Donation to YU in Honor of David J. Azrieli’s 90th Birthday will Bolster School of Jewish Education For most, birthdays are times for receiving gifts. For David J. Azrieli, however, a milestone birthday is the time to give a gift—a $10 million donation from the foundation he established to Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. [caption id="attachment_10429" align="alignleft" width="211" caption="The $10 million donation to YU in honor of David J. Azrieli (pictured above) is the largest single donation ever made by the Azrieli Foundation."][/caption] The gift, in honor of Azrieli’s 90th birthday, is the largest single donation ever made by the Azrieli Foundation. It will strengthen the Azrieli Graduate School, named in 1983 to train Jewish educators, specifically teachers and administrators at Jewish day schools and other organizations across North America. As an expression of gratitude to David J. Azrieli the school dedicated its current issue of Prism, an Interdisciplinary Journal for Holocaust Educators, in his honor to mark this special milestone. The Azrieli Graduate School is now the country’s largest post-graduate institution for Jewish education and has 260 students enrolled in various programs of advanced study, training and research in pursuit of master’s and doctoral degrees. The Azrieli School’s dean, Dr. David J. Schnall, recently announced that the school has received accreditation to award New York State Teacher Licenses in secular elementary, middle and high school subjects. The $10 million will be used primarily to make available scholarships for the school and to help attract more men and women to the field of Jewish education. “The entire Yeshiva University family is inspired and strengthened by this gift, especially during a time when Jewish education at North America’s more than 800 day schools is being challenged because of the economic downturn,” said YU President Richard M. Joel. “This historic gift will help graduate students pursue their career dreams and will strengthen the future of Judaism throughout hundreds of Jewish educational institutions.” Azrieli, a Yeshiva University Trustee since 1987, escaped the Nazis and landed in Israel in 1942, where he served in Israel’s Seventh Brigade in the War of Independence. He studied architecture at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology before moving to New York, where he studied at Yeshiva University for a year. He eventually moved to Montreal, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Montreal’s Thomas More Institute. Azrieli, a life-long learner, earned his Master’s Degree in Architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa at age 75. Azrieli is well-known in Canada, the US and Israel as a developer, architect and philanthropist. He revolutionized retail shopping in Israel, building the country’s first enclosed mall in 1985. Today, he owns 14 Israeli malls and coined the Hebrew word “canion” which combines the Hebrew words for “shopping and parking.” As a philanthropist, Azrieli established the school of architecture at Tel Aviv University, a chair of architecture at Technion and the Azrieli Institute for Israel Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, where he lives. He is a major donor to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem and inspired the Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program, which collects, publishes and disseminates the written memoirs of Holocaust survivors—a project that was initiated and is managed by his daughter, Dr. Naomi Azrieli, who chairs the Azrieli Foundation. “The gift comes from a great personal friend and a truly heroic friend to Yeshiva University,” said Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky, YU’s vice president for university affairs, who encouraged David Azrieli to name the graduate school in 1983. “This and all of David’s gifts will help generations of Jewish children to know about their identity and their heritage.” “My family and my father can think of no better way to celebrate a 90th birthday,” said Dr. Naomi Azrieli, who oversaw the gift. “Seeing young people graduate from this school and move on to teach Judaism to the next generation has been one of my father’s greatest joys.” one

YU High Schools Film Project Keeps Memories of the Holocaust Alive For one week in December and February, classrooms in the Yeshiva University High School for Boys / Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (YUHSB) and the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG) were transformed into a professional recording studio. Two cameras and an advanced lighting system focused in on a small table with two chairs. Every day of the week, YU High School seniors invited Holocaust survivors to share memories of their lives before, during and after the tragedies of the Shoah as part of the Names, Not Numbers project. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJc4AdJ18T0 Created in 2003 by Tova Rosenberg, director of Hebrew language and the Israel exchange programs at both high schools, Names, Not Numbers teaches students the skills needed to interview and film an oral history of Holocaust survivors. To date more than 250 testimonials of survivors and World War II veterans have been recorded by more than 750 students. The demanding project is offered as an elective or senior project to seniors and involves thorough participation of the students at every level of the process. “Students are taught the skills needed to produce their own Holocaust oral history documentary,” said Rosenberg. “Professionals train them on everything from researching and interviewing to filming and editing.” [caption id="attachment_10220" align="alignright" width="385" caption="YUHSB's Akiva Blumenthal interviews his grandmother, Edith Blumenthal. To date, Names, Not Numbers has recorded more than 250 testimonials of survivors and World War II veterans."][/caption] The project culminates in a documentary film and DVD titled Names, Not Numbers and a behind-the-scenes film, Names, Not Numbers: A Movie in the Making. The documentaries are archived at the National Library of Israel, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Yeshiva University’s Mendel Gottesman Library. This year, a first occurred during the project. Mina Tiefenbrunn, a YUHSB parent, told the story of her parents’ survival while being interviewed by three different students, one of whom was her son Aryeh. “I felt very strongly that there is not enough second-generation advocacy,” said Tiefenbrunn. “For children of survivors, it is important to get the message across—the message being: have faith, help your fellow man, share and be kind.” Aryeh shared these sentiments and said, “It is so important for these stories to be perpetuated to the next generation.” Rosenberg was particularly satisfied because three of the interviewees had never shared their story of survival before. “I started this program as an intergenerational project,” said Rosenberg, “but over time I realized that it has become something else. The project touches the souls of the students. This is not just about Holocaust studies; it is about hesed [good deeds].” Rosenberg described how students contacted the survivors whom they interviewed to wish them a Shabbat Shalom and forge a stronger relationship—a gesture that greatly touched one survivor, Chaim Weiser. [caption id="attachment_10219" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Yolly Dratch of YUHSG, interviews Joseph Guttmann, a Holocaust survivor."][/caption] “It was very heart-warming to have received the special warm wishes for a Good Shabbos,” Weiser wrote in an e-mail to Rosenberg. “The last few days following the interview a certain calmness, a feeling of relief has descended upon me. It feels as if a heavy stone has been lifted from my heart. You have provided me a platform where I was able to unburden myself, somewhat, of the great pain that is forever lurking within.” As the student participants of Names, Not Numbers finish their studies at YU High Schools, the effects of the program become more and more apparent. One YUHSG alumna, Mindy Sojcher, described how her involvement influenced her studies in college. A current Legacy Heritage student at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Sojcher intends on pursuing a career in Holocaust education. “What’s amazing about Names, Not Numbers is that my generation has grandparents and great grandparents who are survivors. We all know about the Holocaust, but we rarely really think about it,” said Sojcher, who serves at the associate director of YU’s Student Holocaust Education Movement. “The program helped me understand what the Holocaust was and why it is so important that we learn about it.” Names, Not Numbers will be screened at YUHSB on May 1 and YUHSG on May 7. Yeshiva University and the Student Holocaust Education Movement (SHEM) will present a Yom Hashoa Ceremony on April 17 at 8:30 p.m. in Lamport Auditorium on the Wilf Campus. one

Looking Beyond the Upcoming "Bully" Documentary, Dr. Rona Novick Offers Another View of Bullying I haven’t yet seen the much anticipated and publicized soon-to-be-released "Bully" movie. I am certainly pleased with the attention and awareness it has already generated, with movie stars, advocates, educators and politicians weighing in on the R rating it was given for “language.” When I have wondered aloud to friends and colleagues why the movie makers, hoping the film would be shown to schools and other teen or children’s groups, would include material that might be inappropriate, I’ve been told that the harsh language may be central to bullying, and removing it, bleeping it or any other editing would compromise the power of the story. [caption id="attachment_10074" align="alignleft" width="178" caption="Dr. Rona Novick is a clinical child psychologist and noted parenting expert."][/caption] I am very hopeful that a film that is receiving such widespread national attention will make a difference. But the conversations I am having even before seeing it are causing me some worry. I worry about what I often experience in consulting with school and parent groups that I call the “not here” phenomenon. This is the all too common denial, as I describe or discuss bullying, that such things do not happen in “our school” or are not done by “my child.” The "Bully" movie, I would expect, likely portrays powerful examples that clearly exemplify bullying, children using harsh language, physically violent acts, emotional harassment writ large. So much of the devastating bullying I see would not play on the big screen. It is the popular girl who flicks her hair, sucks her teeth and rolls her eyes as a less popular classmate joins her lunch table, all barely noticeable by others but painfully felt by the victim. It is the overweight boy who joins the laughter of his classmates when they use the nickname “blubber” they have given him, making it appear to all that this is typical male middle school bonding. It is the subtle social machinations and undercurrents that tell students who to avoid as a social “cootie” and whose good graces to cultivate. So much of it looks fairly innocent and so much of it is complex and continuous and without understanding the larger social context it is difficult to discern. I once visited a third grade classroom and observed one girl ask another for a pencil. “Did you see that?” the astute teacher asked, “she is such a bully.” I responded that I didn't see any evidence of bullying and the teacher enlightened me. The pencil requester is the richest girl in the class. While holding her fancy, fluffy topped pen, she asked her peer, a rather disorganized student in tattered shirt, who lives in the poorest area of town to borrow a pencil to highlight that she has nothing, and often needs to get her school supplies from class donations. What looked to me as an innocent gesture could now be seen as a cruel, deliberate and hurtful interaction. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture, because it is so specific, can make material less relatable and easier to deny. When we see images of ravished far-away lands and starving children, do we realize that within US borders, many children are malnourished and hungry? Do pictures of industrial dumping and waste prompt us to pick up the litter in our environs? I hope that this movie, in documenting evident and painful realities of bullying that translate to the big screen will help parents, educators and students become more aware. I hope it will help all of us see both the obvious and the subtle bullying that is under our noses and not see bullying as a story that happens to someone else, a tragedy “that doesn’t happen here.” After a high-profile bully related suicide, I asked a group of middle schoolers in a faith based school if they thought this could happen in their school. Quickly and in unison they replied, “no, never, not here.” I told them, that’s exactly what the students at the school of this young suicide said until it happened to them. Bullying is in every school and every community.  Maybe not looking like it does in the movies. Maybe different from the over the top portrayals in Hollywood or in child and teen literature. It’s hidden in the social details and small comments and everyday actions that can be brutally cruel and cripplingly painful. It is time we commit our attention, our resources and our efforts to battling bullying. If we continue to say “this doesn’t happen,” if we fail to see it and if we fail to address it, we expose our children to much more danger than an R rated movie. Watch the "Bully" trailer below: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1g9RV9OKhg&feature=youtu.be The author, Dr. Rona Novick, is the director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Division of Doctoral Studies at YU's Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and a senior fellow at YU's Institute for University-School Partnership. A noted clinical child psychologist, parenting expert, author and lecturer, Novick helped develop the BRAVE bully reduction and social emotional leadership development program at YU School Partnership. Read her blog, Life's Tool Box, a guide for parents and educators. one

Yeshiva University Personalities to Speak Throughout Toronto Community on Shabbat, March 9-10 The Toronto and Thornhill Jewish communities will host Yeshiva University scholars over Shabbat, March 9-10. Sponsored by the Jesselson Family Community Grant, the Shabbaton—organized by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) —will feature renowned Yeshiva personalities including YU President Richard M. Joel; Rabbi Hershel Schachter, RIETS rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of CJF; Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, RIETS rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff, Judaic Studies instructor at Stern College for Women; Dr. Rona Novick, director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and senior fellow at the Institute for University-School Partnership; Rabbi Michael Rosensweig, RIETS rosh yeshiva; and Professor Smadar Rosensweig, Judaic studies orofessor at Stern College; and Rabbi Eli Baruch Shulman, RIETS rosh yeshiva. “We are excited that the ties between the Toronto community and Yeshiva University have been growing over the last few years,” said President Joel. “We are honored to have the Yeshiva University Torah Mitzion Beit Midrash Zichron Dov in Toronto and hope that the number of students attending Yeshiva University from Toronto will only continue to increase. The Toronto community plays an integral role in the future of Jewish education and we are delighted to be able to spend this Shabbaton sharing the ideas and Torah of YU and learning from such an important community.” Speakers will spend Shabbat rotating between Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, Or Chaim, Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto, Congregation B’nai Torah, Aish Thornhill Community Shul & Learning Center, Congregation Ayin L’Tzion, Temmy Latner Forest Hill Jewish Centre, The Village Shul Kehillas Mishkan Noach, and Zichron Yisroel Congregation of Associated Hebrew Schools. For detailed schedule information about the Shabbaton, please visit www.yu.edu/cjf/shabbaton or contact Stuart Haber at stuart.haber@yu.edu. To learn how you can book a YU speaker in your community, please visit www.yu.edu/speakers. none

From New Master’s Programs to a Certificate in Experiential Jewish Education, Yeshiva University Expands its Offerings Graduate education at Yeshiva University continues to thrive—and grow. A new Executive MBA program and master’s programs in arts and education join an academic landscape already home to one of the nation’s top medical schools, one of the finest law schools, and leading graduate schools for social work, psychology, Jewish studies and Jewish education and administration. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Hv2ALnJno&feature=relmfu In the past year, the University has introduced a variety of new master’s and certificate programs and expanded existing ones, in response to student demand and interest.

The Center for Executive and Professional Education at the Syms School of Business will launch an Executive MBA program in August, featuring classes on Sundays.

Syms’ MS Program in Accounting, now in its third year, is continuing its successful expansion and has nearly tripled in size since its inception. A new feature offers classes during the summer for non-accounting majors who choose to attend.

YU’s Graduate Programs in Arts and Sciences is also expanding its offerings. The math department unveiled a new PhD program in Mathematical Sciences this past fall, a selective program open to students who have already completed 60 credits of graduate-level study.

The math department is also continuing to offer its MA program in mathematics, currently in its second year, in addition to a BA-MA option that is now open to current YU students who wish to take graduate level courses during their senior year on campus and apply those credits toward a master’s degree.

The department of economics is launching a new MS program in quantitative economics (MQE), slated to begin in September. It is considered a pre-experience program, open to recent college graduates. Similar to the master’s in math, the MQE also includes a BA-MS option open to current YU students who wish to earn credits towards their graduate degree.

This past fall, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration introduced an Accelerated Master’s Program in Jewish education.  The one year, full time program balances intensive course study alongside practical teaching experience in the classroom.  A select cohort of ten students proceed through the program together, enriching one another by sharing their knowledge and learning experiences.  The program is fully sponsored by the Jim Joseph Foundation and applications are currently being accepted for the fall, 2012 cohort.

Azrieli Graduate School continues to expand program offerings and was recently approved by the New York State Education Department to offer two new Master’s degrees leading to New York State teaching certification.  Students who hold an initial certification in Childhood Education 1-6 can now enroll at Azrieli in the 36-credit Advanced Childhood Education 1-6 program leading to NYS professional teacher certification.  Students who wish to teach at the middle/high school level can enroll in a 42 credit Adolescence Education program leading to initial/professional certification in grades 7-12 biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, social studies, English and Hebrew.  Additionally, undergraduate students can begin these MS programs as seniors in the joint BA/MS program with Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women.  Both certification programs will begin in the fall, 2012.

The Institute for University-School Partnership, with generous support from the Jim Joseph Foundation, currently has 51 educators enrolled in the 2nd year of its Online Certificate Programs in Differentiated Instruction, Educational Technology Integration, and Student Support. In the coming year they will be adding a brand new program in Online/Blended Instruction and Design. Each online program lasts 30 weeks and is broken up into 3 courses of 10 weeks each. These programs are taught entirely online and asynchronously with weekly assignments and outstanding instructors who provide weekly feedback and practical take-aways to enhance the learning of students in the classroom.

For the first time this year, the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) partnered with the Machon Puah Institute to offer a certificate program for graduates of YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary to educate them on halachic and medical issues related to infertility.

In June, the CJF will launch the second installment of its Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education, sponsored by the Jim Joseph Foundation. The curriculum comprises four seminars that focus on the theories and applications of experiential education: imparting values, creating experiences, cultivating communities and self development. Participants are also connected with a mentor who works with one on one and guides them in developing a final focal project.

Learn more about all of YU’s graduate schools by visiting www.yu.edu/academics/graduate-schools/. none

Institute for University-School Partnership Spearheads New Efficiency Effort Among Jewish Day Schools In response to a crisis of affordability sweeping through the day school world, a new effort to have schools practice greater efficiency has resulted in savings of tens of millions of dollars for nearly 40 Jewish day schools across the nation. [caption id="attachment_9365" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Harry Bloom is leading the benchmarking effort among Jewish day schools."][/caption] But while the new “benchmarking” process spearheaded by Yeshiva University’s Institute for University-School Partnership is expected to free up funds for scholarships, don’t expect to see dramatic drops in tuition itself. Rather, the “foundational” goal of benchmarking, according to Harry Bloom, the YU School Partnership’s director of planning and performance improvement, is not tuition reduction per se, but “making schools sustainable while delivering quality education” and making day schools “accessible to the entire Jewish community, including to the middle income families who often are hard pressed and not always well served by current financial aid processes.” While common in the corporate world, benchmarking — a process in which institutions measure their performance against that of their peers, in order to identify cost-saving and revenue-enhancing opportunities — is a new arrival in the Jewish day school world, whose myriad financial challenges include a “tuition crisis.” Eight Bergen County schools have gone through a round of benchmarking under the guidance of YU, and according to Samuel Moed, chairman of Jewish Education for Generations in Northern New Jersey, the process has already saved a combined $2.5 million. Currently working with 30 additional schools (Orthodox, Conservative and pluralistic) in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland, the YU School Partnership and the Avi Chai Foundation, the project’s lead funder, hope ultimately to bring benchmarking to at least 200 day schools in 30 communities, including ones in New York City and its suburbs. Bloom estimates that benchmarking and the strategic planning that follows is on track to achieve combined savings of at least $22.5 million — approximately 10 percent of operating budgets — over three years in the five communities in which it is being implemented so far. Read full article at The New York Jewish Week... none

Senator Gillibrand Keynotes Hanukkah Convocation; Philip Friedman, Ira Mitzner and Stephen Siegel Honored U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand delivered the keynote address at Yeshiva University’s 87th Annual Hanukkah Convocation and Dinner on Sunday, December 11 at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. YU President Richard M. Joel bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Gillibrand, describing her as “a voice for vulnerable citizens” and her career as one in which “fervor for family fuels [her] political passions.” The New York senator is best known for her plans to help struggling working families, rebuilding the economy by creating jobs, championing higher education, strengthening America’s armed services and fighting against childhood obesity. [flickrslideshow acct_name="yeshivauniversity" id="72157628389428169"] “Whatever issue you bring, you bring from principle, not partisanship or ideology,” said President Joel. “You devote your professional career to opening the eyes of so many who don’t want to see.” In her convocation address, a heartfelt message replete with both personal anecdotes and political aspirations, Gillibrand praised Yeshiva University for ingraining in all its students a defining mantra of giving and leadership, and inspiring students to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others all over the world. “I am most grateful for the leadership taught here at Yeshiva University… a quality education built on a foundation of faith and values,” said Gillibrand. “When times are dark and unstable, this leadership is seen in its greatest light and we need to share these opportunities for vision and commitment.” At the convocation, President Joel also conferred honorary degrees upon technology executive Philip Friedman, a member of YU’s Board of Trustees since 2009 and a former board member of YU’s SYMS School of Business; real estate developer Ira Mitzner, a trustee of YU since 2007 who established the David Mitzner Deanship of the CJF; and commercial real estate executive Stephen B. Siegel, a 25-year board member at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. “These recipients of honorary degrees are a shining light on YU and the world, and their lights are life lessons to our students and to all of us,” said President Joel. “Tonight, we celebrate the successes of an amazing, noble enterprise, and resolve to keep it strong and sacred. “Like the ancient Maccabees, and the YU Maccabeats, we reaffirm our commitment to life and values, to success and purpose, to faith and freedom, to teach and to touch, to rights and responsibilities,” he said. “Yeshiva teaches its students to dream and to achieve. The Jewish people, the United States, Israel, indeed the whole world, needs to reignite the passion of purpose, the belief in ideas, the access to achievement and the possibilities of tomorrow.” During the dinner portion, President Joel also recognized eight Points of Lights—people who exemplify the mission of Yeshiva University—calling each one up to light a symbolic candle on the menorah. Read more about the Points of Light here. none

Holocaust Scholar Deborah Lipstadt to Discuss Eichmann Trial at December 12 Lecture Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt, internationally renowned Holocaust scholar and best-selling author of the The Eichmann Trial, will discuss “The Eichman Trial: A Legal Travesty or a Crowning Moment in Israel’s History?” on Monday, December 12, 2011. The event will be held in Koch Auditorium, on Yeshiva University’s  Beren Campus, 245 Lexington Avenue, New York City at 8 p.m. [caption id="attachment_8914" align="alignleft" width="151" caption="Dr. Deborah Lipstadt"][/caption] The Eichmann Trial (Schocken, 2011), published in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the trial, was called by Publisher’s Weekly “a penetrating and authoritative dissection of a landmark case and its after effects.” Lipstadt’s other titles include History On Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2006); Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory (Free Press/Macmillan, 1993); and Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust (Free Press/MacMillan, 1986, 1993). Lipstadt is Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, where she founded the Institute for Jewish Studies and served as its first director from 1998-2008. Lipstadt served as an historical consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and was appointed by President Clinton to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SziZ4iWTOI Lipstadt’s lecture has been made possible through its sponsors: Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence Program, Hillel Rogoff Memorial Lecture, S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program and Stern College for Women. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information or to RSVP please contact Jaff@yu.edu. none

Day School Leaders Pool Knowledge and Ideas as Part of YU School-Partnership’s Critical Friends Groups Fourteen principals, heads-of-school and assistant principals from Jewish day schools across the country came together to share experiences, reflect on their own practice and hone their leadership skills at a retreat organized by Yeshiva University’s Institute for University-School Partnership on November 13-15. The groups represent two of six YU School Partnership’s Critical Friends Groups that convene for annual in-person retreats and continue to meet virtually and at other conferences regularly. In contrast to traditional models, that bring in experts to train participants, the Critical Friends Group approach recognizes that school administrators are themselves experts in the field and taps into their inherent ability to create solutions and innovative progress by pooling their knowledge and talent. "These programs are pivotal for leaders, and in turn, for the schools and communities which they service," said Dr. Scott Goldberg, director of the YU School Partnership. "It is the school leaders who set the bar and that is why the YU School Partnership and supporters of Jewish education have a responsibility to provide an outlet for sharing new ideas and successful techniques." For the three-day retreat, each participant composed and presented a case study to their peers, presenting opportunities to brainstorm, receive feedback and expand their thinking on issues that confront many Jewish day schools on a regular basis. “School leaders are often isolated from their colleagues because of time constraints and politics,” said Dina Rabhan, director of recruitment, placement and induction at the YU School Partnership. “What emerges from the Critical Friends conferences is a deeper appreciation of the power of convening and, more importantly, a collective commitment to continue the learning as a cohort to further support and develop their leadership skills.” none

Yeshiva University Personalities to Speak Throughout Bergen County Community, November 11-12 The Teaneck and Bergenfield communities will host Yeshiva University visiting scholars over Shabbat, November 11-12, in various shuls around the community. [caption id="attachment_8241" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="President Joel and Yeshiva University scholars will visit Teaneck Nov. 11-12"][/caption] The Shabbaton—organized by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) —will feature renowned Yeshiva personalities including President Richard M. Joel; Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of CJF; Rabbi Ozer Glickman, RIETS rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff, instructor of Judaic at Stern College for Women; Mrs. CB Neugroschl, head of school at Yeshiva University High School for Girls; Dr. Rona Novick, director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education; Rabbi Hershel Schachter, RIETS rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and Senior Scholar at the CJF; Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, vice provost for undergraduate education; Dr. Efrat Sobolofsky, director of YUConnects; and Rabbi Michael Taubes, Menahel, Yeshiva University High School for Boys. “So many of our graduates hold leadership roles as the lay and klei kodesh of the Bergen County community institutions,” said Rabbi Brander, a Teaneck resident. “How appropriate it is to convene some of the leading Torah and academic talents of YU celebrating Yeshiva’s continued role in Teaneck’s spiritual development.” Speakers will spend Shabbat rotating between Beth Aaron, Beth Abraham, Rinat Yisrael, Bnai Yeshurun, Keter Torah, Ahavat Shalom, Azrei Darom, Etz Chaim, Jewish Center of Teaneck, Beit Midrash of Bergenfield and Young Israel of Teaneck. The Shabbaton will also include an oneg for local high school students at Rinat Yisrael at 8:15 p.m. on Friday. In addition, a YUConnects Teaneck Shabbaton is scheduled for the weekend of November 18-19 at Bnai Yeshurun. For detailed schedule information or to learn how you can book a YU speaker in your community visit www.yu.edu/cjf/shabbaton. none