Weekly Course Open to all Women will Feature Rabbis Jacob J. Schacter and Hayyim Angel

Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) will launch a new Women’s Beit Midrash Program on February 5 at Stern College for Women’s Israel Henry Beren campus in Manhattan for participants of all ages.

The six-week program, developed in conjunction with the University’s Office of Alumni Affairs and New Jersey and Long Island Regional offices, will feature Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and senior scholar of the CJF, and Yeshiva College Jewish Studies faculty member Rabbi Hayyim Angel. Read the rest of this entry…

Adina Shmidman on the Various Roles of the Rabbi’s Wife 

Recently, a congregant asked me to speak to her daughter, who was planning to become a Rebbetzin, to give her some words of encouragement and advice. I immediately agreed and offered heartfelt congratulations and sincere wishes for all to go well. But, knowing how difficult the role can be, I had to give some serious thought as to what I would say to the new Rebbetzin.

Adina Shmidman serves as the Rebbetzin of the Lower Merion Synagogue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Being a Rebbetzin can be a great deal of work. Responsibilities often range from hosting meals to visiting sick congregants to supporting families through challenging times and reaching out to the unaffiliated. And there is the added challenge of juggling one’s home, family, and jobs.

The flip-side is the reward—not just the heavenly payback, but the earthly satisfaction. Forging deep, meaningful bonds with your congregation and knowing that you are changing Jewish life in your small corner of the world is incredibly gratifying.

So when I met with this young woman my first message to her was to embrace the position. I explained that the scope of the position—including adult and youth programming of all kinds, public and private Torah classes, and hosting guests and congregants—may seem overwhelming at first.

But I reassured her that just as in a new marriage there is an adjustment period where one gets to know her new spouse, here, too, the union of the rabbinic couple and shul is a relationship that develops in time. While there are many demands and responsibilities, you have the opportunity to use your unique talents and strengths to contribute to the spirit of the shul and the community.

Her first question was about managing her communal responsibilities while holding another job. Read the rest of this entry…

Student Leaders to Spend Winter Break Making a Difference, Deepening Relationships in Israel, Nicaragua, Mexico and the U.S.

Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) will be sending 91 outstanding undergraduate students on service learning, experiential education and humanitarian aid missions across three continents during the University’s upcoming winter intersession.

Students on a previous mission to Nicaragua set the foundation for a library in San Juan del sur.

From January 10-20, the student leaders will take part in an array of hands-on community building projects in Israel, the United States, Nicaragua and Mexico while developing their own leadership, teaching and advocacy skills.

Building on the success of the “Counterpoint Israel” summer program, 39 YU students will run a series of Counterpoint “Winter Camps” for over 450 Israeli teens in Jerusalem, Kiryat Malachi, and Dimona that will focus on English enrichment and self-exploration through art. Throughout the 10-day service learning mission, the students will guide Israeli teens through the process of developing a personal narrative and using multiple mediums to create multidimensional autobiographies. Read the rest of this entry…

CJF-RIETS Virtual Lecture Series Teaches Rabbis Effective Methods for Addressing Relationship Issues at Every Stage

Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) and affiliate Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical Theological Seminary (RIETS) has launched a comprehensive “Rabbinic Marriage Counseling” course that aims to develop communal rabbis’ skills and techniques in assisting couples through every stage of relationship—from dating and marriage to crisis, death and divorce.

The first of its kind, the yearlong online lecture series will explore the “rabbi’s role” in various situations and how he can effectively collaborate with couples, their families and mental health professionals in formulating and implementing a counseling plan. The course, which boasts 40 participants from across North America and Israel, began on October 15 with an in-depth look at dating.

“While communal rabbis are interested in attending conferences to enhance and inform their rabbinic education, the availability of time and money for such enrichment are real obstacles. This course provides a cost- and time-effective way for rabbis to update their skills in a way that will allow them to serve their constituents better,” said Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, director of RIETS CJF Continuing Rabbinic Education and Support. Read the rest of this entry…

Program for Jewish Genetic Health and YU Connects Present November 6 Discussion on Issues Related to Family Health and Genetics

UPDATE: Due, to the Hurricane, this event has been postponed.

The Program for Jewish Genetic Health, a joint initiative between Yeshiva University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and YUConnects, the social and matchmaking organization of the Center for the Jewish Future, will present “To Tell or Not to Tell: Issues Related to Family Health and Genetics,” at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, NJ on Tuesday, November 6 at 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and is co-sponsored by Congregation Keter Torah, Congregation Beth Abraham and the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County.

Read the rest of this entry…

Student-Run Conference Explores Medical Dilemmas Born out of the Holocaust

Hundreds filled Yeshiva University’s Furst Hall on the morning of October 21 to attend the 7th annual Fuld Family Medical Ethics Conference. Titled “Out of the Ashes: Jewish Approaches to Medical Dilemmas Born out of the Holocaust,” the daylong event featured a diverse lineup of speeches, panels and sessions dedicated to an array of moral and ethical dilemmas within the medical realm created by the Shoah.

The annual conference, sponsored through the generous support of Rabbi Dovid and Mrs. Anita Fuld, serves as a yearly high point for the Yeshiva University Student Medical Ethics Society Read the rest of this entry…

Led by Yeshiva University, High School Students Head to D.C. on Israel Lobbying Mission

More than 100 high school students headed to Capitol Hill on October 15 to lobby on behalf of Israel. The mission, organized by Yeshiva University, was directed by Matthew Schwartz, YU’s assistant director of recruitment and high school programming, and Ethan Wasserman, last year’s president of YUPAC (Yeshiva University Political Awareness Club) and a current YU presidential fellow.

The lobbying mission came about after Rivka Abbe, a senior at Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central), approached Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of the Center for the Jewish Future, with the idea. Abbe became passionate about politics and lobbying after working closely with former YUPAC president, Dina Muskin, who organized lobbying training for students at Central. Read the rest of this entry…

Gilad Shalit, Accompanied by His IDF Unit, Makes Appearance at Yeshiva University

Thousands of students and members of the Yeshiva University community poured into Lamport Auditorium on the school’s Wilf Campus on October 16 to welcome Gilad Shalit and members of his unit who came to share their experiences.

“Tonight we celebrate the fact that these soldiers have come to visit us in the exact place where, three years ago, Noam Shalit stood and prayed with us for the safe return of his son,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the David Mitzner Dean of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future.

On June 25, 2006, Shalit was captured by Hamas in an attack that also killed two soldiers in his unit. Shalit’s captivity lasted five years, during which Jews all over the world campaigned for his release and organized prayer on his behalf. Shalit’s commander, Yoav B., told the crowd, he and his unit, now reservists, hoped to find closure by telling their story. Read the rest of this entry…

Student Medical Ethics Society Presents Oct. 21 Conference on Jewish Approaches to Medical Dilemmas Borne Out of the Holocaust

Yeshiva University’s Student Medical Ethics Society (MES) will host its seventh annual Fuld Family Medical Ethics conference, titled “Out of the Ashes: Jewish Approaches to Medical Dilemmas Borne out of the Holocaust”, on Sunday, October 21 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Furst Hall on the University’s Wilf Campus, 500 West 185th Street, New York, NY.

The conference, sponsored through the generous support of Rabbi Dovid and Mrs. Anita Fuld, will explore the contemporary relevance and Halachic significance of ethical challenges that arose during the Holocaust as well as issues that surfaced later as products of the Holocaust.

Mordechai Smith and Yosefa Schoor are co-presidents of YU's Student Medical Ethics Society.

Dr. Michael A. Grodin, a professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine and the director of the Project on Medicine and the Holocaust at the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, will open the conference with a keynote address on the impact of the Nazi regime’s “Final Solution” campaign on contemporary medicine and bioethics.

Additional topics of discussion will include genetic research, forced sterilization, end-of-life decisions, psychological impact of the Holocaust on second and third generation survivors, the Jewish attitude on the value of life through the lens of the mentally disabled and the usage of Nazi data.

“What makes this conference so unique is that we will be analyzing the Holocaust—a subject that has overwhelmed Jewish thought and discussion for nearly 70 years—from an entirely new angle,” said Mordechai Smith, a junior at Yeshiva College and co-president of MES.  Read the rest of this entry…

YUConnects Celebrates 100th Engagement

When Olivia Deutsch first met matchmaker Mindy Eisenman, the idea of an online dating site seemed intimidating and unconventional—but Eisenman convinced her to give it a try.

Olivia Deutsch and Brandon Jerome '09SB are YUConnects 100th match.

“She [Eisenman] explained to me that YUConnects caters to people from many different backgrounds and helped me understand how trained connectors were able to search a large database to connect singles with the same goals and interests,” said Deutsch, who is a nursing student at Hunter College. “I was convinced that signing up for YUConnects would increase my opportunities to meet prospects.”

Deutsch was right, and she wasn’t alone. With her recent engagement to Brandon Jerome, a 2009 graduate of Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business and accountant at Billet Feit & Preis PC, YUConnects celebrated its 100th match. Read the rest of this entry…