Sep 14, 2005 -- Hundreds of students on the Wilf and Beren campuses took time out from classes to learn about the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF). CJF’s on-campus launch, called “You Are The Ticket To Our Future,” on Sept. 12-14, featured food, giveaways, shiurim, and opportunities to learn how students can help shape the University’s newest initiative. Students are encouraged to volunteer for some of the many CJF programs designed to enrich the Jewish community. For pictures from the launch, click here. Almost 1000 students visited the CJF tents on the Wilf and Beren campuses on the first day of the three-day launch, said Launch Coordinator Hindy Poupko, a presidential fellow with the Center. CJF gave away USB jump drives with information on the Center, T-shirts, water bottles, CDs with a shiur, and food during the launch. Each department head organized a station demonstrating his division’s programs. “I was very curious about CJF,” said Dovid Green of Boston, who volunteered to help with the community beit midrash and leadership program known as QUEST. “I’ve seen a lot of signs about it and I wanted to see what it is all about.” “Yeshiva University is an enormous untapped resource,” said Green, who is completing his senior year. “We are the major center of modern Orthodoxy on the East Coast. It is time for us to reach out and share with the community at large.” Students also had the opportunity to meet the CJF department heads: rabbis Ronald Schwartzberg, Marc Penner, Ari Rockoff, David Israel, Moshe Bellows, Josh Joseph, and Rabbi Kenneth Brander, CJF dean. Ari Gotlib of Southfield, MI, and Joshua Lev of Great Neck, NY, were sitting in the CJF tent on the Wilf campus raising money for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. “They need it the most,” said Mr. Gotlib. Aaron Gavant, a presidential fellow working for the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools and Yeshiva High Schools (AMODS), said the students who visited the tent on the Wilf campus were brimming with excitement. “They are interested in helping their peers and helping a new generation of Jewish leaders confront modern issues,” said Mr. Gavant, who lives in Mt. Kisco. Rabbi Brander split his time between both campuses for the launch. “YU students have been hearing about the Center for several months. We wanted to take this opportunity to share our mission with the students and to partner with them as we go forward,” Dean Brander said. “It was exciting for me to see so many students taking an interest in something we all feel so strongly about,” said Ms. Poupko. “Student involvement is crucial to the success of the CJF both on campus and through the Jewish community. I was encouraged by the number of students who came out to learn about our plans.” CJF offers a diverse array of programming, including QUEST, a leadership training program that focuses on social and organizational issues; Torah Tours, which sends students to communities throughout North America to share their enthusiasm for Jewish life; Eimatai, which trains high school students to be future Jewish leaders; and Torah Learning Network, which helps high school students strengthen their Jewish learning skills. The Center will also take a fresh look at rabbinic and Jewish communal job placement; investigate communal solutions to the rising costs of Jewish education; and will pursue social and community programs in Israel. CJF works together with YU’s colleges, schools and affiliates to build programs and initiatives –– inside and outside the institution –– that will train and develop Jewish lay and professional leadership, create interdisciplinary synergies, and deliver services that educate and inspire YU’s students and the broader Jewish community. Its think-tanks and programs will work on public policy issues, leadership and partnership strategies, community strengthening in Israel and throughout the Diaspora, and lifelong Jewish learning.