Kanarfogel Named E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature and Law; Wins Goldstein-Goren Book Award
Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel, of Teaneck, NJ, has been appointed a University Professor at Yeshiva University, the sixth faculty member in the entire University to be granted this prestigious distinction. His new title, bestowed upon him by YU President Richard M. Joel, designates him as the E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature and Law.
Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel
The title of university professor is reserved for those who have achieved outstanding goals in teaching, publications and research.
“It is a great honor, well deserved,” said Dr. Lawrence H. Schiffman, vice provost for undergraduate education. “Dr. Kanarfogel’s overall contribution to Yeshiva University and his prodigious scholarship and publications make him a fitting holder of a university professorship. His extensive use of unpublished manuscripts and his methodological sophistication have made possible pioneering, original scholarship.” Read the rest of this entry…
Rabbi Josh Joseph Appointed Senior Vice President of Yeshiva University
President Richard M. Joel has appointed Rabbi Josh Joseph as senior vice president of Yeshiva University.
Rabbi Josh Joseph
In addition to his current responsibilities as chief of staff, Joseph will launch the next phase in the University’s strategic planning process and guide its university-wide implementation. He will also work to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of various departments around the University, developing collaboration opportunities and proper partnerships between and among faculty, administration, staff, students and trustees. Read the rest of this entry…
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Dr. Ruth Wisse Discuss Jewish Humor at Straus Center Event
In his introduction of Dr. Ruth R. Wisse, Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University, Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik described her as a renowned scholar and courageously outspoken supporter of Israel, as an “eishet chayil” [woman of valor].
“You know what they say about the eishet chayil—she ran off with an officer,” quipped Wisse, playing on the Hebrew phrase’s other literal meaning, “wife of a soldier.”
The line was one of several funny moments at the Yeshiva University Museum, which hosted a conversation between Wisse and Soloveichik about Jewish jokes and Wisse’s newest book, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor (Princeton University Press, 2013) Read the rest of this entry…
Students and Recent Graduates Kick Off Summer Break with Sandy Aid Mission
It’s been more than seven months since Hurricane Sandy struck the greater New York region and some areas continue to suffer the storm’s ravaging effects. When Elana Polster, a Presidential Fellow at Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future, heard that volunteers were still needed to assist in the recovery, she mobilized 10 students and recent graduates from YU and partnered with Nechama, a disaster relief organization, to run a four-day mission to Long Island where students worked to rebuild damaged homes.
A group of YU students and recent graduates primed and painted this house damaged by Sandy in Lindenhurst, NY.
“What intrigued me about this mission was that months later, there was still work to be done and I wanted to help,” said participant Yitzy Frankel, a new Yeshiva College graduate. “It was really shocking to drive down there and see the water, houses and devastation that still remained.” Read the rest of this entry…
YU High School for Girls Team Takes Fourth in Urban Barcode Project Finals
A team of four students from the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central) triumphed over 40 other groups to compete in the final round of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s NYC Urban Barcode Project, in which research teams use DNA technology to explore biodiversity in New York City. Vying for the $20,000 grand prize, the Central team of Faigie Feiner, Michal Leibowitz, Miriam Rosen and Mindy Schwartz placed fourth, winning honorable mention and a crimson ribbon in the finals at the Museum of Natural History on June 5. Read the rest of this entry…
The program will run from 9 – 11:30 a.m. and will include reflections from former students of Rabbi Lifshitz, including Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, dean emeritus of RIETS; Rabbi Yitzchok Cohen, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva; Rabbi Moshe Weinberger and Rabbi Benjamin Yudin.
YU High School for Girls Students Learn Design and Construction as part of ACE Mentor Program
Mock trial, debate, basketball and drama are all standard extracurricular activities found in many day schools, but less common is the ACE (Architecture, Construction and Engineering) Mentor Program of America, which exposes high school students to the different elements involved in design, engineering and construction careers. Read the rest of this entry…
Nine Undergraduates, Recognized for Academic Achievements, Reflect on their Yeshiva University Experience
Hundreds of students from Yeshiva University’s undergraduate schools were presented with their degrees at YU’s 82nd commencement exercises, held at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ on May 30. Nine received the distinction of valedictorian, an honor that reflects exceptional academic achievement. As these accomplished graduates prepare to embark on the next stage of life and apply their talents to a range of careers, including law, medicine, education and finance, they remembered the vibrant Jewish life and rich academic and extracurricular experiences that shaped their undergraduate years at YU.
Valedictorians Ari Cuperfain, Jonathan Weiss, Dan Schindelheim, Chaim Szachtel, Ayelet Haymov, Sarah Rosenbaum and Meirah Shedlo. Not pictured: Mickael Herszkowicz and Boris Shulkin.
“Yeshiva University has provided my peers and me a place to foster our intelligence and recognize the world beyond the classroom by encouraging us to think outside the box, problem solve, and develop our minds and spirits,” said Ayelet Haymov of Cedarhurst, NY, who received the Dean Harold Nierenberg Memorial Valedictorian Award of the Sy Syms School of Business, together with Jonathan Weiss of Lawrence, NY. Read the rest of this entry…
Class of 2013 Celebrates at Yeshiva University’s 82nd Commencement
More than 600 students from Yeshiva University’s undergraduate schools were presented with their degrees at YU’s 82nd commencement exercises, held at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ on May 30.
Excitement for the future was in the air as students and their families hugged and snapped pictures outside the crowded box office area. Miriam Barth, who received a degree in political science and Judaic studies and will begin graduate work at YU’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work this summer, decorated her cap with the words ‘Woohoo 2013!’. “It’s exciting and wonderful to spend the day with your family and the friends who have been with you your whole college career,” she said. “I’m very thankful to my parents and all my professors for the opportunities I had at YU, in academics and in student life.”
Zev Delott had two graduations to celebrate—his own and that of his wife, Erica Hasten. Their relationship developed while they were both students at YU and the two planned their academic schedules so they could graduate together. “It’s going to be surreal hearing our names called,” said Delott, who will pursue a career in marketing at a collection agency while Hasten begins her PhD studies at YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the fall. “This is a moment I’ve anticipated for so long.”
A shared sense of purpose and empowerment was an essential theme of the day’s celebration.
“Your experience at Yeshiva has been exciting, varied, formative and informative in magnificent ways,” YU President Richard M. Joel told the new graduates. “But as you look back now, realize that you’ve done something else—you’ve lit a candle. You’ve spun your own unique wicks from a variety of threads, ancient and modern all bound up in one, one informing the other, and both ignited by your drive to matter in the world and to make a difference.”
YU Students Bring Music to Veterans’ Ears on Memorial Day Weekend
Mark Weingarten started playing the violin at age three, thanks to some inspiration from a “Rechov Sumsum” video featuring Itzhak Perlman. Fast forward 18 years and that early love of music has propelled Weingarten, now a junior at Yeshiva College, to share that passion while connecting with patients during regular visits that he organizes for college students to the elderly, veterans and sick children.
Mark Weingarten plays the violin for veterans at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx.
While studying in Israel at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, Weingarten began playing music for patients at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center every Friday. When he came to Yeshiva University last year with his twin brother, Michael, they sought to replicate those efforts on a larger scale, resulting in the founding of Music Vs.—Musical Undergraduates’ Support Initiative for Children, Veterans and Seniors.
The program aims to use the universal language of music as a bridge to form connections with those less fortunate and to lay the foundation for lasting relationships. Read the rest of this entry…
