YUReview

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F Y E S H I V A U N I V E R S I T Y

S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 / A V I V 5 7 6 9

Discovery
 YESHIVA
UNIVERSITY Spring Exhibitions
MUSEUM 2009
FINAL MOURNERS KADDISH:
I OF THE 333 Days in Paintings
STORM MAX MILLER
ILLER
MICHAEL Popper Gallery
February 26
HAFFTKA August 16, 20099

Recent Work
Winnick Gallery
March 22
August 30, 2009

JOSEPH, THE BULL

AND THE ROSE
ANETTE PIER
Mexico
Rosenberg Gallery
February 26 August 30, 2009

TESTIMONY AND MEMORY:

Contemporary Miniature
Torah Mantles
CAROLE SMOLLAN
London
PASSAGES:: Sculptu
P
PASSAGES Sculpture by Exhibition Arcade
February 26 July 26, 2009
L.T. SYMS
Sculpture Garden
March 22 August 16, 2009

-USEUM(OURS3UNDAY4UESDAYn4HURSDAYsnPMs-ONDAYS 95-&REEsnPM

&ORMOREINFORMATIONVISITwww.yumuseum.org or call 212.294.8330
-ICHAEL(AFFTKA(ONI(A-EAGGELOILONCANVAS-AX-ILLER4EMPLE"ETH3HMUEL#UBAN(EBREW#ONGREGATIONOF-IAMIWATERCOLORONPAPER
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Congratulations NJ8A6HHD;'%%.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 14UNIVERSITY WIDE COMMENCEMENT

Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies
Stern College for Women
Sy Syms School of Business
Yeshiva College
WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden

MONDAY, MAY 26
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Lamport Auditorium, Zysman Hall, Wilf Campus

MONDAY, JUNE 1
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

MONDAY, JUNE 1
Yeshiva University High School for Boys/The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy
Lamport Auditorium, Zysman Hall, Wilf Campus

TUESDAY, JUNE 2
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10
Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls
Lamport Auditorium, Zysman Hall, Wilf Campus

FRIDAY, MAY 22
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Lamport Auditorium, Zysman Hall, Wilf Campus

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Weissberg Commons, Belfer Hall, Wilf Campus

For detailed information,

please visit www.yu.edu/commencement
 from the president

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Morry J. Weiss
CHAIRMAN

The French novelist Marcel Proust said, David S. Gottesman

Robert M. Beren
Ronald P. Stanton

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking CHAIRMEN EMERITI

Ira Kukin
VICE CHAIRMAN
new landscapes, but in having new eyes. In an ever-changing world, Sy Syms
VICE CHAIRMAN
rich in innovation and progress, it is easy to become consumed with Ludwig Bravmann
staying updated. Often, in an attempt to maintain control in the mod- VICE CHAIRMAN

Mordecai D. Katz
ern world, we hunt for new landscapes to keep us informed without
VICE CHAIRMAN
delving into the beauty of those of the past.
Alan E. Goldberg
At Yeshiva University, we make it our mission to ensure that our TREASURER

students not only seek new landscapes, but explore old ones with new Joseph Wilf
TRUSTEE EMERITUS
eyes. That is not to say that we neglect innovation. Our faculty and
David J. Azrieli
students are constantly pushing the envelope, using all of our gifts as Jayne G. Beker
Jack A. Belz
human beings to make admirable discoveries, acknowledged and Julius Berman
Marvin S. Bienenfeld
celebrated by our colleagues and friends. However, it does not end there.
Marjorie Diener Blenden
Our traditions inform us not to let discovery remain idle, but to harness science and the human- Sender Z. Cohen
Israel A. Englander
ities for the greater good in an effort to uplift and improve our global community. Watch as our jour- David Eshaghian
Jeffrey J. Feil
ney of discovery flourishes amid deeply rooted values and long-held beliefs. Applying both critical
Felix L. Glaubach
analysis and classical Talmudic approaches, we are using lessons of the past as predictors of the Ruth L. Gottesman
Kathryn O. Greenberg
future. Tempered by the humility of our humanity, we extend our royal reach heavenward as we aspire Fanya Gottesfeld Heller
Lance L. Hirt
to the Transcendent. Moses asks for G-d to reveal the Divine splendor. He is told, that as a human,
Michael Jesselson
he is incapable of perceiving G-ds glory. But the story does not end there. G-d asks Moses to come Richard M. Joel
Marcos D. Katz
and join G-d on the rock. Perhaps the message is that as humans our job is not to see G-d, but to Henry Kressel
Norman Lamm
see as G-d sees. Our challenge is not to perceive the Divine in this world, but to make our vision more
Matthew J. Maryles
like the Divine vision. Ira Mitzner
Joshua L. Muss
In universities like ours, discovery is also applied inwardly. Our students step through our doors Jack M. Nagel
Vivian Glueck Rosenberg
and onto a never-ending road to self-discovery, challenging them to determine who they are and what
David I. Schachne
they can do to enrich humanity, whether they emerge as leaders in the community or researchers in Jay Schottenstein
Irwin Shapiro
the laboratory. Moshael J. Straus
Josh S. Weston
Our landscapes certainly enlighten us, but it is our eyes that define us. They define us as a com-
Zygmunt Wilf
munity dedicated to advancing civilization and bettering the human condition, one discovery at a time. H O N O R A RY T R U S T E E S
S. Daniel Abraham
Hal H. Beretz
J. Morton Davis
Aaron Feuerstein
Gerald Furst
Jacob E. Goldman
Emanuel Gruss
Joseph Segal
RICHARD M. JOEL Elie Wiesel
David Yagoda
Jay H. Zises
YESHIVA UNIVERSITY
Richard M. Joel
PRESIDENT
YUReview
Daniel T. Forman
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
I N S T I T U T I O N A L A D VA N C E M E N T
11 31
Georgia B. Pollak
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
C O M M U N I C AT I O N S A N D
P U B L I C A F FA I R S

YUREVIEW
Valerie L. Peters
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kelly Berman
NEWS EDITOR

Judy Tashji
C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R 30
CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ISSUE:

Manny Behar
Philippe Cassamajor
June Glazer
Catherine Fredman
Lauren Freudmann
Rabbi Josh Joseph
2 FROM THE PRESIDENT

Elizabeth Kratz
Helen Kuttner
Clifford Meth
Stephen Nickson
Celia Regan
4 YU DIGEST

Hadassa Rubinstein
Boris Volunuev
Yael Wolynetz 16 DISCOVERY
College yearsthe time in a students life when their quest for
PHOTOGRAPHY enlightenment is realized through access to brilliant minds nurturing
Jared Bernstein personal exploration; Collegethe safe haven for this inquiry and
Dan Bretl
Enrique Cubillo
home to supportive faculty and experts who understand this quest
Norman Goldberg for knowledge.
Mark Katz
Holly Kuper In this issue, we discover the complex nature of Torah and Madda
Peter Robertson in criminal law; how the recovery of hidden treasures in Germany
Matt Schwartz
Annie Wasserman
identified a lost community; what secrets lie within our own
V. Jane Windsor University archives; and how the life-changing experiences of three
Emily Zeng students are making a difference to many.

32
YUReview is published bi-annually by Yeshiva
Universitys Department of Communications and
SPOTLIGHT
Public Affairs. It is distributed by mail to alumni
and friends of the university and on campus to
faculty and administrators. Paid subscriptions
are available at $15 per year.

Editorial contributions and submissions to

Classnotes are welcome, but the publication
cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manu-
scripts or photographs. All submissions are subject
43 ALUMNI NEWS

FA C U LT Y B O O K S H E L F CLASSNOTES
to editing. Opinions expressed in the Review are
not official university policy.

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60 A LOOK BACK

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY 2009

YUdigest

A Strong University in Tough Economic Times

As a result of the new economic realities confronting the entire nation,
Yeshiva University put in place a process to reframe its budget that began last fall.
President Richard M. Joel implemented a number of steps to reduce operating expenses
by close to $30 million, with the overall goal to minimize the impact of these financial issues
on the student and academic experience, both in and beyond the classroom.
It is essential that we deal properly and purposefully
with the new economic realities that confront us all.
Steps YU Has Taken
Part of our commitment is ensuring that students and their to Address Family Need
families can afford a Yeshiva University education: We are In a historic move, YU is freezing the cost of
reframing our budget, not just to eliminate the structured undergraduate tuition for 2009 /10. Tuition will
remain at $31,594 for the year, with only
deficit, but to keep the cost of attending the undergraduate
a modest increase for room and board of $250
schools as affordable as possible by freezing tuition per semester.

and increasing financial aid. We have always been mindful A new scholarship drivesupported by the

of the costs of education, looking for ways to do more
with less, while building a great university; now we must
look harder, said President Joel.
We have an operating plan for the coming year
that ensures our delivering on the promise we make to our
families: providing a superb education for every
Yeshiva University student, while keeping our institution
strong and helping us weather the economic climate.
Board of Trusteeswill add up to $5 million to
the Universitys undergraduate scholarship
budget. This will augment the approximately
$31 million in institutional aid that the
University annually budgets.
New and currently enrolled students who start
their undergraduate studies with a year in
Israel, and plan to stay on the YU campus for
four years after they return, will be eligible for a
half-tuition scholarship for that fourth year.
This applies to students returning from Israel and

Yeshiva Universitys mission has never been as vital as
it is today. Our values are invaluable and our education
is nonnegotiable.
enrolling on campus in fall 2009 and is also
being extended to students who are currently in
their first or second year on campus.
To hear more from the president about these new
initiatives, go to www.yu.edu/president/tuition

4 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W

New York State Governor David Paterson received an honorary degree
from President Joel.
84th Hanukkah Dinner
and Convocation
Honors Governor, Students
T
here is much to celebrate about Yeshiva University and the
accomplishments of this community, said President
Richard M. Joel at the annual Hanukkah Convocation and
Dinner held in December at the Waldorf-Astoria. The
evenings emotional highlight focused the dinner presenta-
tion on the Points of Lighta group of students, faculty, alumni and
donors whose achievements represent the excellence of YU.
We present to you seven points of light; the number could just as
easily be 70, said President Joel as he introduced these outstanding
members of the YU community. Our 17 schools and affiliates
brought us a bumper crop of great stories, from which we could
choose a few exemplars of excellence to share with you.
During the inspiring presentation, each person took a place on the
stage and lit a symbolic candle on a menorah depicting themes of
Jewish learning. (See sidebar.)
New York State Governor David A. Paterson, one of the events
honorees and its keynote speaker, paid tribute to the Universitys val-
ues and public service. After 122 years and only four presidents, this
university is thriving, Governor Paterson said. President Joel is pur-
suing the opportunity to fulfill the true meaning of education: a high-
er knowledge and a greater spirit.
This greater spirit was recognized as President Joel awarded hon-
orary degrees to five leaders whose lives embody the Universitys val-
ues: philanthropists David Feuerstein and Roslyn Goldstein; Elliot
Gibber, president and CEO of Deb-El Food Products; Rabbi Haskel
Lookstein, rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and head of the
Ramaz School; and Governor Paterson.
In his remarks recognizing these leaders, President Joel also noted
that, despite the difficult economy, the generosity of those attending
the evenings event raised $3.2 million, over $1 million more than the
previous year. To read in-depth biographies of the honorees, visit
www.yu.edu/ hanukkah2008
Shining Examples
This years Hanukkah Dinner Points of Light are models of excellence
representative of the entire YU community.
Malka Bromberg, physics major and
Kressel Scholar, Stern College for Women
Researches ways to make hydrogen a green
alternative for powering cars in the lab of
Dr. Anatoly Frenkel, professor of physics
Yofi Jacob, sophomore,
Yeshiva University High School for Boys
He and his family play a crucial role
in supporting his native Mumbai
Jewish community
Professor Leon Wildes (right) 54YC,
director of the Immigration Law Externship,
and Professor Peter Markowitz (far right),
director of the Immigration Justice Clinic,
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Respond to needs for quality legal
representation for indigent immigrants
Avi Amsalem, senior at Yeshiva College
and co-president of student-run
Medical Ethics Society
His experience as a donor led to a massive
on-campus bone marrow drive yielding eight
potential matchessee page 28 for full story
Rabbi Ari Zahtz YH, 01YC, R, fellow of the
Dr. Lamm Kollel Lhoraah,
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Compiled tribute volumes to Rabbi Zevulun
Charlop on his transition from dean of RIETS to
Presidents special advisor on yeshiva affairs
Dan Kelly 08AE, graduate of
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Founded Global Action Foundation and
built free clinic for victims of violence
in Sierra Leone
Sofia Gordon, Wilf Scholar and senior,
Stern College for Women
Discovered true Jewish identity as a young
Russian immigrant in Germany and chose
to attend Stern to deepen her Jewish studies
educationsee page 29 for full story
 digest
Azrieli Institute
Addresses Professionalism
in Jewish Education
O
ne of the biggest issues in Jewish educa-
tion today is attracting, training and
retaining high-quality teachers and lead-
ers for day schools, yeshivot and commu-
nity and synagogue-based schools. Raising
the level of professionalism is critical as schools
compete with their secular counterparts for student
enrollment. Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Edu-
cation and Administration is addressing this commu-
nal challenge through its new initiative, the Institute
for University-School Partnership.
The Institute, directed by Dr. Scott Goldberg, a
noted researcher and educational consultant, offers
educators opportunities for enhanced professional
development through the use of new technologies
and applied research. The Institute can offer this
support because of its access to experts and research
at Yeshiva University. For example, Azrieli faculty mem-
bers, who serve as Institute senior fellows, collabo-
rate with schools of all denominations across North
America to mentor educators and raise awareness of
school issues among lay leadership and parents.
Recent surveys among Jewish educators indicate
Goldberg provides teacher training via live videoconference.
6 S P R I N G
that ongoing supervision, mentorship and access to
the latest research in secular and Jewish education
are some crucial elements in avoiding burnout and
turnover. The Institute has already begun answering
this call by offering many continuing education
programs at no cost for day school administrators,
educators, lay leaders and other professionals that
address school leadership, teacher training and sup-
port, student support and interactive media.
Through live seminars, videoconferences (in
cooperation with the Global Learning Initiative at
the Center for the Jewish Future), online materials
and discussion boards, conference calls and fellow-
ships for careers in Jewish education, opportunities
for quality training are timely and far reaching.
Schools also benefit from teacher and administrator
placement services, mentorships and research-based
publications. Additionally, the Institute has initiated
original research on Jewish day school issues such as
bullying, differentiated instruction, the effects of the
year in Israel on post-high school students, religious
purposefulness and school affordability.
A unique aspect of the Institute is its commit-
ment to outreach and collaboration with educational
and nonprofit organizations to achieve common goals
in promoting Jewish education. For example, the
Institute co-sponsored the Jewish Day School
Economic Summit at the 2009 Annual Leadership
Conference run by RAVSAK: The Jewish Com-
munity Day School Network and hosted other major
conferences on The World Outside the School:
Engaging Parents and Community and Topics in
Modern Orthodox Education.
Jacob Wisse to
Lead YU Museum
Dr. Jacob Wisse, associate
professor of art history at Stern
College for Women, has been
named the new director of the
Yeshiva University Museum follow-
ing Sylvia Herskowitzs retirement
after 32 years as director.
Wisse, who received his PhD
from the Institute of Fine Arts of
New York University, also has a
background in museum education
and curatorial work. Through the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, he
earned a Curatorial Studies
Certificate and was twice awarded
the museums Theodore Rousseau
Curatorial Fellowship.
Since 2005/06, when he was
appointed to head the art history
program at Stern, Wisse has intro-
duced courses that use exhibitions
and museum collections to
complement the classroom experi-
ence, including a summer program
in Florence on the art and culture
of the Renaissance period. He
will continue to teach and guide
the program.
During her tenure, Herskowitz
gave the nascent YU Museum an
identity by shaping it as a teaching
museum that collected, interpreted
and exhibited the art, artifacts and
material culture of Jews the world
over through creative and evoca-
tive interdisciplinary exhibitions,
catalogues and programs for Jews
and non-Jews of all ages.
2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
EINSTEINS and in the Lab a daily break of 15 minutes or more

B A N N E R Y E A R O F R E S U LT S in the school day may play a role in

A study in Archives of Internal
A N D R E WA R D S Medicine reports that people with low
levels of Vitamin D may face an in-
creased risk of death from all causes.
Professor Receives Researchers including co-lead
Cancer Society Honor Dr. Michal L. Melamed, assistant
professor of medicine and of epidemi-
In recognition for her outstanding con- ology and population health, and
tributions to the fight against cancer, colleagues from Johns Hopkins Uni-
the American Cancer Societythe versity School of Medicine analyzed
nations largest nongovernmental fund- Vitamin D levels in participants in the
er of cancer researchawarded the Third National Health and Nutritional
Medal of Honor to Susan Band Examination Survey conducted by
Horwitz (left), PhD, distinguished pro- the Centers for Disease Control and
fessor and co-chair of the department Prevention. The researchers suggest
of molecular pharmacology. that Vitamin D be added to the
Her groundbreaking research on the cancer drug Taxol chemicals measured in routine blood
(paclitaxel), used around the world to treat cancers of the ovary, tests. Low Vitamin D levels may affect
breast and lung, has helped more than one million patients. blood pressure and the bodys ability
It is so important to realize that basic scientists can make to respond to insulin as well as
significant contributions to clinical care, said Horwitz. I feel increase rates of breast cancer and
strongly that this is not my personal award. It is for my entire depression in the elderly.
laboratoryfor all the students, fellows, visiting scientists and
collaborators that have worked with me all these years. A trend toward eliminating recess in
Horwitz is more optimistic than ever about curing cancer. favor of increased math and reading
Weve learned a tremendous amount in the 35 years since I got periods means that children are
my first research grant, which was from the American Cancer getting less and less unstructured
Society, she said. I believe that, with enough financial support playtime. A new study led by Dr.
and with the brightest and the best young people going into can- Romina M. Barros, assistant clinical
cer research, we should be able to overcome this disease. professor of pediatrics, suggests that
improving learning, social develop-
ment and health in elementary school-
children. As reported in Pediatrics,
Barros, who looked at data on approx-
imately 11,000 third-graders enrolled
in the national Early Childhood Longi-
tudinal Study, said that recess has to
be considered a crucial element in
child development.
Men with prostate cancer may have
an increased risk of having an aggres-
sive tumor if they carry a mutation for
either of two genes, BRCA1 and
BRCA2, according to Dr. Robert Burk,
professor of pediatrics (genetics) and
senior author of a study reported in
Clinical Cancer Research. The study
focused on men of Ashkenazi Jewish
descent because they are five times
likelier than people in the general
population to carry a mutation of any
kind in those genes. Women carrying
mutations in either gene face an
increased risk of developing breast
cancer, ovarian cancer or both.
Scientists believe that genetic discov-
eries among the Ashkenazi can have
significant benefits in preventing and
treating major diseases.

Yeshiva College and Schnall (left) and

Einstein Researchers Link Religion Wassertheil-Smoller

to Reduced Mortality
A study published by University
researchers in psychology and
health strongly suggests that regular
attendance at religious services of
any denomination, along with the
comfort and strength derived from
these services, reduces the risk of
death in post-menopausal women by
approximately 20 percent.
The study, conducted by Eliezer
Schnall, PhD, clinical assistant
professor of psychology at Yeshiva
College, and co-authored by Sylvia
Wassertheil-Smoller, PhD, professor
of epidemiology and population
health at Einstein, was designed to
see if religious observance played a
role in reducing heart disease.
Though the findings did not support
that, they showed a lower rate of
death from all causes. It was an
ancillary study of the Womens
Health Initiative, the largest clinical
trial ever funded by the National
Institutes of Health to focus exclu-
sively on womens health issues, and
evaluated the religious practices of
92,395 women for an average of
7.7 years.
I dont want to go beyond what
the facts are showing us, and I want
to be cautious, said Schnall.
Interestingly, the protection against
(right).
mortality provided by
religion cannot be entirely
explained by expected
factors that include enhanced social
support of friends or family, lifestyle
choices and reduced smoking and
alcohol consumption.
The study has received significant
media attention and corroborates
prior studies that have shown up to
a 25 percent reduction in mortality.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 7
CARDOZO HIGHLIGHTS
Laurie Tisch
Loan Repayment Assistance Gets
$5M Boost at Cardozo
In a visionary gift, Laurie M. Tisch
has established the Laurie M.
Tisch Loan Repayment Assistance
Program (LRAP)to benefit Car-
dozo graduates who have chosen to
pursue careers in public interest/
public service law by providing
forgivable loans to assist them in
overcoming their debt. She hopes
the gift will relieve burdens of out-
standing financial obligations as
graduates work for the common
good.
This is a transformative gift,
said Dean David Rudenstine. It
completely changes the face of our
current loan repayment assistance
program and ensures that our grad-
uates can continue to work for the
public good. Such work is a sterling
affirmation of our commitment to
equality, social justice, and human-
istic and intellectual values.
Tisch believes that the public
sectorwhether it be legal assis-
tance services, the District Attor-
neys office, government, human
rights groups, or not-for-profit
organizationsshould not be
deprived of some of the best and
brightest legal minds coming out of
law school. She noted she comes
from a family in which public
service was immensely important;
it was instilled in all of us from the
time we were children. This gift to
Cardozo builds on that family lega-
cy. Ms. Tischs daughter, Emily
Tisch Sussman, is a 2008 alumna
of Cardozo.
Record Bar Passage
Rate at Cardozo
According to figures announced by
the New York State Board of Law
Examiners in November, Cardozo
graduates achieved a 93.2 percent
first-time passage rate on the July
2008 New York State Bar Exam.
Of the 310 Cardozo graduates who
took the exam for the first time,
289 passed. This is the highest
pass rate in the schools history,
exceeding last years record of
92 percent. The statewide pass
rate for first-time takers from all
ABA-accredited law schools was
90.5 percent; for all takers it was
74.7 percent.
David Rudenstine
Alumni Honor Dean
Dean David Rudenstine was
selected by the Alumni Associa-
tions 50-member executive com-
mittee as honoree at its annual din-
ner in November for the dramatic
physical renovation and for the
remarkable growth Cardozo has
undergone during his tenure.
Rudenstine will step down as
dean in June 2009 and rejoin the
faculty. Kathy Greenberg 82C,
who became chair of the Cardozo
board shortly after Rudenstine was
named dean in 2001, said, I feel
privileged to know him, to have
had the opportunity to work with
him and to have witnessed the
extraordinary growth of Cardozo
under his watch.

RIETS Annual Dinner of Tribute

Honors Rabbi Charlop
Close to 700 people gathered at New York Citys Grand Hyatt in

September for the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS)

Annual Dinner honoring Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, dean emeritus of RIETS

and special advisor to the president on yeshiva affairs and vice chairman

of the RIETS Board of Trustees, Herbert Smilowitz, and his son, Rabbi

Mark Smilowitz 92YC, 98AZ, 02R. RIETS dinner participants raised over

$1.1 million, thats $500,000 more raised than the previous year.

8 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W

Students helped repair the home of Pastor Bruce
Davenport (center, rear) and his wife (far right).
Wurzweiler Students
Reach Out for Recovery
When 18 Wurzweiler School of Social Work
students visited New Orleans in November to
study the revitalization of its Jewish community
after Hurricane Katrina, they recognized the
opportunity to put into action the core Jewish
communal values of tzedakah [righteous giving]
and tikkun olam [repairing the world], which
they study in the schools Jewish Communal
Service Certificate program.
The students, accompanied by Saul Andron,
PhD, program director, and Instructor Lynn
Levy, attended a four-day seminar to learn how
the community has responded in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina.
On the last full day of the trip, they toured
the Seventh Ward area, then split into three
groups to visit the homebound elderly, painted
the outside of the St. Johns Baptist Church
Social Ministrys youth center and applied
Sheetrock to the home of its pastor, Bruce
Davenport.
This experience not only informed me of
the immense help still needed in rebuilding
New Orleans, but it also taught me a personal
valuable lesson that there is so much to live for
even in such a devastating situation, student
Gaby Abramson said.
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
digest
Ferkauf Conducts Cross-Cultural
Asthma Study
Research has shown that asthma sufferers are more susceptible to psychological prob-
lems, especially panic disorders, and these issues may be culturally based. While asthma
is not a curable disease, proper symptom management can improve a patients quality of
life. However, other health and environmental factors can further compromise an indi-
viduals condition.
Natalia Pilipenko, a first-year clinical health psychology student at Ferkauf Graduate
School of Psychology, and a native of Cyprus, found that no psychosocial or cross-cultural
studies have ever been conducted with Cypriot asthma patients. Under the guidance of
Maria Karekla, PhD, assistant professor of the Department of Psychology at the Univer-
sity of Nicosia, Cyprus, and Ferkauf Assistant Professor Jonathan Feldman, PhD,
Pilipenko applied for and received funding for a 24-month cross-cultural research proj-
ect comparing a group of Cypriot asthma patients with a group of asthma patients at
Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
In addition to examining cultural and medical similarities and differences between the
two groups, Pilipenko, Feldman and co-researchers at the Cyprus Academic Research
Institute hope to develop a behavior modification model that will address the psycholog-
ical issues among asthma patients in Cyprus and the Bronx with the long-term goal of
creating culturally sensitive, psychosocial asthma intervention programs.
CJF Trains Rabbis and Lay Leaders
With challenging economic issues facing synagogues and their communities nationwide,
the rabbis role as an executive of his synagogue and his partnership with its lay leaders
takes on particular importance. This was the focus of the Executive Rabbinic Seminars,
held by the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) as part of its Legacy Heritage Fund
Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative (LHREI), supported by Legacy Heritage Fund Limited.
The Executive Rabbinic Seminars, now in their second year, bring rabbis together from
Jewish communities across North America to learn theory from management experts and
gain insight from the business world on addressing challenging day-to-day issues.
The seminars increase avenues of communication between rabbis and lay leaders and
develop a more cohesive dynamic of governance in their congregations, said Rabbi
Kenneth Brander, dean of the CJF. It is one of the important programs in the CJF reper-
toire drawing on the academic energies of the University as a resource for our communi-
ty. These programs are only possible due to support from Legacy Heritage Fund Limited.
The rabbi and lay leader work as a team to assess their synagogues particular situation
and how the material presented can best be applied to their needs; as a group, the rabbis
and lay leaders reflect on common aspirations and challenges and share best practices.
The programs facilitators, who also ran the previous seminar, included Dr. Steven
Nissenfeld and Dr. Brian Maruffi, both clinical professors of management at Sy Syms
School of Business, and Robert Leventhal, a senior consultant at the Alban Institute,
which helps religious congregations address their needs in a changing world.
The 200809 seminars were held in Florida in November and December. They
focused on leading strategic synagogue transformation and the role of leadership in initi-
ating and sustaining change in the synagogue. The 15 participating communities also
attended the prior years programs on leadership and synagogue management dynamics.
9
 digest

A Historical Perspective on
Modern-Day Slavery

A
member of the Shilluk
tribe in southern
Sudan, Simon Deng
was abducted when he
was nine-years-old and
given as a gift to an Arab family.
His job was to draw water from the
Nile River and carry it back to the
household, work typically assisted
by camels. After three and half
years as a slave, Deng was liberat-
ed by a man from his former village
who recognized him and arranged
for his escape.
Deng is a former child slave
from Sudan who spoke last fall at a
panel discussion on Slavery Un-
shackled: An Exploration of Mod-
ern Day Slavery sponsored by the
Social Justice Society, the Center
for Ethics at Yeshiva University
and the Marcia Robbins-Wilf
Scholar-in-Residence Program.
Gilah Kletenik 09S, a member of
the Social Justice Society, put the
relevance in perspective: Our col-
lective experience as slaves long
ago, and as victims throughout his-
tory, suggests that we have a
unique opportunity to free those
enslaved, to be the custodians of
justice throughout the world.
Deng shared the podium with
Mary Temple, volunteer coordina-
tor for Free the Slaves, which works
to eradicate slavery while liberating
slaves around the world, and Rabbi
Shalom Carmy, assistant professor
of Bible at Yeshiva University.
Temple highlighted the differ-
ence between historical and mod-
ern-day slaves. A historical slave
Simon Deng
was seen as a capital expenditure
and was given clothing, shelter and
food in order to allow for the most
substantial return on investment,
Temple explained. In the past 50
years, the price has collapsed and
the average price of a slave is now
$90. People have become dispos-
able.
Rabbi Carmys comments on
slavery were based on his analysis
of biblical and halachic [Jewish
legal] texts. He noted that since
slaves were dependent on the mas-
ters will, being a slave was a mis-
fortune, a curse.
Now an American citizen and
anti-slavery activist, Deng sees his
main role as an advocate and is
hopeful for the future, knowing it
will take someone who is free to
free someone who is not. He said
that most people think slavery is a
thing of the past, but he is living
proof that it continues to exist
today.

YU IN ISRAEL

UK Chief Rabbi Shares
Thoughts on Leadership
Last November, nearly 800 students studying in
Israel on the S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program
heard Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of
the United Kingdom, speak on the importance
of leadership. In the presence of lay leaders
from the OU and rabbanim alike, Rabbi Sacks
charged these students with the responsibility of
becoming the next leaders of Klal Yisrael [the
people of Israel]. He also eloquently conveyed
the message that the path to meeting this
challenge runs through Yeshiva University, said
Rabbi Ari Solomont, director of the S. Daniel
Abraham Israel Program.
General Assembly
Touches on Diversity of
North American Jewry
A delegation of 30 rabbinical students from
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
(RIETS) studying at YUs Gruss Institute in
Jerusalem attended the United Jewish
Communities 2008 General Assembly (GA) to
gather with the larger Jewish community
through interactions with Jews from different
streams.
Rabbi Kenneth Brander, dean of the Center
for the Jewish Future (CJF), and Rabbi Yosef
Blau, mashgiach ruchani [spiritual guidance
counselor] at YU, headed the delegation,
introducing the students to leaders from across
the Jewish world and encouraging attendance
at sessions aimed at helping them understand
concepts and ideas that they may revisit as
teachers and spiritual leaders of North American
Jewish communities.
Blau contends that it is this understanding
that breeds stronger, better prepared Jewish
leaders. While Orthodox rabbinical seminaries
could simply lecture about the viewpoints
of other streams of Judaism, firsthand discus-
sions with those who actually subscribe to these
views are an invaluable learning experience
that will help these young rabbis relate to their
students and congregations in the future,
said Blau.

1 0 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
MACCABEE MINUTE
International Soccer
Team Has Common Bond
Mens soccer can easily claim its the most diverse
team in the Athletics department. This years
roster includes athletes from Panama, Venezuela,
Brazil, France, Chile, Israel, England and Bel-
gium who together bring a genuine sense of team
spirit.
I think what is remarkable about this team is
the degree of unity exhibited by a group of young
men from very different places in the world, said
Coach Tony Elmore, who himself is from Lon-
don. The most striking factor of the team is not
its diversity, its the common cultural bond gener-
ated by being Jewish and the desire on the part of
all the players to discuss, in detail, every tactical
change I wanted to make in our system of play.
While the Spanish speakers, French speak-
ers, and English speakers might, at least at first,
have gravitated together at training, this became
less and less true as the year went on. At a recent
team dinner, players talked about how each of
them felt the team bonded and became friends
off the field as well as on.
Under the guidance of Elmore, the team is
turning its performance around. We went 212
this season, but within the record was a level of
improvement that was truly extraordinary, said
Director of Athletics Joe Bednarsh. I think the
improvement from last season to this season was
simply uncanny, and I owe that to the hard work
of our young men and the dedication of our
superb coaching staff.
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Womens Volleyball Scores
The Womens volleyball program made great strides this season, although the team had
club status (an abbreviated season without statistics) as late as 2007 and competed in
only five matches. But in 2008, womens volleyball was
given varsity program status and began competition as an
NCAA Division III program, the Hudson Valley Womens
Athletic Conference (HVWAC).
As a result of the teams two conference wins during the
regular season, Yeshiva earned a berth in the HVWAC play-
offs where it lost 30 to the College of New Rochelle in the
quarterfinals. Though the team finished the season with a
214 record, senior Adira Katlowitz and junior Nili Block
were named to the HVWAC All-Conference team.
More that just winning matches against two solid,
veteran programs, our team played with a level of skill and
consistency that youd expect from a much more experi-
enced program, said Director of Athletics Joe Bednarsh.
Basketball Super Hooper
Mens basketballs guard/forward Martin
Leibovich 10SSSB earned four awards in Dec-
ember after an outstanding week of play during
which he led the Maccabees to a 11 record.
For a competitive loss to CUNY powerhouse
Baruch College, 7364, and a 7471 overtime
win over Maritime College, Leibovich was named
the Skyline Conference Player of the Week
and ECAC-Metro Co-Player of the Week. He was
also named to the PrestoSports /Metropolitan
Basketball Writers Association Honor Roll and
D3Hoops.com Team of the Week.
1 1
 digest
Winter Missions Take Tikkun Olam on the Road
HOUSTON
Students in the Jewish Life
Coast to Coast Service
CorpsTexas volunteered in
local communities hit by
Hurricane Ike. They cleaned
up and painted Houstons
Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Rabbinical student Alec
Goldstein talked about how
Jewish high school students
can contribute to worthy
causes as part of a
presentation on A Jews
Role in the World at
Houstons Beren Academy.
DALLAS
The Coast to Coast group
packed nearly 20,000 meals
at the North Texas Food
Bank in Dallas.
My experience in Nicaragua
Yaira Dubin got to know a
women at the Bridge, a
homeless assistance shelter
in Dallas. For many students,
it was their first exposure to
the homeless.
Foundation, offered students
NICARAGUA
Near the Nicaraguan village
of Boca de Las Montanas,
students on a mission co-
sponsored by the American
Jewish World Service cleared
ground for a bridge that will
lead to a new school.
absorption center affected by
has taught me that there
are many ways to battle
poverty. Education is one of
themon our side and theirs,
said Annie Wasserman 09S
(above), with local children in
Boca de La Montanas.
YUs Center for the Jewish
Future ran three service-learn-
ing missions in January to
Texas, Nicaragua and Israel.
The trips, all subsidized by
a grant from the Charles and
Lynn Schusterman Family
a unique lesson in making
a difference.
ISRAEL
Students on the Project
Connect Winter Mission met
with seniors from the former
Soviet Union to learn about
their experience adapting to
life in Israel.
Another student group spent
time getting to know
Ethiopian immigrants. They
organized a day of fun
activities for children at an
the war in the south.
 DO NOT USE

$$$ %# $ ! "

Mens and womens tees, polos and hoodies

Baby bibs, book bags and coffee mugs
Plus other Yeshiva University items for men,
women and children

You can also access the store via

www.yu.edu
Advancing a Community of Thinkers
Through the millennia, the primary purpose of education has been to produce well-rounded and
enlightened individuals. But during the last generation, universities have turned away from poetry
and become too much a place of plain prose, test scores and job placement. Fearful of the upheaval
of the 1960s, the academy has retreated from shaping our civilization, choosing safe, secure topics
rather than encouraging exploration and discovery.
But our children long to matter, they yearn deeply for an informing vision of values that make
life work. They confront a madness of license on one hand and extremist hateful fundamentalism on
the other, which seeks to extinguish the light of ideas and the lyric melody of our heritage.
We need to help them, by refocusing on the true exploration of the value
of values. We must expose the young to the freedom of commitment, to the nuances of ideals
firmly held, while protecting the rights of others. We must rebuild a spirit of free inquiry, an
academic environment embroiled in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, while embracing the
immutability of life values that are nonnegotiable. We must teach the skills of navigating the
terrain while reaching for the cosmos. Our challenge is not to defend Western civilization,
but to advance Western civilization.
We measure our success in the character and values of our students. Standardized tests
cannot serve as the sole assessment of our achievement. These tests can quantify information that
has been memorized, or skills in reasoning, but they tell us nothing about values instilled. They tell
us nothing of the integrity and ethics of our students. We are in danger of graduating a generation
of test takers rather than one of enlightened and informed citizens.
On a more practical scale, we face another crisisthe crisis of affordability. The cost of
providing a quality higher education has soared beyond the reach of all but the most affluent
families, rendering exploration for its own sake unaffordable. But in its purest form,
education should not be measured in dollars and cents. Any investment a parent makes for the sake
of their childs learning and future must be rewarded by a university faculty committed to creating
the most wide-ranging and enlightening educational experience possible.
Our universities must meet the challenge of bringing ideals and discovery back
into the classroom. The challenge of nurturing the minds and souls of our students, while
addressing the crisis of affordability, is one that we can meet together. And in so doing, we can
brighten the future for us all.
President Richard M. Joel

An excerpt of a book chapter by President Richard M. Joel, which was included in Letters to the Next President:
Strengthening Americas Foundation in Higher Education, published by Korn/Ferry International, 2008.
 Exploration in the natural world,
from the subatomic to the cosmic,
or in the private world of self-knowledge,
snaps existence into focus
and provides missing puzzle pieces
to reveal a more complete picture of life.
You know it when it happens:
Discovery
THE CATALYST FOR DISCOVERY can be happenstance.
Yet it is often triggered by the exchange of ideas in an envi-
ronment open to possibility. Enter Yeshiva University. The
art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery, wrote the
American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark van Doren. Our
faculty practice their art in wide-ranging scientific, social
and spiritual studies. Applying both critical analysis and clas-
sical Talmudic approaches, faculty and students work to effect
substantial change and make discoveries in their worlds.
Take a few moments to see how discovery is flourishing in
the YU community. Learn how our scholars in the areas of
criminal justice and Halacha [Jewish religious law] have won
renown for their pioneering work in applying current DNA
research to the pursuit of justice and to resolving one of the
most painful halachic issues of our time.
Discover our recently unearthed past as we reveal the
last-known Jewish treasure hoard of medieval history, once
concealed within the foundation of a 12th-century home in
the former Jewish quarter of a small German town.
Explore the archives and hidden treasures in the Mendel
Gottesman Library of Hebraica/Judaica, which illuminate
our deeply rooted traditions, our experiences and our cultur-
al history.
Learn about the students whose journeys of self-discovery
provide inspiration to others: A Ferkauf graduate student who
discovered she could not stand by and do nothing while her
neighbors home in China suffered with the aftereffects of
catastrophic earthquakes; the student who discovered his
potential to save a lifeand sparked fellow students to do
the same; and the student who discovered her identity as a
Jew and now regularly does outreach work with others.
Theirs are discovery stories awakened and nurtured by the
tools and resources of Yeshiva University.
Our faculty and students are pushing the envelope, using
their gifts to drive discoveries that uplift and elevate our
global community. See how the YU experience arms our
students with the tools they need to shape and improve our
collective future.
discovery
The Double Helix
in Torah and Madda
Yeshiva University represents a commitment to the
moral values of Torah while also supporting whole-
heartedly the pursuit of the latest discoveries in
science. Using the science behind DNA, the double
strand of deoxyribonucleic acid unique to every person,
our scholars in the areas of criminal justice and
Halacha [Jewish religious law] have won international
renown for their pioneering work in applying current
research to the pursuit of justice and to resolving one
of the most painful halachic issues of our time.
1 8
D
r. James Gill, deputy chief med-
ical examiner of the Bronx for the
New York City Medical Exami-
ners Office and visiting professor
of pathology at the Albert Ein-
stein College of Medicine, explained that DNA
consists of the genetic building blocks for
humans and all forms of life, down to the single
cell. The implications for medicine are limitless
since the study of DNA can help us determine
which people are most at risk for certain dis-
eases and may soon tell us why cells mutate to
cause diseases and how the process can be pre-
vented or reversed. At Einsteins recently dedi-
cated Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and
Translational Medicine/Harold and Muriel
Block Research Pavilion, work in this area will
be applied directly to patient care.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Hidden
DNA Research in the
Pursuit of Justice Treasures
T
oday, the impact of DNA research of the gottesman library
is being felt in areas beyond med-
icine and biology, revolutionizing
the field of criminal justice. As
recently as the 1980s, judges and A library is the heart of a university, a
juries in criminal cases have had to rely on often
repository of the best of the past that can
contradictory, incomplete or inaccurate eyewit-
ness testimony, inconclusive forensic studies serve as a springboard to discovery.
and circumstantial evidence. As a result, many With 8,000 rare books, 1,200 manuscripts,
criminals were either never apprehended or
over 40 Hebrew and Latin incunabula
acquitted at trial for lack of evidence, while
innocent people were wrongly convicted. (books printed during the earliest period
Beginning in 1989 with the successful applica- of typography, the 1450s to the end of
tion of DNA evidence, samples from crime
the 15th century) and collections of
scenes as small as the tip of a pencil led to dra-
matic changes. memorabilia, the Mendel Gottesman
Dr. Gill explained: Except for identical Library fulfills its role as a vital resource
twins, each individual has a unique sequence in
for inspiration and accomplishment.
his or her DNA. By looking for repeating
sequences in 13 different loci [noncoding DNA
On the 40th anniversary year of the librarys
regions], we can typically distinguish people
from one another. While hundreds of millions dedication, YUReview takes you to its
of people may have the same blood type as that book stacks and boxes for an exploration
found in evidence, the chance of two people
of some of the unseen treasures defining
having the same DNA sequence in even a few of
the 13 loci is less than one in a billion. our community.
This makes DNA sequencing a powerful tool
for law enforcement professionals, prosecutors
and defense attorneys. By comparing DNA evi-
dence to DNA data banks operated by the FBI
and other agencies, suspects can be more easily
identified. By matching the evidence with the
suspects DNA, guilt or innocence can be
proven.
Once DNA evidence became available for
identifications, investigators were able to revisit
old cases both to apprehend suspects in cases
where the trail had long ago gone cold, and to
determine whether the people convicted of
crimes were actually guilty.
One of the pioneers in the use of DNA evi-
dence in the pursuit of justice is Barry Scheck,
Commemorative medallion marking the dedication of
a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School
of Law and the director of clinical education for the Mendel Gottesman Library on April 20, 1969.
the Trial Advocacy Program and Cardozos Jacob
Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law.
Background: A papercut charity collection sign asking for donations
He is a past president of the National Associa-
tion of Criminal Defense Lawyers and known to support the work of the Hevra Kadisha in Piaseczna, Poland.

Created by Katriel Wolf of Krotoschin,1827.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
discovery

showed that it matched Rickey Johnsons blood

type. Rickey Johnson was convicted of aggravat-
ed rape and sentenced to life in prison.
Except for identical twins, each individual has The Innocence Project took up Johnsons
case in 2006. The local district attorney, Don
a unique sequence in his or her DNA. By looking Burkett, joined the Innocence Project in seeking
DNA testing for Johnson and, in 2007, results of
for repeating sequences in 13 different loci sperm samples from the perpetrator proved that
Johnson could not have been the attacker. In
[noncoding DNA regions], we can typically January 2008, a check against the Louisiana
DNA database implicated another man, John
distinguish people from one another. McNeal, who was serving a life sentence for a
similar rape committed in the same apartment
complex three months after the crime Johnson
was convicted of. Rickey Johnson was exonerat-
ed and released from prison on January 14, 2008.
for his role on the dream team of attorneys On July 12, 1982, a 22-year-old Louisiana On June 23, 1984, a 25-year-old woman was
who won an acquittal of O.J. Simpson. But, ar- woman woke up to find a gun pointed at her abducted outside a convenience store in the
guably, Professor Schecks most important con- head. The man raped the woman twice and Bronx, raped twice, slashed and robbed. While
tribution to the legal profession has been with stayed at her house for four hours. He told her still in the hospital, the victim viewed more than
the Innocence Project, his pioneering work in several things about his life including that his 200 photographs and identified Alan Newton as
using DNA evidence to exonerate people who name was Marcus Johnson. Police had no infor- the attacker. She later picked Newton out of a
have been wrongfully convicted of serious crimes. mation about a Marcus Johnson, but told detec- lineup and identified him at the trial. He was
Seeing the impact of DNA evidence, Scheck tives about Rickey Johnson who was on proba- convicted of rape, robbery and assault and was
and his law partner and fellow Cardozo faculty tion for a misdemeanor traffic violation and sentenced to 13.540 years in prison. Newton
member, Peter Neufeld, founded the Innocence whose life story matched some of the details first requested post-conviction DNA testing in
Project as a clinic at Cardozo Law School in that the attacker told the victim. The victim August 1994, but was turned down because the
1992. Since then, it has tracked 232 victims of identified Rickey Johnson from an improper rape kit could not be located. In August 2005,
wrongful convictions, including 17 on death photo lineup and testified at the trial that she the Innocence Project asked the Bronx District
row. While the Innocence Project became an was positive that he was the perpetrator. Attorneys Office and the Property Clerks Office
independent nonprofit corporation in 2003, it Serological tests on sperm from the perpetrator to search for the rape kit. It was found in the
maintains a close relationship with Cardozo.
Each year, 20 Cardozo students work there
assisting in drafting motions for DNA testing,
fact development and investigations.
Madeline deLone, executive director of the
Innocence Project, explained that for the
Innocence Project to take a case, there has to be
a claim of innocence and the possibility that
DNA evidence will prove it.
The cooperation of prosecutors varies from
case to case, according to deLone, with some
readily providing access to evidence and
acknowledging their mistakes and others fight-
ing every step of the way.
A look at just two among the many cases
handled by the Innocence Project can provide a
glimpse into how past investigations have gone
tragically wrong with a devastating impact on
the lives of innocent people, and how DNA evi-
dence finally made it possible for justice to be
done and for the innocent to rebuild their lives.

2 0
 Hidden Treasures

same barrel indicated on the evidence voucher.

Testing by the New York City Medical Exami-
ners Office and an independent lab on sperm
recovered from the victim shortly after the rape
proved that Newton could not have been the
attacker. Alan Newton was released on July 6,
2006, when the Innocence Project and the
Bronx District Attorneys Office jointly filed a
motion asking that his conviction be vacated.
The cases of Rickey Johnson and Alan New-
ton are examples of eyewitness misidentifica-
tion, which is by far the leading cause of wrong-
ful convictions. It was a factor in 75 percent of
all cases of people exonerated by DNA testing.
All of us have an interest in seeing that jus-
tice is done in criminal cases. Beyond the trav-
esty of innocent people serving long prison sen-
tences for crimes they did not commit, there is
the fact that for every wrongful conviction there
is a real perpetrator who has not been appre-
hended and may be out in the community com-
mitting other crimes. In 40 percent of all DNA
exoneration cases, the same testing that exoner-
ates the person who was serving time, the real
perpetrator is implicated.
The result is a criminal justice system that
more closely adheres to the Torahs standard
of tzedek, tzedek tirdofto relentlessly pursue
justiceby exonerating the innocent and doing
a better job of apprehending and incarcerating
the guilty.
The Innocence Project has developed a series
of recommendations to make the criminal jus-
tice system better serve victims, defendants, attor-
neys on both sides, as well as the public at large.

DNA Identification
and Halacha G E N I U S AT W O R K
Without doubt one of the most original thinkers of any era, Albert Einstein

T
he impact of DNA research on
propelled modern scientific thought through his discoveries. In 1958, Yeshiva
secular law leads to an obvious
University acquired a 20-page handwritten manuscript donated by Dr. Leo
questionwhat is the status of
Perlman of Mt. Vernon, New York. This document, one of Einsteins early
DNA evidence in Halacha? The
attempts to find a Unified Field Theory, written in 1929, contains many
question became particularly
revisions, corrections and preparatory calculations giving a rare insight into
urgent after the terrorist attacks of September
Einsteins working style. Dr. Peter Bergman, a noted Einstein scholar, said
11, 2001.
these numerous changes are indicative of Einsteins search for the best
For observant Jewish families, the attacks
possible presentation of his ideas. In several instances there is evidence the
immediately raised significant and practical
he rearranged materialsto make it easier for the reader to grasp the
halachic questions: When do I sit shiva [mourn]
argument. The complete manuscript may be viewed at www.yu.edu/libraries/
and say Kaddish [the traditional mourning
digital_library/einstein/panel2.html
prayer]? What do we do about observing the rit-

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 2 1
discovery
uals for preparing the body for burial, and the
timing of burial?
For the wives of the victims, the most far-
reaching and painful question came a bit further
down the road: when, if ever, will I be able to
remarry? Many feared that scores of women
whose husbands were killed at the World Trade
Center might face the tragedy of a life of perma-
nent widowhood known as agunot. This term,
the plural of agunah [chained woman], is most
commonly used today to refer to a woman who
is unable to remarry because her husband refus-
es to grant a geta Jewish divorce. In the time
of the Talmudic sages, however, it was used
more often to describe a wife whose husband
had left and did not return and whose fate was
undetermined. The woman was forbidden to
remarry because the husband might yet be alive.
Because of the great tragedy implicit in this
situation, the sages were lenient in many ways in
accepting testimony as evidence of the husbands
death. While Torah law generally requires the
testimony of two eyewitnesses to verify a death
in the case of a missing husband, hearsay evi-
dence and the testimony of a single witness are
acceptable. The sages also ruled that the testi-
mony of witnesses who were otherwise unquali-
fied would be admissible in such cases. One of
the latter day sages noted for his sensitive han-
dling of such cases was Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan
Spektor, for whom our yeshiva, the Rabbi Isaac
Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS),is named.
Since many of the bodies of the victims of
the September 11 terror attacks were never
recovered intact, the widows were confronted
with the possibility that they might become
agunot unless it could be definitively proven that
the fragmentary remains recovered were those
2 2
There is nothing inherently ethical or
unethical in DNA typing or most other
technologies. They can be used for good or
bad purposes, to good or bad effect.
of their husbands. Eleven of these women
turned to the Beth Din of America for guidance
in the days following the attacks.
Rabbi Yona Reiss, a graduate of Yeshiva Col-
lege and Yale Law School with semicha [rabbinic
ordination] from RIETS (who was recently ap-
pointed as its dean), was the director of the Beth
Din of America, the largest rabbinical court in
the United States, at the time. Rabbi Reiss and
his colleagues worked around the clock at the
New York City headquarters to assemble evi-
dence, meeting with the widows and personal
acquaintances and consulting with rabbinical,
scientific experts and civil authorities.
Initially, Rabbi Reiss and representatives of
other rabbinical courts met with the New York
City Medical Examiners Office, which was
charged with the task of identifying remains and
issuing death certificates, to establish a working
relationship and to determine whether the con-
clusions of the medical examiner could be
accepted as definitive proof that the husbands
had died, thus allowing the widows to remarry.
As a result of advances in DNA research in
the years preceding the attack, DNA evidence
was now available for the first time as a tool for
halachic authorities as they sought definitive
proof that the missing men had in fact been
killed in the World Trade Center. The work of
Rabbi Reiss and his colleagues allowed the lead-
ing dayanim [judges] of the Beth Din, Rabbi
Gedalia Dov Schwartz and Rabbi Mordechai
Willig, to rule that the husbands had died and
that every one of the widows was permitted to
remarry.
It is important to note, however, that in no
case was DNA evidence the sole source for issu-
ing a ruling. Other factors taken into considera-
tion were dental records, the retrieval of person-
al items and eyewitness testimony or other evi-
dence that the men were in the World Trade
Center at the time of the terrorist attacks.
Some Ethical
Challenges
W
hile our knowledge of
DNA has opened new
frontiers of knowledge,
some people have ex-
pressed concern that it can
be misused in unethical ways.
For example, a national DNA database used
to identify suspects in criminal cases could
become a tool for profiling people and to deter-
mine decisions such as school admissions and
job hiring or even the roundup of potential crim-
inals based on what our DNA says about our
future.
Dr. Gill emphasized that the loci used for
identification purposes contain no genes at all.
They are like fingerprintsthey can be used for
identification but tell us nothing about the indi-
vidual. But there are less dramatic scenarios that
still raise difficult ethical challenges.
The same genetic screening that is used to
identify people most susceptible to a disease
could conceivably be used by insurance compa-
nies to determine which patients are the highest
risk and to deny coverage to the people who
need it most.
Should we forgo the benefits of DNA identi-
fication out of concern that the negative conse-
quences may be even greater? Dr. David
Wasserman, an attorney and director of research
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Hidden Treasures

at Yeshiva Universitys Center for Ethics, said,

There is nothing inherently ethical or unethical
in DNA typing or most other technologies. They This assortment of Yemenite, Persian and European Esther
can be used for good or bad purposes, to good or scrolls are part of the Reverend Leon H. Elmaleh Memorial
bad effect. We must guard against the abuse of
genetic technologies to infringe our privacy or to Collection. The Book of Esther is read on the festival of
debase our understanding of human beings, but Purim and recounts the escape of the Jews of Persia
we must also promote the use of those technolo- from annihilation during the reign of King Ahasuerus.
gies to serve our values. The work of the
Innocence Project and the Beth Din of America Leon H. Elmaleh was the Hazzan and lecturer of
are striking examples of how DNA identification Congregation Mikveh Israel, in Philadelphia. He found-
has been used to further our ideals. ed the Levantine Jews Society of Philadelphia dedicated
What has been achieved to date has likely
only scratched the surface of what lies ahead. to aiding immigrants from Turkey. His library contained
Our knowledge of DNA has the potential to more than 5,000 volumes dating from 1683.
unlock the secrets of our world and to lead to
accomplishments beyond anything we can imag-
ine. But there is one thing of which we can be
certainthe scholars, students and alumni of
Yeshiva University will be leading the way in A DEED WELL DONE
making use of the latest discoveries of science to
In a document clearly dated January 29, 1664 (below), Peter Stuyvesant,
improve the human condition based upon the
representing the New Netherlands West India Company, grants a lease to
timeless values of Torah.
Claus Clausen for lands in New Utrecht, now Brooklyn, New York. The deed
is written in Dutch and contains what is considered a superb example of
Stuyvesants rare autograph signature.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 2 3
discovery

Medieval Discovery Unearths

Treasure of Answers

C
oncealed within the foundation of
Ten years ago, a construction a 12th-century home in the for-
mer Jewish quarter of Erfurt, the
worker in Erfurt, Germany, capital city of Thuringia in central
Germany, the worker discovered
was helping to dig the two cups that locked together. He took them
home, opened and polished their contents, and
foundation for a simple then, realizing that his find could be of historic
parking lot in his growing city. importance, turned the objects over to German
authorities.
Little did he know that he The plans for a parking lot were abruptly can-
celed. In its place, an archaeological investiga-
was shortly to discover the last tion was carried out in 1997 and 1998 near the
site of the medieval synagogue. The treasure had
known Jewish treasure hoard been found buried under the western wall of a
stone building in what was most likely a private
of medieval history. house on the same side of the street as the syn-
agogue and what was discovered later to be a
mikvah [ritual bath]. Conservation experts
Above: Gold brooch with jewels and pearls
from the Erfurt treasures. Photograph courtesy of
worked for a full year to carefully restore the
Thringisches Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege und precious artifacts.
Archologie, Germany. Found within the cups, filled with medieval
coins as well as gold and silver jewelry, was effec-
tively a 600-year-old time capsule, including 3,000
silver coins, 14 silver ingots and over 600 pieces
of jewelry weighing in at 62 pounds. Since the
artifacts were buried in the 1340s (known by the
dates on the coins), experts surmised that they
were probably hidden by a Jewish merchant just
before the vicious massacre of Erfurts Jews in
1349 at the time of the Black Death.
From this treasure, we learned a great deal
about the Jewish community in Erfurt, said
Rhoda Seidenberg, an associate curator at the
Yeshiva University Museum. The community
might have been affluent, or, more likely, the
person who hid the treasure might have been a
rich merchant and/or a money lender. It may
have been owned by him, or these were pieces
of pawned merchandise, she said.
Seidenberg said that Erfurt had been an
important center for Jews during this time peri-
od. A kinah [elegy] was recited in many
Ashkenazi communities to commemorate the

An Exceptionally Jewish wedding

Rare Collection
The treasure is unique in its scope
and composition. Only a tiny frac-
tion of original Gothic goldsmiths
work has survived since precious
There are eight rings with the
largest and most elaborate ring
being the Jewish wedding ring, and
the most significant piece in the
entire treasure. It dates back to the
early 14th century when wedding
ring from the
have long had a place in the Jewish
marriage ceremony and this elabo- Erfurt treasures.
Photograph courtesy
rate ring is thought to have been
of Thringisches
the property of a family and passed Landesamt fr
down over several generations. Denkmalpflege und
There are three other such rings Archologie, Germany.

objects in private hands were
frequently melted down. Almost all
surviving objects are religious in
character, sacred Christian objects
saved in the treasuries of churches.
But the Erfurt Treasure is primarily
secular tableware and jewelry, with
a few select objects associated
with Jewish ritual.
rings like this one were an impor-
tant part of the Jewish marriage
ceremony. The mid-15th century
Second Nuremberg Haggadah
features a scene from a Jewish
wedding, where the groom places
a large gold ring on the index finger
of the bride. Gold rings with a set
value, without jeweled adornments,
discovered in different hoards
around Europe, but the Erfurt ring
surpasses them as the most elabo-
rate example of this type of treasure,
according to the experts.
Erfurt: Jewish Treasures from
Medieval Ashkenaz, featuring 167
pieces, was displayed at the Yeshiva
University Museum, the only North
American venue selected for this
exhibition. Next stop is the Wallace
Collection in London and the Beth
Hatefutsoth in Tel Aviv before the
objects return to their permanent
home at Erfurts new 11th-century
synagogue museum, set to open
in the fall of 2009.

2 4 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Hidden Treasures

massacre of Samuel ben Kalonymus and Jews in

Erfurt in 1221. The Erfurt synagogue was
burned to the ground during this massacre but
was rebuilt in the late 13th century.
Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel, the famed sage
known as the Rosh, was thought to have sur-
vived this massacre and lived in Erfurt in the
late 1200s. During the Black Death in March
1349, over 100 Jews were massacred and the
others expelled but allowed to return to the
rebuilt synagogue in 1357. Again the Jewish
community flourished and members played an
important role in banking until their expulsion
from Erfurt in 1458.
In a curious paradox of history, we owe the
fact that this treasure was concealed and sur-
vived to the terrible persecutions of Erfurts Jews
in 1349 because of the plague that ravaged most
of Europe, said Gabriel Goldstein, associate
director for exhibitions at the Yeshiva University
Museum.
The Black Death, also known as the bubonic
plague, was an epidemic that killed between
one-quarter and one-half of the general popula-
tion in Europe during that time period. Despite
a papal bull [decree] issued by Pope Clement VI
(12911352) in defense of the Jews, many
Christians blamed Jews for the disease. Jews
were accused of poisoning wells and other water
sources and were massacred throughout Europe.
Ironically, Jewish rituals such as netilat
yadayim [washing of the hands] before eating,
mikvah [ritual bathing] and cleaning homes of
all chametz [bread products] before Passover are
now thought to have been reasons why Jews
were not as heavily affected by the plague,
which was largely attributed to rats living in
close proximity to people in dirty conditions,
Goldstein said.
At the time of the Black Death, the Jewish
community in Erfurt contained about a thou-
GENIZAH FRAGMENT
sand members, including several important
The Jewish custom of storing old books and manuscripts in a chamber of the
scholars, and was one of the most advanced of
synagogue, the bet genazim or house of storing, may have developed from
its time along with other Jewish communities in
a rabbinical rule stating that worn-out Torah Scrolls should be buried. This
Germany such as Speyer, Mainz and Worms.
12th13th century genizah fragment is one of two in the librarys Lewin
During the riots, the Jewish quarter was burned
Collection, which also includes rabbinical manuscripts and sermons,
down and the entire Jewish community was
circumcision records, seals and other documentary material from Poland and
wiped out or expelled. In the face of this danger,
Germany. The fragment is a piece of a piyyut, a liturgical poem for the Yom
it is probable that a merchant must have tried to
Kippur service. Each strophe ends with the words Le-yoshev tehilot,
save his valuable goods by burying them in his
translated as to the one enthroned upon praises.
cellar, but didnt survive to come back and
retrieve them.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 2 5
discovery
A University is,
in its Essence, a Place for
Discovery
The college years are not only about reaching for excellence,
maturing and reflecting knowledge. They are also about
achieving the essential discovery of our roles in life,
as human beings and public citizens. Three current students
have journeyed to great heights of personal discovery.
We asked them to tell their stories.
Zeng (left) and an earthquake survivor in Sichuan.
2 6
Discovering My Place
in Another World
B Y E M I LY Z E N G ,
D O C T O R A L S T U D E N T, F E R K A U F
G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F P S Y C H O L O G Y
I
was born in Sichuan, a southwestern pro-
vince of China. I came to Ferkauf as a
doctoral student in the clinical child psy-
chology program four years ago. In May
2008, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit
my hometown while I was here in the Bronx. I
was distraught, so I requested permission from
my professor, Louise Silverstein [Ferkauf profes-
sor of school psychology], to be excused from
classes for a few days. She asked if I had lost
family in the disaster. They are all my family, I
told her.
I discovered that I could not stand by and do
nothing while my neighbors suffered back home
in China. I discussed the issues in great detail
with my professors at Ferkauf. Over the course of
several weeks, the seedlings of a plan grew, and I
worked with Dr. Silverstein and Dr. Carl
Aurbach [Ferkauf associate professor of clinical
psychology] to organize a summer trip to China.
My aim was to do what I could with the skills I
have to volunteer for the community.
My professors warned me of the risks
involved in my plan. We discussed the chaos
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W

that follows this kind of disaster, the frequent
aftershocks associated with large earthquakes
and the burn out and traumatization that relief
workers can develop when faced with a disaster
of this level. But the overall feeling from my pro-
fessors was support and encouragement.
My professors helped me design a project
based on a UNICEF model that would provide
structure for my clinical work. Additionally, we
arranged to have regular live chats over the sum-
mer months so that they could provide me with
ongoing supervision and emotional support.
I spent several weeks traveling around the
region and found that my skills were in great
demand because I am trained to work with chil-
dren. There were many children in the tent
communities that had sprung up in the country-
side, and I was asked to provide counseling
under the auspices of several international aid
organizations. I also worked in hospitals, screen-
ing earthquake victims for post-traumatic stress
disorder.
The discoveries I made while I was in China
were fraught with not just emotional but also
political complexity. The blog I was writing while
I was in China was tampered with by govern-
ment censors because I have been identified as
someone with ties to the West. At one point, I
was interviewed by a policeman about my activ-
ities and I feared for my safety. But even though
I was traumatized, I knew I was in China to do
good, and I knew the support system I had from
my professors at Ferkauf, who consistently
advised me to follow the rules and take care of
myself, would help guide me.
I returned home in September to find myself
completely altered. I discovered that I have the
capacity for this kind of relief work and that my
connection to China is palpably strong even as I
live in my other world of Ferkauf and the Bronx.
We are only human, Dr. Silverstein cau-
tioned me at one point, as she warned me of the
risks of international aid work. I used to dismiss
messages like these, thinking they were redun-
dant or obvious. Now I see them in a new light,
with respect.
As I discover my place in the world as an
international relief worker, I am looking forward
to learning more and teaching others here about
the other world I came to know.
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Hidden Treasures
These colorful buttons are part of
the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry
(SSSJ) Collection, which also
includes newsletters, photographs,
audiocassettes, bumper stickers,
posters and other ephemera docu-
menting the organizations public
activities on behalf of Soviet Jewry.
This national student organization
was founded by Jacob Birnbaum in
1964 to oppose the persecution of
Soviet Jews and promote their right
to emigrate freely from the Soviet
Union; buttons were distributed at
rallies and other public demonstra-
tions. In 2007, Birnbaum received
an honorary PhD from YU recogniz-
ing his commitment and service
to the Jewish community.
THE MYSTERY
OF THE
BULLET BOOK
From time to time, reports pop up
about how someones life was
saved by a strategically held
object. While we dont have any
records recounting the story
behind this 18th-century volume,
we do know it came into the YU
collection with bullet fragments
lodged in its pages and so may
have shielded its reader from an
oncoming cartridge. It was part of
the 7,000-volume library gifted to
YU in 1969 by Moses Lutzki, who
had been a professor of biblio-
graphy at YU for 20 years.
This remarkable book, Binyan
Ariel (Amsterdam, 1778), was
written by the Dutch Rabbi Saul
Loewenstamm and has sections on
the Pentateuch and the Five
Scrolls, and comments on various
Talmudic passages.
While we can read its pages,
the dramatic tale they tell may
never be learned.
2 7
discovery
Discovering My
Potential to Save a Life
BY AVI AMSALEM 09YC
I
ts not every day that I get an opportunity
to save someones life.
Four years ago, on my way out of the
chadar ochel [dining hall] of Netiv Aryeh,
the Old City Yeshiva where I studied for
a year and a half, I stopped by a folding table and
participated in a quick swab test of the insides of
my cheeks for a bone marrow registry program.
During my second year at YU, while I was
Avi Amsalem
2 8
home in Boca Raton, FL, for Passover break, I re-
ceived a call from the Gift of Life, the organiza-
tion that sponsored the bone marrow drive in Jeru-
salem, notifying me that I was a potential match
for a person with a life-threatening illness.
I began to understand the magnitude of
those swabs in Jerusalem. Typically, when stand-
ing on the brink of our own life changing deci-
sions, we spend time contemplating, seeking the
advice of everyone we know and lose endless
hours of sleep. My life, and the life of another
person, however, was changed by an act that
seemed relatively inconsequential at the time
just by participating in a student program in
Jerusalem.
I spoke to the Gift of Life representative
extensively, gathering information. She encour-
aged me to take the time I needed before making
any decisions. While I was already convinced
that it was my duty to pursue this further, my
parents sought to consult several doctors in our
community to ease their worries.
A week after receiving the initial phone call,
I agreed to the confirmatory tissue typing stage
of the donor process. A month later, the results
of the blood tests confirmed that I was a match.
During the moments leading up to my proce-
dure, I sat in the waiting room along with cancer
patients awaiting their treatments. Later, as I
processed the experience, I couldnt help but
think that those other people were sitting there
because they had to be there, and I was there
because I was healthy enough to be there. I was
overwhelmed with a sense of privilege.
I didnt cast myself as a lifesaver, especially
since the procedure was done anonymously. For
me, those words are reserved for someone who
runs into a burning house and rescues someone
or some other grand, heroic gesture. It was not
until I received a handwritten thank-you note
from the recipient that I truly digested that this
person was alive and well because of me.
Receiving a letter meant that my bone marrow
match was a real person; he is someones hus-
band, father, brother, uncle, cousin and neighbor.
Since then, we have continued to correspond,
expanding our physical bond to the emotional.
The experience was, for me, a call for action.
Through my involvement with the Student
Medical Ethics Society, I spearheaded two very
successful bone marrow drives on campus. We
surpassed everyones wildest expectations, regis-
tering over 880 people into the Gift of Life Bone
Marrow Registry. I recently learned that, as a
result of our drive, two matches were found and
I have been in contact with both donors. I now
also serve as a speaker ambassador for Gift of
Life where I talk to potential donors, offering
them advice and encouragement throughout the
process.
Thinking about my journey over the last four
years, I discovered that small acts can save lives.
Where would I be now if I had not stopped for
five minutes to do those cheek swabs in
Jerusalem?
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Hidden Treasures

Discovering My Identity
as a Jew
BY SOFIA GORDON 10S

W
hen I arrived in Germany
in 1995 by way of a refugee
camp for Russian Jews, I did
not know what the word
Jew meant. All I knew was
that they were a hated people and I was among
them. I was surrounded by negative buzz, and I
couldnt help but ask: Why were we there? Was
I Jewish? Hesitantly, my mother answered in the
affirmative, but she cautioned me that it was
something I should keep to myself once we emi-
grated to Germany.
Once settled in Wrzburg, a small city in the
German state of Bavaria, I did as I was told. I
adopted German culture as my own. My wish
was to assimilate myself completely. I started to
speak the language, and my blond hair and blue
eyes were helpful. But I was lonely. I needed to
find a whole new community in Germany, a new
way to identify myself.
In Bavaria, the schools require each student
This hand-bound, watercolor-illustrated special edition of Walt Whitmans
to register as either Catholic or Protestant. I
1865 elegiac poem on the death of Abraham Lincoln, When Lilacs Last in
chose Protestant because, for some reason, I
the Dooryard Bloomd, is part of the Universitys Charles E. Feinberg
always favored the minorities. I enjoyed my
Collection. The 70 volumes and folios of Whitmans important work donated
classes as I began to discover a concept of G-d,
by the Detroit businessman and Walt Whitman authority in 1959 include
a greater power from whom to draw strength and
some signed by the poet, and other rare and limited editions.
love. I incorporated prayer into my daily routine,
The poem, considered one of Whitmans best, never mentions Lincoln
standing in front of the cross at school.
by name.
It was not until my grandmother came to visit
and brought me to a shul that I discovered and
internalized my Jewish roots. I already knew I
had a passion for religion, and I was particularly
interested to know where I came from. I began
The photo at left is a life-sized image
to attend weekly classes at the synagogue to
learn more. I did not tell my friends and espe- of a Bible titled The Bible in Miniature
cially not my mother. She would not have or A Concise History of the Old & New
approved. For me, these classes were like histo-
Testaments. Its first page reveals that
ry lessons. I still wanted to be German, but I
knew that I was hiding some major part of my the book was printed for John Dickens
identity and the impetus I had to explore that living at No. 50, North Second Street
was very strong.
in Philadelphia (1796). Measuring
Because of my participation in the class, I
was invited to attend a seminar in Munich run approximately 2 inches tall, this tiny
by Rabbi Benjamin Kraus about Pesach. But illustrated volume was published for

a juvenile audience.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 2 9
discovery
Sofia Gordon
when I arrived, I was called upon to teach the
Passover Seder to the group, in Russian. But I
didnt know anything myself. I had never heard
about the Jews being slaves in Egypt! I sat by
myself for hours preparing so that I did not
embarrass myself in front of the 400 people in
attendance. I made the presentation, but there
was so much that I didnt know.
It was in Munich that I learned that there
would be a half-day seminary for women open-
ing up in Frankfurt, funded by the Ronald S.
Lauder Foundation, where I would have the
opportunity to study my secular topics by day
and learn about Judaism in the evenings. I want-
ed to incorporate what the Jewish people said at
Har [Mount] Sinainaaseh vnishma [abide and
learn the commandments]but in reverse. I
wanted to learn and then I wanted to start prac-
3 0
ticing. My teachers at the
Lauder Yeshiva were Stern
College graduates, and I had a
wonderful experience there.
Once I reached college
age, I enrolled at the Uni- More to
versity of Potsdam and moved
to Berlin, which has the
Discover
largest population of Jews in
Germany. There, I could live a
Jewish life on my own. But Enjoy other hidden
even in Berlin, it is basically a
struggle to be Jewish, a con-
treasures of the
stant fight for survival. I got Gottesman Library
involved in every possible
German Jewish organization, by visiting
most of which are based in
Berlin, because I realized if I
www.yu.edu/libraries
am not working to make things
happen, they will not happen.
I helped run seminars for 200
To learn how you can
people, Shabbat dinners for see these materials
40, invited politicians to our
events and started a womens in person, contact
organization called Maayan so
that we could have shiurim
Shulamith Berger,
[lectures] for women. curator of special
I applied for a transfer to
Stern College in 2007 after I collections at
had exhausted the Jewish edu-
cational opportunities for
archives@yu.edu
women in Berlin. Stern was a
good choice for me because it has been intellec-
tually elevating. It provides choices for me to
learn in so many different directions religiously.
Combined with the secular knowledge I have
gained through my classes as a psychology major
with a minor in marketing at Sy Syms, it is this
synthesis that has helped me grow, not just in
knowledge, but in practice.
At Stern College I have discovered in myself
a stronger, more secure identity as a Jew, which
is a foundation of who I want to become as a
Jewish adult. I was trying to build something
that wasnt there in Germany, and perhaps I will
go back someday. But if I go, I will no longer
have to teach a subject that I dont know, like at
the Passover Seder in Munich. Now, with a
foundation in the Jewish world, I can make
plans to move forward to build my future.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Hidden Treasures

THE PRAGUE BIBLE Presented as a gift to the Gottesman commentary of Rashi surrounding the

Library by Ludwig and Erica Jesselson text is in cursive script. There are

This beautifully illuminated manu- in 1985, this three-volume treasure is 84 illuminated leaves; four of them

script on vellum was completed by the considered one of the finest examples have full-page decoration. You can

scribe Mattathias ben Jonah of Laun in of a complete Hebrew manuscript view each page of The Prague Bible

1489 during a period of relative calm Bible in existence and is the oldest online at www.yu.edu /libraries /

within a period of catastrophic attacks written and dated in Prague. The text praguebible.asp

against the Jews of Prague. is in square Ashkenazic script; the

spotlight
A Spectacular Thinker
Focused on Human Dignity
Rabbi Yona Reiss Becomes Dean of Seminary
R
abbi Yona Reiss is the first dean of
the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theo-
logical Seminary (RIETS) to hold
the degree of Juris Doctor, which
happens to be from Yale University.
While he is proud of his degree from the other
YU, Rabbi Reiss is quick to acknowledge that
his lifelong associations with Yeshiva University
are most indicative of who he is, both as a jurist
and a scholar.
Rabbi Reiss accepted the deanship of the
seminary this past summer, which necessitated
that he give up the post he held for 10 years as
director of the Beth Din of America, the largest
rabbinical court in the United States. He has
indicated that, during his tenure here, Yeshiva
Universitys rabbinical students will continue to
reap the benefits of the seminarys previous
strong leadership, the same dedicated focus on
excellence in textual study, pastoral training and
service learning, with new mechanisms in place
for proper, dignified and professional ways of
resolving halachic [Jewish legal] disputes.
Rabbi Reiss has proposed a plan to provide
3 2
satellite space for beth din [rabbinic court] activ-
ities at the planned Glueck Center on the Wilf
Campus so that current RIETS students may
have the opportunity to observe firsthand the
proceedings in action. This would help them to
understand the sensitivity and expertise that is
required by dayanim [judges], which also
informs the need for strong leadership in com-
munities in relation to the halachic decision-
making process.
It is important for us to resolve disputes in a
manner which is compatible with halachic tradi-
tion as well as the contemporary needs of our
community, said Rabbi Reiss.
Rabbi Reiss is a stellar choice for the dean-
ship of RIETS, said Rabbi Zevulun Charlop,
dean emeritus and special advisor to the presi-
dent on Yeshiva affairs, who was a mentor to
Rabbi Reiss during his days as a student in the
seminary. His most important character trait is
his integrity, which is known and respected
throughout the Orthodox community. Moreover,
while he lives in two worlds, the secular and the
sacred, he is anchored in the yeshiva.
Rabbi Charlops strong voice in support of
Rabbi Reiss as his successor informs and echoes
others who have heralded his unique skills as
an expert in practical Halacha and other secular
law matters.
Rabbi Reiss is one of the smartest people I
have ever met. RIETS and YU will encounter in
him a powerful combination of erudite Torah
scholarship, spectacular thinking and careful
attention to human dignity. The yeshiva will soar
to unexpected heights under his direction, said
Rabbi Michael Broyde 82YUHS, 84YC, 93R, a
colleague who was the immediate past predeces-
sor to Rabbi Reiss at the Beth Din of America.
President Richard M. Joel, who also serves as
president of RIETS, shared how Rabbi Reiss
embodies the complex intermingling of Torah
and Madda. Tempered with sensitivity and
warmth, the themes of Torah and secular knowl-
edge are present in everything he says and does.
The yeshiva is the soul of Yeshiva University. In
Rabbi Reiss, we have a leader who will nurture
that soul and advance Torah study and protect
Torah values, said President Joel.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W

Rabbi Yona Reiss sat down with YUReview
to discuss his lifelong relationship with YU and
his thoughts and ideas for the future.
YUReview: Before you became
dean, how were you involved with
Yeshiva University?
Rabbi Reiss: I grew up in Monsey
[NY] at Community Synagogue
with Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dovid
Tendler, a RIETS Rosh Yeshiva.
My father taught at the Marsha
Stern Talmudical Academy for
many years. I went to the high
school in 1980 and I started at
YC in 1983. I spent a year in
Israel, which is also part of the
Yeshiva College experience,
except in those days you first
spent a year in college then a year
in Israel. I graduated in 87 and
enrolled in the semicha [rabbinic
ordination] program. I overlapped
at Yale Law School to some
degree, received semicha in 91
and my Yale Law degree in 92.
I felt strongly and passionately
about YU during my college years,
and I even wrote a Torah Umadda
manifesto at some point. It
was a three-page spread for the
student newspaper. [Editors note:
The article, Torah UMadda:
What Does It All Mean?, was
published in The Commentator on
December 10, 1986.]
Most particularly, Rabbi
Charlop has always been very
encouraging. He was one of the
eydim [witnesses] at my wedding
and every step along the way
when I was still learning; when
I went to law school; when I was
working in my law firm; and
when I was working at the Beth
Din of Americaconversations
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
A Conversation with Rabbi Yona Reiss
with Rabbi Charlop were among
the highlights of my personal
interactions over the years.
YUR: You were a practicing lawyer
at a New York law firm before you
started working at the Beth Din
of America. How did you keep up
in studies of halachic matters at
the same time?
RR: To give a sense of perspective,
I always tell people Im fortunate
that I started out my career work-
ing for a high-pressure Wall
Street law firm, because it forced
me to learn how to handle stress.
While I was at Cleary Gottlieb
[Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamil-
ton LLP], I joined the Yadin Yadin
Kollel for Advanced Talmudic
Studies [yadin yadin is an
advanced semicha ordination for
rabbis who administer judgment
on certain types of disputes and
this kollel trains decision makers
to negotiate these disputes]. After
six years, I decided to take a leave
of absence from the law firm to
study in the Kollel full-time.
Centralized leadership
During that year, a colleague
of mine, Rabbi Michael Broyde, a
is important to me because
law professor at Emory University
in Atlanta (who also serves as the
I think its important to
pulpit rabbi for the Young Israel
of Toco Hills), was brought to
create a holistic and cohesive
New York for a year to head the
Beth Din. I was his chavrusa
yeshiva environment
[learning partner] and did some
where we all have a place.
volunteer work for the Beth Din.
I was asked to take over the job
when he went back to Atlanta.
continued on next page
3 3
 A Conversation with
Rabbi Yona Reiss
continued
YUR: Like the directorship of the
Beth Din of America, one doesnt
really apply for the job to be
dean of RIETS. How did you come
to be dean?
RR: A couple of years ago, I
entered into discussions with
President Joel to strengthen the
ties between Yeshiva University;
the Lamm Yadin Yadin Kollel,
where many rabbeim train post-
RIETS; and the Beth Din of
America. I had a vision, which
I still have, of a more formal
relationship in terms of the Yadin
Yadin Kollel training for people
to serve as dayanim under the
auspices of the Beth Din of
America.
We discussed our mutual
vision, both in terms of learning
Jewish communal institutions
and our vision of Jewish commu-
nities. The discussion then meta-
morphosized into whether or not
Id be interested in taking over
the position as dean of RIETS
because Rabbi Charlop was
stepping down. After thinking
about my goals for the future,
I came to the conclusion that
this was an exciting opportunity
that I was truly passionate about.
Im glad that I accepted it. It
is a daunting responsibility to
follow in the path of my prede-
cessors, but I hope to be worthy
of this task.
YUR: What are your plans for
RIETS in relation to working with
the larger Jewish community?
RR: In addition to being a center
for learning and Torah leader-
ship, it is a part of our responsi-
bility to train students to really
be the dayanim, the poskin
[decision makers] and the baalei
horaah [Jewish law experts] of
our communities, to define and
identify the issues, to find solu-
tions and answers to halachic
problems and to answer ques-
tions that arise in our contempo-
rary community. It is also very
important to have the right vehi-
cles and mechanisms in place for
halachic problem-solving.
For example, the prenuptial
agreement has been a very
effective tool, resolving potential
agunah [chained woman] situa-
tions. It was developed in concert
with major Jewish institutions
outside of YU, such as the
Rabbinical Council of America
and rabbinical caucuses at the
time, and widely endorsed by
leading rabbinical authorities.
It is now widely utilized.
sary attention to develop a
YUR: You and your wife, Mindy,
are blessed with five boys under
the age of nine. Tell me about the
kind of relationship you want your
children to have with YU.
RR: My house is very lively
[laughs]. I have brought my
children into the office. Its the
type of environment where I feel
that my whole family belongs.
The yeshiva is an extension of
our home because the Beis
Midrash is where we live.
Recently we spent a Shabbos
here, and I brought my baby
around the campus and I felt a
very warm sense of all of us
belonging. I want everyone to
feel this way. I want YU to be
there not just for my children,
but for everybody.
YUR: What matters most to you in
providing an education to the next
generation of rabbis?
RR: For me, its the opportunity
for them to reach their fullest
potential, to find their strengths.
They should be able to develop
and learn; they should be able to
find the right rabbeim for them
and the right courses of learning.
I want them to have the neces-
healthy sense of self-esteem and
accomplishment. I want to make
sure they have the tools to con-
tinue to learn and to grow, to
contribute to building families
and communities and continually
seek to improve themselves
throughout their life.
Centralized leadership is
important to me because I think
its important to create a holistic
and cohesive yeshiva environ-
ment, so everybody feels inter-
connected and feels a sense of
belonging, where we all have a
place. Regardless of what pro-
gram students are in, they all are
a part of the yeshiva.
I think that we at Yeshiva
University are one of a kind, and
at the same time we are very
much a part of everyone and
everything Jewish, and very
much a vital component of the
global yeshiva world.

Welcome Yeshiva University New Board Members

ALBERT EINSTEIN FERKAUF GRADUATE RABBI ISAAC ELCHANAN STERN COLLEGE YESHIVA COLLEGE SY SYMS SCHOOL
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGICAL FOR WOMEN BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF BUSINESS
BOARD OF OVERSEERS PSYCHOLOGY SEMINARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lee Wallach
BOARD OF GOVERNORS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Peter A. Gatof Pamela Hirt David Rauch Alan Kestenbaum
Dr. Carol Bravmann Ben I. Adler Janet Yagoda David Isaac
Lance L. Hirt Newcorn Lawrence Askowitz
Bernard Hasten

3 4 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 spotlight

Center for Israel Studies

Engaging Students and Faculty
in a Broad and Deep Understanding of Israel

The Center for Israel Studies (CIS) encompasses Israel-related scholarship, teaching
and programming of every variety. With a rich array of courses on Israel, classic area study
projects and international cooperation initiatives, as well as providing enthusiasm for
Israel-themed cultural events, CIS brings together a diverse group of academic disciplines
to provide expertise and fresh perspectives to the study of all things Israel.

Y
eshiva University has been, for
many years, a global resource for
the study of Israel thanks to deep
faculty expertise, a dynamic cur-
riculum, a highly motivated stu-
dent body, plus renowned research libraries and
a preeminent museum. Now, the Center for
Israel Studies brings all of those resources
together under an interdisciplinary umbrella
that aims to develop scholars who will assume
academic and communal leadership in all areas
related to Israel. Our goal is to train students to
understand the complexities and strategic envi-
ronment of Israel, and to then interpret that
understanding to the wider community, said
Steven Fine, CIS director and chair of the
Department of Jewish History.
Research, conferences, museum exhibitions
and academic courses and programming are all
part of the Centers core mission. CIS celebrat-
ed its inauguration this past May with a two-day
conference entitled The Temple of Jerusalem:
From Moses to the Messiah, held in conjunc-
tion with Yeshiva University Museums exhibi-
tion of five architectural models of the Temple
based on Leen Ritmeyers work. More than 600
people participated in the conference, including
scholars from institutions across North America
and Israel.
Fine explained that CIS is about the broad
study of Israel and forging University-wide part-
nerships. CIS scholars will work with YUs
Center for Ethics on, say, the ethics of the 1948
partition, or work with YUs Center for Jewish
Law and Contemporary Civilization on contem-
porary Israeli law or historical Jewish law.
Were also bringing the international com-
munity together, institution by institution,
human being by human being, Fine explained.
For example, we just joined a consortium
put together by the University of Southern Cali-
fornia, which includes the University of Illinois
and Johns Hopkins, to use advanced technology
to read ancient inscriptions. Thanks to this con-
sortium, this year well make available 15 an-
cient Jewish inscriptions in Aramaic and Hebrew
that have never been published, Fine said.
Joining forces with other institutions will
also be key to the Centers success. Were part
of a [science] partnership with the Jerusalem
Institute of Technology and Bar-Ilan University.
Well be talking about ways to bring the lessons
Israel has learned about ecology to our campus
more deeply than before. I can imagine us doing
science missions and sending students as
interns to major medical institutions in Israel,
Fine added.
He also noted that CIS is working closely
with the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies
at Brandeis on several projects, and one of YUs
political scientists, Dr. Ruth A. Bevan, was able
to enhance her teaching thanks to training she
received at the Schusterman Center.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 3 5
 Promoting the Academic Study of Modern Israel
Steven Fine received his doctorate
in Jewish history from the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, holds an
MA in art history from the
University of Southern California
and a BA in religious studies
from the University of California,
Santa Barbara. Dr. Fines most
recent book is Art and Judaism
in the Greco-Roman World:
Toward a New Jewish Archaeology
(Cambridge University Press,
2005), and he is editor of
IMAGES: A Journal of Jewish Art
and Visual Culture (E. J. Brill).
3 6
A conversation with Dr. Steven Fine, director of the
Center for Israel Studies, chair of the Department
of Jewish History at Yeshiva College and professor of
Jewish history at Yeshiva University.
YUReview: What is the purpose of
the Center for Israel Studies?
Steven Fine: The Center seeks to
transform the academic study of
the State of Israel by providing
the best expertise and new per-
spectives on Israel; by educating
the next generation of Israel
scholars; and by offering relevant
and exciting public programming
for the broad New York communi-
ty. We have taken an area studies
approach, meaning were interest-
ed in everything having to do with
Israel, from Abraham to Zionism.
We bring people together from
disciplines as distinct as political
science, biology, archaeology and
modern history to focus on this
place in as broad and deep a way
as we possibly can. At YU, that
literally means from the very
beginning of civilization to the
present. Israel is deeply embed-
ded in this institution, far more
than at any other major university
in North America. Our goal is to
strengthen and deepen that
relationship.
YUR: What does CIS do thats
different from existing Israel-
focused programs at YU?
SF: Were deeply involved in the
curriculum in a way that hasnt
happened before. CIS is develop-
ing minors in Israel studies at
Yeshiva College and Stern
College. We want to affect how
much Israel-related courses are
being taught here. Ive created
faculty working groups in areas as
diverse as the history of Zionism;
Israel, Science and Technology;
Modern Israel and International
Affairs and Archaeology. The
charge of these working groups is
to act as a think tank to develop
programming and, more impor-
tantly, to develop long-term
projects that will transform our
campus and the study of its
subject areas. The truth is, our
scholars have been doing that for
three generations. But now is the
moment where we can take
something superb and show the
world how great it is.
YUR: CIS celebrated its inaugura-
tion with a conference on The
Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses
to the Messiah. How did that
represent CISs goals?
SF: Our Temple conference was a
real high. We had top-flight
scholars from all over North
America coming just to listen.
There were Orthodox Jews and
pious Christians and political
scientists all in one room talking
to each other. Were going to be
bringing together people who
have never talked to each other
before, and theyre going to be
talking on our turf.
YUR: The topic for the next confer-
ence is Israel and India: A
Relationship Comes of Age. What
is the significance of that topic?
SF: This is a relationship that is
both deeply rooted in history and
is up and coming. We know Jews
have lived in India as long as Jews
have been writing. We know of
elephants being waltzed through
Palestine to the Roman Empire.
And we know of the military,
economic and tourist relation-
ships today. Twenty years ago, the
relationship between Israel and
India wasnt on the front page of
international relations. Today it is.
Theres an obvious Indian
connection through the medical
school. Sonia Suchday [co-direc-
tor of the Institute of Public
Health Sciences, a joint program
between Ferkauf Graduate School
of Psychology and Albert Einstein
College of Medicine] came to me
and said, This is a chance to
deepen our relationship in a place
where YU can make a real contri-
bution. Its real synergy. So a
group of Stern students and
Ferkauf students went to India
this summer to study global
health initiatives, and a Marsha
Stern Talmudical Academy group
is going to India in the coming
year to do service work in the
Jewish community and, in the
process, to learn about the Jewish
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
culture of India. Were looking for
government and
university sponsorship from both
countries to make this a truly
large event. Well bring India onto
campus and bring the India/Israel
relationship onto the front page of
New York culture for a year.
YUR: CIS is a huge umbrella.
Which particular areas would you
like to focus on first and why?
SF: Whats most important at this
point is everything having to do
with modern Israel. We have
enough faculty resources to
satisfy the requirements for a
general university, but not enough
for YU to excel in Modern Israel
studies. If were going to be the
top research institution in this
area, we need real depth in
everything from the Arab-Israeli
conflict, to art and culture, to
take time and money. One of the
ways were filling those gaps in the
meantime is through distinguished
visiting professorships. That will
continue even after weve made
the right hires because it adds
spice to the entire system.
YUR: CIS offers a perfect way to
practice YUs core philosophy of
Torah Umadda. Which opportunities
excite you the most?
SF: The most important opportu-
nity is the coming together of the
different parts of our university
under this banner.
This year, for example, the
Center co-sponsored the Univer-
sitys first Torah Umadda Week at
Stern College. We invited world-
renowned physicist Nathan
Aviezer of Bar-Ilan University,
along with Rabbi Natan Slifkin,
a noted author in Israel, and our
everything from a representative
archaeological dig to an olive oil
plant to a planetarium. Each
subject has its own pavilion.
I thought, wouldnt this be a won-
derful model for a center at YU?
We have a museum where you
can actually touch things, we
have students learning Torah
Umadda, our medical and law
schools are world-class. Can you
imagine finding a way to take all
those individual pavilions that
make up YU and get them talking
across a big quad about Israel?
YUR: What is the nature of the
relationship between CIS and the
Yeshiva University Museum (YUM)?
SF: YUM is one of our major
drawing cards. The Museum is
our window onto New York City.
Its hard for the general public to
know what exciting things are
going on at the University, espe-
cially in the humanities. The
Museum allows people to see
what were dreaming about. It is
planning an India-related exhibit
for this years conference. Were
already talking about an exhibit
on early Zionism to enhance the
2009/10 CIS conference on Zion-
ism before the Balfour Declara-
tion. The Museum often comes
up with an idea for a project and
the University brings together
academic courses and programs
around that project. Its almost
like symbiosisthe productive
partnership of our public space
and our academic life.

folklore, to Sephardim in Israel.
We have people who have taught
it extremely well, but its not their
research area.
Weve begun the hiring process
in a number of those areas and
have hired more than a dozen
academics from the junior to
senior faculty level to complement
own Einstein professor and
esteemed scholar Dr. Edward
Our goal is to train students to
I. Reichman, to present a series
of lectures on the intersections of
understand the complexities and
Torah and science.
strategic environment of Israel,
YUR: Where did you draw your
inspiration for the Center?
and to then interpret that under-
SF: I was standing in the Eretz
standing to the wider community.

the people who were here before. Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, trying
Theyre among the best in the to imagine a Center for Israel
country, but to be the best will Studies at YU. The museum has

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 3 7
 spotlight
High School Prepares Women
in the Advanced Sciences
T
his fall, a group of handpicked
students at Samuel H. Wang
Yeshiva University High School
for Girls (YUHSG) became the
first to participate in an enriched
science curriculum initiative that is setting a
new standard among Jewish high schools in and
around New York City.
The Science Institute at YUHSG was estab-
lished to offer our brightest students an oppor-
tunity to study and conduct research at a level
more advanced than currently available in most
yeshiva high schools and, in some cases, under-
3 8
graduate colleges, according to Ruth Fried,
teacher and science department chairperson
who conceived and directs the new program.
The idea of an institute grew when she was in-
spired by the state-of-the-art science lab facility
that opened at YUHSG in fall 2007 and she saw
how technologically well-equipped the lab was;
faculty member Dr. Edward Berliner had spear-
headed the multiyear improvement efforts to up-
grade both the boys and girls high schools with
modern laboratories. The institute crystallized
when a group of 10 students emerged from among
last years incoming freshmen class as particular-
ly talented and serious. Seven of them accepted
the invitation to participate in the new venture.
Students in the Institute will remain enrolled
throughout their high school careers following a
carefully designed guided sequence of courses
that focuses on science literacy and research
methodology. It includes summer research
internships after grades 10 and 11 and an
emphasis on preparing students for the most
prestigious national research competitions.
The goal of the program is to expose stu-
dents to research methodology skills, indepen-
dent thinking and inquiry skills, the use of tech-
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
nology and different lab techniques and prac-
tices that allow them to be placed in a serious
lab environment, Fried said.
By their senior year, students will be expect-
ed to conduct independent research and write a
paper to defend in-house and, possibly, present
around the country at the Siemens Westing-
house or Intel competitions.
According to Fried, the Institute is structured
around the scope of the SAT II exam (more com-
prehensive and advanced than the New York
state-mandated Regents curriculum), but employs
a creative approach to all things scientific.
I aim to produce thinkers first and scientists
second, said Jason Williams, who joined
YUHSG this year as the Institutes research
methodology instructor. It was the first course
offering and the students met with Williams for
two hours once a week; they meet twice a week
in the spring.
To that end, my curriculum includes enrich-
ment activities such as debates and discussions
in the history and philosophy of science that will
introduce the classical concepts of knowledge,
skepticism and truth, Williams said. Among the
additional courses the Institute requires are AP
English, AP Calculus and a choice of electives.
A mentor to previous Intel winners at Stony
Brook University and at his current position as
an instructor at the Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory in Long Island, NY, Williams opened
the Institute this past summer by hosting a
weeklong course at the Laboratorys Dolan DNA
Learning Centers satellite in Harlem. YUHSG
participants learned techniques in recombinant
DNA technology and how to use the equipment
necessary to do this type of research.
The program at the Dolan DNA Learning
Center was a good launch to the Science Insti-
tute because it helped to acquaint us with many
of the more complex apparatuses and proce-
dures involved in the research we will be con-
ducting later this year, said sophomore Bracha
Rose, one of the seven students enrolled in the
Institute.
For me, this is an incredible experience be-
cause I have always had a hope that I could one
day find a cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS or anoth-
er disease, Rose said.
The Science Institute gives our students an
opportunity to explore higher levels of thinking
and analysis, and to consider continuing on in
the sciences during their college careers, Fried
added. I look forward to watching these young
ladies grow as they accept the challenges the
Institute has to offer.
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Science Enrollment and
Med School Acceptance Up at Stern
A natural destination for many YUHSG science students is Stern College for Women,
where they find cutting-edge science programs in biology, chemistry and physics
combining strong instructional coursework with a myriad of research opportunities.
More and more women are going into the research sciences now, said Dr. Chaya
Rapp, assistant professor of chemistry, who observed that the number of students
taking general (introductory) chemistry at Stern this fall hovers near 90, up from 47 in
2005. These are students who are premed and pre-
dental and interested in allied health fields or who
plan to go into research, she said.
Enrollment is growing in the advanced courses as
well, including biochemistry, thermodynamics and
physical chemistry. Further indicators of the pro-
grams strength include: expanded course offerings
in the health and biological sciences; a distin-
guished and growing research faculty; state-of-the-
art lab facilities; opportunities for undergraduate
students to conduct research at the graduate level,
both independently and in collaboration with faculty;
and the numerous research publications Stern
women co-author.
Proof of Sterns success in building its science
program can be measured in part by the consistently
high acceptance rates to medical schools: 19 of 22
graduates applying last year are now enrolled. MCAT
scores are another indicator. As of November 2008,
67 percent of Stern MCAT test takers scored 29 or
above, while during that same period, only 30 per-
cent of all national test takers scored 29 or above.
Our results, which are above the national average, reflect our outstanding curricu-
lum in general, and our superior science curriculum specifically, said Dr. Bracha
(Brenda) Loewy, clinical associate professor of biology and director of prehealth advise-
ment at the womens undergraduate school.
Not only does our program thoroughly prepare students for the MCATs, it gives
them an excellent foundation for the first-year curriculum of medical school, she said,
adding that the numbers also reflect the high caliber of the students Stern College
attracts. These are women who are extremely bright, highly motivated, very conscien-
tious and, in short, the cream of the crop, she said.
Since 2002, a boost to the Stern program has been the attractive scholarship made
available by the Anne Scheiber Fund for students interested in medicine. This scholar-
ship offers up to full tuition to graduates entering YUs Albert Einstein College of
Medicine and has made Stern an even more attractive choice for science-oriented high
school students.
Scheiber Scholars have gone on to establish the Stern-Einstein Research Connection
(SERC), a nonprofit program promoting research between the two campuses. The group
donates money each year to fund a freshmans or a sophomores 10-week summer
research internship at Einstein.
To watch our women rise to the intellectual challenge of scientific research, and to
see the exceptional camaraderie that emerges from teams of faculty and students
working together, is to see the best of science in action, said Dr. Karen Bacon, the
Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of Stern College for Women. The women in science at Stern
College are a formidably creative group and they are having a lot of fun in the process.
3 9
 spotlight
Revel Dean Revisits His Roots
Hyman Steps Down and Welcomes Berger
D
r. Arthur Hyman may have re-
cently stepped down as dean of
Bernard Revel Graduate School of
Jewish Studies, but that doesnt
mean hes slowing down. In fact,
since resigning this past summer, Hyman dived
back into doing what I was trained to do: teach-
ing and research. I wanted to go back to my own
work, the scholar of medieval Jewish and
Islamic philosophy said recently from his new
office in Belfer Hall.
Hymans successor at Revel is Dr. David
Berger 64YC, 67R, an esteemed scholar in
Jewish history. Berger, whose many ties to YU
include a visiting professorship at Revel since
1975, was appointed to joint positions at Revel
and Yeshiva College in fall 2007.
The integration of Jewish studies across the
graduate and undergraduate schools is part of an
initiative to transform the University into a cen-
ter of excellence for this curriculum. It builds on
Hyman (left) passes the torch to Berger (right) but remains a valuable part of the successful program he built.
4 0
the foundation laid by Hyman who doubled the
number of faculty at Revel and significantly ex-
panded the student body during his tenure.
Dr. Morton Lowengrub, provost and senior
vice president for academic affairs, described
Hyman as one of the preeminent scholars in
Jewish philosophy and said, Arthur Hyman was
enormously successful as a teacher of both grad-
uate and undergraduate students and his admin-
istrative skills have resulted in building a first-
class school of academic Jewish studies.
He was appointed dean of Revel in 1991 by
Dr. Norman Lamm, then YU president, and set
about building a first-rate faculty to fill in the
schools offerings in areas such as Kabbalah and
modern Jewish philosophy.
Our faculty are all publishing scholars,
Hyman noted. Theres virtually no national or
international conference [in Jewish studies] to
which they are not invited and no jubilee volume
to which they do not contribute.
When he became dean, Revel had approxi-
mately 80 studentsmostly graduates of YU. By
his last semester, there were 140 students,
roughly half of whom came from colleges such
as Columbia, Barnard, Brown and Penn.
As the school grew, it hewed to the model of
classical Jewish studies with concentrations in
Bible, Talmudic studies, Jewish history and phi-
losophy, but it was also sensitive to changes in
disciplines. In surveying Jewish history, we now
also appreciate that the day-to-day life of the
Jewish people is important in understanding
who they were, said Hyman, noting the
appointment of Dr. Debra Kaplan, whose
research focuses on Jewish life in the early mod-
ern period.
The highlight of his deanship came in 1999
when a visiting committee of distinguished
scholars evaluated the school. They gave us a very
high recommendation that the University is solid-
ly committed to Revel and sees it as a jewel in its
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 philosophy at YU, Dr. Hyman has taught at
Revel for 47 years and has written or edited

In surveying Jewish history, we now seven books. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, the
scion of modern Orthodoxy who was rosh yeshi-
also appreciate that the day-to-day life va of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Sem-
inary at the time, recruited him from the now-
of the Jewish people is important in defunct Dropsie College in Philadelphia.
Over the course of his career, he has seen
understanding who they were.

A RT H U R H Y M A N
crown. That gave me great satisfaction, he said.
Based mainly at Revel, Hyman also teaches a
course on the philosophy of the 17th and 18th
centuries at Yeshiva College. He is particularly
drawn to the work of Maimonides, whose inter-
est in finding common ground between phi-
losophy and Jewish tradition he shares. An area
that I want to work on next is the philosophic
components of Maimonides halachic writing,
he added.
Keeping his eyes fixed firmly on his goals
may be the secret of this philosophy professors
self-effacing charm. He is in the 2009 edition of
Whos Who in America, a fact he noted wryly.
Im not a person for all this recognition. Im
goal-oriented and the accolades that come with
it are something else, he said but conceded, I
guess in the modern world one has to learn
something about publicity.
He holds visiting professorships at some of
the nations top universitiesincluding Colum-
bia; Yale; the University of California, San Diego;
and Hebrew University and Bar-Ilan University
in Israeland honorary doctorates from Hebrew
Union College and the Jewish Theological
Seminary. He received his PhD in philosophy
from Harvard University, where he studied with
Dr. Harry Wolfson, the scholar laureate of Jew-
ish studies who occupied one of the first full-
time chairs in the field at any university in the
U.S.
Now the distinguished service professor of
Jewish studies grow from an isolated subject
studied only at rabbinical schools and Hebrew
teachers colleges to a place in the mainstream
of academic study.
In the 1970s, we founded a General Associ-
ation for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy.
I was the first president, he said. Now it has
300 members and the American Philosophical
Association now has a session or two on Jewish
studies at every general meeting.
He is by no means one to rest on the laurels
of his success. After almost 50 years of teaching
the same courses, year in and year out, he has
mastered the art of reinvention. It is never the
same two years in a row. I rethink the material
every year and I become interested in new prob-
lems with each new year. If you want to stay
alive as a teacher, you have to have new ideas
and keep an open mind to students ideas. Thats
my theory of teaching and being with people,
he said.

Our Students
Have Never
!
Needed Us More
We know times are tough. Thats why Yeshiva University
has committed to raise an additional $5 million for
scholarships this year for our students. And, to help us
meet our goal, one benefactor has committed to match
up to $600,000 in gifts received before June 30.

Were giving our students more financial support than

ever beforebut theyre your students, too. Please
help us meet our scholarship goal. Take a moment
right now to use the business reply envelope in this
issue of YUReview.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 4 1
 spotlight
Azrieli Prof Combats
Bullying in Schools
M
any adults may recall being
bullied or witnessing bully-
ing during their school years,
but research shows there are
positive steps that parents
and educators can take to combat this phenom-
enon still occurring today.
That research is being conducted by Dr.
Rona Novick, associate professor at Azrieli
Graduate School of Jewish Education and
Administration, director of its Fanya Gottesfeld
Novick (center) reviews the mock trial activity with educators and administrators at the BRAVE
training session. Azrieli student Eli Shapiro (rear), BRAVE program manager, served as court officer.
Heller Division of Doctoral Studies and a
licensed clinical psychologist. She said bullying
and related problems such as taunting, name-
calling and social exclusion are more serious
than most adults acknowledge.
It is common that children who are harassed
and bullied suffer severe long-term effects,
including depression and suicidal feelings,
Novick said.
4 2
Her classroom-based program, called Bully
Reduction/Anti-Violence Education and Social
Leadership Development (BRAVE), is part of a
career-long goal to bring psychological expertise
into the classroom to help educators make bet-
ter decisions. The application of the program is
supported by the Institute for UniversitySchool
Partnership at Azrieli, which is dedicated to
bringing the latest pedagogic research and tech-
niques into Jewish day school environments.
Bullying is a social issue that requires a social
context and an audience, said Novick. Often
that social context is the school peer group.
Novick said preliminary results appear to
indicate that the phenomenon of bullying is as
prevalent among Jewish day schools as it is in
comparable public schools. Our schools are in
no way immune, she said. We teach the notion
of bein adam lchaveiro [treating ones fellow
man properly] as part of Torah values, but we
still see children bullying and taunting their fel-
low students.
Novick has been conducting carefully con-
trolled research on bullying, and the viability of
her program, at five Jewish middle schools
across the country that have committed to
BRAVE over a period of years in order to change
the culture and social climate of their institu-
tions. They are Yeshivat Rambam in Baltimore;
the Greater Miami Hebrew Academy; Manhat-
tan Day School; and the Yavneh and Joseph
Kushner Hebrew Academies in New Jersey.
Select educators and administrators recently
took part in intensive training at Yeshiva Uni-
versity, which they will in turn model for col-
leagues to adapt for their classrooms. Patricia
Zahl of the Greater Miami Hebrew Academy
who attended the training session at YU sees
BRAVE as a way to address the needs of middle
schoolers in what Dr. Novick calls a safer, gen-
tler environment. It points to being proactive
in addressing the issue by getting the tools and
giving them to students.
The BRAVE program begins with a mock trial
of cartoon-character bullies and bystanders
accused of bullying, which allows students to
explore the definition of bullying and come to
understand the impact innocent bystanders
have when they do not become involved in help-
ing those victimized, said Novick, who is the
author of Helping Your Child Make Friends and
editor of the series Kids Dont Come With In-
struction Manuals. The program also includes
student workshops and monthly student ses-
sions with trained BRAVE instructors. Novick
visits schools to offer support, collect data and
address parents.
Novick has vast experience in the field of
education and child psychology (she is also asso-
ciate professor of child and adolescent psychol-
ogy at Albert Einstein College of Medicine), and
helping children deal with various forms of vio-
lence is one of the hallmarks of her career. Her
articles on the effects of 9/11 on children have
appeared in such publications as Journal of
Traumatic Stress and she directed an antibully-
ing program for the Alliance for School Mental
Health initiative at North ShoreLong Island
Jewish Health System.
Novicks next steps include piloting BRAVE in
Israeli schools, analyzing the programs effects
on single-gender versus mixed-gender environ-
ments and investigating the most successful ap-
proaches for both younger (i.e., elementary) and
older (i.e., high school) students.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
alumninews
ALUMNI PROFILE
The Secret to Long Life
is Lifelong Learning
Enduring financial devastation,
Bentsi Cohen struck it rich.
B
orn in Tangier, Morocco,
in 1941, Bentsi Cohen
emigrated to Israel when
he was six years old. He
served in the Israel De-
fense Force, moved to America at
age 24 and struggled to put himself
through school including Yeshiva
College (196466). He earned
degrees from several academic in-
stitutions, went out into the world
to make his fortune, made it, then
lost most of his money.
Thats when he really struck it
rich.
Cohens life turned in a new di-
rection after financial disaster
struck at age 61. Until then, his
rags-to-riches story included a
career as a respected economist,
author and entrepreneur. His first
significant money came from in-
vesting in gold; then he built a
plastic bottle manufacturing com-
pany that he sold; later he co-
owned factories in Israel, Hungary,
Ukraine, Romania and Tajikistan.
But in 1992, when civil war broke
out in Tajikistan, his business part-
ner, that nations sitting president,
was assassinated. Warned that he
might be next, Cohen fled the
country, abandoning the factory into
which most of his savings had gone.
I returned to America knowing
that the way money comes, thats
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Bentsi Cohen
the way it goes, said Cohen, who
lost more money when the markets
seized and he was forced to sell his
Israeli plant and European distri-
bution centers. With just a small
nest egg and his wifes pension to
live on, Cohen decided that the
time was right to indulge his love
of learning. He reenrolled in YUs
Bernard Revel Graduate School of
Jewish Studies in 2001 and con-
tinues to attend classes at Yale,
Columbia University and NYU.
There are so many things to
know, to learn and to do, said
Cohen. Ive begun to recognize
that when Im involved with some-
thing, I want to know everything
about it. That was certainly the
case when he heard from a friend
about a manuscript in the British
Museum that was written by a
grandson of the Rabbi Moshe ben
Nachman (aka, the Ramban, con-
sidered the foremost halachist of
the 13th century). Published
around 1,300, the manuscript from
Rabbi David had been virtually
ignored by scholars. Its existence,
however, piqued Cohens interest
and he dove right in.
The author was a geniusso
ahead of his time, he said. I took
a course on nuclear physics for
nonphysicists at Columbia just to
make sure I understood what he
Ive begun to recognize that when
Im involved with something,
I want to know everything about it.
was saying. His manuscript de-
scribes what today we know as
E=mc2. He called it the Laws of
Equality, meaning that the laws of
physics that prevail here also pre-
vail outside of this world. And he
talks about the movement of the
constellations around the sun
286 years before Copernicus!
Cohen has already published
two books on the manuscript and
is working on publishing the entire
text. He also recently wrote a book
on Parshat HaShavua, a weekly
Torah portion that includes his
own poetic commentary. Whats
more, he compiled a unique
Haggadah to add to his extensive
collection wherein he presents
simultaneous translations of the
Hebrew text into Russian, French,
Spanish and English for use by
multiethnic guests at the same
seder.
Now 67 years young, Cohen
shows no signs of slowing down. I
always want to have projects in
mind, he said. The more proj-
ects, the more time Ill need to
accomplish them. Its the secret to
long lifeliving like the formula of
a spiral. The more we go around,
the greater strength well have.
When we learn, we bring forth
from our inner resources strengths
we were unaware of. Thats what
Im doing.
4 3
 alumni

Deconstructing Through a detailed analysis of Helping Jewish Women

the Mideasts
Critical Moments
Matthew Levitts business is
thinking about conflict.
three critical moments in the Oslo
peace processthe Baruch Gold-
Cope With Cancer
stein Hebron massacre of 1994, Elana Silber brings business acumen
the Nachshon Wachsman kidnap- to this sensitive subject.
ping and execution of 1994 and

Matthew Levitt 92YC, senior fel-
low /director of the Washington
Institutes Stein Program on Coun-
terterrorism and
Intelligence, has
made a career of
studying the ob-
stacles to peace
in the Middle
East. In his new
book, Negotiating
Under Fire (Row-
man & Littlefield), published in
October 2008, the author decon-
structs the means by which violent
groups hostile to peace talks can
undermine negotiations.
Peace is in everyones best in-
terest, said Levitt, a recognized
expert on Hamas and Hezbollah.
But just wanting that doesnt
mean its going to happen.
Y E S H I VA U N I V E R S I T Y S
the nine-day string of suicide bus
bombings carried out in Israel in
March of 1996Levitt demon-
strates how violent, militant
groups can derail negotiations and
offers a crisis-management model
to address these vulnerabilities.
From 2005 to 2007, Levitt
served as deputy assistant secre-
tary for intelligence and analysis at
the Department of the Treasury.
Previously, he served as an FBI
counterterrorism analyst. In all, his
research leads him to believe that
the various leaders in the Middle
East are the key to the puzzle. In
the 90s, you actually had leaders
who were capable of achieving a
peace deal, he said. They were
able but not necessarily willing.
Today we have a situation where
the leaders are very willing but
completely unable, lacking in polit-
ical legitimacy at home. received an MBA in healthcare administration. I
W
hen Elana Silber 89S first entered
Stern College for Women, she had no
idea how perfectly her education
would prepare her for her current role
as director of operations at
Sharsheret. The national, not-for-profit organization of
cancer survivors is dedicated to addressing the unique
concerns of young Jewish women facing breast cancer.
When I completed high school, I was very inter-
ested in continuing my Jewish education, said Silber,
and growing up in a YU family, choosing Stern was a
natural decision for me. Knowing that their daughter
was interested in both business
and healthcare, Silbers mother,
the late Marcia Brickman Hirt
62S and father, Robert S. Hirt
55YUHS, 59YC, 62BRGS,
62RIETS and current senior
advisor to the president, en-
couraged their daughter to take
a shaped major that would effectively combine her var-
ied interests. Following her business management
degree with a concentration in healthcare, Silber
always wanted to be in business, but I wanted to apply
my business skills in a way that could help people, she
said. I saw the healthcare industry as a great way to
combine both. I also had a great interest in a career
that would serve the Jewish community.
In her directors role at Sharsheret, Silber oversees

2nd Annual Cruise all of the organizations programming, planning and

fundraising efforts. I have an opportunity to really be
part of everything we do, she said. What I find most
rewarding is knowing that Im a part of something that
is truly improving the lives of so many Jewish women
B ALTIC C OAST AND R USSIA
and their families across the country.
7 days from Copenhagen, Denmark Founded in 2001, Sharsherets efforts to support
August 9 16, 2009 young women and educate healthcare professionals
have been recognized with prestigious awards and sig-
S PECIAL GUESTS
nificant media coverage. The organization has been
President Richard M. Joel and featured in more than 75 publications and media out-
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter lets nationwide, including the Wall Street Journal, USA
Today, Self Magazine and CBS News.
For more information, contact Heidi Kuperman at
212.960.0193 or kuperman@yu.edu

4 4 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
Alumni Bookmarks
Rabbi Edward Y. Abramson
64YUHS, 69YC, 69JS, 73BR,
73RE
A Circle in the Square:
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Reinvents
the Synagogue
Urim Publications
Detailed account of Rabbi
Shlomo Riskins influence on
Orthodox Judaism
Rabbi Marc D. Angel 67YC,
70RE, 75BR
The Search Committee
Urim Fiction
Novel pitting the traditional
Yeshiva world versus Modern
Orthodox Torah institutions and
rabbis
Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel 38YC,
41RE, 45BR,
YU Professor Emeritus
A Philosophy of Mitzvot: The
Religious and Ethical Principles of
Judaism, Their Roots in Biblical
Law and the Judaic Oral Tradition
Yashar Books
A comprehensive view of the
structure and meaning of the
Torahs commandments
Adena K. Berkowitz 85CSL
(co-authored with Rivka Hau)
Shaarei Simcha-Gates of Prayer
Urim Publications
First liturgical work in the
modern era written by
Orthodox women
for use in the
Orthodox and
general Jewish
communities
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G
Lynn (Edelman) Biederman
89CSL (co-authored with
Michelle Baldini)
Unraveling
Random House
Novel for young adults featuring
the adventures of a precocious
15-year-old girl
Rabbi Benjamin Blech 54YC,
56RE (co-authored with
Roy Doliner)
Sistine Secrets: Michelangelos
Forbidden Messages in the Heart
of the Vatican
HarperCollins Publishers
Tells the story of how Michelan-
gelo embedded messages in his
most famous work
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg 52YC
Hallel Hakohen
Urim Publications
An elucidation of the commentary
of the Vilna Gaon (17201797)
on the laws of mikvehs
Penny (Finkelstein) Harow 92SCW
Festival of Lights
Urim Publications
A journey through a world of
chanukiot designs
Amy (Ginsberg) Hendel
76YUHS
Fat Families, Thin Families
BenBella Books
Offers a family team
approach to tack-
ling obesity and
other health chal-
lenges
2 0 0 9
Libby Kahane
55YUHS
Rabbi Meir Kahane:
His Life and Thought
Urim Publications
Volume 1 (19321975) covering
the life of the authors late husband
William D. Kaufman 36YC
The Day My Mother Changed Her
Name and Other Stories
Syracuse University Press
Book of short stories featuring the
immigrant Jewish experience in
small-town America
Meyer Lubin 58FG
Thrilling Torah Discoveries
Self-published
A personal story of Torah
fulfillment
Jonathan Mishkin 90YC, 92RE
Think of It This Way: Creative
Strategies for Jewish Education
Self-published
An innovative text for informal
Jewish education
Seymour Moskowitz 54YC, 56RE
Falcon of the Quraysh
Urim Publications
A historical novel depicting the
eighth-century Muslim conquest
of Spain
Seymour Moskowitz
54YC, 56RE
Inter-Religious Prayers
Urim Publications
Provides help for anyone
unexpectedly called upon
to offer a prayer in public
Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg 69YC,
74RE, 74FGS, 92AGS
Public Speaking: A Guide for Study
BEHR Publishing House, Inc.
Everything you need to know
about speaking in front of an
audience
Rabbi Sol Steinmetz 53YC, 56RE
Semantic Antics: How and Why
Words Change Meanings
Random House
Etymological study tracing the
development of many everyday
words
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin 70YC,
73RE, 74BR
A Code of Jewish Ethics:
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Bell Tower
Second volume that elucidates
the practical application of the
biblical commandment
Joel B. Wolowelsky 69BR
(co-editor),
Abrahams Journey: Reflections on
the Life of the Founding Patriarch
KTAV Publishing
Latest book in the MeOtzar
HoRav series, which covers the
life and work of Rabbi Joseph B.
Soloveitchik
4 5
faculty bookshelf
A Philosophy of Mitzvot: The
Religious and Ethical Principles of
Judaism, Their Roots in Biblical
Law and the Judaic Oral Tradition
By Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel,
University professor emeritus of
philosophy and Jewish Studies
Yashar Books, 2008
In this wide-ranging study, Rabbi
Dr. Appel sets forth the objectives
of the Sefer ha-Hinnuchone of
the principal works in Jewish ethi-
cal and halakhic literature and a
primary source for the reasons and
purpose of the divine command-
ments in the Torahand the
Hinnuchs approach to revealing
the religious and ethical meaning
of the mitzvot [commandments].
The author presents a comprehen-
sive view of Jewish philosophy as
developed by the Hinnuch and the
classical Jewish philosophers. The
Ceremonial Violence:
A Psychological Explanation of
School Shootings
By Jonathan Fast
professor at the Wurzweiler School
of Social Work
Overlook Hardback, 2008
Jonathan Fast observes in his new
book that school shootings are a
type of terrorism. Ceremonial Vio-
lence analyzes the Columbine high
school shooting and four other
cases in an attempt to explain why
teenagers commit school rampage
shootings. Fast acknowledges the
impossibility of predicting school
rampage shooters, but outlines
clear and realistic goals for educa-
tors, community leaders, parents
4 6
Hinnuch emerges in this study as a
great educator and moral and reli-
gious guide, and as a treasure trove
of Jewish knowledge, religious in-
spiration, and brilliant insight in
the molding of human character.
Divine Footsteps:
Chesed and the Jewish Soul
By Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman 94YC,
98RIETS
Instructor of Talmud and
Jewish studies,
Stone Beit Midrash Program;
Director of Rabbinic Research,
Center for the Jewish Future
Yeshiva University Press, 2008
This book, a follow-up to The Right
and the Good: Halakhah and
Human Relations (Jason Aronson,
1999; expanded edition Yashar
Books 2005), explores the quality
of chesedkindness in all its man-
Jonathan Fast
and students that seek to help pre-
vent these violent attacks. Utilizing
elements of abnormal psychology,
developmental psychology, sociolo-
gy and neurology that contribute to
the homicidal mindset, Fast also
works to offer a means of under-
standing and coming to terms with
these tragedies.
ifestationsfrom a halakhic, the-
matic and structural perspective.
Chapters include such topics as
Boundaries, Balances and Aspira-
tions in the Realization of
Chesed, The Best Medicine: The
Mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim, and
Bringing Merit to the Masses:
The Gabbai Tzedakah and the
Charity Professional.
Group Work: A Humanistic and
Skills Building Approach
By Urania Glassman
field office director at the
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
SAGE Publications, 2008.
This second edition is designed as
part of advanced undergraduate
and graduate courses in the fields
of social work, psychology and
counseling, and identifies the hu-
manistic values and democratic
norms that guide a group practi-
tioners interventions. Seven stage
themes of group development are
presented. The book describes
member reactions and highlights
worker pitfalls, self awareness
issues and skills to maximize
growth within each stage.
Esther: A Classified Bibliography
By Edith Lubetski, head librarian
at Stern College for Womens
Hedi Steinberg Library,
with Meir Lubetski
Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008
This comprehensive bibliography,
by Edith Lubetski 68BRGS, with
husband Meir Lubetski, a profes-
sor of modern languages and com-
parative literature at the City Uni-
versity of New York, is a guide to
scholarly works on the biblical
book of Esther. It contains over
1900 references. It includes titles
of books, collected works, Fest-
schriften [collections of writings
presented to a scholar], theses,
journal articles, essays in collec-
tions, encyclopedia and dictionary
articles and online material. It is a
classified bibliography, arranged in
three categories-commentaries,
biblical chapters and verses, and
subject headings in alphabetical
order. The scope of the bibliogra-
phy is international, and its focus
is on research from the last hun-
dred years.
A Peoples History of Poverty
in America
By Stephen Pimpare, associate
professor at Yeshiva College and
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
The New Press, 2008
This social history of poverty in
America, from the 17th century to
the modern era, is told from the
perspective and experiences of the
poor themselves. The focus is on
how the poor from cities and the
countryside have created commu-
nity, secured shelter, found food
and struggled to find dignity and
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
respect. Through historical testi-
monies and anecdotes he has col-
lected, Pimpare shows that the
poor are all too often aware that
charity comes with a price. It is
that price that he questions in this
book, reminding us that poverty is
not simply a moral failure.
Abrahams Journey
By David Shatz, professor at Stern
College for Women, with Joel B.
Wolowelsky and Reuven Ziegler
KTAV Publishing, 2008
Abrahams Journey is the ninth
book in the MeOtzar HoRav series,
edited by Stern College faculty
member David Shatz, Joel B. Wol-
owelsky and Reuven Ziegler. The
book, which focuses on the writ-
ings and teachings of the famed
rabbi and Yeshiva University Rosh
Yeshiva Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveit-
chik (19031993), considers the
life of the founding patriarch of the
Jewish people, Avraham Avinu. In
10 chapters, Abrahams Journey
explores the life and legacy of the
patriarch, with particular focus on
the story of Abraham in the context
of human advancement, the devel-
opment of monotheism and the
emergence of the ethical man.
The Hungry Clothes and Other
Jewish Folktales
By Peninnah Schram,
professor of speech and drama at
Stern College for Women
Sterling Publishing, 2008
A diverse selection of 22 Ashke-
nazi and Sephardic folktales is
presented here, with equal parts of
wit and wisdom. They include The
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Pots of Honey, which teaches the
importance of both justice and
forgiveness; The Boy Who Prayed
with the Alphabet, about an un-
learned boy who finds a unique
WHATSNew
@YU?
way to express his love for G-d; and
The Wise Daughter Who Solves
Riddles, one of the most beloved
stories in the Jewish tradition. This
childrens book is filled with evoca-
tive artwork and a cast of colorful
characters.
Adoption in the United States:
A Reference for Families,
Professionals and Students
By Daniel Pollack, professor at
Wurzweiler School of Social Work, LOTS of stuff
and Martha J. Henry
Lyceum Books, 2008
A comprehensive guide to both the
on the WEB
medical/health aspects of adoption
and the laws and procedures cov-
ering adoption in each state, by CHECK OUT
Daniel Pollack and Martha J. www.yu.edu
Henry, director of the Center for
Adoption Research at the Univer-
/president
sity of Massachusetts Medical
read and hear the latest from President Joel
School. In addition to sections on
research from many fields and be-
havioral, developmental and men- /news
tal health issues, this book covers get daily updates, photos, videos and more
regulations for intercountry adop-
tions as well as for public foster /athletics
care and domestic infant adoption. support the Maccabees and see
recent scores
Hatzi Nehama: Studies in the
Weekly Parsha Based on the /facultynews
Lessons of Nehama Leibowitz learn about accomplishments and research
By Moshe Sokolow,
Fanya Gottesfeld-Heller Chair in
Jewish Education at Azrieli
/arts
Graduate School of Jewish
blog on the liberal arts at YU
Education and Administration
Urim Publications, 2008 /bobcanhelp
This volume contains studies on ask our financial aid expert
the weekly Torah portion (parashah/
sidrah) evoking the memorable and /cjf/rabbis
influential style of Nehama Leib- access shiurim and confidential advice
owitz. Using lesser-known pub-
lished works by Nehama and notes /onlinegiving
of her private lessons, Moshe provide scholarship support
Sokolow elucidates the text and its
classic commentaries in a manner
that engages readers, making them
active participants in Torah study.
4 7
 Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Stern College for Women
classnotes
1950s
YUReview welcomes Classnotes submissions that are typewritten or neatly Mazal tov to Dr. Mel 57YC and Debby
55YUHS Adler, and Arthur and Niki
printed. Relevant information (name, maiden name, school, year of graduation, Fuchs on the birth of twin grandsons,
Yaakov Yehoshua and Shmuel Reuven.
and a contact phone number) must be included. The magazine is not
The proud parents are Zevi 92YC and
Leslie (Fuchs) 94SCW Adler.
responsible for incomplete or incorrect information. Graduates of Cardozo,
Mazal tov to Rabbi Aaron 55YC, IBC,
Wurzweiler, Ferkauf, and Einstein may also direct notes to those schools 59BRGS, RIETS and his wife Pearl
52YUHS Borow on the marriages of
alumni publications. In addition to professional achievements, YUReview
their grandsons Chaim and Uri to
Tzivia Nudel and Dina Levy,
Classnotes may contain alumni family news, including information on births, respectively.
marriages, condolences, and bar/bat mitzvahs. Engagement announcements The accomplishments of Dr. Leon
Chameides 51YUHS, 55YC, TI, IBC,
are not accepted. We reserve the right to edit submitted items. We cannot be
59AECOM, in the field of pediatric
resuscitation were described recently
responsible for time-sensitive submissions that expire before publication.
in a chapter of Resuscitation Greats,
a book published in Great Britain.
Items sent for the next edition of YUReview will be included as received and
Dr. Chameides retired 11 years ago
as space permits. Photographs are encouraged. after 30 years as director of pediatric
cardiology at Hartford Hospital and the
Connecticut Childrens Medical Center,
and as clinical professor at the
University of Connecticuts School of
Medicine. He was very active in the
American Heart Association (AHA) and
served as chair of the Pediatric
Stay in Touch with the
@
Resuscitation Committee, which was
responsible for developing the Pedi-
Alumni Office atric Advanced Life Support course
(PALS), the Neonatal Resuscitation

iiwww.yu.edu/alumni program (NRP) and the AHA course
on first aid.
i Join the alumni online community to be Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky 50YUHS,
informed of upcoming events 54YC, 57RIETS, 80FGS, vice presi-
dent for university affairs, celebrated
i Search for old classmates
the wedding in Jerusalem of his
i View photos from various alumni events granddaughter Aliza Kramer to Elie
i Add YUAlumniAffairs as friend Deutsch of Efrat, Israel. Aliza is the
daughter of Dr. Michael 73YUHS,
i Add YUAlumniAffairs at Yeshiva
77YC and Dr. Deborah Kramer.
University as a contact
At the AECOM graduation in June, the
Alumni Association honored Dr. Arthur
Eidelman 55YUHS, 59YC, 63AECOM,
75BRGS, professor of pediatrics, with
its 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Eidelman is a visiting professor of
4 8
Wurzweiler School
pediatrics at Einstein. He is a past
director of newborn services at the
Weiler Hospital of the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine.
Mazal tov to Libby Kahane 55YUHS,
who just completed Rabbi Meir
Kahane: His Life and Thought, a
book on the life of her late husband.
Mazal tov to Meyer Lubin, 58FGS on
the publication of his collection of
essays, Thrilling Torah Discoveries.
Mazal tov to Seymour Moskowitz
54YC, 56RIETS on the recent publi-
cation of two books: Falcon of the
Quraysh, a historical novel depicting
the eighth century Muslim conquest of
Spain, and Inter-Religious Prayers,
which is intended to help any person
unexpectedly called upon to offer a
prayer in public.
Mazal tov to Monty Noam Penkower
59YUHS, 63YC and his wife Yael, of
Jerusalem, on the birth of their newest
grandson, Moshe Roi Neeman, born
to their children Avi and Rochelle Pen-
kower of Talmon, Israel. Mazal tov to
the Penkowers also on the Bar Mitzvah
of their grandsons Nachshon Yosef
Roth in Jerusalem, and Aharon Ohev-
Shalom Penkower in Talmon, Israel.
Mazal tov to Roz and Rabbi Alvin
Poplack 58BRGS on the marriage of
their granddaughter Sara Steinberg to
Barry Rubin.
Sheldon Rudoff
50YUHS, 54YC,
57RIETS recently
joined the New
York City office of
Phillips Nizer LLP
as a partner in the
corporate depart-
ment. Mr. Rudoff will continue to prac-
tice in corporate and commercial law,
representing privately owned business-
es, corporations, not-for-profits and
philanthropic organizations. Mr. Rudoff
serves as a member of the Board of
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Yeshiva College
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
of Social Work
Directors of Yeshiva College and as the
honorary president of the Beth Din of
America and the Union of Orthodox
Jewish congregations of America. He
is chairman of the board of a UJA-
Federation agency, chairman of the
Audit Committee of the Conference on
Claims Against Germany and a
member of the audit committee of the
United Jewish Communities.
Mazal tov to Sol Steinmetz 53YC,
56RIETS, and his wife Tzipora, on the
birth of great-grandson Moshe
Menachem, in Israel. Mazal tov also to
the grandfather Steven Steinmetz
82YC and his wife Liba.
Dr. Joseph Sungolowsky 55YC,
58BRG, professor of French literature
and Jewish studies at Queens College,
City University of New York, and
adjunct professor of French at Stern
College for Women, wrote La tentation
dans Le Pre Goriot de Balzac,
which appeared on the Web site of the
Association Franaise des Enseignants
de Franais (AFEF) on October 24,
2007, and Andr Neher (19181988)
et Erets Israel, which was published
in Delmaire, Danielle & Pollefeyt,
Didier, eds., La pense juive contem-
poraine, Editions Parole & Silence,
2008. He also wrote Hidden Children
in France (1940-1944): A Memoir,
published in The Hidden Child, vol.
XVI, 2008.
Mazal tov to Dr. Gerald 55YC and
Judith 57TI Traub on the Bar Mitzvah
of their grandson Jake.
1960s
Congratulations to Rabbi Edward Y.
Abramson 64YUHS, 69YC, 69JSS,
73BRGS, 73RIETS on the publication
of his book, A Circle in the Square:
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Reinvents the
Synagogue.
Mazal tov to Dr. Stanford Goldman
61YC, 65AECOM, who was recently
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Bernard Revel Graduate School
honored with the Lifetime Achieve- and extensive Jewish sources, Rabbi eligibility, and organizes medical
ment Award from the Society of Safran illuminates every aspect of the rescue missions. He is happy to be
Uroradiology (SUR) at the annual Passover festival in 31 essays. Rabbi a guide and offer a stayover to any YU
meeting in Rancho Mirage, California. Safran is vice president-communica- alumni who find their way to Japan.
tions & marketing /Orthodox Union
Mazel tov to Robert Philip Kaminsky
Kashruth division. He previously
66AECOM who recently retired from
a successful career as a gynecologist
served as principal of Yeshiva 1970s
University High School for Girls.
and has three granddaughters and Tamar S. Kramer Klein 73SCW, 79CSL
one great-granddaughter. Dr. Edward Stim 60AECOM lives in and her husband Yitzchok announce
Tokyo and works for the Japanese the marriage of their daughter, Adina
Mazal tov to Charlie and Susan
medical assistance company Klein, to Ari Lerer. Mazal tov also to
Rotsztajn and Robert J. 64JSS, YC and
Emergency Assistance Japan (EAJ). the brides uncle, Rabbi Dr. Doniel Z.
Judy Pransky on the recent marriage
He speaks to physicians around the Kramer 70YC, 73RIETS, 76BRGS,
of their children, Amanda and
globe, makes medical reports that and her grandfather, Rabbi Meyer
Yehoshua.
assist insurance companies in deciding Kramer 40YC, 41RIETS.
Phyllis Maza Parker 69SCW has been
named a shareholder at the Philadel-
phia law firm Berger & Montague,
P.C., where she specializes in securi-
ties class action litigation. She is
married to Charles B. Parker 68YC.
Mazal tov to Joseph Pessah 64YC,
66IBC, 68FGS on the birth of a
granddaughter, Hannah Grace. Mr.
Pessah recently lectured at the
Museum of Jewish Heritage on the
Jews of Greece during the Holocaust,
and the courage of his father in saving
many Jews during this period.
Benjamin Z. Richler 60YC edited the Rabbi Shmuel Simenowitz 75YUHS (second from left) recently
recently published Hebrew Manu- received a citation from the Hon. Uri Lapolianski, mayor of
scripts in the Vatican Library. His pre- Jerusalem, for his contribution to the journal, The Environ-
vious editorial work includes Hebrew ment in Jewish Thought and Law, jointly sponsored by Sviva
Manuscripts in the Biblioteca Palatina
Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection and the
in Parma and Guide to Hebrew
municipality of Jerusalem. His article, entitled Composting
Manuscript Collections.
Torah Style, traces the history of biomass use through
Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg 69YC, Talmudic times, using the laws of hatmana as a guide.
74RIETS, FGS, 92AG recently pub- Simenowitz is the executive director of Project Yaaleh VYavo,
lished a revised and expanded version
of his educational text entitled, Public
Inc., a Torah-based environmental education program based
on his maple farm in Southern Vermont. His sugarhouse
Speaking: A Guide for Study. He and
which is a functional synagoguewas built to resemble the
his wife also celebrated the engage-
wooden synagogue from his family shtetl, Ivye, and is featured
ment of their son Yaakov to Avital Kelin.
prominently in the new book, How Strange It Seems
Insights on the Haggadah and (Michael Hoberman; University of Massachusetts Press, 2008)
Pesach (1993), written by Rabbi
about the resurgence of Jewish life in New England.
Eliyahu Safran 69YC, 78RIETS,
78FGS was reprinted (2003). Drawing
PHOTO: COURTESY OF OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF JERUSALEM
on the resources of Jewish thought
4 9

Yeshiva College
classnotes
Linda (Pattashnick) Klonsky 71SCW
has been elected president of Kemp
Mill Synagogue and is a Ph.D. student
in organizational development at
Fielding Graduate University. In addi-
tion to teaching leadership at Hebrew
Union College in New York City, she
runs a firm that specializes in strategic
planning, leadership development,
organizational assessments and board
retreats. She and her husband Elliot
are pleased to announce that their son
David is an assistant professor in
clinical psychology at Stony Brook and
is married to Alexis Black.
Estelle I. (Faden) Krumholz 73WSSW
recently received a certificate in
completion of a three-year program in
advanced study of psychoanalytic
psychotherapy from the Institute of
Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of
New Jersey. She maintains a private
practice in Florham, New Jersey, and
her daughter Abigail recently received
her bachelor of arts degree from
Haverford College.
Mazal tov to RIETS Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Yaakov Neuberger 77YC,79RIETS
and his wife Peshi (Charlop) 73YUHS,
77SCW on the engagement of their
son, Motti, to Avigayil Schwerd. Motti is
the grandson of Rabbi Zevulun Charlop
47YUHS, 51YC, 54RIETS, dean
emeritus of RIETS and special advisor
to the president for yeshiva affairs.
Avery E. Neumark 70YUHS, 74YC has
been elected director-at-large of the
New York State Society of Certified
A, AECOM Albert Einstein College of Medicine AG Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration BG, BGSS Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Sciences B, BRGS Bernard Revel
Graduate School of Jewish Studies BSJM Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music CTI Cantorial Training Institute C, CSL Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law F, FGS Ferkauf Graduate School
of Psychology I, IBC Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies J, JSS James Striar School of General Jewish Studies MSDCS Max Stern Division of Communal Services Y, MYP Yeshiva Program / Mazer
School of Talmudic Studies SBMP Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program R, RIETS Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary S, SCW Stern College for Women SG Sue Golding Graduate Division
of Medical Sciences SB, SSSB Sy Syms School of Business T, TI Teachers Institute T, TIW Teachers Institute for Women W, WSSW Wurzweiler School of Social Work Y, YC Yeshiva College
YH, YUHS Yeshiva University High Schools (MSTA The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) (SWHSG Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls)
5 0
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Sy Syms School of Business
Public Accountants for the fiscal year
20082009. Mr. Neumark is the
partner-in-charge of employee benefits
and executive compensation with
Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin &
Company LLP (RSSM) and has more
than 25 years of experience in public
accounting and employee benefits
consulting. He also has served as
counsel to the law firm of Rosen &
Reade. Prior to joining RSSM, Mr.
Neumark served as a partner in Weber
Lipshie & Company and Ernst & Young.
Mazal tov to Dr. Abraham H. Pollack
73YC and Shelley Pollack 72YUHS
on the birth of a grandson to parents
Sunni and Jonny Halpern.
Nava Rephun 76WSSW participated in
a panel presentation at Stern College
sponsored by the SCW Psychology
Club and the YU Career Development
Center, on the topic Careers in
Psychology. She also gave a lecture
series at the Friar Tuck Inn in Catskill,
New York, on Using the Imago
Approach to Develop Vibrant, Commit-
ted Relationships. Nava is a licensed
clinical social worker and certified
Imago relationship therapist who works
with couples and individuals in her
New York City private practice, and
leads workshops in the U.S. and Israel.
Mazal tov to Rabbi Yitschak and Zhava
78SCW, 82WSSW Rudomin upon the
marriage of their daughter Miriam to
Menachem Yifat and upon the birth of
their first grandchild, Yocheved, to
David and Sara Rudomin. Congratula-
tions to Zhava on obtaining her
licensed clinical social worker status
and her completion of the seminar in
field instruction at Touro College
Graduate School of Social Work in
order to supervise Touro College MSW
social work students.
Mazal tov to Philip Schiffman 79YC,
IBC and his wife Miriam (Ryfka)
80SCW on the birth of granddaughter
Anna Michelle.
Mazal tov to Sheila and Larry Strulowitz
72YC on the birth of two granddaugh-
ters. Meira Tamar was born to their
son, Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz 01YC,
05RIETS and his wife Bethany 01SCW,
06AG, and Aliyah Serach was born to
their daughter Sari 02SCW and her
husband Ari Kahn 99YC.
Mazal tov to Deborah 78SCW and
Heshy Wengrow, who serves on the
Orthodox Union Board of Directors,
upon the engagement of their son,
Yoni, to Tzippy Leidner.
Mazal tov to Samuel 77YUHS, 81YC,
84RIETS, BRGS and Deena 88AECOM
Zimmerman on the Bat Mitzvah of their
daughter Rivka Shafrira.
1980s
Naomi (Bromberg) Bar-Yam 81WSSW
is the founding executive director of
the newly formed Mothers Milk Bank
of New England. A milk bank is a
service through which mothers who
have more milk than their babies need
pump and donate their milk to pre-
mature and sick babies.
Adena K. Berkowitz 85CSL co-
authored, Shaarei SimchaGates of
Prayer the first liturgical work in the
modern era written by Orthodox
women for use in the Orthodox and
general Jewish communities. During
20072008, Adena served as scholar
in residence at Congregation Orach
Chayim and KRA in Manhattan and
the Great Neck Synagogue.
Mazal tov to RIETS Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh 89YUHS,
97RIETS and wife Leora, on the birth
and brit milah of their son Yechiel
Yaakov.
Mark M. Goldberg 84YC has been
appointed president of Carey Finan-
cial, LLC, the W.P. Carey & Co. broker-
dealer subsidiary responsible for
wholesaling its Corporate Property
Associates series of nontraded real
estate investment trusts. Prior to join-
ing W.P. Carey, Mr. Goldberg served as
CEO and president of independent
broker-dealer AIG-Royal Alliance, Inc.
He has also held senior management
positions at SunAmerica Financial
Network, AIG SecuritiesTokyo, and
Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.
Mazal tov to Chanu 88SSSB and David
87YC Goldis on the Bar Mitzvah of
their son Shmuel Elimelech in
November 2007 and the birth of their
triplets Gavriel Moshe, Arielle Charna
and Adielle Bracha in December 2007.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Yeshiva University High Schools
Ellie Kastel 80WSSW has been named
executive director of the Boro Park Y
in Brooklyn. Ms. Kastel has worked at
the Boro Park Y since September
1980, first as its program director,
later as assistant director and, finally,
associate director. She brings with her
many years of experience and an
understanding and appreciation of the
needs of the community.
Mazal tov to Ephraim Kanarfogel
73YUHS, 77YC, 79RIETS, 87BRGS,
the E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish
History at the Bernard Revel Graduate
School of Jewish Studies and at Stern
College for Women, who has been
elected to the American Academy for
Jewish Research, the oldest organiza-
tion of Judaic scholars in North
America. Members are nominated and
elected by their peers and thus
constitute the most distinguished and
senior scholars teaching Judaic
studies at American universities.
Professor Kanarfogel joins Yeshiva
colleagues professors David Berger,

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Louis Feldman, Arthur Hyman, Haym
Soloveitchik and Richard Steiner as
a member of the academy.
Russell D. Mayer 81CSL is a senior
partner in the Jerusalem-based law
firm Livnat, Mayer & Co. and recently
had an article published in Law and
Financial Markets Review entitled,
Capital Adequacy Requirements for
Israeli Banks: The Impact of the Basel
II Accord.
Hindy Najman 88SCW has been
appointed director of the Center for
Jewish Studies at the University of
Toronto. Professor Najman received
her Ph.D. in Bible and post-biblical
literature from Harvard University in
1998 and subsequently taught at the
University of Notre Dame in South
Bend, Indiana. In 2003 Professor
Najman moved to the University of
Toronto, where she has been associate
professor of ancient Judaism in the
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Stern College
Bernard Revel Graduate School
Department and Centre for the Study
of Religion at the University of Toronto. The
Alan Steven Ronkin 89YC, IBC was 3TERN#OLLEGEFOR7OMEN3Y3YMS3CHOOLOF"USINESS9ESHIVA#OLLEGE
honored by the Jewish Community 5NDERGRADUATE$INNER
Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater
Boston with the Warren B. Kohn
Award for dedicated service to the
An Evening of Pop Art
Jewish community. The Kohn Award is honoring
presented to an outstanding Jewish
community relations professional each
Suzanne and Miles Berger
STE R N COLLEG E FOR WOM E N
year. Since January 2000, Ronkin has
served the Boston Jewish community Benjamin S. Chouake, MD
as JCRCs deputy director. His passion YESH IVA COLLEG E
for the Jewish community is reflected
in his 20 years of Jewish communal Philip Friedman
SY SYMS SCHOOL OF B USI N ESS
service, having worked at Jewish fed-
erations in Los Angeles, Cleveland and
Seattle. Since being in Boston, his
work has focused on Israel advocacy,
community and interfaith relations,
Holocaust programming and the devel- Wednesday, June 17, 2009
opment of media and public relations
strategies. Ronkin led highly success-
0IER3IXTYs#HELSEA0IERSs.EW9ORK#ITY
ful efforts to defeat what the JCRC 6 p.m. ReceptionsPM$INNERAND0ROGRAM

considered anti-Israel resolutions in
the city of Somerville, developed a new
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focus for the Israel Action Center, and
WJTJU
XXXZVFEV6OEFSHSBEVBUF%JOOFS
implemented JCRCs rebranding.
For service and commitment to his
synagogue and his community, Mark
S. Ross 82CSL received the Distin-
guished Alumnus Award by the United
Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Dr. Michael (Mike) Cohen 93YC, 93JSS, founder of The Galilee
New Jersey region. Ross is the co- Institute for Practical Zionism, and former YU sports information
owner of the Menorah Chapels at
director, womens basketball coach and special assistant to the
Millburn funeral home as well as a
practicing attorney and the owner of director of public relations, was awarded the second annual
M. Ross Advertising, all located in
Defender of the Reserves award by Israels minister of defense,
Union, New Jersey.
chief of staff and chief of all reserve forces. The award was pre-
Evelyn (Sarota) Rutstein 80SCW,
82WSSW is a life coach specializing sented to 10 companies that exemplify the spirit of national serv-
in women going through transitions in
ice and Zionism in uniform. Five major corporations, including the
their lives. She and her husband
Dr. Stan Joel Rutstein 80YC, JSS live in Strauss-Elite conglomerate, Bank Mizrachi-Tefachot and Bezeq
West Hartford, and their son Yaakov Telecom, three midsize corporations and two community initiatives
(Jay) 07YC recently married Tzirel
Cook. They are also grandparents were presented with the award this year.
of a granddaughter, Channa, who was
born to Rochel (Rutstein) and Avi
Rosenholtz.
5 1
 Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Sy Syms School of Business
classnotes Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education

Mark Sommer 80YC is a visiting Jeremy on the birth of their son Natan
professor at West Point Military Zev (Nathan), brother to Julia.
Academy in the Social Science Depart- Margy founded the Jewish Womens
ALUMNA PICKS YU BLUE ment and has recently published Repertory Company, a nonprofit
numerous articles in many different musical theater group for religious
U.S. Intelligence and Department of women in Los Angeles.
Shanna Blaustein Winters 90YUHS, 93SCW, 96CSL, recently
Defense publications.
left Yeshiva Universitys trademark color blue on Americas Mazal tov to Shoshana (Scheide)
eminent publication relating to copyright law. Mazal tov to Rabbi Brian Thau 86YC, Hurwitz 99SCW on her aliyah to Maale
Working as an attorney for the U.S. House of Representatives 90RIETS, 94AG and his son Avraham Adumim with her family in July 2008.
Judiciary Committee, Winters is chief counsel for the Zvi Thau on the completion of the
Sarah Klayn 98SCW, SSSB and Gary
entire shas Mishnayos.
Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property. Klayn announce the birth of their
Winters has been with the Judiciary Committee since March Linda (Vlosky) Zack 84SCW recently daughter Meirah Leeba.
2006, and previously worked in the U.S. Patent and Trademark graduated from Capital University Law
Mazal tov to Shelley Klein 93SSSB
Office. She spent part of that time as a fellow for U.S. Rep. School and passed the Ohio state bar
and Judah Fierstein on the birth of a
Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the intellectual property exam. Linda is married to Rabbi
baby boy.
Howard Zack 80YC, 85BRGS, RIETS
subcommittee where she now works.
and is the mother of Etana 09SCW, Mazal tov to Amir and Necli Kohan
Winters gets one interesting perk through her job. As chief
Shifra 10SCW and Meira 11SCW. 91SSSB, who had a baby daughter,
counsel of the subcommittee, you get to pick the color of the
Natalie Sarah, in February 2008.
cover of the copyright book when it comes out. Its basically an
unofficial tradition, she explained. 1990s Mazel tov to Jeremy Kurz 92YUHS,
So this past year, the Circular 92 96YC, 00AECOM and his wife,
Otto M. Berk 90WSSW is now in pri-
Rebecca (Breslau) who are happy to
Copyright Laws of the United States vate practice in Forest Hills, New York.
announce the arrival of a new son
and Related Laws Contained in Title 17
Mazal tov to Dina Bogner 97SCW and Daniel Yisrael (Israel), brother to
of the United States Code, October
Daniel Heiss, who were married in Yonatan (8), Ayelet (5) and Aviva (2).
2007 Version, was outfitted in YU blue. April 2008. Dinas parents are Gail and
The previous counsel went to Mazal tov to Shira (Lieberman)
William Bogner 71YC, 73WSSW.
Goldress 96SCW, SSSB and her
Duke, so his choice color was blue, and
Mazal Tov to Ariel Davis 98YUHS, husband, Gadi, who announce the
before him, the color was purple for
05YC and his wife Yael who had a birth of a son, Eitan Pesach. Mazal tov
Northwestern, she said.
baby, Avishai Azriel. Avishais grand- to grandparents Andrea (Kaplan)
I debated about whether the color
parents are Dr. Hillel 72YC, 75BRGS, Lieberman 69SCW and Dr. Michael
should be hot pink, but then I decided RIETS, vice president for university Lieberman 70YC and Leslie and Irwin
to pick Yeshiva, as I am a triple alum. life, and Rachayl Davis 75SCW. Goldress, and great-grandmothers
Winters is not just a high school, Esther Kaplan and Roslyn Novack.
Mazal tov to Talia and Yitzi Flynn
undergraduate and law school alumna of three Yeshiva schools; Great-grandfathers were Rabbi Murray
93YUHS, 00CSL on the birth of their
she also represents the third generation of YU graduates in her H. Lieberman 35YUHS, 39YC, IBC
baby boy.
family. Her mother, Joette Milians Blaustein, graduated from and Rabbi Philip (Pesach) Kaplan
Cardozo in 1986, and her grandfather, Bernard Milians, graduat- Isaac Geld, 97WSSW was promoted to 36YUHS, 39YC, 42RIETS.
director of community education
ed from both the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies and Mazal tov to Chana E. (Schiffmiller)
outreach at Citywide Adult Protective
Yeshiva College in 1933. Meyers 96SCW and Tsachi Meyers on
Services.
This past summer, Winters presented Yeshiva University the birth of their son Akiva Yonatan.
President Richard Joel with a copy of the book in Washington, Dr. Isaac Halickman 98YC has com- He joins siblings Atara Tzipporah and
when he joined the community for a shabbaton at Kesher Israel pleted his fellowship in cardiology at Ariana Tamara. Mazal tov also to the
Synagogue, in Georgetown. Cooper University Hospital in New grandparents Shari (Spilky) 72TI and
Jersey. He is currently a staff cardiolo- Rabbi Dr. Richard Schiffmiller
Winters lives in Washington with her husband, Gary, a former
gist in southern New Jersey. 68YUHS, 72YC, 76RIETS, 77BRGS;
president of Kesher Israel, and their three children.
and Josie (Kaplan) 71SCW and Joel
Mazal tov to Margy (Berkowitz)
Meyers 69YC, JSS.
Horowitz 94SCW and her husband

5 2 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Yeshiva University High Schools
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies
Theological Seminary
and Administration Stern College for Women
Jonathan Mishkin 90YC, 92RIETS
published Think of It This Way, a
book on informal Jewish education.
Rachelle Hannah Nash 99CSL litigated
in the area of commercial real estate
and corporate law in supreme, appel-
late, housing and civil courts before
recently becoming one of the youngest
administrative law judges hired by the
City of New York.
Mazal tov to Jeremy S. Neiss 99YUHS,
03YC on his recent marriage to Alison
Leventhal. Mazal tov also to brother
Jonathon 93YUHS, 97YC and Mindy
Neiss on the birth of their son Yishai
Gavriel. Proud parents are Rabbi
Moshe S. Neiss 68YUHS, 72YC,
74RIETS, 75BRGS and Dr. Vivian J.
Neiss 91FGS.
Rabbi Eliezer Schnall, Ph.D., 95YUHS,
00YC, 03RIETS, 07FGS recently ran
a study assessing the efficacy of a
psychosocial intervention for use by
family medicine physicians. His results
were published in the June 2008 issue
of the journal Family Medicine.
Zvi Shapiro 99SSSB and his wife Leah
announce the birth of their first child,
Adina Yaffa.
Avi Shmidman 96YC delivered a
lecture entitled, Cibarious Motifs in
the Festival Poetry for the Grace after
Meals, at the Fifth Medieval Hebrew
Poetry Colloquium, held at the Univer-
sity of Groningen, in the Netherlands,
during July 2008.
Mazal tov to Miriam (Bluth) 90YUHS,
93SCW and Daniel Wallach 93SSSB
on the birth of their fourth child,
Shlomo Yonatan (Yoni).
Mazal tov to Deborah Michelle Waltuch
94YUHS, 98SCW, 98SSSB, daughter
of Rabbi Marvin 66YC, 69RIETS,
99FGS and Rosalie Waltuch, on her
marriage to Uri Frenkel.
Effy Zinkin 93SSSB, 96CSL chaired a
$1.5 million fundraiser for Tikva, a
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
Albert Einstein
charity dedicated to saving the lives of
orphaned, abandoned and abused
Jewish children in Odessa, Ukraine.
2000s
Daniel Abramoff 01YC has joined the
firm Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott
LLP. He earned his J.D. from Fordham
University, and his practice focuses
on real estate law.
Mazal tov to Zachariah 07YC and
Penina (Oberstein) Abramowitz 03SCW
on the birth of their son Naftali Yaakov.
Mazal tov to Alex Altberg, 02YC and
Jennifer Feldman 05SCW on their
recent marriage.
Mazal tov on the marriage of Tamar
Estreicher 08SSSB to Yoni Braun.
Dr. Rachel Leah Farkas 00SCW,
daughter of Zelda Farkas and Israel
Farkas of Willowbrook, Staten Island,
married Dr. Jacob Moalem, the son of
Rowena Moalem and Sasson Moalem
of Plainview, New York. Dr. Farkas is a
third-year surgical resident at Strong
Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New
York, and received her medical degree
from New York Medical College in
Valhalla, New York. Dr. Moalem is an
assistant professor of endocrine
surgical oncology at the University of
Rochester.
Lisa (Helprin) Feldman 02SCW recently
completed her MPA in nonprofit man-
agement from the School of Public
Affairs at CUNY and was honored at
graduation for having the highest
academic record in the school. She
recently accepted a position with
Nishmat as its director of development
and alumnae relations in its New York
office. Her husband, Dr. Jonah Feldman
03YC, recently graduated from Stony
Brook Medical School and will soon
begin his residency at Winthrop
University Hospital on Long Island,
New York.
Conventional Alum
Jeff Stier, 93YC, 96CSL was an attendee at both the Democratic
and Republican Conventions this year, on behalf of his non-profit
independent think tank, the American Council on Science and
Health, which works to debunk health scares and put public health
issues into perspective. His organization gets involved in public
debates when junk science finds its way into federal regulations,
often involving issues like alleged health implications of plastics, the
safety of nuclear energy
and food safety. He said
his time at Cardozo, and
especially as editor of
the Cardozo Law Forum,
prepared him well for
his role in public affairs
advocacy.
As an orthodox Jew,
Jeff said he enjoyed the
diversity of comments
and sideways glances he
gets when he wore his yarmulke at the national con-
ventions. Last night [outside the Democratic National
Convention] someone tapped me on the shoulder to
say shalom. He said, I am from South Lebanon, and
Im on your side.
Jeff took the opportunity to attend and participate in a
myriad of Jewish events at the conventions, some of which were
sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, the National Jewish
Democratic Council, the Republican Jewish Coalition, AIPAC and
JPAC, a new left-leaning public affairs committee.
Because Jeff often appears on television and radio to debunk the
latest health scares in the media, he especially enjoyed the Radio
Row, areas at the national conventions, where many radio shows
broadcasted live on location in the unending hallways that run
around the perimeters of the convention centers. During the course
of one afternoon, Jeffs voice was heard in over 100 cities, where he
spoke about a variety of issues in the public health arena.
He had a variety of unique Jewish experiences in the two cities,
both of which have smaller Jewish populations than cities in the
tri-state areas. He ordered in kosher sandwiches from the East Side
Kosher Deli with an Orthodox Union staffer and davened mincha with
a minyan in Denver. He visited the Chabad House in Minneapolis,
tempering an afternoon of schmoozing with lobbyists with an evening
shiur with Rabbi Manis Friedman. Jeff said he appreciated the
fellowship with other Jews to help process an exciting and sometimes
exhausting convention experience.
5 3
 Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Yeshiva University High Schools
classnotes
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Calling all
Past Presidents and
Vice Presidents
who served on any of
Yeshiva Universitys undergraduate
student governments
WE WANT TO STAY
IN TOUCH!
Please let us know which student body
government you served on and the year
that you graduated.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Contact Melissa Klein at
the Office of Alumni Affairs
Email mnklein@yu.edu
or call 212.960.5412
5 4
Yeshiva College
Mazal tov to Aaron Friedman 08 SSSB
and Ariella Beth (Deyong) 08SCW, who
recently had a baby boy, Dovid Gershon.
Mazal tov to Dassie and Ari Fuchs
07SSSB upon the birth of their
daughter.
Mazal tov to Rachel Hyman 03SCW,
daughter of Dr. Dale and Ruth Hyman
69SCW, on her marriage to Steven
Schwartzberg.
Mazal tov to Scott Garber 03SSSB and
Tova Lieberman 07SCW on their
engagement.
Rabbi Ryan S. Girnun 01YC, 05RIETS,
husband of Bari (Rothstein) Girnun
01SSSB, AG, has just graduated from
the University of Miami Law School
with the distinction of summa cum
laude.
Judith Eve Gorelick-Feldman 07SCW
married Joshua Rosenbloom. They
met as first-year graduate students at
Harvard, where she was in dental
school and he was in medical school.
Mazal tov to Sandy and Rabbi Alan
Kalinsky 69YUHS, 73YC, 76RIETS,
77FGS, director of the Orthodox
Union West Coast, upon the recent
marriage of their daughter Michelle
(Michal) Ilana 08SSSB to Jonathan
(Yoni) Frankel 07YC. Mazal tov also to
the grandparents, Harriet and Isador
Kalinsky, and to Yonis parents, Rabbi
Sam and Sharon Frankel.
Mazal tov to Joseph B. Korn 00SSSB
and his wife Devorah (Rubin) 01SCW
on the birth of their daughter Avigail
Bracha.
Mazal tov to Chaim Kozlovsky 01YC on
his marriage to Randi Adelman.
Jeremy Kupferman 06SSSB and his
wife Danielle joyfully announced the
birth of Noah Aaron. Mazal tov to
grandparents Alan 82YC and Mindy
Peyser and Carole and Max Kupferman
65YUHS.
Sara Menchel 07SCW, daughter of
Rabbi Gary Menchel 74YUHS, 78YC,
81RIETS and Beatrice Menchel
74BGSS, 77TI, was recently married
to Eric Pollak 08YC.
Mazal tov to Isralight Avraham HaLevi
Rabbinic Enrichment Fellow Rabbi
Seth Nadel, his wife Naama (Fogel)
Nadel 03SCW, and their entire family
on the birth of a baby girl.
Mazal tov to David and Leora (Fein)
Neuman 08SCW on the birth of their
son Dov Gavriel. Leora is the daughter
of Renee (Edelman) 83SCW and Alan
Fein 83YC, 87CSL. The baby was
named for his great grandfather David
Edelman 49YUHS, who is survived by
his wife, Hannah Edelman 59SCW.
Mazal tov to Yair Oppenheim 00SSSB
on his marriage to Aviva Bieler, daugh-
ter of Rabbi Richard C. Bieler 74YC,
JSS, 78RIETS, 79BRG, senior execu-
tive director for community affairs.
Mazal tov to Sara 08SCW, daughter
of Mindy 80SCW and Steven (Shmully)
Rosengarten 76YUHS, who recently
married Saul Haimoff, son of Ellen
and Manny.
Mazal tov to Evan Rosenhouse 05YC,
06SSSB and Susanne Goldstone
02SCW on their marriage.
Mazal tov to Aliza 06SCW, SSSB and
Dov Sassoon on the birth of their son
Charles Isaac.
Mazal tov to Amy 02SCW, SSSB and
Shalom 01YC Schwartz on the birth of
twin sons, Yehuda Bavriel and Shuvel
Aron. Mazal tov to the proud grand-
parents Janet and Berni Schwarz
77YC and Mona and David Schwartz.
Jonathan (Yoni) Shenkman 07SSSB
recently joined Secemski & Associates,
a wealth advisory and financial
planning group within Merrill Lynch.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
Stern College for Women Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Bernard Revel Graduate School
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Mazal Tov to Drs. Joshua 01YC, public affairs, daughter of Lori and
05AECOM and Rachel 05AECOM Larry Wolynetz, on her recent marriage
Sisser on the birth of their daughter
Rebecca Elizabeth.
to Baruch Jakubovic 09YC, son of
Holly (Yudkowitz) 76SCW and Henry Your news
Mazal tov to Ari Spodek 05SSSB and
his wife Ariella on the birth of their
Jakubovic, in Toronto, Canada.

Mazal tov on the marriage of Seth

son Gaby.
Mazal tov to Marc and Elysia Stein
04SCW on the birth of a baby girl,
Abigail Paige.
Mazal tov to Victoria Stone 08 SCW,
the Fredda Leff Presidential Fellow for
Yeshiva Universitys Wurzweiler School
of Social Work, daughter of Natalie
and Ken Stone, on her recent mar-
is our news!
Zahner 08SSSB to Ariella Noveck.
If youve got a new job, promotion,
hobby thats become a second career, book, award,
BOARD / FRIENDS community service honor, addition to the family, etc., wed like
CALLOUTS to hear about it. Please include complete information and,
if possible, a head shot or good quality photo.
Mazal tov to Elie and Sara Weiss on
the birth of their son Jonah Zvi. Mazal
tov to Elies father, YU Board Chairman
Morry Weiss and his wife, Judith, as
well as brothers Jeffrey 85YC and Zev SCHOOL / CLASS ____________________

riage to Ezra Sutton 09YC (expected),
son of Nancy and Sam Sutton 71YC.
Jenny and Samuel Sultan 05YC
sponsored an Eruv in September in
honor of the marriage of Sammys
brother, Rabbi Raymond Sultan 01YC,
06RIETS to Chana Leora (Ora) Klein
06SCW. Sammy and Rays parents are
Dr. Ronald and Andrea Sultan 78SCW.
Mati Sved 08YC and his sister Amber,
children of Ira 79YUHS and Naomi
Sved, were both recently engaged.
Mati will be marrying Jenny Steinberg
07SCW, and Amber will marry Joseph
David (Joey) Schwarz 08SSSB.
Josh Vogel 07YC, past SOY president,
and Tamar Grun 07SCW were married
in Baltimore. Joshs parents are Alan
and Cheryl 80SCW Vogel.
Sharon Weiss 03SCW, 06AG was
recently married to Ben Greenberg,
who went to Landers College and is
currently completing his studies at
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.
Mazal tov to Yael
Wolynetz 08SCW,
the Robert M.
Beren Presidential
Fellow for the
Yeshiva University
office of commu-
nications and
88YC Weiss.
Dr. Michael A. Stocker, secretary of the
Albert Einstein College of Medicines
Board of Overseers, has been appoint-
ed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as
chairman of the board of the New York
City Health and Hospitals Corporation,
the largest municipal hospital and
health-care system in the country,
serving 1.3 million New Yorkers annu-
ally. Since his election to the board in
1999, Michael has provided invaluable
service to the college. A member of
the executive committee and an
Einstein benefactor, he has also served
as chairperson of the hospital affilia-
tion committee, and as a member of
our ad hoc governance and nominat-
ing committees. Although the wisdom,
guidance and personal warmth he
brought to AECOM will be missed,
AECOM wishes him all the best in his
new position and thanks him for his
many years of dedicated service.
Mazal tov to Jack Zencheck, YUs chief
procurement officer, and wife, Robin,
on the marriage of their daughter
Wendy to Tom Cavuoto.
NAME (FIRST) __________________________ (LAST) ____________________________
(MAIDEN) ______________________________________________________________
ADDRESS ____________________________________________________________________
CITY, STATE, ZIP ____________________________________________________________
PHONE (HOME) ________________________ (OFFICE) __________________________
FAX (HOME) ____________________________ (OFFICE) __________________________
E-MAIL (HOME) ________________________ (OFFICE) __________________________
MY NEWS: __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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I WANT MY CLASSNOTE TO APPEAR:
IN YUREVIEW ONLINE BOTH
S E N D O R FA X T O : Office of University Alumni Affairs,
500 West 185th Street, New York, NY 10033-3201.
Phone 212-960-5373 FAX: 212-960-5336 E-mail: alumni@yu.edu

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 5 5
 Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Yeshiva College
classnotes Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Sy Syms School of Business

WE MOURN Sarah Fishman 55TI, brothers Moshe Condolences to the family of Daniel Rabbi Dr. Moses Mescheloff 32RIETS,
Berlin 54YUHS, 58YC and the late Alan Epstein 82YC, 82JS, who passed rabbi emeritus, Congregation K.I.N.S.
Condolences to the family of Dr. Joseph I Berlin 62YUHS, 66YC, and away in September 2008. (Knesset Israel Nusach Sfard),
Yehudah Assouline 95YC, 01AECOM, sons Elie and Avi. Chicago, recently passed away. He is
Condolences to the family of Aliza
who died in July 2008. mourned by his daughter Renah M.
Rabbi Jerome H. Blass 44YC, Esral 08SCW, who passed away in
Bell 58SCW, sons Rabbi David
Rabbi Eli Baum 54RIETS, 99FGS is 48RIETS, 60BRGS, who died in April July 2008.
Mescheloff and Rabbi Efraim
mourned by his wife Margot and by 2008. Condolences to his wife Rita
Hyman Fleishman 59IBC, 59YC, Mescheloff 62YUHS, 65RIETS and
their son Rabbi Shalom Baum 88YC, and children Dr. David M. Blass, Dr.
beloved husband of Elinor and father daughter-in-law Felice Mescheloff
92CSL, 94RIETS. Robert A. Blass and Dr. Joel M. Blass.
of Ovadaya Elchanan. 62YUHS, 64TI.
Condolences to the family of Nisson A. Condolences to the family of Charles
Sol Kalish 48YUHS, father of Jay Rabbi Leon Mozeson 40YUHS, 44YC,
Berlin 64YUHS, who passed away in Bernstein 74YC, who died in October
Kalish 79YC, 82CSL, president of 47RIETS was the husband of Bernice
April 2008. His family includes sister 2007.
Yeshiva University Israel Alumni and Mozeson, father of Rabbi Yoni Mozeson
father-in-law of Judy 76YUHS, 80SCW. 77YC, 80RIETS and father-in-law of
Navah Mozeson.
Henry Kamioner 74YUHS, 78YC, 81C
passed away suddenly. Condolences to Rabbi Philip H. Reiss, 48RIETS was
Rabbi Dr. Leon A. Feldman 48RIETS, 57BRGS, renowned scholar,
Henrys wife Debbie 78SCW, his the beloved husband of Gladys and
prolific author and master teacher, passed away on July 23, 2008,
daughter Chava Weisstuch 05YUHS father of Gedalia.
at the age of 87 after a brief battle with cancer. He had served as
professor of Jewish history at the Touro College Graduate School of and his son Michael 04YUHS. Condolences to the family of Rabbi
Jewish Studies since September 2004. Dr. Feldman was born in Isaac B. Rose 38YC, 42RIETS, who
Condolences to the family of Dr. Benny
Berlin, and found refuge in England and Canada during World War passed away in August 2008.
Kraut 68YC, who is survived by his
II, eventually settling in New York. In addition to semikhah, he
wife, Penina L. Kraut 67BRGS, 71TI Yeshiva University
earned a D.H.L. from Yeshiva University and a Ph.D. from Columbia
and his daughter Yosefa Kraut 04SCW. mourns the loss
University. He also received a doctorate from the University of
Condolences to Harvey Lieber 59YC of Yeshiva College
Amsterdam, and bachelors and masters degrees from Oxford Uni-
on the loss of his wife, Vera 60SCW. student David
versity, as well as an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University.
Rottenstreich who
Dr. Feldman founded the department of Hebraic studies at Rutgers
Our condolences to the family of Yoel passed away on
University and taught there from 1962 to 1992, serving as distin-
Lipschitz 62YC, 65BRGS, RIETS who Tuesday April 7,
guished professor of Hebraic studies. He also held visiting faculty
died in February 2008. He resided in 2009 after a brief
appointments at universities in Canada, England, Germany, Israel,
Petach Tikva for more than 35 years but serious illness. Over 60 of his
Spain and Switzerland, and was the founding rector of the College of
and was the Baal Koreh and Baal friends and fellow classmates joined
Jewish Studies in Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Feldmans many schol-
Tokeah in the Great Synagogue of together after night seder and maariv
arly volumes and articles focus primarily upon medieval rabbinic
Petach Tikva for 22 years. on April 20 in the spirit of camaraderie
literature and, in particular, on responsa as a source for the study of
and love to remember David.
Jewish history. His critical edition of the sermons of Rabbi Nissim Condolences on the passing of Rabbi
ben Reuben Gerondi was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for Literature Dr. Levi Meier 64YUHS, 70RIETS, Condolences to Suzie (Schapiro)
and Jewish Thought in 1975. In 1988, he received the Rabbi Judah 71BRG, who was the chaplain of Steinberg 84SCW, 86WSSW upon the
Leib Maimon Prize for Rabbinic Literature and Jewish History. Dr. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He is death of her mother Rosalee
Feldman was the recipient of numerous prestigious academic fellow- survived by his wife Marcie; his broth- (Jacobson) Schapiro 59SCW.
ships, and served as consultant to a wide variety of Jewish commu- er Rabbi Menachem Meier 60YUHS,
Jacob Silvera 71YC, beloved husband
nal and educational organizations. He had been a fellow of the 66BRGS, RIETS and his wife Dr.
of Marlene.
American Academy for Jewish Research since 1982. He is survived Tzipora Meier 63BG, 67SCW; his
by his wife, Elizabeth Small Feldman, his brother Emmanuel daughter Chana Gelb 94SCW and her We mourn the passing of Rabbi Dr.
Feldman, his sons Howard R. Feldman 62YUHS and Peter B. Telem, husband Rabbi Pinchas Gelb; and his Victor M. Solomon, Col. Ret., USAF
his granddaughters Debra Belowich, Adee and Michal Telem, daughter Malka Grebenau 04SCW and 50YC, 55RIETS in June 2008. A
grandsons Brian Feldman, Elan Telem, and great-grandchildren her husband Rabbi Maurice Grebenau renaissance scholar, author, rabbi,
Alexa and Talia Belowich. 01YC, 04RIETS, 07AG. psychologist and psychotherapist, who
served as a pulpit rabbi in Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania, and Fairfield,

5 6 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Stern College
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Bernard Revel Graduate School
Yeshiva University High Schools

Rachel Balsam 62SCW, whose mother Program at AECOM. The Cohens are
Ann Steinberg passed away. Yeshiva University benefactors who
LILLIAN ZACH 64F have established and supported many
Rabbi Howard Seth Balter 83YC,
scholarships at Yeshiva University
Everyone in the Yeshiva University and Ferkauf 85RIETS, devoted member of the
and AECOM.
community mourns the loss of Lillian Zach, RIETS board of trustees, on the death
a beloved alumna, founding faculty member of his father David Balter in July 2008. Dr. Jay 81YC, 85AECOM and Mindy
and mentor who taught every student in the Cinnamon and Dr. (Yussie) Robert and
Rabbi Aharon 56YC, 58RIETS and
schools psychology and school-clinical child Carol L. Lesser 72 SCW on the pass-
Lolet Batt 59SCW, who mourn the loss
psychology programs during her 45-year ing of their mother Ethel Cinnamon.
of their grandson Yonadav Haim
tenure. She chaired Ferkaufs department of Hirshfeld, age 19, of Kochav Hashahar, Joseph Cukier 00YC and Robert Philip
educational psychology and guidance, served in the Yeshiva Mercaz Harav terrorist Cukier 02YC, whose beloved mother
as associate dean and was first director of its attack on March 6, 2008. passed away in September 2008.
school psychology program. She created the Ph.D. program in
school psychology and developed Ferkaufs National Institute of Carl Bennett, husband of Dorothy Rabbi Eliot Feldman 72 YC, JSS,
Mental Health fellowship training program. An early giant in the field Bennett, Yeshiva University benefactor, 75RIETS, his wife Ann 72SCW, and
of school psychology in New York, she worked with the New York who passed away in May 2008. The their sons, Joshua 97SSSB, Jay Nathan
City board of education and other school systems. Heartfelt couple established the Carl and 07SSSB and Jeremy 02SSSB, on the
condolences are extended to her son, Dr. Jonathan Zach; her Dorothy Bennett chair in pastoral death of mother and grandmother
brother Leon Feingold; and all members of her extended family. counseling at the Wurtzweiler School Blanche Feldman.
of Social Work in tribute to Rabbi
Jeffrey Fiedler, member and past
Joseph H. Ehrenkranz, as well as a
chairman at Einstein, on the death of
major scholarship fund at the Sy Syms
his mother Caroline Fiedler in
School of Business. Condolences also
August 2008.
Connecticut, then as the highest-rank- Our condolences to the family of Harry to their children, Marc and his wife
ing Jewish chaplain in the United Steinberg 32YUHS, who passed away Katy, Bruce and his wife Jennifer, and Jutta Freudenstein, whose husband
States Air Force, he also was chief of in May 2008. He was one of the last Robin and her husband Joseph Erich Freudenstein died in June 2008.
the Jewish chaplains in the Far East surviving alumni of Yeshiva Colleges Kanarek, as well as to Dorothys sister Condolences to their children George
and associate director of the Jewish first graduating class. Florence Caplan. 71YUHS, Deborah Fink 73YUHS,
Welfare Board in NYC. His distin- Shoshana Silver and Michael.
Rabbi J. David Bleich, a RIETS Rosh
guished career was recognized by Yeshiva and Tradition columnist, on Rabbi Joel Grossman 83BRGS on the
CONDOLENCES TO:
Yeshiva College several years ago. A the passing of his daughter Chaya loss of his mother, Ruth Grossman.
graduate of YUs High School for Boys The family of Roland Arnall, who Gurwitz.
and Yeshiva College, he was ordained strengthened the Jewish community as Rabbi Yeshaya Arnold Heisler
by RIETS and earned three doctorates a generous supporter of Jewish causes Rabbi Jon Bloomberg 69YC, 74RIETS 40YUHS, 44YC, 46BRGS, RIETS,
from other universities. Heartfelt con- around the world. With his beloved on the loss of his beloved father Allan Reuven Ruby Heisler 51YC, Toby
dolences are extended to his beloved wife Dawn as benefactors to YU, they Bloomberg. Goldberg and Yitta Weiss on the loss
wife, Marcia R. Solomon, to his sister helped establish The Center for the of their sister, Dorothy Ciment.
Jan Blumenfeld, senior director of oper-
Rhoda Fefferman, to his children, Jewish Future and supported educa- ations for institutional advancement, Yeshiva University Benefactor
Yeshiva College and Yeshiva University tion and research at the Albert on the death of her grandmother Ruth Geraldine Schottenstein Hoffman and
Museum Board member Rabbi Samuel Einstein College of Medicine. They Blumenfeld in April 2008. her husband, Martin Hoffman, on the
(and Meryl, M.D.) Solomon 81RIETS, also established the Roland Arnall passing of Martins brother, Phillip
BRGS, who are also YU guardians, Presidential Fellowship at YU. We Rabbi Aaron Chomsky 42 YUHS,
Hoffman, in May 2008.
Shimon (and Lisa) Solomon, Yitzchak send our heartfelt condolences to his 46IBC, YC, 51RIETS on the death of
Solomon 84YC and wife Yosepha wife and children, Daniel and Michelle; his wife Lillian Chomsky. Rabbi Chaim Ilson 68YUHS, 72YC,
87SCW, Avraham Solomon 94YC and his brother Claude; his nephew Adam 76RIETS, on the death of his wife,
Olga Cohen, on the death of her
his wife Rebecca 94SCW, and also to Bass; and to all members of the family. Rebbetzin Esther Chana Ilson in June
beloved husband Ezra Cohen, in April
his many grandchildren. 2008.
Shirley Auslander, member of the 2008. Symphathies also to their
We mourn Leon Sutton 43YUHS, 47YC, Jewish Studies Office, on the death of daughter Chella and her husband Professor Eliezer Jaffe 55YC, TI, on
brother of David Sutton 50YUHS, who her husband Heshy Auslander in Moise Safra, a YU benefactor who the passing of his wife Rivka Jaffe in
passed away in September 2008. May 2008. established the Womens Health September 2008.

Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 5 7

classnotes
Rabbi Lowell Kronick 63YUHS, 67YC,
70BRGS on the loss of his father
Julius Kronick.
Doris Kukin, a member of the Stern
College for Women Board of Directors,
who with her husband, Dr. Ira Kukin,
a YU benefactor, mourn the loss of
Doris sister Evelyn Nadler.
The family of Hy Koblinsky, an
employee of Yeshiva University from
1985 through 1997, who died in
March 2008.
The family of Susanne Kornreich, with
profound sorrow, on the passing of this
dear friend and longtime, passionate
supporter of the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine. Susanne was the
beloved wife of former overseer
Matthew Kornreich, mother of Kathy
Weinberghonorary president of the
divisions Westchester/Fairfield chapter
and a vice president of its national
boardand mother-in-law of Einstein
Overseer Samuel Weinberg. Susanne
was an honorary vice president of the
Westchester/Fairfield Chapter of
Einsteins Womens Division and
served on its national board. Deepest
sympathies are extended to all her
family.
Yonina Langer 71SCW and Meira
Davis 69SCW, on the passing of their
mother Lotte Katz of Brookline,
Massachusetts. Mrs. Katz is also
mourned by Yoninas husband Dr.
Sidney Langer and their daughters
Talia and Naomi, as well as Meiras
husband Rabbi Edward Davis 68YC,
70RIETS, 71BRGS.
Rabbi Pinchas Stolper 49YUHS, a
long-serving executive vice president
of the Orthodox Union, on the passing
of his sister Frayda Labovitz.
Meyer Lubin, 58FGS and his son
Lazan, on the loss of Malka, a beloved
wife and mother.
Geri Mansdorf 96AG, associate direc-
tor of admissions at Yeshiva University,
5 8
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Sy Syms School of Business
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education
on the death of her father, Samuel
Spiegel, in June 2008.
Susan Meyers 92SCW on the death of
her grandmother Adela Engel.
Melekheh Nassimi and children Albert,
Morris, Mike and Edward, on the
death of their beloved husband and
father Aghajan Nassimi in May 2008.
He served as a member of YUs
Sephardic Council of Overseers and
established the Aghajan Nassimi
Endowed Scholarship Fund for
Sephardic Students.
The family of Mortimer Propp, a distin-
guished Jewish communal leader who,
with his beloved wife, Eugenie, and his
brothers, Ephraim (and Gail) and the
late Seymour Propp, and his wife
Gabrielle, served as a YU guardian,
having jointly established the Propp
Brothers Scholarship Fund at the affili-
ated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological
Seminary in memory of their parents,
Morris and Anna Propp. Morris and
Anna were also founders of the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine and
supported many other projects within
Yeshiva University and the Yeshiva
University Womens Organization
(YUWO), where all three sisters-in-law
Eugenie, Gabrielle and Gailare
members of the executive council.
Norma Rodriguez, administrative
assistant for campus events communi-
cations, on the loss of her mother,
Guillermina Rodriguez.
The kehillah of New Rochelle and
Scarsdale, NY, on the tragic loss of
Rabbi Jacob and Devorah Rubenstein,
rabbi and rebbetzin of the Young Israel
of Scarsdale, who passed away in a
house fire in 2008. They are survived
by four children: daughters Shira
97SCW and Yocheved 04YUHS,
09SCW and sons Daniel and
Jonathan. Rabbi Rubenstein was a
past president of the Rabbinical
Council of America and a past chair of
the Rabbinic Cabinet of the United
Jewish Communities. Rabbi Ruben-
steins many awards over his lifetime
included the Yeshiva University Mrs.
Abraham Stern Service Award.
Before coming to the Young Israel of
Scarsdale, New York, where he was for
the past 20 years, Rabbi Rubenstein
served in pulpits in Milford, Massachu-
setts, and Providence, Rhode Island.
The Sy Syms School of Business on
the loss of Dr. Peter Lencsis, an
adjunct assistant professor of finance
and coordinator of insurance programs
since 2000. He taught insurance,
finance, estate benefits and employee
programs. He was also a beloved
student advisor and special projects
coordinator. Lencsis was the author of
many articles and several books on
business insurance, liability and work-
ers compensation law. Heralded as a
favorite of many students, he took
great pride in having been selected
adjunct professor of the year at Sy
Syms in 2007.
The family of Samuel J. Sable, who
with his late wife, Jean, and their
friends named the Samuel J. and Jean
Sable Chair in Jewish Family Social
Work at the Wurzweiler School of
Social Work. He was a devoted leader
on behalf of the university and many
other institutions. Heartfelt condo-
lences are extended to his children,
Marlene Weller, Heather Sable, Martin
(and Gayle) Sable, as well as his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Rabbi Nachum Sauer 69YC on the
passing of his mother Chana Bas Akiva
Sauer.
Jack L. Scharf, Esq., on the passing of
his beloved wife, Anita Scharf, who
together have been longtime support-
ers of Yeshiva University and its Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary,
personally and through associated
foundations. Anita was a kind, gentle
and caring friend, whose commitment
to Jewish education and to her family
was well known. Condolences are also
sent to their children Kenneth Scharf,
Donna Hoenig and their entire family.
Arnold Skolnick, husband of Beverly,
who was a past president of Young
Israel of Oceanside, New York. Our
thoughts go to his son Zev Skolnick
80YUHS, 85YC and his wife Erica,
and to his daughter Naomi Kaszovitz
87SCW and 90CSL and her husband
David 80YUHS.
Dvorah Telsner 63YUHS on the death
of her mother Edith in March 2007.
To the family of Anne Tanenbaum, who
passed away in April 2008. She was a
guardian of Yeshiva University and
generous provider of scholarships for
students at Yeshiva University and
AECOM. Condolences are sent to her
children, Joey and wife Toby Tannen-
baum, Minda and husband Les
Feldman, Tuaba and husband Sol
Spiro, Howard and wife Carole
Tanenbaum, Lawrence and wife Judy
Tanenbaum, Carol Tanenbaum, and
Jeannie Tanenbaum; to her brother
Bill and wife Noah Wolf; and to her
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Anne and her husband Max, who
predeceased her, were among the
most generous supporters of Jewish
causes in Toronto.
Wilfredo Toledo, lead mechanic in
facilities management, on the loss of
his brother.
Stanley Waintraub, a YUHS parent and
former member of the YUHS board,
on the death of his beloved father Izak
Waintraub in July 2008.
Dafna Zwickler, on the death of her
beloved husband Rabbi Joel Zwickler
77YC, 82RIETS, 82FGS. We also
send condolences to his mother, Ruth
Zwickler, his sons Donald 79YC and
Zvi, and his daughter Chavi Tilson
83SCW.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 Yeshiva University High Schools Albert Einstein
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies
Theological Seminary
and Administration Stern College for Women
IN MEMORIAM
E. Billie Ivry,
Benefactor and First Female Trustee,
Dies at 102
Yeshiva University deeply mourns the loss of E. Billi Ivry, a University
trustee, YUs longest continual donor and a celebrated philanthropist of
Jewish causes. Ms. Ivry died on October 18, 2008
at her Manhattan home. She was 102 years old.
Billi Ivry taught us how to use all our being to
serve God, said YU President Richard Joel in his
eulogy. Her heart was large and pure, her spine
upright with dignity and integrity, her eyes undi-
minished in their foresight and love, and her lips
filled with encouragement and humility.
Even as her eyesight faded, President Joel
noted, her vision remained clear. That vision was
focused on the children, on the Jewish story, on
learning and on knowledge. That vision focused
until the last on serving as a link between her
parents, Rebecca and Israel Ivry, and our children,
Jewish history and Jewish destiny.
In 1987, Ms. Ivry became the first woman ever
elected to the Universitys Board of Trustees. She
was also the first person to serve on the boards of
five different YU schools: Stern College for Women
(1987), Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
(1985), Bernard Revel Graduate School for Jewish Studies (1992) and
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration (2002).
A YU Benefactor, Ms. Ivry memorialized her mother by endowing
the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies at Stern College, the
largest and most diversified university program of Jewish studies in
North America.
Ms. Ivry also endowed scholarship funds, research fellowships, a
professorial chair, a free loan fund, a Beit Midrash [study hall], and
a student center at various schools under the Yeshiva University banner,
from Stern College and Cardozo to Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological
Seminary.
In 1987, Ms. Ivry was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane
Letters degree, the highest honor YU bestows upon an individual. In
Y U R E V I E W S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
conferring the degree, then University President and now Chancellor
Rabbi Norman Lamm said of her: Throughout your lifein work and in
leisure, in family and in communityyou have unabashedly proclaimed,
Ivry AnokhiI am proudly Jewish, a member of the Hebrew people.
Ms. Ivry served since 1992 on the Board of the Jewish Theological
Seminary, where she endowed the Rebecca and Israel Ivry Prozdor High
School and the E. Billi Ivry Professorship of Talmud and Rabbinics.
She was served on boards of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity,
the State of Israel Bonds, the Friends of the Bezalel Academy of Arts
and Design in Israel, and the Brookdale Center on
Aging at Hunter College. She also supported
Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev),
David Yellin College of Education, and Boys Town,
Jerusalem.
E. Billi Ivry was born on August 27, 1906 in
Grajevo, Lithuania/Poland, one of seven children
of Israel and Rebecca Ivry. Her father was in the
lumber business in Europe and a paper box
manufacturer in New York City, while her
mother became very active in philanthropic work
with womens organizations in Manhattan.
After graduating from NYC public schools Ms.
Ivry accepted a summer secretarial job at United
Cigars and was soon selected to work for various
executives. She so enjoyed her work that she
decided to forego her acceptance at Hunter
College to take a position as secretary to the CEO
of that company.
From there, she went to work as personal
secretary to the top executive of McCrory Department Stores; he fueled
her interest in investing when he loaned Ms. Ivry a small amount of
money to invest on her own behalf.
When Ms. Ivry was in her 50s she became a licensed stockbroker,
enjoying a successful second career at Bache, McKennon, E.F. Hutton,
Prudential and Prudential Bache. This success propelled her thirdand
favoritecareer, as a philanthropist, following in her parents footsteps.
Ms. Ivry is survived by her many nieces, nephews, grandnieces,
grandnephews and cousins, many of whom attended the special birthday
celebrations sponsored by Yeshiva University over the years, including
her centennial. It was at that event that Richard Joel, the YU President,
played the accordion. I hope she forgave me for that, he said in his
eulogy.
5 9
 CURIOSITY IS TIMELESS (and apparently much more formal in the 40s). This student life
photograph, shot in one of our laboratories, was taken sometime during or after 1947 by
Herbert S. Sonnenfeld. We have identified the young man with the glasses as Theodore Ted

A Look Back Kallner 44YUHS, 48YC. If you recognize the other two gentlemen pictured, let us know who
they might be at yureview@yu.edu and we will publish their names in the next issue.

6 0 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 Y U R E V I E W
 TREE OF
L IFE S OCIETY
Jerry and I always valued
what the school stood for,
especially its mission of
Torah Umadda. I think of it
as a modern Orthodoxy
you can be Jewish, lead
a religious life and also be
engaged in the world.
MARY SWARTZ
Inspiring
For one intensive and inspiring monthfilled with lectures, tours and
traditional beit midrash [study hall] and chavruta [partner-style]
study20 Yeshiva University students traveled this past summer to
Israel as part of a program called July in Jerusalem. Now in its second
year, the program is designed to provide those from secular back-
grounds with focused learning about Torah and Jewish values.
During part of their month, students also had an honored guest in
their midst: Mary Swartz 88C, the donor who has made this program
possible.
It was wonderful, Swartz said of her time with the program.
Young people have to have a real interest to make this type of com-
mitment to their religious lives. They were able to build a tremendous
identification with Israelis, both on a spiritual and religious basis.
Swartzs own life experience has been marked by a deep commit-
ment to her faith. A native of Cincinnati, she converted to Judaism
when she and her late husband, Jerry, an advertising executive, were
living in Tokyo. Years later, in 2004, the couple provided seed money
for YUs then-new Mechinah Program, now the Gerald and Mary
Swartz Introductory Learning Program. The program takes students
with limited foundations of Judaism and offers them unique experi-
ences in Jewish life and scholarship. It was a perfect fit for the
Swartzes interests in raising consciousness of the Jewish faith, espe-
cially amongst unaffiliated Jews. Jerry, in particular, was passionate
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT ESTABLISHING A SCHOLARSHIP OR ENDOWMENT AT YESHIVA UNIVERSITY TO HONOR A LOVED
ONE, PLEASE CONTACT HENRY T. RUBIN, JD, DIRECTOR OF PLANNED GIVING, TOLL-FREE AT 877-983-3857 OR 212-960-0870;
FAX TO 212-960-0869; OR E-MAIL HRUBIN@YU.EDU
about the concept of pintele yid, fostering the spark of Judaism that
exists in all young people of Jewish descenta spark that can be easi-
ly lost in the din of mainstream culture.
Swartz, who is currently working part-time as a lawyer for the city
of New York focusing on the issue of eminent domain, decided to spon-
sor July in Jerusalem as part of her continuing involvement with the
Mechinah Program. Jerry and I always valued what the school stood
for, especially its mission of Torah Umadda. I think of it as a modern
Orthodoxyyou can be Jewish, lead a religious life and also be en-
gaged in the world.
The Swartzes values are inextricably linked to the program.
Shoshana Schechter, coordinator of the Basic Jewish Studies Program
at Stern College for Women, noted that the Swartzes had an incredi-
ble amount of insight to understand that education is the key to
strengthening Jewish identitywe have a tremendous amount of grat-
itude for how profoundly their gifts have enhanced our program and
touched our students.
One student touched by the couples generosity is Cheryl Noll
10SCW, who had the opportunity to attend the recent session of July
in Jerusalem. Noll, whose parents are both Israeli, had attended pub-
lic schools her whole life and found the classes in Israel deeply affect-
ing. July in Jerusalem was a life-changing experience, said Noll. Now
I know that this is where Im supposed to be.