kosher snacks they brought with them. There weren’t any showers, running water or electricity — quite an eye-opening experience for young people who generally come from middle-class backgrounds.

Because of the Jewish legal prohibition against carrying on the Sabbath unless within the confines of an eruv (boundaries defined by Jewish law), the students had to symbolically buy property for the eruv from village leaders for two boxes of matzah.

The purpose of the trip was to expose YU students to less privileged communities and individuals, and to encourage them to think about ways to help the world community. All of the students committed to follow-up social-action programs upon their return.

“I wanted to go on the trip because I believe that Jews have a responsibility to perform tikun olam (acts contributing to bettering humanity) when the opportunity presents itself, and this was certainly an excellent opportunity for helping out.” said Teaneck resident Michal Levine, a student at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. Last year the university sponsored a similar trip to Honduras in conjunction with CJF, AJWS, and YU’s Office of University Life.

A list of the students who participated, their hometowns, and their emails is below. Photos are attached and identifications follow.

Founded in 1886, Yeshiva University brings together the heritage of Western civilization and the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. More than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students study at YU’s four New York City campuses: the Wilf Campus, Israel Henry Beren Campus, Brookdale Center, and Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus. YU’s three undergraduate schools –– Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, and Sy Syms School of Business ––– offer a unique dual program comprised of Jewish studies and liberal arts courses. Its graduate and affiliate schools include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. YU is ranked among the nation’s leading academic research institutions.