Dr. Roubini with Yeshiva University students

Apr 30, 2009 — There is a light at the end of the tunnel. However, that light is further away than most people realize. That was the general message delivered by Dr. Nouriel Roubini, the renowned economist who accurately predicted the current recession in 2006. Speaking to a capacity crowd at Yeshiva University’s (YU) Alexander Brody Distinguished Lecture in Economics, Roubini offered his outlook for the US and global economies and financial markets.

“Everyone agrees this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression,” said Roubini, professor of economics and international business at New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business. “The consensus view—the optimists—believe the worst is over and that we will start seeing positive growth in the second half of this year. My views are more bearish.”

Citing consumer shock, limited income, and falling industrial production and home sales, Roubini went on to declare that there are no clear signs that the recession has bottomed. “Unfortunately, my take is that things aren’t improving as quickly as the optimists say.” He argued that with economic growth in 2010 expected to be extremely weak, combined with growing unemployment, next year will feel like a recession as well.

“While I do agree that the rate of contraction won’t be as sharp as the last two quarters, we won’t reach positive growth by the end of the year,” said Roubini, who expects a “long, protracted and ugly global recession.”

The lecture followed a dinner and award ceremony for YU’s economics students. “This was a tremendous thrill for our students,” said Dr. Aaron Levine, the Samson and Halina Bitensky professor of economics at YU who has organized the Brody lecture for more than 30 years. “The lecture has always been a big event, but this one surpassed all others in the size of the audience and in the enthusiasm of its reaction. Professor Roubini is both the acknowledged prophet of the current meltdown and the foremost guru on how to reverse the collapse.”

Ending off his lecture on a somewhat optimistic note, Roubini believes the good news is that “we are going to avoid a near-depression” thanks to aggressive government policies. “I have been right until now, but it’s a very uncertain world and things can turn out better than I expect,” said Roubini, offering a glimmer of hope.

“Of course, there is also a chance that things will turn out worse than I expect.”

Apr 30, 2009 — Prof. David Shatz, professor of philosophy at Yeshiva University’s (YU) Stern College for Women, will deliver the keynote address at YU’s 78th commencement ceremony at Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theater in New York City on Thursday, May 14 at 11 am. Prof. Shatz, editor of The Torah u-Madda Journal and series editor of MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Essays of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, will receive the YU presidential medallion, the highest honor bestowed on a member of the faculty or administration for excellent service.

More than 2,000 graduate students in the fields of law, medicine, social work, education, Jewish studies, and psychology, as well as undergraduate students from Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, and Sy Syms School of Business, will be awarded degrees.
After graduating as valedictorian of his class at Yeshiva College in 1969, Prof. Shatz was ordained at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and earned his Ph. D. with distinction in general philosophy from Columbia University. He has edited or authored twelve books and has published over sixty articles and reviews, dealing with both general and Jewish philosophy. His work in general philosophy focuses on the theory of knowledge, free will, ethics, and the philosophy of religion, while his work in Jewish philosophy focuses on Jewish ethics, Maimonides, Torah and science, and 20th century rabbinic figures. Prof. Shatz has been chosen five times as outstanding professor by the senior class of Stern College for Women.
Each year, YU confers honorary doctorates upon individuals who have exemplified true leadership and philanthropic values. This year President Joel will confer honorary degrees upon Rabbi Dr. Jacob Haberman; Sylvia Axelrod Herskowitz, former director of the YU Museum; Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld of Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills, New York; and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the Broadway hit, In the Heights.

A 1950 graduate of Yeshiva College, Rabbi Dr. Jacob Haberman is an attorney who specializes in real estate. After receiving his ordination from RIETS in 1954, Rabbi Haberman went on to obtain a Ph.D. from Columbia University and a J.D. degree from New York Law School. In 1966, he formed Haberman & Haberman, a real estate ownership and management company, in 1966. He has been joined in the business by his sons, Brook YUHS ’79 and Sinclair.
Rabbi Haberman has served as rabbi of Congregation Torei Zohov. He is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCS) and his publications include The Microcosm (1954) and Maimonides and Aquinas: a Contemporary Appraisal (1979).

On February 1, 2009, Sylvia Axelrod Herskowitz retired as director of the Yeshiva University Museum, a position she held since 1976. Ms. Herskowitz saw the nascent museum as partner of the University, and – working closely with philanthropist and benefactor Erica Jesselson – she gave it a special identity, shaping it as a teaching museum that would collect, interpret and exhibit the art, artifacts and material culture of Jews the world over.

Mrs. Herskowitz recognized the importance of offering contemporary artists grappling with Jewish themes a venue where they could show their work and communicate their ideas to the visiting public. Over the years the YU Museum has become a magnet for Jewish artists from New York, Israel and around the world.

Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, recipient of the Orthodox Union’s National Rabbinic Centennial Medallion Award, serves as rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, New York—a position he has held with distinction for 54 years. Rabbi Schonfeld graduated from the University of London and received his ordination from RIETS in 1952.
He serves as president of Poalei Agudath Israel of America, and is a former president of the RCA and past chairman of the Council of Young Israel Rabbis. Rabbi Schonfeld is also the founder of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens.

Gifted young playwright, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is the creator of the phenomenally successful musical, In the Heights. Mr. Miranda composed its score and starred in the hit play, both on and off-Broadway. Born and raised in a close-knit Puerto Rican family in Washington Heights, he captured and celebrated the vibrancy and diversity of the neighborhood that is also home to YU’s Wilf campus.
Mr. Miranda conceived of In the Heights in 1999, during his sophomore year at Wesleyan University. In 2008 the play was honored with four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. At the February 2009 Grammy Awards, it won the award for Best Musical Show album.
Awarding an honorary degree to Mr. Miranda gives YU the opportunity both to recognize a prodigiously talented young man at a peak moment of accomplishment, and to connect with the neighborhood it calls home.

Apr 30, 2009 — Over 1,000 students in festive blue and white dress crowded Lamport Auditorium on the Wilf Campus for Yeshiva University’s annual Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day) and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) ceremony. This year’s event, which took place Tuesday night, April 28, featured a memorial candle lighting by students who have served in the Israeli Defense Force and Sheirut Le’umi, Israel’s National Service Program, and a performance by the YU a cappella group the Maccabeats.

President Richard M. Joel recited Kel Maleh Rachamim [memorial service for the souls of the departed] in memory of Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror and students led Tehillim [Psalms] in support of current troops and their families.

Yaakov Katz, military correspondent and defense analyst for The Jerusalem Post, analyzed the strategic defense questions surrounding the State of Israel and emphasized how Israel operates from a position of strength in the region. Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, the Joel and Maria Finkle Visiting Israeli Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, elucidated biblical sources surrounding the unique religious nature of the State of Israel and the potentiality for good that resides within the land and the people.

Following a special celebratory evening prayer, the students marched buoyantly to the Max Stern Athletic Center Gymnasium for a holiday chagigah [festive celebration]. Live music and Israeli food accompanied the dancing.

The festivities continued the next day on the Wilf Campus with a carnival-style BBQ, giant outdoor games and live performances by Tzavei, TaShma and The Otzar bands.

Following the festive mincha [afternoon service], Noam Shalit, father of missing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was abducted by Hamas on June 25, 2006, addressed a crowd of YU undergrads, high school students, faculty and administration.

In introducing Shalit, Rabbi Brander, dean of the Center for the Jewish Future, said, “Despite the joy of this Yom Ha’atzmaut afternoon, it is impossible for us to be fully joyous as long as one boy remains captive.”

Shalit came to the United States to request President Barack Obama’s new administration to use its influence in the Middle East to help end this painful episode.

“I fear daily for his life,” Shalit said. “In captivity there is no tomorrow, time is of the essence. This ordeal is like a continuous nightmare, a bad dream I can’t awaken from.”

When asked by Eric Israeli, a Yeshiva College junior how audience members could become involved, Shalit urged listeners to remind their community leaders about Gilad’s situation and to keep it at the forefront of their agenda.

Nouriel Roubini, at left, took questions from the crowd after his lecture.

Apr 30, 2009 — There is a light at the end of the tunnel; however, that light is further away than most people realize. That was the general message delivered by Dr. Nouriel Roubini, the renowned economist who, in 2006, accurately predicted the current recession.

Speaking to a capacity crowd at Yeshiva University’s Alexander Brody Distinguished Lecture in Economics, Roubini offered his outlook for the US and global economies and financial markets.

“Everyone agrees this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression,” said Roubini, professor of economics and international business at New York University Stern School of Business. “The consensus view—the optimists—believe the worst is over and that we will start seeing positive growth in the second half of this year. My views are more bearish.”

Citing consumer shock, limited income, and falling industrial production and home sales, Roubini went on to declare that there are no clear signs that the recession has bottomed. “Unfortunately, my take is that things aren’t improving as quickly as the optimists say.” He argued that with economic growth in 2010 expected to be extremely weak, combined with growing unemployment, next year will feel like a recession as well.

“While I do agree that the rate of contraction won’t be as sharp as the last two quarters, we won’t reach positive growth by the end of the year,” said Roubini. Instead, he expects a “long, protracted and ugly global recession.”

The lecture followed a dinner and award ceremony for YU’s economics students. “This was a tremendous thrill for our students,” said Dr. Aaron Levine, the Samson and Halina Bitensky Professor of Economics at YU who has organized the Brody lecture for more than 30 years.

“The lecture has always been a big event, but this one surpassed all others in the size of the audience and in the enthusiasm of its reaction. Professor Roubini is both the acknowledged prophet of the current meltdown and the foremost guru on how to reverse the collapse.”

Ending off his lecture on a somewhat optimistic note, he believes the good news is that “we are going to avoid a near-depression” thanks to aggressive government policies. “I have been right until now, but it’s a very uncertain world and things can turn out better than I expect,” said Roubini, offering a glimmer of hope.

“Of course, there is also a chance that things will turn out worst than I expect.”

Apr 29, 2009 — Wurzweiler School of Social Work was the only New York school selected for a $550,000 grant from the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute in collaboration with the US Children’s Bureau. The grant, extended over five years, will support scholarships and curricular innovations in the area of child welfare training.

Wurzweiler will select 12 Child Protective Service workers each year from the New York City Children’s Services (NYCCS) as full-time graduate students who will complete a curriculum infused with child welfare content and enrichment seminars leading to a new Certificate in Child Welfare Practice (CCWP).

Scholarship recipients will be expected to demonstrate a commitment to culturally competent child welfare practice with Hispanic communities. Other Wurzweiler students committed to child welfare and serving Hispanic families in New York City will also be eligible to participate in this special certificate program.

Wurzweiler hopes that this grant will further enhance its affiliation with the NYCCS and its Satterwhite Training Academy.

Apr 29, 2009 — Matthew Diller, a prominent scholar of social welfare law and policy who was associate dean for academic affairs at Fordham Law School from 2003 to 2008, has been named dean of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Diller is the Cooper Family Professor of Law and co-director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham Law, where he has taught since 1993.

“Matthew Diller is a scholar and administrator of the highest order and brings to Cardozo an enduring commitment to social justice,” said President Richard M. Joel. “He embodies the values and vision that inform and propel the Yeshiva University educational experience.”

Diller, who will begin his duties on Aug. 1, 2009, is the sixth dean to lead Cardozo. He succeeds David Rudenstine, who has been in the position since 2001 and who will return to teaching at Cardozo full time as the Sheldon H. Solow Professor of Law.

The youngest of Manhattan’s law schools, Cardozo has achieved national acclaim for its programs in intellectual property law and alternative dispute resolution and is home to The Innocence Project, the world-renowned clinic that has used post-conviction DNA testing to free hundreds of wrongly-convicted individuals. Since its founding in 1976, the law school has graduated more than 10,000 JD and LLM candidates who are now living and working throughout the United States and internationally

“Cardozo is one of the remarkable success stories of legal education over the past half century,” Diller said. “I am excited at the prospect of working with the superb faculty, administration, students and board members who always conveyed great love for the law school and excitement about the possibilities for its future. I was especially struck by the energy, dynamism, and leadership of President Joel and his and the administration’s commitment to helping Cardozo flourish.”

He continued, “I’m coming to Cardozo at a time when I can build upon the extraordinary example set by David Rudenstine, during whose remarkable deanship Cardozo has blossomed.”

Diller has lectured and written extensively on the legal dimensions of social welfare policy, including public assistance, social security, and disability programs. He was a staff attorney in the civil appeals and law reform unit of the Legal Aid Society in New York from 1986 to 1993. He received his AB and JD degrees magna cum laude from Harvard University and then clerked for the late Honorable Walter R. Mansfield of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1985-1986.

In the fall of 1999, Diller was scholar in residence at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. His articles have been published in the Yale Law Journal, UCLA Law Review, Texas Law Review, Stanford Law & Policy Review, among others.

Cardozo Board Chair Kathryn O. Greenberg ‘82C, said, “I am excited and fully supportive of this outstanding appointment and look forward to working closely with Matthew Diller. I am particularly pleased that he will continue to build upon the solid foundation and emphasis on legal ethics and public service that was strengthened so gloriously by Dean David Rudenstine.”

In addition to his responsibilities at Fordham, Diller has been a member of the board of directors of Legal Services of New York since 1999 and was its vice chair from 2003-2007. He has been a member of the executive committee of the poverty law section of the Association of American Law Schools and was chair of the committee in 1999-2000. From 2000 to 2008, he was also a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.

At Fordham, Diller was recognized by the 2002 graduating class with the Eugene Keefe Award for outstanding contributions to the law school and in 2000 received the Louis J. Lefkowitz Award for the Advancement of Urban Law from the Fordham Urban Law Journal. In 1991 he received the legal services award from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

David Shatz has been chosen five times as outstanding professor by the senior class of Stern College for Women.

Apr 29, 2009 — Dr. David Shatz, professor of philosophy at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, will deliver the keynote address at YU’s 78th Commencement Ceremony at Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theater in New York City on May 14 at 11 am. Shatz, editor of The Torah u-Madda Journal and series editor of MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Essays of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, will receive the YU Presidential Medallion, the highest honor bestowed on a member of the faculty or administration for excellent service.

More than 2,000 graduate students in the fields of law, medicine, social work, education, Jewish studies and psychology, as well as undergraduate students from Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women and Sy Syms School of Business, will be awarded degrees.

After graduating as valedictorian of his class at Yeshiva College in 1969, Shatz was ordained at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and earned his PhD with distinction in general philosophy from Columbia University. He has edited or authored twelve books and has published over sixty articles and reviews, dealing with both general and Jewish philosophy.

His work in general philosophy focuses on the theory of knowledge, free will, ethics, and the philosophy of religion, while his work in Jewish philosophy focuses on Jewish ethics, Maimonides, Torah and science, and 20th-century rabbinic figures. Shatz has been chosen five times as outstanding professor by the senior class of Stern College for Women.

Each year, YU confers honorary doctorates upon individuals who have exemplified true leadership and philanthropic values. This year President Richard M. Joel will confer honorary degrees upon Rabbi Jacob Haberman; Sylvia Axelrod Herskowitz, former director of the YU Museum; Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld of Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills, New York; and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the Broadway hit, In the Heights.

A 1950 graduate of Yeshiva College, Rabbi Jacob Haberman is an attorney who specializes in real estate. After receiving his ordination from RIETS in 1954, Rabbi Haberman went on to obtain a PhD from Columbia University and a JD from New York Law School. In 1966, he formed Haberman & Haberman, a real estate ownership and management company, in 1966. He has been joined in the business by his sons, Brook ’79YUHS and Sinclair.

Rabbi Haberman has served as rabbi of Congregation Torei Zohov. He is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America and his publications include The Microcosm (1954) and Maimonides and Aquinas: a Contemporary Appraisal (1979).

Sylvia Axelrod Herskowitz was director of the Yeshiva University Museum from 1976 to February 2009. Herskowitz saw the nascent museum as a partner of the University, and working closely with philanthropist and benefactor Erica Jesselson, she gave it a special identity, shaping it as a teaching museum that would collect, interpret and exhibit the art, artifacts and material culture of Jews the world over.

Herskowitz recognized the importance of offering contemporary artists grappling with Jewish themes a venue where they could show their work and communicate their ideas to the visiting public. Over the years the YU Museum has become a magnet for Jewish artists from New York, Israel and around the world.

Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, recipient of the Orthodox Union’s National Rabbinic Centennial Medallion Award, serves as rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, New York—a position he has held with distinction for 54 years. Rabbi Schonfeld graduated from the University of London and received his ordination from RIETS in 1952.

He serves as president of Poalei Agudath Israel of America, and is a former president of the RCA and past chairman of the Council of Young Israel Rabbis. Rabbi Schonfeld is also the founder of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens.

Gifted young playwright, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is the creator of the phenomenally successful musical In the Heights. Miranda composed its score and starred in the hit play, both on and off-Broadway. Born and raised in a close-knit Puerto Rican family in Washington Heights, he captured and celebrated the vibrancy and diversity of the neighborhood that is also home to YU’s Wilf campus.

Miranda conceived of In the Heights in 1999, during his sophomore year at Wesleyan University. In 2008 the play was honored with four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. At the February 2009 Grammy Awards, it won the award for Best Musical Show album. Awarding an honorary degree to Miranda gives YU the opportunity both to recognize a prodigiously talented young man at a peak moment of accomplishment, and to connect with the neighborhood it calls home.

For more about commencement, click here.

Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter delivered the keynote address on the topic of "Exile, Redemption and the State of Israel."

Apr 28, 2009 — A student-organized yom iyun [day of learning] focusing on the theme of “Exile and Redemption in Tanach and Jewish History” drew about 500 attendees to the Wilf Campus on April 26.

The day of Bible study was an extension of the hugely popular Abraham Arbesfeld Kollel Yom Rishon and Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon, sponsored by the YU Center for the Jewish Future-Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

The learning was dedicated to the memory of David Rottenstreich, a YU student who fell ill and passed away on the eve of Passover.

Stuart Halpern, student life coordinator in the Office of Student Affairs—which co-sponsored the event with the Center for the Jewish Future, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, TEIQU, SOY, TAC, YCSA, and the Office of Alumni Affairs—offered further insight into the theme of the yom iyun.

“One of the overarching themes of Tanach and Jewish history is the Jewish people’s fluctuation between these two poles,” Halpern said. “We felt it most appropriate to be discussing issues related to this topic in the time between Pesach, the holiday marking the end of the Jewish people’s exile in Egypt, and Shavuot, the holiday marking their redemption with a divine covenant and national mission.”

Leading Torah scholars from YU, the Unites States and Israel presented 21 shiurim [lectures] covering a broad range of topics, from “Sin and Exile in Genesis: A Commentary on the Human Condition” to “Maimonides and Messiah.”

Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, university professor of Jewish history and Jewish thought and senior scholar at YU’s Center for the Jewish Future, gave the keynote address. Speaking about the state of Israel, Rabbi Schacter pointed to its dual nature.

“When speaking about the state of Israel, we refer to it as ‘reishit tzmichat geulateinu’, meaning ‘the beginning sprouts of redemption,’ referring to it in redemptive language while still acknowledging that the redemption has not yet arrived,” Rabbi Schacter said.

Other highlights included Rabbi Mordechai Cohen, professor of Bible and associate dean of Revel Graduate School, speaking on “Nehama Leibowitz on Reading Tanach in Light of Ramban’s Literary Approach to Sefer Shmot”; Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, founder of the Tanach Study Center, speaking on “The Purpose of Prophecy vs the Reality of Redemption”; Rabbi Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History and chairman of the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies at Stern College, speaking on “The Messianic Age in the Thought of Rishonei Ashkenaz: A Comparative Analysis,” and Elana Stein Hain, Lincoln Square Synagogue’s Community Scholar, speaking about “Vegetarianism and Sacrifice in Messianic Times.”

Debbie Rapps, an alumna of Samuel H.Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls who traveled to the event from her home in Teaneck, NJ, said she looks forward to Yeshiva University-sponsored yimei iyun. “It is a great way to become immersed in high quality learning when not all of us have the opportunity to do so on a regular basis,” Rapps said.

Apr 17, 2009 — The group of 10 Yeshiva University High School for Boys/Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (YUHSB) students knew things would be very different as soon as they arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. “We were pretty confused when one of the Israelis brought out a guitar in the middle of the airport and began to sing what was soon to become our theme song, Veshuvu Banim Ligvulam (And the Children Will Return to Their Borders),” wrote Shua Brick of West Hempstead, NY, in an article for the YUHSB school newspaper. The students were part of the inaugural YUHSB/Yeshivat Makor Chaim Student Exchange Program that sent 10 YUHSB tenth-graders to Yeshivat Makor Chaim in Israel and four Makor Chaim eleventh-graders to YUHSB’s New York City campus.

The goal of the program, which ran from Rosh Chodesh Shvat to Rosh Chodesh Nissan (Jan. 26-March 28), was to “give our students a Makor Chaim experience in two ways—by sending our students there and bringing the Makor Chaim students to our school,” said Tova Rosenberg, director of the program. “It’s a global Jewish world and for our students, the future leaders of the Jewish community, it’s very important that they understand other cultures.”

Akiva Rosenzveig of New Rochelle, NY, had “an amazing time at Makor Chaim. The students, teachers and community welcomed us with open arms.”

Located in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion in Gush Etzion, Yeshivat Makor Chaim is one of the most sought-out experimental schools in Israel, attracting the best and the brightest throughout the country. Unlike similar exchange programs, the YUHSB and Makor Chaim students were fully integrated at their new schools, learning Jewish studies with their Israeli peers. The YUHSB students also took part in exciting tiyulim [tours] to Sefad and Jerusalem and enriching chesed [kindness] projects with their fellow classmates.

“The culture of deep spiritual purpose, joyous song and dance, and ongoing reflection that is the hallmark of the Makor Chaim experience has exposed our boys to serious religious and intellectual growth in ways unimagined for the typical tenth-grader,” said Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, head of school at YUHSB. “For their part, the visiting Makor Chaim students have injected a sense of passion, urgency and authenticity into the rhythms of school life here. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.”

Students in the exchange program enjoyed learning certain subjects for the first time. “We took economics and chemistry, something we never learned in Israel,” said Avishai Oberman, of Efrat. “I really liked YUHSB’s Names, Not Numbers project [an innovative, interactive Holocaust studies curriculum] and can’t wait to share my experiences with my friends back home.”

While the students quickly adjusted and made new friends, they did notice several distinctions between the two schools. “Makor Chaim and YUHSB are quite different,” said Rosenzveig. “Makor Chaim places an emphasis on the students being open and sharing with each other. For example, on Thursdays the entire shiur [class] comes together in a circle and talks about the week’s parsha [Torah portion] and what it means to them.”

Ken Goffstein of Teaneck, NJ, whose son, Dani, participated in the program, knew there was great potential right away. “I felt it would be an experience Dani would cherish for the rest of his life,” said Goffstein. “He now recognizes his world goes way beyond Teaneck and YUHSB, and his commitment as a Jew has grown exponentially.”

Apr 15, 2009 — A handful of Yeshiva University’s most talented student exhibited their artwork at the YU Museum on March 22 when the University held a celebration of student and faculty creativity at the venue in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. It was the first time student work was on display there.

Elliot Kaminetzky, a psychology major at Yeshiva College, was very excited to see his three paintings—portraits of his father and sister, and a landscape in the style of Cezanne—in a public setting. “I was trying to show the contrast of modernity and tradition in the portrait of my father studying,” Kaminetzky said.

Rivka Siegel, a studio art major who plans to be an illustrator, exhibited an oil painting of a soldier wearing tefillin and a print on a similar subject—pieces about “prayer and war,” she said.

Curated by faculty members Susan Gardner and Traci Tullius, the exhibit also included the work of Stern students Rebecca Cinnamon, Gila Romanoff, Malke Freifeld, Sara Levit, Ruthie Matanky, Kaley Wajcman, Raquel Laban, Rachel Fried, Revital Avisar and Rebecca Palgon, and Yeshiva College students Elliot Kaminetzky and Chezi Gerin.

The exhibit highlighted the close ties that the museum is forging with the students’ classroom experience under the leadership of Jacob Wisse, associate professor of art history at Stern College for Women who was appointed director of the museum in January. “We are here to celebrate the presence of the University community at the museum, and the commitment of the museum to demonstrating and presenting the mission of YU,” Wisse said.

The recently tenured associate professor of art history has a background in museum education and curatorial work. Through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wisse earned a Curatorial Studies Certificate and was twice awarded its Theodore Rousseau Curatorial Fellowship. He introduced courses at Stern that use exhibitions and museum collections to complement the classroom experience, including a summer program in Florence on the art and culture of the Renaissance.

“We may serve as a showpiece for musical, literary and artistic talent but even more essentially as a place where some of these talents can be experimented through innovating exhibitions, educational programs and by brining together the YU community in the best spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration,” Wisse told the audience gathered at the museum event.

Morton Lowengrub, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, concurred. “This is the cultural arm of the University and an important face to the outside world,” he said.

The event—which was the inspiration of Norman Adler, University professor of psychology—featured a reading by Joanne Jacobson, professor of English at Yeshiva College, from her recently published memoir, Hunger Artist: A Suburban Childhood. Peninnah Scram, professor of speech and drama at Stern College and an accomplished storyteller, read a short story by John Updike titled Women and Museums.

The audience was also treated to performances by the Stern Music Ensemble, featuring David Glaser, professor of music, on viola da gumba; Marcia Young, director of performance studies, on Baroque triple harp; students Sarit Bendavid and Reena Ribalt on flute; and Hadassa Klerman on recorder.