Yeshiva UniversitY
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sPrinG 2011
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Volume 15 • No. 2
YUTodaY
Class o 2011 Challenged to
“
Seek a New Horizon
”
O
utside the Izod Centerin East Rutherord, NJ,where Yeshiva Uni-versity hosted its 80th annualcommencement ceremony onMay 26, there was a palpable,sun-kissed eeling o joy as morethan 3,500 amily and riendscame together to celebrate thetrue value o a YU degree.“It’s pretty exciting,” saidDaniel Gordon o Toronto, who,along with his wie, Ellen, was onhand to celebrate the graduationo their son, Avi, rom YeshivaCollege. “This is our third gradu-ation o a amily member. Mydaughter graduated rom Stern,my son-in-law went to YeshivaCollege, and my next son willhopeully be graduating in twoyears.”Gordon explained that hisamily chose YU because “no-where else has the ability orus to have such a solid Jewisheducation combined with a solidgeneral education in one ellswoop… there is no place thatcomes close to the quality o YU.”That quality, said Gordon, hasallowed his son “to get oersrom some o the top graduateschools in the world.”Mijal Bitton, a newly mintedgraduate o Stern College orWomen and a recipient o aWexner ellowship, mentionedthe high quality o her educationbut emphasized the close-knitcommunity in which it is deliv-ered. “YU gives you the oppor-tunity to become very close tothe aculty and ellow students.It’s not just a classroom; it’s like aamily. I’m very grateul.”Adam Berman, the valedic-torian o Yeshiva College, agreed.“One o the highlights o my YUexperience has been being parto a vibrant, young and exciting Jewish community.”Berman plans to attendmedical school, but will spendthe coming year studying at YU’sRabbi Isaac Elchanan Theologi-cal Seminary (RIETS) and devel-oping Torah-learning curriculaor the Center or the Jewish Fu-ture’s service learning programs.“YU has opened my eyes to theglobal Jewish community. I amcontinually amazed at how many
YU graduates (l–r) Joseph Novetsky, Ariel Urkowitz, Dov Lerner, Tzvi Feiel, Jonathan Seligsohn, Aron Kaplan and Daniel Eisman celebrate commencement at the Izod Center on May 26
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Zahava and Moshael Straus Create Landmark Centeror Torah and Western Thought
Y
eshiva University Presi-dent Richard M. Joel an-nounced the creation o the new Zahava and MoshaelStraus Center or Torah andWestern Thought in April. Thecenter’s mission is to develop acadre o Jewish thinkers well-versed in the moral, philosophi-cal and theological questions o our age, who will also dissemi-nate Jewish ideas to the world.The center will carry thename o Zahava and MoshaelStraus in honor o their git orits establishment and endow-ment. Moshael Straus, an invest-ment executive, is a member o the Yeshiva University Board o Trustees and a graduate o Ye-shiva College. Zahava Straus isa graduate o YU’s Benjamin N.Cardozo School o Law.President Joel also an-nounced the appointment o noted theologian Rabbi Dr.Meir Y. Soloveichik as directoro the Straus Center. Rabbi So-loveichik, the associate rabbi atCongregation Kehilath Jeshu-run in New York, is a graduateo Yeshiva College who received
semicha
[rabbinical ordination]rom YU’s Rabbi Isaac ElchananTheological Seminary (RIETS).He also was a Fellow in theBeren Kollel Elyon, the semi-nary’s highly select advanced or-dination program, and earned adoctorate in religion rom Princ-eton University.The motivation or the gitand the establishment o the cen-ter came about because, “I waslooking or something that couldbe a game-changer,” MoshaelStraus explained. “In ModernOrthodoxy, we talk about howthe world impacts on our Ortho-doxy. We don’t always talk abouthow our Torah impacts on themodern world. I envision thatthis center will create a two-way street, by developing Mod-ern Orthodox Jewish thinkers,scholars who think big thoughtsand go beyond the theoretical tobring their ideas or the beneto the larger Jewish communityand society.”“Moshael Straus is a won-derul partner in the leadershipo Yeshiva,” said President Joel.“As an extremely devoted andengaged trustee, he, along withhis wie, Zahava, shares a visiono the Jewish uture that is onewith that o Yeshiva University.The Zahava and Moshael StrausCenter or Torah and WesternThought is a git not only to YU,but to all o humanity.”At the Straus Center, selectundergraduates rom YeshivaCollege and Stern, as well as rab-binical students at RIETS, willengage in courses that bridgea variety o disciplines and ex-pose the students to both hala-chic [Jewish law] and Westernschools o thought. There will
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Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik
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be ellowships, advanced tutorials and indepen-dent study courses, mentoring, summer seminarsand travel abroad that will aord students op-portunities to interact with leading thinkers andteachers.“Yeshiva University stands in a unique place,”said Rabbi Soloveichik. “Its students are theuture o Jewish ideas. It is only YU that promotes aproound commitment to the study o Torahand yet also engagement with the best o West-ern thought. The Straus Center will build uponthis unprecedented oundation by bridging animmersion in Torah study with ormative aca-demic experiences, thereby cultivating men andwomen who embody both Torah excellence andacademic excellence. In so doing, the center willseek to urther Yeshiva’s mission o Torah Umaddaand the University’s critical role in the uture o theAmerican Jewish community.”In addition to his pulpit responsibilities, RabbiSoloveichik teaches at the Ramaz School, wherehe leads the senior honors Talmud class. He alsolectures throughout the United States and abroad,to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on topicsrelating to Jewish theology, bioethics and Jewish-Christian relations. His essays, which have beenpublished in
Commentary, The Torah Umadda Journal, Azure
and
Tradition
, among other pub-lications, address subjects central to the Jewishaith, including the theological meaning o chosen-ness, kashrut and Torah study. He is the grandsono the late renowned scholar and rosh yeshiva [pro-essor o Talmud] Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik and thegrand nephew o The Rav, the late Rabbi JosephSoloveitchik.While its primary ocus will be serving stu-dents, the Straus Center will also serve to enhance YU’s role as “an intellectual catalyst and beacon orall Jews,” Rabbi Soloveichik explained. To this end,the center will host public orums at the Univer-sity’s various campuses that address great humanquestions that have engaged Jewish and non-Jewish thinkers. Visiting aculty will be invitedto participate and to teach student courses. In therst year, many o the center’s programs, as well asmuch o the student coursework, will relate to thetheme “Biblical Ideas and American Democracy.”Moreover, the center will stage a series o one-day learning events in Jewish communitiesthroughout the United States, Europe and Israel.These symposia and lectures will promote ideas-ocused conversations about Jewish lie and theJewish uture across the generations.“Ultimately, the goal o the Straus Center isnot just to deepen our understanding o Judaism,”Rabbi Soloveichik said, “but also to help us under-stand how Jewish ideas have, and can continue to,prooundly impact the world.”
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Rockeeller Partnership DeepensStudy o Neuroscience at Stern
A
s a child, Geulah Ben-David joked that herbrain was the most-usedmuscle in her body. As a psy-chology major with an emphasisin neuroscience at Stern Collegeor Women, she’s learning why.Ben-David is taking a newneurobiology laboratory courseat Stern, which has grown roma partnership with nearby Rock-eeller University. The course isled by Dr. Richard Hunter, a re-search associate at Rockeeller,and makes use o lab space at bothStern College and Rockeeller togrant students hands-on experi-ence in graduate-level research.“It’s 80 percent experiment-ori-ented,” said Hunter. “I guide theclass through everything romdissecting sheep brains in ourneuroanatomy module to study-ing the eects o caeine in ratsas we look at psychostimulants.”The new lab was developedas part o an expanding neurosci-ence curriculum at Stern, whichnow includes a neuroscienceconcentration in both the biologyand psychology departments.The partnership with Rock-eeller oers students the uniqueopportunity to study behavior inanimals, which in many cases isonly available in graduate school.“You have to be very criticalabout how you’re setting up yourprocedures and to understandthat because you’re the rst per-son doing this, you’ll make mis-takes,” Hunter said. “I want mystudents to know how to learnrom those mistakes.”And that learning processis exhilarating or Ben-David.“That’s what I love about thework we’re doing,” she said.“When you’re creative and in-novative, you can make newdiscoveries. You eel like you’researching the unknown andnothing is impossible.”Partnerships like the onewith Rockeeller allow YeshivaUniversity to oer its studentsspecialized experiences as wellas advanced study in their eldso interest. To expand student op-tions in the health and sciences,Stern has also recently createdtwo joint programs with New York University in the areas o nutrition and nursing. The agree-ment will give Stern students theability to take nutrition classes atNYU to complete a shaped majorin nutrition at YU, while an ar-rangement with NYU’s Collegeo Nursing will enable studentsto pursue a combined degree innursing at Stern and NYU.Other YU partnerships in-clude programs in occupationaland physical therapy, optometry,podiatry, social work, engineer-ing, business administration andmath and science education.
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Stern students experiment in a neurobiology lab
Joint programs createdwith New York Universityin nutrition and nursing
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sPrinG 2011
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Volume 15 • No. 2Dr. HeNry Kressel
Chairman, YU Board of Trustees
ricHarD m. Joel Dr. NormaN lamm
President Chancellor
GeorGia B. PollaK
Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
yutoday
mayer FertiG yaFFi sPoDeK Gisel PiNeyro
Editor in Chief Editor Art Director
Enrique Cubillo, Shimon Fried, Cecile George, Norman Goldberg,Stephen Nickson, Tova Ross, Perel Skier,V. Jane Windsor, Matt Yaniv
Contributors
yutoday@yu.edu www.yu.edu/cpa
YUToday
is published quarterly by the Oce o Communications and Public Aairs and is distributedree to aculty, sta, students, alumni, donors and riends. It keeps them inormed o news romacross Yeshiva University’s undergraduate and graduate divisions and aliates. The quarterlynewsletter covers academic and campus lie, aculty and student research, community outreachand philanthropic support. It showcases the University’s mission o Torah Umadda, the combina-tion o Jewish study and values with secular learning, through stories about the diverse achieve-ments o the University community.
© Yshia Unirsity 2011 • Ofc of Communications and Pubic Affairs
Furst Ha Room 401 • 500 Wst 185th St. • Nw Yor, NY 10033-3201 • T.: 212.960.5285
Stanley I. Raskas, Chairman, Board o Overseers, Yeshiva College; Shira Yoshor, Chairman, Boardo Overseers, Stern College or Women; Josh Weston, Chairman, Board o Overseers, Sy SymsSchool o Business; Ruth L. Gottesman, Chairperson, Board o Overseers, Albert Einstein Collegeo Medicine; Leslie E. Payson, Chair, Board o Overseers, Benjamin N. Cardozo School o Law;Froma Beneroe, Chair, Board o Overseers, Wurzweiler School o Social Work; Mordecai D.Katz, Chairman, Board o Overseers, Bernard Revel Graduate School o Jewish Studies; CarolBravmann, Chair, Board o Overseers, Ferkau Graduate School o Psychology; Moshael J. Straus,Chairman, Board o Overseers, Azrieli Graduate School o Jewish Education and Administration;Julius Berman, Chairman, Board o Trustees, (aliate) Rabbi Isaac Elchanan TheologicalSeminary; Miriam Goldberg, Chairman, Board o Trustees, YU High Schools; Theodore N. Mirvis
and Michael Jesselson, Co-Chairs, Board o Directors, (aliate) Yeshiva University Museum.
Board istings as of May 16, 2011.
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Tracing an Alumna’s Remarkable Journeyrom Chechnya to Stern to Harvard
A
lla Digilova, a 2010 graduate o Stern Col-lege or Women and soon-to-be Harvard lawstudent, has come a long way since she arrived inBrooklyn at age 14. She and her amily came rom Nal-chik, a city in Southern Russia, thanks to a loan rom theHebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Fleeing war and strie,Digilova’s parents relied on welare to get by, while hermother studied toward a degree in nursing to improvethe amily’s situation.Nurturing her desire to become a scientist, Digilovaentered Brooklyn Technical High School, a specializedscience school, where she excelled despite her limitedknowledge o English. She also co-ounded an organiza-tion to promote women’s rights in the workplace.One o the only observant Jewish students atBrooklyn Tech, Digilova reveled in the atmosphere o Flatbush, Brooklyn, where Judaism ourished openly.“When I rst arrived in New York, and saw all the Jew-ish people walking proudly to shul on Shabbat in theirnest clothing, it was so beautiul to me because in Russia,Judaism is not something that was encouraged publicly,”she said. “When it came time to continue my educationin college, I knew I wanted to be in a place where myJudaism could thrive.”When she heard about Yeshiva University, with itsdual curriculum and Jewish environment, coupled withthe prestigious S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program,Digilova was hooked. As an honors student at Stern withalmost ull tuition coverage, Digilova majored in bothbiology and economics, and discovered that legal com-plexities ascinated her, especially the laws surrounding patents or medicine. For her senior project, she workedunder the tutelage o Dr. Marina K. Holz, assistant pro-essor o biology, to research new mechanisms o breastcancer cell regulation.“Alla has always been one o my top students, andI have been impressed with her drive, ambition andcheerul disposition,” Holz said. “She co-authored, withme, an article based on our research together or hersenior project that was published in a peer-reviewed journal [the
Journal o Biological Chemistry
], which isquite an accomplishment or an undergraduate student.”When Digilova decided to apply to law school, shestudied on her own or the LSATs. By November 2010,she was accepted into Columbia, the University o Pennsylvania, New York University and Harvard, among other top-tier schools. She chose Harvard or its strong program in intellectual property, and she hopes to workon patent laws and biotechnology, in addition to cases inhumanitarian law.“It’s rare to come across a student as capable, poisedand well-spoken as Alla,” said Dr. Cynthia Wachtell,ounding director o the S. Daniel Abraham HonorsProgram. “She’s an incredibly impressive young womanwho has demonstrated remarkable academic accom-plishment, and her achievements are made even morestriking by the atypical journey that brought her toStern.”Never one to let an opportunity pass her by, Digil-ova spent this year learning at the Shearim College o Jewish Studies or Women in Jerusalem. She will beginHarvard Law School in the all along with at least two Yeshiva College alumni.Digilova attributes her strong work ethic to herearly struggles in Brooklyn, and the inspiration shereceived rom her mother. “When we got to Brooklynand lived in a small apartment, sleeping on mattresseson the oor and struggling or every dollar, it was quite apsychological blow,” Digilova recounted. “Nevertheless,I think it also helped me turn all my energies and ocustoward becoming successul in my academics, as I knowthat is the best way to better my lie.”
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Azrieli Graduate School Launches M.S. Program
Day School Teachers on Long Island Comprise First Cohort o 16
Y
eshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School o Jewish Education and Administration is launch-ing a School Partnership Master’s Program thisall, unded by the Jim Joseph Foundation. The initiativeoers classes over ve semesters to educators who wishto pursue a master’s degree in Jewish education whilecontinuing in their teaching careers.“I elt that this would be a antastic opportunity toparticipate in graduate-level studies in Jewish educa-tion at the acclaimed Azrieli School o Jewish Educationwhile still being able to continue in my current position asa rebbe,” said participant Rabbi Yossi Bennett ‘98YUHSB,a 12th grade Judaic studies teacher at Mesivta Ateres Yaa-kov in Lawrence, NY. “I eel that a degree rom Azrieli willopen many new doors or me in the eld, both in the edu-cation and administration areas, in addition to educating,equipping and preparing me or new challenges to come.”The inaugural cohort is comprised o 16 participants,both male and emale, who currently teach at yeshiva dayschools in the Five Towns and other areas o New York’sLong Island. The program builds upon existing relation-ships with these schools that were developed throughAzrieli’s Institute or University-School Partnership. Par-ticipants o the program will receive ull scholarships, sup-ported by Azrieli and the Jim Joseph Foundation, as wellas by the local yeshivas. To oster a sense o unity among the area yeshivas, a dierent school will host the weeklyclasses each semester.“This program ts in with Azrieli’s general mission,which is a deep and abiding commitment to
harbatzas
[spreading o] Torah, using the most modern techniquesand technologies,” explained Dr. David Schnall, the deano Azrieli. “We have a very interesting mix o people andbackgrounds, those with strong credentials who havebeen teaching or many years, and those who are newto the eld.” The program will include coursework incognition, educational psychology, models o teaching,classroom management and curriculum assessment, ac-companied by programs given at Azrieli. These include anorientation on proessional development and workshopson using a Smart Board and other technology. Classes willbe taught by Azrieli aculty, with all semester courses ledby Dr. Rona Novick, director o the Fanya Gotteseld HellerDoctoral Program and Dr. Chaim Feuerman, the GoldaKoschitzky Chair in Jewish Education and chair o theMendheim Student Teaching and Administrative Intern-ship Program. Each participant will also be observed andsupervised in a classroom setting while they teach. In ad-dition, they will take classes on dierentiated instruction,which oer strategies and techniques to enable teachers tomeet the needs o more students more o the time. “Wewant our graduates to be aware o student dierences andthe various types o learning, and how to respond to andaccommodate a mix o students,” said Dr. Jerey Glanz,the director o the master’s program at Azrieli. Close to20 schools were asked to nominate two teachers, and thenominees then applied and were chosen by Azrieli aculty,based on their admissions essays.Participating teachers come rom Hebrew Academyo the Five Towns and Rockaways (HAFTR), HebrewAcademy o Long Beach (HALB), Hebrew Academy o Nassau County (HANC), Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, TorahAcademy or Girls (TAG), Yeshiva Darchei Torah, YeshivaKetana o Long Island and Yeshiva o South Shore.Next year, Azrieli hopes to expand the program toeducators in other communities. Long Island was chosenas a starting point, because “we have a long relationshipthere, and it is an intense educational community witha large concentration o yeshivot that we eel would bestbenet,” said Glanz.
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Alla Digilova
Ri l pi b Ji hi
Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, chancellor o YeshivaUniversity and Rosh HaYeshiva o the Rabbi IsaacElchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) has written
Festivals o Faith: Refections on the Jewish Holi-days
. Published jointly by RIETS/Yeshiva UniversityPress and OU Press, the book is a compilation oinsights on the Jewish holidays, portraying them asnot only joyous celebrations but also repositorieso proound teachings on personal and communalpriorities, as Rabbi Lamm explores the holidays’lessons or parenting, education, nancial integ-rity and religious intensity. The book was edited byDr. David Shatz, proessor o philosophy at YU andeditor o
The Torah Umadda Journal
. Shatz selectedand edited the material rom Rabbi Lamm’s archives,assisted by Rabbi Simon Posner, executive editor oOU Press and associate editor o this volume.
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