VOLUME 8 NO. 5 YESHIVA UNIVERSITY • WINTER 2003

www.yu.edu/news/publications

YUTodayRichard Joel’s Election Heralds New Era❑ Praised as superb administrator and innovator in promoting

Jewish renaissance

INS

IDE

Even as a student atYeshiva University’s highschool, Richard M. Joel

believed that Jewish learningand peoplehood could notflourish in a vacuum. Indeed,through a distinguished Jewishcommunal career that contin-ued last December with hiselection as Yeshiva University’sfourth president, he has pur-sued that principle with singu-lar fervor.

During 14 years as presi-dent and international direc-tor of Hillel, he rejuvenatedthe struggling confederationof campus Jewish outposts—expanding programs andbranches, infusing studentswith values such as tzedakah,and tikkun olam, increasingparticipation in social actionactivities, and forging linkswith Jewish students world-wide, including Europe andthe former Soviet Union.

His goal then, as now, wasto explore ways of makingJewish life meaningful, accessi-ble, and stimulating to a newgeneration of Jews.

That attempt at cultivatinga Jewish renaissance meant jet-tisoning what he termed “one-size-fits-all” Judaism that forsome seemed exclusive.

His idea was to “let a thou-sand Jewish flowers blossom”and to “allow each student tobuild his or her own room inthe House of Israel,” a formulaexperts claim engendered great-er grassroots enthusiasm andactivism on campuses through-out North America.

There was also Mr. Joel’semphasis on programs to helpstudents better combat anti-Israel propaganda and activi-ties and understand Israel’simportance to Jewish identity.

An attorney and formerBronx District Attorney, Joel’selection is a homecoming ofsorts. In addition to being aYU high school alumnus, he

headed the University’s alum-ni affairs office and was anassociate dean and professor atBenjamin N. Cardozo Schoolof Law.

He succeeds Dr. NormanLamm, president of YU since1976. Mr. Joel also will becomechief executive officer of RabbiIsaac Elchanan TheologicalSeminary when he assumesoffice in June.

Dr. Lamm was a major forcein furthering the University’sguiding philosophy of TorahUmadda—traditional religiouslearning combined with con-temporary Western research in the sciences, humanities,and arts. At his election, Mr.

Joel said he looked forward tobuilding upon Dr. Lamm’slegacy, which emphasizes en-gagement in Jewish and secularworlds.

Dr. Lamm was successful inboth spheres. He is creditedwith helping bring YU’s endow-ment to more than $900 mil-lion. An undergraduate schoolof business was added duringhis tenure, and student enroll-ment has climbed to 7,000. Allthe while, he has continued towrite extensively about Jewish

continued on p. 3

AGE

SCW’s FirstDean ofStudents Celebrates 100 Years

page 9

BEAUTY

Louis Feldman:Classics ProfessorSeeks Beauty inAncient History

page 6

BRAINS

Ari Goldman:Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence

page 8

BRAWN

YU BasketballStars AchieveUniversityHistory

page 10

FA C U LT Y P R O F I L E

Carl FeitReconciling Two Cultures: Science and Religion

page 4

T IMEL INE : PAST YESHIVA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS

Dr. Bernard Revel

1915–1940

Dr. Samuel Belkin

1943–1976

Richard Joel 2003–

Dr. Norman Lamm

1976–2003

President Lamm welcomes his successor.

Dean Bacon Keynotes OUConvention

Dr. Karen Bacon madehistory at the OrthodoxUnion (OU) Conven-

tion held in December. The Dr.Monique C. Katz Dean of SternCollege for Women was thefirst woman to deliver akeynote address at the biannu-al convention of the mostprominent Orthodox organi-zation in the United States.

The selection of Dean Baconreflected a concerted effort bythe OU to give a greater role towomen in Orthodoxy.

“Women’s voices must belistened to at all levels of theOU to confront and attack theproblems that face our com-munity,“ said Dr. Bacon. “Ifnot, we risk disregarding a per-spective vital to finding effec-tive solutions.”

Women must play a partic-ularly significant role in familyissues, she said, emphasizingthat the family unit is vulnerable.

“Among the causes for thisgrowing crisis is the acknowl-edged stress on women whosepresence in the workplace doesnot obviate their major res-ponsibility for raising theirfamilies and caring for agingparents.”

Dr. Bacon also noted thepressures on adolescents andcollege students who struggle

to resolve conflicts betweentheir lives as observant Jewsand their interaction with the secular world. This con-flict, she noted, is a challengefacing the modern Orthodoxcommunity.

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb,the OU’s executive vice presi-dent, and Harvey Blitz, presi-dent, responded that thechoice of Dr. Bacon to keynotethe convention underscoresthe intent of the OU to listenbetter to the voices of women.

“We are losing Jews fasterthan ever before,” said DeanBacon. “We must protect thecore values of a modernOrthodox lifestyle, and one ofthe ways to achieve this is byensuring the strength of thefamily.” ❑

FA C U LT Y N E W S

2 YUToday Winter 2003

We Mourni

Hon. Walter Annenberg,AECOM honorary Board member,

YU and AECOM Benefactor. Named

to the AECOM Board in 1954, a

year before the school opened, he

was also an honorary alumnus of YU.

Zvi Kolitz, former YU Jewish stud-

ies instructor, honorary degree

recipient, scholar, author, film and

theatrical producer. He was best

known for “Yossel Rakover Speaks

to God,” a work of fiction written in

the voice of one of the last survivors

of the Warsaw Ghetto who con-

fronts God on the eve of his death.

Melvin Roman, PhD, professor,

psychiatry and behavioral sciences

who was director of group and

family research in the psychiatry

department at Einstein.

Rabbi Bernard Siegfried, YH

’83, YC ’87, RIETS ’94, instructor of

physics and mathematics, MSTA.

Condolences to his wife, Hadassah.

Pearl Unger, a Benefactor with

her husband, Milton. They estab-

lished the Milton and Pearl Unger

Department of Jewish Studies at

MSTA, where they endowed a

major scholarship fund to enable

deserving and needy students to

attend the school.

Condolences Toi

Pearl Berger, dean, University

libraries, on the loss of her mother,

Tova Rabinowitz.

Jerry Bergman, director, devel-

opment communications, and wife

Ellen on the loss of his mother, Ilse.

Harvey Blau, CSL Board member,

on the loss of his mother, Rose.

Harvey and Arlene Blau are YU

Guardians and CSL Fellows.

Lawrence Ruben, CSL Board

member, on the loss of his wife,

Selma. The Rubens are Guardians of

YU. Condolences also to her broth-

er, Robert Belfer, AECOM Board

chairperson.

Herbert Smilowitz, RIETS Board

vice chairman and major supporter

of RIETS, on the loss of his brother,

Bernard.

Norman Stark, RIETS trustee, on

the loss of his mother, Hanna.

Helene and Norman Stark are RIETS

Fellows and supporters of several

projects at YU.

Hilda Tejada, secretary, presi-

dent’s office, on the loss of her sis-

ter, Yolanda Chaskin.

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Ronald P. Stanton, ChairmanYU Board of Trustees

Dr. Norman LammPresident

Peter L. FerraraDirector of Communications and Public Affairs

Jay Schottenstein, Chairman, Board of Directors,Yeshiva College; Marjorie DienerBlenden, Chairman, Board of Directors, Stern College for Women; Bernard L. Madoff, Chairman, Board of Directors, Sy Syms School of Business; Robert A.Belfer, Chairperson, Board of Overseers, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; EarleI. Mack, Chairman, Board of Directors, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law;David I. Schachne, Chair, Board of Governors, Wurzweiler School of Social Work;Mordecai D. Katz, Chairman, Board of Directors, Bernard Revel Graduate Schoolof Jewish Studies; Jayne G. Beker, Chair, Board of Governors, Ferkauf GraduateSchool of Psychology; Moshael J. Straus, Chairman, Board of Directors, AzrieliGraduate School of Jewish Education and Administration; Julius Berman,Chairman, Board of Trustees, (affiliate) Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary; Erica Jesselson, Chairperson, Board of Directors, (affiliate) YeshivaUniversity Museum.

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY TODAY

Hedy ShulmanEditor

Norman EisenbergManaging Editor

Doug DayhoffGraphic Designer

Jerry Bergman, Kelly Berman, Adam Cohen, Esther Finkle, June Glazer, Norman Goldberg, Peter Robertson

Contributors

www.yu.edu/news/publications

Yeshiva University Today is published monthly during the academic year by theYeshiva University Department of Communications and Public Affiars, 401 FurstHall, 500 West 185th St., New York, NY 10033-3201 (212-960-5285). It is ditrib-uted free on campus to faculty, staff, and students. © Yeshiva University 2002

YUTodayV O L U M E 8 • N U M B E R 4

Noyes Bartholomew, DMA, as-

sociate professor of music, com-

posed Lament (for two children

of Ben Luc) for solo cello. The com-

position was performed by cellist

Jeffrey Solow at the Ester Boyer

School of Music of Temple University.

J. David Bleich, PhD, Herbert and

Florence Tenzer Professor of Jewish

Law and Ethics, CSL, published

“Stem Cell Research,” Tradition.

Also, he was interviewed on Court

TV about the Fred Neulander mur-

der trial.

Chaim Feuerman, EdD, Golda

Koschitzky Chair in Jewish Education,

AGS, presented “Motivate, Evaluate,

Communicate, Elevate: Getting

Educators to Teach up a Storm

Without Blowing Away,” at the

Torah Umesorah Annual National

Mid-Winter Conference. He also

spoke at the Long Branch, NJ,

Cong. Brothers of Israel Shabbaton

on “Evaluating Contemporary Op-

tions in Yeshiva Education to Meet

the Needs of an Open Society.”

Joshua A. Fishman, PhD,

Distinguished University Research

Professor Emeritus of Social Work,

was a plenary speaker at the

Second International Symposium

on Bilingualism, Universidade de

Vigo, Galicia, Spain.

Anatoly Frenkel, PhD, associate

professor of physics, is coauthor of

“Direct Separation of Short Range

Order in Intermixed Nanocryst-

alline and Amorphous Phases.” The

article was published in the Dec.

31, 2002 issue of Physical Review

Letters, a publication of the

American Physical Society.

Aaron Glatt, MD, YH,’79Y, pro-

fessor of medicine, AECOM, pub-

lished a sefer (volume), Women in

the Talmud (Orthodox Union

/ArtScroll).

Joel Hochman, MBA, JD, assis-

tant professor of accounting and

business law, was named occupant

of the Philip H. Cohen Chair in

Accounting at SSSB.

Ephraim Kanarfogel, PhD, E.

Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History,

spoke at Haifa University, under the

auspices of the Wolfson Chair in

Jewish Thought, on “Dreams as the

Basis for Halakhic Decision-Making

in Medieval Rabbinic Literature and

Thought.” He lectured at a com-

munal gathering convened in

Toronto by Canadian Mizrachi and

Canadian Friends of YU on

“Mysticism, Magic, and Much

More: The Surprising Legacy of

Ashkenazic Jewry.” Also, he pub-

lished “Halakhah and Mez’iut

(Realia) in Medieval Ashkenaz:

Surveying the Parameters and

Defining the Limits,” in Jewish Law

Annual, vol. 14.

Martin Leibowitz, PhD, assistant

professor of accounting, was named

occupant of the Joseph Kerzner

Chair in Accounting at SSSB.

Yamin Levy, MS, instructor of

Bible and Sephardic Student advis-

er, was the keynote speaker at the

annual Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Awareness Conference, North Shore

University Hospital. He spoke on

“Understanding the Scope of

Pregnancy and Infant Loss.” He is

the author of Confronting the Loss

of a Baby: A Personal and Jewish

Perspective.

Edith Lubetski, MS, SCW head

librarian, chaired a session on “20th

Century Research” at the European

Association for Jewish Studies 7th

Congress, Amsterdam.

Lata McGinn, PhD, associate clin-

ical professor, psychiatry and

behavioral sciences, AECOM, was

quoted in articles that appeared in

Parents magazine ("Is it Panic or just

Stress?” Aug. 2000), Shape maga-

zine (“No Plans for Children" Dec.

2002), and Employee magazine

("Commerzbank: The Return

'Home'" 2002).

Daniel Pollack, MSW, JD, WSSW

associate professor, spoke at the

Child Welfare League of America

National Adoption Conference,

held in Ft. Lauderdale, on recent

developments in adoption law.

Also, he spoke a Columbus, OH,

Jewish book fair on “Contrasts in

American and Jewish Law.”

David Rudenstine, JD, CSL dean

and Dr. Herman George and Kate

Kaiser Professor of Constitutional

Law, authored "Who Will Tell the

People?" in the Books and the Arts

section of The Nation, Dec. 23,

2002 issue. It is a review of Secrets:

A Memoir of Vietnam and the

Pentagon Papers, by Daniel Ellsberg.

Alvin I. Schiff, PhD, Irving I.

Stone Distinguished Professor of

Jewish Education, announced that

the Board of Jewish Education of

Greater New York has published an

English translation of his popular

guide for lesson planning, under

the title Halakhah L’Ma’aseh: From

Theory to Practice—Step by Step to

Effective Teaching. The manual was

originally published in Jerusalem for

the Jewish Agency for Israel.

David J. Schnall, PhD, AGS dean,

spoke on “Jewish Values in the

Workplace” at the General Assem-

bly of the United Jewish Comm-

unities. He lectured on “Managing

Relationships in Jewish Education”

at the Community Foundation for

Jewish Education of Metropolitan

Chicago. He delivered the keynote

address, “Putting Jewish Values into

Action” at Jewish Family and

Children’s Services of Philadelphia.

He also presented “By the Sweat of

Your Brow: Reflections on Work and

the Workplace in Classic Jewish

Thought” at the Board of Jewish

Education Annual Shiur.

Peninnah Schram, MA, associ-

ate professor of speech and drama,

reviewed Fables of a Jewish Aesop,

translated by Moses Hadas, in

Jewish Book World, fall 2002.

Hayim Tawil, PhD, instructor of

Hebrew, published articles in the

Journal of Semitic Studies (vol. 47,

no. 2, 2002); and the Journal of the

American Oriental Society (vol. 122,

no. 1, January-March 2002).

Moshe Tendler, PhD, Rabbi Isaac

and Bella Tendler Professor of

Jewish Medical Ethics, wrote a

series of articles on organ donation

exclusively for “On the Beat,” the

New York Organ Donor Network

newsletter.

P E O P L E

Jacob Lieberman, AA, associate

director, Food Services, was a fea-

tured speaker at Kosherfest 2002,

an international kosher food and

food service trade show.

Anya Sedletcaia, an SCW senior,

is coauthor of “In Vitro Cyto-toxicity of Protocatechuic Acid toCultured Human Cells from OralTissue: Involvement in OxidativeStress,” Pharmacology and Toxic-ology (92: 245-–253, 2002), withnow-alumna Bracha Kenigsberg,and Harvey Babich, PhD, profes-sor of biology.

Mazal Tovi

June Glazer, senior writer/editor,

CPA, on the marriage of son Ahron

to Rena Rosenzweig.

Happy birthday to ElizabethGilbert Isaacs, first dean of stu-

dents, SCW, on turning 100, and

Bernard “Red” Sarachek, former

Macs coach, on turning 90.

Edith Lubetski BRGS'68, head

librarian, Hedi Steinberg Library,

SCW, and husband Meir on the

birth of a granddaughter, Mia

Leora, to Saul Lubetski YH'87,

YC'90, and wife Rebecca.

Marvin Resnick, director of

accounting and auditing, Finance

department, and Jeannette Resnick,Payroll department, on the birth of

grandson Jake Resnick to Dr.

Jonathan and Sheila Resnick.

Amy Rotheim Sullivan, associ-

ate enrollment manager, Admissi-

ons, and husband Daniel on the

birth of son Jacob.

philosophy and mysticism. He expressed great confi-

dence in Mr. Joel’s ability tomaintain YU’s ranking as aleading academic researchinstitution.

Officials inside and outsideYU also point to Mr. Joel’scharisma, drive, and vision,attributes that defined bothhis professional career andacademic record. In manyways, he has come full circle,beginning with his early YUexperience—at 21—overseeingyouth leadership training atwhat is today’s Max SternDivision of Communal Service.

“Richard’s energy and cre-ativity will help shape thegrowth and excellence of YUin this important period,” saidRonald P. Stanton, chairmanof the University’s Board ofTrustees.

He described Mr. Joel’s workat Hillel as “innovative” and“visionary,” and said hisadministrative and leadershipskills will “serve YU and RIETSextremely well.”

Echoing Mr. Stanton wasRIETS Board Chairman JuliusBerman, who called Mr. Joel“an educator who exemplifiesthe highest standards of serv-ice to the Jewish community.”

Mr. Joel said he “believedpassionately in the guidingprinciples of YU and RIETS.

“Yeshiva University is notonly the world’s premierJewish institution of higherlearning, but ranks among thiscountry’s top research univer-sities in both undergraduateand graduate study.”

He and his wife, Esther,who holds a PhD from FerkaufGraduate School of Psych-ology, have six children, twoof whom, Avery and Penny,are graduates of YeshivaCollege and Stern College,respectively. A third, Ariella,attends Stern College, andAvery is now a rabbinical stu-dent at RIETS.

Mr. Joel received his bache-lor’s and law degrees from NewYork University, where he wasa Root-Tilden law scholar. Herecently received an honorarydoctorate from Boston HebrewCollege. ❑

Winter 2003 YUToday 3

Richard Joel

continued from page 1

New York City MayorMichael R. Bloombergreceived an honorary

doctoral degree, along withYeshiva University leaders Betty

Feinberg, Charles Kushner,Barry A. Shenkman, and ElliotK. Wolk, at the University’s78th Annual Hanukkah Dinnerand Convocation at the

Waldorf-Astoria. Some 800 YU supporters

and friends heard MayorBloomberg laud the Universityas “an integral part of the city’s

growth and diversityand among its leadingacademic researchinstitutions.”

He also congratu-lated the Universityon its recent electionof Richard Joel as pres-ident to succeed Dr.Norman Lamm, whohas held the officesince 1976.

Through guests’ at-tendance, and supportfor the evening’s Scrollof Honor, more than$1 million was raisedfor Capital Campaignfunds financing schol-arship assistance toneedy and deservingstudents. ❑

New York Mayor Addresses HanukkahDinner and Convocation

Dr. Norman Lamm congratulates Mayor Bloomberg after awarding him anhonorary doctorate at the University’s 2002 Hanukkah Dinner. Secondfrom left: Ronnie Heyman, CSL Board of Directors secretary.

Dr. Haym Soloveitchik,holder of the MerkinFamily Chair in Jewish

History and Literature atBernard Revel Graduate Schoolof Jewish Studies, has beennamed director of the SummerSchool of Jewish Studies at the Institute of AdvancedStudies at Hebrew Universityin Jerusalem.

The school, previouslyheaded by Professors IsadoreTwersky of Harvard Universityand David Ruderman of theUniversity of Pennsylvania,had emphasized intensive grad-uate courses for elite doctoralstudents.

The incoming director ofthe Advanced Institute, Pro-fessor Benjamin Z. Kedar, feltthat the existing program wasgeared toward transmittingknowledge rather than ad-vancing it.

His view was that theSummer School in JewishStudies should model itselfafter the other four seasonalprograms at the Institute,

attracting world-class scholarsto present, discuss, and debatetheir research. Thus, he ap-pointed Dr. Soloveitchik as thenew head.

The other four seasonalschools are: the SummerSchool in Economic Theoryheaded by Kenneth Arrow,Nobel laureate in economicsof Stanford University; theSpring School in Life Sciencesheaded by Bert Sackmann,Nobel laureate in medicine of

the Max Planck Institute ofHeidelberg; the Fall School ofComparative History headedby Patricia Crone of theAdvanced Institute of Prince-ton, and the Winter School inPhysics headed by David Grossof Hebrew University inJerusalem.

The Summer School ofJewish Studies will conveneunder Dr. Soloveitchik’s aegisin Jerusalem the week of May 12, 2003, during whichscholars from America, England,Germany, and Israel will dis-cuss: “Common Judaism or aPlurality of ‘Judaisms’ in LateAntiquity: The State of theDebate.”

This is not the first publicrecognition of academic excel-lence accorded Dr. Soloveit-chik in the past several years.In June 2000, he lectured on“Martyrdom as a ReligiousPhenomenon and Martyrdomas a Religious Norm” at theCollege de France in Paris.Choosing scholars from uni-versities throughout France for

their scholarly achievements,the college functions as a“National Advanced Institute”and sits at the apex of Frenchacademic life. He also gave aseries of seminars at the Ecoledes Hautes Etudes en SciencesSociales (AHESS), founded byFernand Braudel and home ofthe Annales.

The Annales School fuseshistory with other disciplinesof social sciences, such asanthropology, sociology, andgeography. Whether it is “thesingle most important forumfor the revitalization of histor-ical studies in the Westernworld,” as noted historianStuart Hughes claimed, is opento dispute. Even so, its promi-nence is documented in theEncyclopedia of Historians andHistorical Writings, which statesthat the school has “played adecisive role in dictating theagenda of 20th century histor-ical writing.”

From these seminars, andfrom the courses at SternCollege for Women and Revel,

Dr. Soloveitchik has producedan extensive article, to be pub-lished in installments in theforthcoming issues of theJewish Quarterly Review entitled“Halakhah, Hermeneutics andMartyrdom.” It is also beingtranslated into German, andwill be published in a series ofmonographs on hermeneuticsand philosophy.

His newest book in Hebrew,scheduled to appear in Israelthis spring, attempts to solvethe age-old problem of howJews entered money lendingin the Middle Ages. It, too,arose from a series of seminarsin France at the Sorbonne (Ve)in late 1999, and refined inclasses at SCW and BRGS.

This past October, Dr.Soloveitchik lectured at the“International Symposium onthe History of the Jews ofEurope in the Middle Ages,”held in Speyer, Germany, andin late April this year, he willdeliver the Joseph S. Gruss lec-ture on Jewish law at the LawSchool of New York University.

Professor Soloveitchik to Head Summer Advanced Institute at Hebrew University

4 YUToday Winter 2003

Almost a half centuryago, C.P. Snow deliv-ered his famous “Two

Cultures” lecture lamentingthe void between scientificand literary intellectuals. Asimilar case could have beenmade for scientists and theolo-gians, two cultures that hadbeen growing apart since atleast the Renaissance.

Today, however, it appearsthis gap is shrinking. A smallbut growing number of acade-micians are forging new linksbetween science and religionin the belief that answers tomany questions lay in neitherculture but in a combinationof the two.

One of these scholars isCarl Feit, PhD, who holds the

Dr. Joseph and Rachel AdesChair in Health Sciences atYeshiva College. “It has becomeacademically acceptable tolook at both science and reli-gion,” says Dr. Feit, an or-dained rabbi. A biologist whoreceived his bachelor’s degreeat YC, he has been waiting alifetime for these two culturesto begin a serious dialogue.

“For the majority of myacademic career,” he says, “my two interests had to reside separately. If you wanted to be taken seriously as a scien-tist, you couldn’t talk about religion.”

But things have changed.“From Newton in the 1600s tothe 20th century, we thoughtthat science would alwaysprogress and would eventuallyanswer all the questions aboutthe world,” says Dr. Feit.

“That assumption has certain-ly been brought into questionby modern physics. For exam-ple, if the Big Bang (simultane-ous appearance of space every-where in the universe) model

applies, then you can providea new context for a discussionof a created universe. Topics likethis have become a legitimatearea of thought for scientists.”

Part of his genetic makeup

To Dr. Feit, these topicswere always legitimate intel-lectual pursuits. Brooklyn-born,he grew up in a householdthat prized learning. At ayoung age, Dr. Feit found acalling in both science andreligion.

“When I was five years old,I would steal the afikomen [thematzah eaten at the end of theSeder meal on Passover] andthen ask for a microscope or achemistry set. My heroes werepeople who made contribu-tions that changed humanity,

largely in medicine. My earli-est memories are of sitting inmy father’s lap, looking at thebooks he was studying andlearning the letters of theHebrew alphabet. And so both

the world of Jewish learningand the world of science arepart of my genetic makeup;they have always co-existed.”

The two cultures rarelyrubbed shoulders in the out-side world, however.

After studying at YeshivaCollege, and Yale UniversityDr. Feit enrolled in a doctoralprogram in microbiology andimmunology at Rutgers Univ-ersity in 1967. Science, for thetime being, was his top priori-ty, but religion wasn’t farbehind. “I made time forlearning every day,” he says.

Perhaps too much time, inthe eyes of one high-profilefaculty member, who ques-tioned Dr. Feit’s commitmentto science when he applied fora postdoctoral fellowship.

This came as a shock to thebudding scientist. Science, to

him, was ultimately a meansto understanding himself, thehuman organism, and theworld in general. Religion alsoplayed an integral part in thatquest, and it made no sense tohim to abandon one for theother.

Inwardly, he clung to bothcultures. But professionally,he was all science. In 1975, Dr.Feit went to work for theSloan-Kettering Institute forCancer Research, earning astellar reputation for studies ofmonoclonal antibodies andhuman tumor antigens. Adecade later, he returned to YUas an associate professor ofbiology, the rare refuge for aca-demics with feet in both sci-ence and theology.

The wall begins to crumble

Over the years, the walldividing the two culturesbegan to crumble and erode,and science began to lose itsveneer of infallibility. “Cer-tainly after WWII, with thetrauma of the atomic bomb,the idea that there is some-thing value-free and neutralabout science went out thewindow,” says Dr. Feit.

Finally, as the 20th centuryended, outsiders were invited

into the ivory towers, and Dr.Feit found himself in demandat scientific meetings and sym-posia, not for his expertise oncancer immunology but forhis religious perspective onethical issues in science, suchas cloning and stem cellresearch.

For several years, Dr. Feithas been involved with Scienceand the Spiritual Quest, a pro-gram of the Center forTheology and the NaturalSciences at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, that pro-motes dialogue among leadingscientists on the connectionsbetween their scientific pur-suits and their religious or spir-itual practices.

And in 2002, he helpedfound a new learned society,the International Society ofScience and Religion, a think-tank for scientists with a reli-gious bent, including severalNobel laureates and NationalAcademy of Science members.

“It is very important thatthere be a rational Jewish voiceas part of public policy discus-sions,” says Dr. Feit. “We havea long and ongoing history ofanalytic and profound thoughton the interface of science —or at least technology — andreligion. It tends to be in atechnical and insular language— rabbinic Hebrew — for ourown community. But a lot ofwhat we say is of universalinterest.

“And one of the things Ican do is to take this world ofrabbinic scholarship and put itinto modern and contempo-rary parlance — not as a way

of telling everybody what isright and wrong, but of expos-ing them to thoughts andideas and pros and cons thatare not out there in the litera-ture. I see myself as an ambas-sador to the world at large whois interested in science andreligion.” ❑

FA C U LT Y P R O F I L E

Carl FeitForging links between science and religion

“Science without religion is lame,religion without science is blind.”

— Albert Einstein

Spotlight on Alumni

Winter 2003 YUToday 5GRADUATE

Ferkauf Awarded FederalGrant For Elderly

Einstein Opens Hispanic Center

Ferkauf Graduate Schoolof Psychology received afederal grant for training

in clinical psychology. Thefunding, from the US Dep-artment of Health and HumanServices, enables the School tooffer doctoral students special-ized instruction and clinicalexperience in gerontologicalpsychology.

The grant establishes Ferkaufas the only institution in theNew York metropolitan area toprovide such training, accord-ing to Assistant ProfessorRichard Zweig, who overseesthe program.

Ferkauf approached the fed-eral government to address theincreased demand for mental-health services among olderadults.

Graduate courses and sym-posia at Ferkauf now includecontent on mental health andaging, and PhD students inter-ested in working with olderpopulations can enroll in spe-cialized courses that have aninterdisciplinary focus, draw-

ing on faculty expertise in psy-chology, social work, internalmedicine, and neurology.

Dr. Zweig believes Ferkauf iswell positioned to be one ofthe nation’s leading centers fortraining gerontological psy-chologists because of its inter-disciplinary approach.

“Medical and psychologicalissues are closely intertwinedin older patients so they bene-fit most from interdisciplinaryassessment and treatment,”said Dr. Zweig, who trained ingerontological psychology.“This kind of collaboration is anovel concept in doctoraltraining.”

Dean Lawrence J. Siegel saidthe grant showed the federalgovernment’s foresight inplanning for an imminent,rapid rise in the geriatric popu-lation. “The baby boomer gen-eration is hitting retirementage, causing an unprecedentedsurge in the number of olderadults in the US with mentalhealth needs.” ❑

The first Hispanic Centerof Excellence in NewYork State recently

opened at Albert EinsteinCollege of Medicine (AECOM).One of only 32 such centersnationwide, the College re-ceived a $1.2 million grantfrom the US Department ofHealth and Human Services toestablish the Center.

The grant recognizesEinstein’s leadership in re-search, education, and serviceto underrepresented commu-nities.

For nearly 50 years, AECOMhas made its home in theBronx, a borough of diverseneighborhoods comprised ofmany cultures and national-ities. The Hispanic communityrepresents the largest andfastest growing population inthe borough, approximately40 percent, yet has limitedaccess to quality healthcare.

“We are thrilled to have theopportunity to improve theresources available to the com-munities we serve and to fur-ther understanding among ourstudents and faculty of thediverse health concerns of thepeople of the Bronx,” said A.Hal Strelnick, MD. Dr. Strelnickis a professor of clinical familymedicine and communityhealthcare, and program direc-tor of the Center of Excellence.

The Center seeks to increase

the number of Hispanic doc-tors, who currently hold lessthan 1 percent of senior facul-ty positions nationwide, andto teach current doctors aboutLatinos’ special concerns. Oneway to bridge the cultural gapis through a medical Spanishlanguage class, to help medicalstudents interact with His-panic patients.

“It’s very important for usto understand the diverse cul-tures we serve,” said NerreidaCorrea, MD, director of theCenter, who is also assistantprofessor of Family Medical,and Community Health direc-tor at Einstein.

Communicating with pat-ients makes coping with seri-ous medical problems moremanageable, she said.

“Our center will focus large-ly on teaching medical stu-dents and doctors about thevarying cultural attitudes thatcan impact on the care theyprovide and their interactionswith patients,” said ElizabethLee-Rey, MD, assistant profes-sor of family medicine andcommunity health and co-director of the Center atAECOM.

“As an institution, we havealways strived to assess theneeds of all of the people with-in our community and theHispanic Center of Excellenceallows us to continue in thattradition,” said Dominick P.Purpura, MD, Marilyn andStanley M. Katz Dean of themedical school. ❑

Dr. Elizabeth Lee-Rey with Congressman Eliot Engel at theCenter’s opening.

When Susan Mason,PhD, associate pro-fessor of social

work, began writing a book,she and Rachel Miller, researchsocial worker at HillsideHospital, did something un-heard of: they asked theirpatients with schizophrenia atHillside Hospital of the NorthShore-Long Island JewishMedical System, to help themwrite it.

“There was a substantialneed for a book written specif-ically for patients—there werealready several books for fami-lies, care-takers, and students,”said Dr. Mason. “Our book isthe only one that has realinterviews with patients. It’sreally moving—every story is areal story.”

In Diagnosis Schizophrenia:A Comprehensive Resource forPatients, Families and HelpingProfessionals, 35 patients de-scribe how they got sick andtheir road to recovery. Thebook also contains the latestresearch, as well as informa-tion about social services andmedication.

According to Dr. Mason,the collaborative projectproved therapeutic for thepatients, particularly when theprestigious Columbia University

Press accepted it for publication.Before they found a willing

publisher, however, the authorsfaced prejudice from com-panies and agents convincedpeople with schizophreniadon’t read. “The frustratingpart was that we really knewthe truth—they do read. It’shard to break in as social work-ers but we have shown that wehave good ideas about how towork with these patients,” saidDr. Mason.

The book answered a hugemarket need, she said. It went to a second printing,Amazon.com ordered morecopies for sale, and the phar-maceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb bought 900copies to date to train theirstaff. The book was also ratedby the Library Journal as a“must-have” for every libraryin the US. Author profits aregoing to a patient fund atHillside in Glen Oaks, NY.

Recognized experts in thefield, the authors have ad-dressed four international con-ferences. “The book is openingthe gates to a better under-standing of schizophrenia andallowing us to learn more fromothers to enhance our knowl-edge base,” said Dr. Mason. ❑

Groundbreaking Bookon Schizophrenia❑ Author is Wurzweiler Faculty

Ryan Karben ‘96Y waselected to the New York StateAssembly in a hotly contestedrace this past November. Hewas majority leader of theRockland County Legislatureuntil assuming his new duties.

As the youngest member ofthe State Legislature, he sayshe feels “a special obligation tospeak for New Yorkers that arestarting out, trying to get aneducation, buying a first home,and raising young children.”

An attorney, Karben gradu-ated from the ColumbiaUniversity School of Law in1999 where he was designateda Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.At Yeshiva College he was aMax Stern Distinguished

Scholar. Karben was first elect-ed to the Rockland CountyLegislature in 1997 at age 23,during his second year of lawschool.

Joseph Weilgus ‘99SB,founder of Project Sunshine,won the Harvard BusinessSchool Club of New York’sNonprofit Entrepreneur of theYear award. He was selected forhis success in building ProjectSunshine, a multinationalorganization providing freeprograms for ill children.

Project Sunshine encour-ages volunteers to play anactive role in the recovery ofyoungsters. Weilgus estab-lished the project as a student

at Sy Syms School of Business.At the time, he would don aclown suit and visit NYC hos-pitals simply because it madehim feel good to entertainchildren who were seriously orterminally ill.

Today the organization,with chapters nationwide andabroad, includes renowned phil-anthropists and businessmenamong its board members.

Volunteers include mostlycollege students—this year, forexample, 2,500 applicants viedfor 250 slots on ProjectSunshine at Texas A & M—and corporate types such as accountants and bankersparticipating as mentors and big buddies for kids.PricewaterhouseCoopers, atwhich Weilgus is a certifiedpublic accountant, is one ofmany firms that sponsorProject Sunshine events.

With funding from CreditSuisse, the Syms Corporation,Wellmed, and Goldman Sachs,Weilgus hopes to build thislargesse into national andglobal support. “I think we’rejust now at the tip of the ice-berg,” he says. ❑

6 YUToday Winter 2003

Louis Feldman carefullystraightens piles of tat-tered books and files that

smother his tiny formica deskas if each formed a time cap-sule. On the desktop piles ofsyllabi, nearly 2 feet high, abutstapled lexicons of ancientGreek and Latin—handouts heprepares for classes that oftennumber one or two students.Nearby, a refrigerator, rustyfrom disuse, seems just anoth-er artifact in Feldman’s uni-verse.

“I love history and classicalliterature,” he said, “becauseit’s sort of human in scale—infinitely complex, but alwaystangible, always real.”

Arms crossed on his chest,resplendent in a brilliant necktie, pale blue eyes keenbeneath short-cropped grayhair, the 76-year-old scholar istruly a man in sync with histimes, whether braving 90-minute subway commutes toWashington Heights from hisForest Hills home oranalyzing the bud-get difficulties thatplagued Romanemperors.

Interviewed inhis shoebox office inFurst Hall, he offersa favorite maximfrom Hesiod: “Forthe achievementof excellence, thegods have ordainedsweat.”

On that score,Feldman has more than kepthis end of the bargain.

Although his scholarly deedshave included developing newtheories in biblical archeology,Feldman’s students know thathis conception of beauty inclassical literature refers partic-ularly to discoveries that bringhistory to life.

His passion is to share thatbeauty with others, in the lan-guage of literature. And so heis the author of more than 160articles and 15 books, includ-ing Jew and Gentile in theAncient World.

Feldman takes particularpride in pursuits that connectantiquity to a modern world.Two summers ago, he theo-rized in an issue of BiblicalArchaeology Review that theRoman Colosseum—the RomanEmpire’s most magnificentbuilding and most impressiveengineering feat—may havebeen financed by plunderingthe biblical Temple inJerusalem.

According to second-centu-ry historian Suetonius, theEmperor Vespasian (AD 69-79), who started the building,

faced a deficit of 40 billion ses-terces, which Feldman says isthe modern equivalent of bil-lions of dollars.

Uncovering Vespasian’smethod of financing, Feldmanturned to an inscribed stone atthe main entrance. It was firstdescribed in 1813, reanalyzedin 1986, and newly deci-phered in 1995 by pro-

fessor Geza Alfoldy of theUniversity of Heidelberg. Theinscription is from the fifth-century and it tells of restora-tion of the Colosseum by lateremperors.

Feldman, considered amongthe nation’s foremost authori-ties on Hellenistic Judaism,joined Yeshiva University’shistory and humanities facultyin 1955. He was appointedprofessor of classics in 1966,and has chaired the foreignlanguage faculty since 1981.

He graduated from TrinityCollege in 1946, was a FordFoundation Teaching Fellowthere from 1951 to 1952, andreceived an honorary LHD in1988. In 1994, he was namedto YU’s Abraham Wouk FamilyChair in Classics.

He holds a PhD in classicalphilosophy from HarvardUniversity and received aGuggenheim Fellowship, aswell as a similar honor atPrinceton University’s Insti-tute for Advanced Study.

Teaching, researching, andwriting are labors of lovesavored by Feldman. Whileothers of his age may contem-

plate retirement or a less de-manding schedule, Feldmanshows no signs of slowingdown. And that pleases him—and his students.

Quality begets quality“Quite a few of my students

have become professors at

major universities in the USand Israel. Some, such asMoshe Bernstein of YeshivaCollege, David Berger of CityUniversity, Shaye Cohen ofHarvard, and Seth Schwartz ofthe Jewish Theological Sem-inary, have earned doctoratesin the classics and allied fields.Others, such as Rabbis SaulBerman of Stern College forWomen and Shlomo Riskin ofEfrat [Israel] and ProfessorsBenjamin Weiss of Jerusalem’sHebrew University and GeraldBlidstein of Beersheva [Israel],also took classes with me andpursued other fields with greatdistinction.”

An intellectual journeycontinues

“My books, articles, andother writings are, in a sense,autobiographical. Like YeshivaUniversity’s defining principle,Torah Umadda, my interesthas always been in reconcilingthe religious world to which Iwas born and the secularworld in which I was trained. Ido this through my writingand by training students incritical scholarship.”

History unlocks answers “What’s great about the

classics is that you find your-self wrestling with the verysame problems that confront-ed Philo and Josephus. I have alaboratory of 2,000 years that Ican explore. And it talks tome. People haven’t changedmuch. Fortunately these peo-ple wrote about themselvesand I can read what they said.

One reason we have sur-vived as a people isbecause we study andlearn about history.”

Making the grade“Someone once said a pro-

fessor reading examinationpapers is like a dog eating afrankfurter—getting back hissubstance in a mutilated form.I want to plant a seed in eachof my students so they can cri-tique my lessons. I’ve had stu-dents who challenged and re-futed me. It makes life excitingand worth living. Also, I don’tbelieve in original sin, so whenstudents turn in term papers, Ireturn them with typed cri-tiques. They can then revisethem and improve their grade.Only the final grade counts,and the grade I give a studentis the grade I give myself.”

Intimate learning“Yeshiva College places a

premium on the individualthat allows me to teach cours-es for one or two students. Dr.[Samuel] Belkin, when he waspresident, once told me howthat degree of personal atten-tion helped him raise money.People saw that when it cameto giving students a first-rateeducation, we were true to ourword. Every single student isof infinite importance.”

History provides greattheater

“ I consider my research funand exciting. Why should I seea movie, watch television,even read The New York Timesand take time away fromsomething I love. In that sense,I’m a hedonist. I also get hun-dreds of letters and e-mails frompeople critiquing my books orarticles on Josephus, and Ilearn from these critiques.”

Mentors“One person who influ-

enced me greatly was JamesNotopoulos, a professor ofclassics at Trinity College. Hewas so alive with what he was

teaching, and his excitementwas contagious. He was anexcellent scholar who reallygot me started. Arthur StanleyPeae, who taught at Harvard,was another great influence.He didn’t write much, butwhat he did write—detailedcommentaries on Cicero andVirgil, in particular—stayedwith you.”

48 years and counting“I am—always have been—

a one-man department. Onesea change of which I’m veryproud is our honors programsat both Stern and YeshivaColleges. Here we attract someof the country’s top students,challenging them to fulfill thebest of their potential.” ❑

Louis Feldman: Classics Professor Seeks Beauty in Ancient History

Y U C H R O N I C L E S

Winter 2003 YUToday 7UNDERGRADUATE

Biology at the Beach

Lea Honigwachs, PhD, hasbeen appointed new Univ-ersity registrar for the YeshivaUniversity Manhattan cam-puses.

She was the registrar at theMidtown Campus from 1999to 2000 and at the WilfCampus from 2000 to 2002.

In her new position, Dr.Honigwachs oversees efforts toprovide a wide variety of aca-demic record-keeping andcourse registration services tothe academic community. Sheoversees the registrar’s office atthe Ferkauf Graduate Schoolof Psychology, Benjamin N.Cardozo School of Law, theMidtown Campus, and theWilf Campus.

She plans to use technolo-gy, particularly the Web, todramatically improve servicesto both students and faculty.

Dr. Honigwachs is part ofan enrollment management/MIS team working to intro-duce online services for regis-tration and the updating ofstudent records. The servicewas launched this spring witha pilot group of Cardozo lawstudents.

“Our students are verycomputer savvy. In surveys

we’ve done with them, Webregistration tops their list andwe plan to ensure that theircollege experience matchesthe latest technology,” Dr.Honigwachs said.

The University is planningto go live with faculty Webservices, including grading,printing class rosters, andmonitoring enrollment. Cutt-ing out the clerical middle-man, she explained, will leadto accuracy in grading.

“Students can access gradesquicker because they’ll beposted quicker,” she said.

Dr. Honigwachs’ experienceat YU and with the communi-ties it serves has familiarizedher with the institution’s dualundergraduate curriculum, “aswell as the Israel yeshiva expe-rience that attracts a vastmajority of our undergradu-ates.”

She earned a doctorate inmodern European historyfrom Columbia University andhas taught history on theundergraduate level. She hasassessed foreign student tran-scripts at City University ofNew York to determine creditacceptance of courses takenabroad. ❑

Field trips aren't just forkids, especially when itcomes to exploring ma-

rine biology. That was certain-ly the case for Yeshiva Collegestudents in the Jay and JeanieSchottenstein Honors Program,who traveled last semester toSandy Hook Field Station at the New Jersey Marine

Sciences Consortium (NJMSC)courtesy of their fundamentalsof biology.

NJMSC (www.njmsc.org), acenter for the study of marineand environmental science,year-round hosts The CoastalExperience, an educationalfield trip program. Susan Prattis,

PhD, Schottenstein Professorof Neuroscience and assistantprofessor of biology, took herclass to study oceans and bays,geology, environmental habi-tats, and the impact of humanpopulation.

“NJMSC is a prime locationfor this type of research andthey have excellent education-

al resources,” Dr. Prattisexplained.

In preparation, studentsreviewed US Fish and Wildlifeand National Parks Servicereports and Marine Biologyjournal articles about environ-mental conditions and biolog-ical systems. “They learned

how to take the informationthey read and apply it to a sit-uation in a practical way,” saidDr. Prattis.

An expert in neuroscience,pathology, and biotechnology,Dr. Prattis embraced marinescience by participating inexperiments run by other sci-entists. She discovered NJMSC

through the National SeaGrant College Program and theNational Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration, whichpromote research and edu-cation about marine resources.

The honors group first stud-ied salt marshes in SandyHook Bay. “We waded in the

Of 43 Yeshiva Universityapplicants to medicalschool this past fall,

35 were accepted, including allsix from Stern College forWomen—an 81 percent ac-ceptance rate for YU under-grads versus a 36 percent aver-age nationally.

As for YU applicants to lawschools, 58 of 63 men fromYeshiva College and 21 of 22women from Stern receivedacceptance letters from at leastone American Bar Association-accredited law school—a 93percent acceptance rate.

Michael Hecht, YU’s pre-law adviser and dean of The

Marsha Stern TalmudicalAcademy-Yeshiva UniversityHigh School for Boys, termsthe most recent crop of lawschool applicants exceptional,as reflected in their LSATscores. Four YU graduatesplaced in the 99th percentileor better, and another 13placed in at least the 95th per-centile.

Law schools to which YUstudents were accepted includeYU’s Benjamin N. CardozoSchool of Law, Harvard,Columbia, Georgetown, Chic-ago, Penn, and New YorkUniversity.

Students applying to med-

ical schools posted similarlyexcellent scores on the MCATexam (necessary for medicalschool entrance). While MCATscores for YU students de-clined slightly from last year,25.3 from 29, they still exceed-ed the national 24.4 average.

Among medical schoolsaccepting YU graduates areAlbert Einstein College ofMedicine; Yale University, NYU,Mount Sinai School of Med-icine, Penn, Chicago MedicalSchool, Ben Gurion Univers-ity, Case Western, Emory,Sackler School of Medicine. ❑

YC, Stern, and Syms Students PostImpressive Acceptance Rates to Medicaland Law Schools

marshes wearing water over-alls and used a sieve and net tocollect marine invertebrates,”honors student Avi Levineexplained.

“Then we scooped up livefish and shrimp and calculatedthe total number of species wediscovered. This trip gave us afirst-hand view of what marinebiologists do in the field.”

Led by an NJMSC guide, thestudents also tested the waterfor pH, dissolved oxygen, andsalinity. They collected theirown water samples from whichthey could study organisms in

the laboratory back at YU. They explored barrier beach

dynamics by measuring beachtopography with meter sticks.By timing an orange tossedinto the ocean as it crossedtwo points on the beach, theyalso calculated a longshorecurrent.

“The students were exposedto biology, math, and socialscience and got a glimpse intocareer opportunities in marineand environmental science,”said Dr. Prattis. “This is animportant way to expand intro-ductory honors education.” ❑

Art and art appreciationare not usually empha-sized in day schools

and yeshivot.Students withdual curricula find little oppor-tunity for their creative side. This semester Yeshiva Collegeoffered students a rare experi-ence by having renownedpainter and sculptor TobiKahn as artist-in-residence.

“With Tobi’s help, we havewheted our students’ appetite,presented possibilities,” saidShoshana Golin, adjunct in-structor of studio art at YeshivaCollege.

A visit to the artist’s studio

in Long Island City, NY,launched the program late lastyear. Kahn’s work environ-ment helped students under-stand the creative process fromconception to exhibition

“It was really interesting tosee how the artist goes abouthis work and how he createsdifferent art forms,” said MeirWeinberg, a junior minoringin art.

Said YC Dean Norman Adler,“This experience brings a reli-gious perspective to western art.”

Mr. Kahn is an alumnus ofThe Marsha Stern TalmudicalAcademy-Yeshiva University

High School for Boys. His rep-utation has grown since hisworks appeared in the 1995Solomon R. Guggenheim Mu-seum show New Horizons inAmerica. This first-time visitingartist program coincides withMr. Kahn’s show at YeshivaUniversity Museum, Tobi Kahn:Microcosmos, an exhibition of36 paintings based on the bib-lical narrative of creation.

On campus, Mr. Kahn’sgave a slide presentation of hisart, while critiquing students’work.

“Yeshiva University hasgroomed generations of schol-

ars, doctors, lawyers, and busi-nessmen,” said Ms. Golin. “Wehave the possibility of provid-

ing the community withartists.” ❑

Tobi Kahn: First YC Artist-in-Residence

Tobi Kahn (right), Ms. Shoshana Coolin (center) with students inhis studio.

University Registrar Lea Honigwachs Looks to the Web

8 YUToday Winter 2003

Who’s New at YU?Faculty Members Bring New Expertise

Dr. Shantih Clemans, assistant professor ofsocial work, Wurzweiler School of Social Work.She received her DSW from Hunter CollegeSchool of Social Work, CUNY, and has taughtat institutions including Columbia UniversitySchool of Social Work. She directed the RapeCrisis/Victims of Violence Program at LongIsland College Hospital and is an experiencedconsultant, therapist, and advocate for victimsof sex abuse.

Rabbi Daniel Feldman, instructor in Talmud,Stone Beit Midrash Program. A 1994 YeshivaCollege alumnus, he studied at RIETS. Uponordination, he was selected as a Fellow of theBella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon, where hehas been involved in intensive Talmudic stud-ies for the past four years. He has taught innumerous settings in Israel and the US, andhas written extensively.

T. Kenny Fountain, assistant director of theWriting Center, Yeshiva College. He was thedirector of a writing and language center at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, where he taught literature and English as a second language. He has an MA in English from theUniversity of Memphis, TN.

Dr. Justin Hughes, assistant professor of law,Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. A magnacum laude JD from Harvard Law School, he isaccomplished in government, private prac-tice, and academics. He was attorney-adviserat the US Patent and Trademark Office and isa nationally known legal expert in intellectualproperty.

Dr. Joseph Luders, assistant professor ofpolitical science, Stern College for Women.With a PhD from New School for SocialResearch, he most recently taught at BardCollege. His interests include American racialpolitics, social movements, and public policy.Extending his prior published research, he is completing a book on the civil rights movement.

For decades, many Amer-ican Jews have had alove-hate relationship

with the press, especially overwhat they perceive as biasedcoverage of the Arab-Israeliconflict.

Ari L. Goldman, a formerNew York Times religion report-er-turned-professor, under-stands the frustration andanger with the way journalistsportray Israel in its battles withPalestinians, but Mr. Goldmanbelieves it’s a mistake to paintall reporters as anti-Jewish, oras Arab sympathizers.

Bringing balance and un-derstanding to how journalistsapproach complex stories,including religion and theMiddle East, is the focus ofGoldman’s spring semestercourse at Stern College forWomen. Mr. Goldman, a 1971graduate of YC, is this year’sMarcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence. He was areporter for The New YorkTimes from 1975 until 1993,when he joined the faculty ofthe Columbia University

School of Journalism. In 1985-1986, he spent a year atHarvard Divinity School; hisexperience there was chroni-cled in his bestseller, TheSearch for God at Harvard. Atthe Times, he wrote about reli-gion, with emphasis onJudaism.

At Stern College last semes-ter, he moderated a panel ofjournalists that included TaraBahrampour, a New York Timeswriter, and Tom Farragher, aCatholic and Boston Globereporter. The journalists dis-cussed covering their own reli-gions in stories that docu-mented abuse by RomanCatholic priests, relationsbetween women and Islam,and Jewish-Black tensions inNew York and nationally.

Comments by panelists,including Goldman (who cov-ered the 1991 Crown Heightsriots) reflect the difficultyreporters face from their reli-gious communities when theirstories challenge sacred cowsand automatic assumptions.

That makes objective re-porting difficult, if not impos-sible, he says. “Each of usbrings who we are to thestory,” he says. “I cannot helpbut write from the perspectiveof a white, American, middle-aged Jewish male. I think Ihave demonstrated throughmy work the ability to be fair. Icannot, however remove whoI am from the story.”

For Goldman, the task ofchronicling dispassionatelythe tensions between Blacksand Jews in the 1991 riotsproved extremely challenging.

“It was there—when I saw Jewsattacked—that I realized that Icould not simply be objective.

I realized that there was anoth-er side to the story (Blacks feltdiscriminated against in hous-ing and police protection) butI could not say that the feel-ings of the other side justifiedthe attacks.”

Beyond attempts at objec-tivity is the effort to generatestories that enlighten—ratherthan titillate—readers, espe-cially in regions saturated withforeign press.

A case in point is Israel,

which Goldman believes is“over-covered.”

“It is smaller than New

Jersey, but gets more mediaattention than all of Russia orIndia,” he says. “No interna-tional city, save for Moscowand Washington, has moreforeign correspondents.” Onereason for Israel’s lure, saysGoldman, is its strategic andhistorical importance, whichmakes it “the epicenter of agreat story.”

While Goldman does notdiscount some bias in newsreporting, he believes that

most journalists seek objectivi-ty and accuracy and are notpressured by editors or produc-ers to tailor coverage.

“I worked at The New YorkTimes for 20 years,” heremarked. “No one ever toldme to be tough on Israel.Editors do not wake up in themorning and say they will‘get’ Israel. News breaks inIsrael almost every day. Re-porters and editors scramble tocover it. They don’t alwaysknow the context or history ofevents. Journalism doesn’talways allow for that kind oftreatment.”

Finally, Mr. Goldman saysit’s important for Jews to sup-port the work of responsiblemedia watchdog groups inexposing shoddy and mislead-ing reporting. “But theyshould realize that not every-one shares their views,” hesays. Major news organiza-tions like the Times, NationalPublic Radio, or CNN “are notset up to be pro-Israel. Theystruggle to tell both sides;sometimes they succeed andsometimes they fail.” Heattributes their failings less tomalice than the pressures ofdaily journalism.

He opposes boycotts as ameans for expressing displeas-ure with a newspaper’s cover-age. Letters to the editor andopinion articles are far moreeffective response vehicles, hesays, together with expandingone’s news sources. “With theInternet, there are manyoptions. We can read thepapers and check the sourceswe trust the most.” ❑

Ari Goldman: Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence❑ Former Times reporter discusses media bias

Ari Goldman

Stern students query Ms. Bahrampour

Tom FarraaherTara Bahrampour

What is an individ-ual’s responsibilityto his community

in times of tragedy? Does onehave an obligation to societyat large, outside of one’s per-sonal circle, when disasterstrikes? These two centralissues are posed in The Plagueby Albert Camus, this year’sselection for the YeshivaCollege Book Project.

The theme, “Writing in theWake of Trauma: Responsesand Responsibilities,” wasinspired partly by the Sept-ember 11 tragedy. “We hopedthat the heightened condi-tions of communal traumathat it precipitated would giveour discussion a particularlycompelling and timely quali-ty,” said Joanne Jacobson,PhD, associate professor ofEnglish and book project fac-ulty coordinator.

“Our hope in selecting ThePlague was to move our annualcampus-wide discussion of‘tolerance’ into the area ofindividuals’ responsibility tothe diverse communities ofwhich they are a part,” said Dr.Jacobson. “One of our funda-mental goals is to encouragestudents to experience theways in which reading opensup their connection to theworld outside the classroom.”

The Plague is a longer andmore demanding text than

essays assigned in the past sev-eral years. Added Dr. Jacobson,“We made this decision indirect response to students onthe committee, who asked tobe more challenged and want-ed the Book Project text to beone that would stay with themfor the rest of their lives.”

“The Plague was an interest-ing choice since it involvesdiscussion of Christian theo-logy and existential philoso-phy and advocates positionsthat are incompatible withJudaism,” said David Sidney, asophomore majoring in eco-nomics. “However, in his talkat the orientation dinner,Rabbi [Yosef] Blau, mashgiachruchani (spiritual guidancecounselor) of undergraduatemen, said that reading litera-

Winter 2003 YUToday 9

• Herbert J. Cohen, MD, professor of pediatrics and of rehabili-tation at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an expert indevelopmental disabilities, has been named the first holder ofthe Ruth L. Gottesman professorial chair. He is director of bothEinstein’s Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center(CERC) and the Rose F. Kennedy Center for Excellence inDevelopmental Disabilities, Education, Research and Service, afederally funded training program at the College. At her retire-ment last year, Dr. Gottesman was the founding director of theFisher Landau Center for the Treatment of Learning Disabilities,a CERC component. Expert in learning disabilities, she became anational leader in the struggle to better identify and correctadults’ and childrens’ learning problems. She also served asdirector of CERC’s Adult Literacy Program.

• Researchers at Einstein, led by Nir Barzilai, MD, associate pro-fessor of medicine and director of Einstein’s Institute for AgingResearch, have demonstrated that the removal of visceral(abdominal) fat prevents insulin resistance and glucose intoler-ance of aging. They reported their findings in the journalDiabetes. Increase in abdominal obesity, representing an accu-mulation of fat inside the abdominal wall, is a risk for cardio-vascular disease and stroke, as well.

• Gareth John, MD, is the lead investigator of a study that hasidentified a mechanism that may inhibit myelin repair in multi-ple sclerosis (MS). The loss of myelin is thought to contribute tothe symptoms of MS. He and his researchers reported their find-ings in the Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine. Thedata may help develop therapies and treatments for MS patients.

AECOM Roundup SCW’s First Dean of Students Celebrates 100 Years

With a quick smileand girlish laugh,Elizabeth Isaacs

Gilbert readily recounts herdays as the first dean of stu-dents at Stern College forWomen. This is impressive notonly because she held thatposition 47 years ago, but alsobecause Mrs. Gilbert recentlycelebrated her 100th birthday.

An elegant and articulatewoman, Mrs. Gilbert wasapproached in 1955 byYeshiva University PresidentDr. Samuel Belkin to be advis-er to Stern students and direc-tor of student activities of thenewly founded college.

“I knew Dr. Belkin well,”she said, “since my first hus-band, Dr. Moses Isaacs, was achemistry professor and deanof Yeshiva College. It had beenDr. Belkin’s dream to establisha liberal arts college forwomen.”

In September 1954, Dr.Belkin’s dream became realitywhen Max Stern, a prominentindustrialist and vice chair-man of the University’s Boardof Trustees, made an initial giftof $500,000. The College waslocated at 253 LexingtonAvenue, just down the streetfrom its current location, andhad 32 students, including 11out of state, when its doorsopened.

Mrs. Gilbert was appointeddean of students, followingthe appointment of Dr. DanVogel as college dean.

Mrs. Gilbert grew upin Harlem and attendedWadleigh High School.She graduated fromBarnard College, un-common for an Ortho-dox woman of thattime. She had been aFrench major and was atutor and substituteFrench teacher inYonkers, NY, when Dr.Belkin made her theoffer.

“She was an unusu-al and elegant lady, andshe gave her all toStern,” said EstherZuroff, Mrs. Gilbert’sassistant and later direc-tor of student services.“She was a role model andthose students who recognizedthat learned from her.”

Stern College, the firstschool of its kind, made head-lines when it opened to trainJewish women for active andsignificant roles both in thecommunity and in the home.The first college catalog reflect-ed the mores and values of itsday. “The program of theCollege is designed to meetrealistically the goals of today’syoung woman for intelligentcitizenship, cultural apprecia-tion, preparation for a careerand graduate study, and man-agement of a Jewish home andfamily,” it said.

“Mrs. Gilbert embodied thevalues of the school and wasavailable to the students,” said

Zelda Braun, current assistantdean of undergraduate studentsat Stern College. “She set a stan-dard about how women shoulddeport themselves and wascommitted to their education.”

Mrs. Gilbert retired in 1967together with her husband, Dr.Isaacs. Then, enrollment atStern College was 400. She hasspent her retirement indulgingin her favorite pastime, gar-dening, and has been active invarious organizations, includ-ing the OU and the Yonkerschevra kadisha (burial society).She lives on her own inRiverdale and does her owncooking and baking. Mrs.Gilbert is a great-great-grand-mother; four of her grandchil-dren are YU graduates. ❑

Camus’s The Plague:2002 Book Project

ture is compatible with learn-ing Torah. He pointed out thatissues raised in the book aboutcommunal response to traumaare important for OrthodoxJews to consider in a Jewishcontext.”

Janny Scott, a New YorkTimes staff writer who wrotemany of the “Portraits of Grief“

pieces, was one of a number ofdistinguished speakers as partof a year-long series of discus-sions about writing on trauma.

Other speakers included authorDr. Richard McCann, ofAmerican University; JamesYoung, of University ofMassachusetts-Amherst andan authority on memorials;and YC faculty from diversedisciplines. The discussionsranged from narrative strate-gies in Camus’s work, toscreening of the Battle ofAlgiers to Holocaust narrativesand memorials.

Anthony Wexler, a YC sen-ior and English major, was a

volunteer discussion leader forthe project. “I sensed that thecommittee chose a book thatmay have been thematicallydifficult in that the protago-nist was an atheist and thereare Christian overtones. But Ibelieve it was a courageouschoice that stimulated intel-lectual debate, ” he said.

Now in its sixth year, theBook Project was initiated byDr. Lamm and the Comm-ission on Human Values thathe established. ❑

Janny Scott

James Young

Dr. Richard McCann (left) speaks with Shlomo Rydzinski

Elizabeth Isaacs Gilbert

10 YUToday Winter 2003

AT H L E T I C S

Move over Chris Childsand Kerry Kittles,the Lady Maccabees

are on the march. Members of YU’s Stern College forWomen’s basketball team tookDecember by storm, winningthe Dr. Betty Shabazz Mem-orial Women’s BasketballTournament for the secondyear in a row.

The tournament, named forthe widow of civil rights leaderMalcolm X, pitted four teamsagainst each other in single-elimination games. The LadyMacs defeated the College ofNew Rochelle 63-38 en routeto a match-up with hostschool Medgar Evers College,where Dr. Shabazz was an edu-cator and administrator. The

Lady Macs scored a 72-63 vic-tory to capture the champi-onship crown.

YU’s Lisa Misher, seniorguard from Oceanside, NY, wasnamed tournament MVP, aver-aging 24 points, five assists,five steals, and four reboundsduring the two-game event.Ms. Misher scored 28 points inthe championship contest.Lisa’s teammate, DanielaEpstein, was selected to theAll-Tournament Team.

For her performance in thetournament, as well as in twoother games, Lisa was alsonamed Player of the Week forthe Hudson Valley Women’sAthletic Conference (HVWAC)for the week ending December8. The following week, team-

mate Shayna Greenwald,freshman guard from Toronto,was herself named Player ofthe Week.

Additionally, a five-gamewinning streak in Decemberwas a first for Lady MaccabeesCoach Karen Green. “Fivestraight wins is big for us.”

Those five wins included astunning 72–18 romp, one ofthe Lady Macs’ biggest mar-gins of victory ever.

Lisa Misher attributed theteam’s success to camaraderiewith contributions from eachplayer.

“I think the advantage wehave this year is that we havea lot of depth on the team,”Ms. Misher said. “We all trustone another. And we have a

Lady Macs Win Shabazz Tournament

March madnessit wasn’t. Butthe 500 fans

who jammed Max SternAthletic Center lastOctober got their money’sworth as Yeshiva Univ-ersity faculty and studentssquared off for braggingrights in basketball.

It was the first-evergame between facultyand students, and thecontest lived up toexpectations, with exp-erience overcomingyouth, 58 to 57.

Leading the facultywere Yossy Gev andDavid Neiss. Gev, anassistant YU basketball

coach, is University’sall-time leading scorer,and together with Neiss,

a former teammate of his,scored more than half theirteam’s points. Gev finished upwith 16 points, one more thanNeiss.

Alex Handeles, a senioraccounting major from LosAngeles, led the students with16 points. Kenny Pollack, asophomore majoring in psy-chology and also from LosAngeles, scored 8 for the stu-dents. Hendeles said he andhis fellow students got morethan they bargained for fromthe faculty.

“It was a lot of fun, but itwas also more competitivethan I thought it would be,”he said.

The student-faculty gamewas the focal point of thisyear’s edition of Mac Madness,which began in 1997 as

Midnight Madness, a pep rallyfor the men’s basketball team.The following year the eventbecame Mac Madness andincluded all 11 YU men andwomen athletic teams. Cheersgreeted each squad, which raf-fled off prizes, includingKnicks tickets, a Sony Disc-man, and free pizzas.

The student team included:Ari Abromowitz, Jacob Asher,Shai Barnea, Leeran Factor,Yaniv Gabbay, Josh Goldman,Alex Handeles, Ovi Jacob,Jeremy Neiss, Kenny Pollack,Moshe Rosenbaum, JakeSchindelheim, Yaakov Shien-feld, and Gadi Yunger.

Faculty players were: JoeBednarsh, assistant to the athletics director; MosheBernstein, associate professorof Bible; Jeff Friedman, associ-

ate professor of history; YossyGev; Jeffrey Gurock, Libby M.Klaperman Professor of JewishHistory and assistant basket-ball coach; Robert Himber,adjunct instructor of physicaleducation; Ira Jaskol, Sy SymsSchool of Business associatedean; Andrew Leibowitz, assis-tant dean of student services;David Neiss, men’s golf coach;Mitchell Orlian, associate pro-fessor of Bible; Fred Palumbo,associate professor of manage-ment and marketing; YitzchakRosenthal, an instructor ininformation services; andJeremy Weider, rosh yeshivaand holder of the Gwendolynand Joseph Strauss Chair inTalmud. ❑

Mac Madness: Students, Faculty Square off For Bragging Rights

Daniela Epstein Lisa Misher

Faculty wins 58–57

really good bench.“Winning the champion-

ship is a great example of that

team effort. So far, this hasbeen the beginning of an ex-citing season for us.” ❑

YU basketball stars Eli Hami and Daniela Epsteinachieved University history.

YU athletic history occurred in January when twoYeshiva University basketball players, senior Eli Hami ofthe men’s team, and senior Daniela Epstein of thewomen’s team, each surpassed 1,000 career points in a24-hour period. On Jan. 26, Daniela Epstein, of the LadyMacs, became the first woman in YU history to reach the1,000-point milestone. Eli Hami, of Los Angeles, is the23rd player in YU history to score 1,000 career pointsand the 14th under current coach Jonathan Halpert.Both Hami and Epstein were honored in a ceremony atwhich school officials presented both with personalized,1,000-point commemorative basketballs.

Eli Hami Daniela Epstein

Winter 2003 YUToday 11

Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky Appointed RoshYeshiva in Mazer Yeshiva Program

Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky, a long-time instructor in the StoneBeit Midrash Program (SBMP),was named a rosh yeshiva inthe Yeshiva Program/MazerSchool of Talmudic Studies(MYP). In addition to teachingTalmud, Jewish law, andJewish thought and ethics atSBMP, Rabbi Sobolofsky hastaught Jewish law and Jewishthought at Stern College.He is rabbi of K’hal AdathJeshurun in Paramus, NJ.

An alumnus of RIETS ’90, YC and MYP ’87, Azrieli GraduateSchool of Jewish Education and Administration ’96, RabbiSobolofsky authored Reishit Koach, a book on the Talmudictractate B’chorot and has contributed many articles to RIETS’journals Beit Yitzchak and Beit Yosef Shaul. His lectures onJewish law have been recorded on CD and can also befound on the Web site www.shiur.net. He speaks regularly at venues throughout New York and New Jersey and hasbeen a scholar-in-residence in communities nationwide.

R I E T S

Lamport Auditorium on the Wilf Campus was standing-room-only whenfamily, friends, and colleagues gathered to memorialize to Rabbi Steven M.Dworken, an esteemed and devoted leader of the Jewish community. He

died January 13 of a heart attack at age 59.Executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbi

Dworken was also assistant director of RIETS’ Max Stern Division of CommunalServices. He also served as its director of rabbinic services and was a past presi-dent of RIETS’ Rabbinic Alumni. A doctor of theology, he was ordained at RIETSand earned degrees from Yeshiva College and YU’s Ferkauf Graduate School ofPsychology.

As a communal leader, he served with distinction as rabbi at Cong. AnsheChesed, Linden, NJ, for 22 years, past president of the Rabbinical Council ofNew Jersey and the Union County Board of Rabbis, and vice president, treasur-er, and secretary of the Rabbinical Council of America. Rabbi Dworken possessedwisdom, grace, and humility. He was a man who embraced and embodied theideals of Torah Umadda.

Heartfelt condolences to his wife, Susan (Haberman ’99 AGS), childrenNaomi (and Yechiel) Rotblat (‘93 SCW), Aliza (and Jonathan) Frohlich (‘94SCW,’96 AGS,’00 FG), and Arye (‘98 SSSB), and his grandchildren.

Rabbi Steven M. Dworken

I N M E M O R I A M

Thanks to a grant fromthe national Institute ofMuseum and Library

Services (IMLS), a federalgrantmaking agency in Wash-ington, Yeshiva UniversityMuseum was awarded $112,500for general operating supportfor the next two years.

Dr. Robert S. Martin, direc-tor of ILMS, said, “GeneralOperating Support grants areonly given to museums thathave the highest approval rat-ing of their peers. A museummust excel in every aspect of

its operations, from collectionsto public outreach. Today’srecipients are, indeed, amongthe very best museums in thenation.”

Sylvia A. Herskowitz, YUMdirector, noted that of 839grant applicants, only 179received funding. “We [YUM]received the highest amountpossible, but what really elatesus is the comment by a review-er that our programming andorganization are models toothers, especially universitymuseums!” ❑

Yeshiva University MuseumAwarded Prestigious Grant

What responsibili-ties do AmericanJews have to their

overseas counterparts? Howdoes one build awareness ofissues affecting world Jewry?How can students make a dif-ference?

Such questions surfaced atthe five-day Annual EimataiYeshiva High School Leader-ship Conference held lastNovember in Poyntelle, PA.More than 70 students from13 yeshiva high schoolsnationwide gathered to discusspressing Jewish issues withcommunity leaders, educators,and rabbinic authorities.

The annual conference ispart of the Eimatai YeshivaHigh School LeadershipProject created by Rabbi IsaacElchanan Theological Sem-inary's Max Stern Division ofCommunal Services (MSDCS).Eimatai coordinates programsand events year-round thatdevelop leadership skills inhigh school students. Theproject offers methods toimplement programs that im-prove and influence students’schools and Jewish communi-ties. Students are encouragedto develop opinions on cur-rent issues and consider theirroles as communal leaders.

“Eimatai seeks to providethe training and environment

in which students can honetheir leadership skills to posi-tively influence the Jewishcommunity,” said Rabbi DavidIsrael, director of MSDCS.

This year’s conference, “TheVoice of the Jewish People: KolYisrael Arevim Zeh Lazeh (allJews are responsible for oneanother),” featured lecturesand workshops on aiding trou-bled Jewish communities inArgentina and the formerSoviet Union. Students dis-cussed issues such as anti-Semitism in Europe, Judaismin the former Soviet Union,and the economic crisis inArgentina. In turn, they organ-ized fund-raising events local-ly with guidance from YUmentors to heighten awareness.

“One of the fundamentalgoals of this conference was toexamine issues that affect Jewsin other parts of the world,”said Judy Goldgrab, confer-ence organizer and coordina-tor of educational leadershipprograms at MSDCS. “Ourobjective was to empower stu-dents to be active in causesinternationally, nationally, andcommunally.”

Students came from highschools in Atlanta, Memphis,Montreal, Houston, New Jersey,and New York, in addition toThe Marsha Stern TalmudicalAcademy/Yeshiva UniversityHigh School for Boys andSamuel H. Wang YeshivaUniversity High School forGirls. ❑

Eimatai Fosters High School StudentLeadership

HAFTR juniors and SCW advisors (left to right) Rafaella Birnbaum,Amanda Seltzer, Lauren Pick (advisor), Elianne Friend, and ShiraFreundlich (advisor)

THURSDAY, MAY 22YU 72nd Annual CommencementThe Theater at Madison Square Garden, 11am

TUESDAY, JUNE 3TMSTA GraduationWilf Campus, 7 pm

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4AECOM 44th Annual Commencement Exercises Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, 6:30 pm

SUNDAY, JUNE 15SWHSG GraduationWilf Campus, 10 am

YU Commencements

NON-PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PA IDYESHIVA UNIVERSITY

500 WEST 185TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10033 WINTER 2003

YUTodayA PUBLICATION OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

The Benjamin N. CardozoSchool of Law is boast-ing a sleek, new look

courtesy of its refurbished lobbyand Fifth Avenue entrance.The 11-story building, at 55Fifth Avenue in GreenwichVillage, is nearing completionon a $40 million renovation.

One showpiece, whichgreeted students last month, isthe library, whose four floorsoffer an intellectual feast.

Designed by SLCE Arch-itects, the library features soar-

ing vaulted ceilings, broken bypatterns of geometric forms.Warm wood paneling gracesthe reading rooms, the circula-tion and reserve desks, andbook shelves, adding grandeurto this center of scholarship.An attractive alcove near theentrance features recent facul-ty publications displayed inwood and glass cases.

Some 30 new computerworkstations—Internet ready—feature state-of-the-art black,flat screen monitors and Aeron

chairs. Upholstered chairsenliven the modern, sleek fur-niture in shades of blue andlight green. Rich green tweedcarpeting and classic woodlibrary chairs create a pleasantand conducive environmentfor study and research.

The final stage of renova-tion, set for next semester, willunveil the new 250-seat JacobBurns Moot Court, as well as afirst-floor seminar room. ❑

Renovated Cardozo Library Greets Students

President Norman Lamm; Lynn Wishart, director of the law library and professor of legalresearch; Chairman, Cardozo Board of Directors Earle Mack; and Dean David Rudenstine

State-of-the-art law library opens

Library lobby sparkles