Dec 13, 2002 -- Like a New York society debutante, Richard Joel premiered Sunday night as president-elect of Yeshiva University during the school's annual black-tie fundraiser at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in midtown Manhattan. Joel, who developed a reputation as a master fundraiser and institutional visionary during his stint as international director of Hillel (Please see Page 12), was well-received by Y.U. party-goers — some of whom were simply relieved to see the university close the book on its awkward quest to replace the retiring Rabbi Norman Lamm. Others were genuinely excited at the prospect of Joel's heading the flagship institution of Modern Orthodoxy, a university network of undergraduate and graduate schools with an annual budget of $470 million and an endowment of $900 million. The good feelings at the Waldorf, however, contrasted sharply with the scene last week on the Washington Heights campus shared by Yeshiva's undergraduate college for men and its affiliated rabbinical school, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Hundreds of students reportedly signed a petition opposing Joel on the grounds that as a non-rabbi he lacked the religious standing to head the seminary; students and several of the seminary's top rabbis, or roshei yeshiva, attended a prayer rally to protest the appointment on the same grounds. Still, the university and seminary boards both selected Joel December 5 in lopsided votes. Simultaneously serving as president of both the seminary and the university, Lamm and his predecessors were seen as representing the embodiment of Modern Orthodoxy's commitment to secular and religious spheres of knowledge. But after several prominent rabbis with suitable academic qualifications dropped out, Lamm and Y.U. board chairman Ronald Stanton agreed that circumstances required a revised archetype. They lobbied hard for Joel, a former New York City prosecutor and former dean of Yeshiva's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, to fill the new mold. Perhaps more theologically significant than the actual choice of a non-rabbi was the triumph of Lamm and Stanton in advancing Joel's candidacy over the objections of the roshei yeshiva. This turn of events seemed to fly in the face of recent complaints from members of the liberal wing of Modern Orthodoxy, upset over what they claimed was a "move to the right" by Y.U. and its seminary. Central to this liberal criticism was the claim that the leading roshei yeshiva had assumed an increasingly dominant grip on the Modern Orthodox community, effectively disempowering pulpit rabbis and communal lay leaders. Such a system, critics complained, mirrors the concept of da'as Torah, the leadership model adhered to in the ultra-Orthodox world, which places communal decisions — religious or otherwise — in the hands of the most revered talmudic scholars in the seminaries. In the end, however, Y.U.'s most important decision in a quarter-century was made according to the leadership model advocated by the liberal camp: Lamm, essentially playing the role of communal rabbi, worked in conjunction with lay leaders to select Joel — even over the objections of the leading talmudic scholars at the seminary. "We don't work on the concept of da'as Torah," said Lamm, a noted Judaics scholar, philosopher and former pulpit rabbi. "The fact that a rosh yeshiva is for or against should be listened to, respectfully, but there is no principle of infallibility that we accept. They are serious people, and I respect them for having their opinions. But at the end of the day, it's the board that has to take responsibility for the decision." The seminary board ultimately decided that Joel would be introduced publicly as the "chief executive officer" — not president — of the seminary. Rabbi Moshe Tendler described the move as an important, albeit not fully satisfactory, attempt to address the objections of many of his fellow roshei yeshiva. Lamm downplayed the significance of the move, saying that only recently did he discover that technically he, too, has been the CEO of the seminary. But, in a clearly significant change, Lamm has agreed to stay on as the top rosh yeshiva, a post previously held by the president of the university and seminary. The Y.U. board also is following through on its plan to appoint Lamm to the newly created post of university chancellor. In addition to his 14-year stint at Hillel, Joel was widely praised for heading an independent commission charged with investigating a sex scandal involving one of the Orthodox Union's top youth group leaders. Joel, who received undergraduate and law degrees from New York University, has sent three of his children to Yeshiva University. Lamm and Joel both told the Forward that they were optimistic about their ability to work together and to navigate any questions that might arise concerning the new leadership structure. When questions of Jewish law come up, Joel said that he will turn to Lamm for a final decision. Despite his endorsement of Joel, Lamm said he understands the objections of the roshei yeshiva. "These are people whose lives are built around Torah," Lamm said. "They are concerned about what will happen if they have a president who is not like them. I have less concern. I know [Joel's] background. He may not have the credentials, but he has the values and the leadership. He will do what has to be done to keep Y.U. and RIETS true to their historic mission." According to sources familiar with the seminary board meeting, two of the most respected roshei yeshiva, Rabbi Michael Rosensweig and Rabbi Mayer Twersky, were invited to speak before the final vote. Insiders said that the rabbis spoke out strongly against the appointment of a non-rabbi, while avoiding any direct reference to Joel. Later in the meeting, Lamm told the Forward, he warned the seminary board that it would be "disastrous" if they did not appoint Joel, since he had already been approved by the Y.U. board. Rosensweig and Twersky declined to comment, citing a general policy of not granting press interviews.

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