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Grants Create New Programs at Stern
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Rabbi Daniel Fieldman Wears Editorial Hat at YU Press
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Peter Achinstein Gets Philosophical About Science
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YESHivA UNivERSitY
4FAll 2009
4volUmE 14 • No. 1YUTodaYYU at Forefront of Community Conversations CHAmPioNSGAtE CoNFERENCE BRiNGS moRE tHAN 200 lEADERS toGEtHER to ADDRESS CommoN CHAllENGES
F or three days in July, Orlando, FL, was the epicenter of a series of
nationwide conversations when the 4th Annual ChampionsGate National Leadership Conference convened more than 200 lay, rabbinic and educational leaders from 50 communities across North America to address the most pressing challenges facing the movement.
The conference, sponsored by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), has grown from a gathering of 40 lay leaders in 2005 to become a major event involving prominent leaders from many sectors of the Modern Orthodox world. Its creation and growth were made possible by the vision and support of Mindy and Ira Mitzner ’81Y, University Trustee and chair of the CJF advisory coun
cil who offered his ChampionsGate resort as the conference venue at no charge. Mitzner also recently endowed the deanship of the CJF, held by Rabbi Kenneth Brander, in honor of his father, prominent philanthropist David Mitzner.
“ChampionsGate 2009 was a profound celebration of a vision of Jewish values and community. We modeled hope, not fear, and aspiration rather than crisis,” said President Richard M. Joel. “We demonstrated to community leaders how we can partner together and create a tremendous resource to help build community.”
Rabbi Brander said this year’s conference surpassed expectations: “ChampionsGate strengthened an emerging network of passionate and committed lay and professional leaders who
understand the need to leverage the efforts of one another and partner effectively to realize specific goals.”
The program addressed key issues in a direct and open manner, based on the input of participants throughout the year as well as the changed economic and social landscape since last year’s conference.
“We are marshalling the energies of the University in service to the community,” said Rabbi Brander. “Our intention was to inspire and provoke substantive dialogue, reach consensus on the issues that we can really do something about and create working plans that will enable lay leaders and professionals to enrich Jewish life and accomplish great things for the wellbeing and future of our people,” Rabbi Brander said.
Speakers included Jewish leaders such as Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations; Barry Shrage, president of the Combined Jewish
Dr. Rona Novick (R), professor at Azrieli, was one of four YU facilitators who led discussions.
Students’ Research Bears Fruit in Graduate School Placements
The career trajectory of David Stein ’09Y got off to a soaring start with a research internship in rocket
science at Princeton University’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department, and will continue to rise when he begins graduate studies in mechanical en gineering at Columbia University this fall.
Stein conducted his research in fulfillment of his honors thesis as part of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College. He worked in the Princeton lab of Dr. Edgar Choueiri, which specializes in electric propulsion and plasma dynamics. He worked on a breakthrough thruster model that con
serves fuel and will one day allow for deep space exploration. Stein’s mentors, Choueiri and Daniel Lev, a Princeton PhD candidate from Israel, hope that by searching for a way to use far less fuel and achieve much greater velocity, NASA may soon be able to send astronauts on missions to Mars.
Stein’s duties included design ing and developing a special mirror that will help direct a laser beam into the thruster, allowing researchers to conduct a crucial diagnostic test for the prototype thruster system.
“Without the resources pro vided by
The research that Leah Fried ’09S completed for her honors thesis this spring shed new light on Pre
implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), which involves cuttingedge procedures that, when performed on embryos prior to implantation, can detect diseasecausing changes in genes or whole chromosomes. Her research also helped her secure a place in the master’s program in genetic counseling at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.
The Stern College graduate has aspired to work as a genetic counselor since high school. As a college student, she volunteered as a counselor at Camp Simcha Special for Jewish children and teenagers with genetic and other congenital ailments, where she developed relationships with families of children with genetic disorders.
Through these experiences, Fried noticed a common trend. “After giving birth to a child with a genetic disorder, many times these scared families won’t have other children for a long time,” she said. “They are sometimes unaware that PGD would be a viable solution.”
For the research component of her studies in Stern College’s S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program, Fried
turned to Dr. Harvey Babich, professor and chair of biology, for help in finding a mentor. He put her in touch with Dr. Nicole SchreiberAgus, a scientific director at Jacobi Medical Center Human Genetics Laboratory who was an assistant professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at the time.
The two attended workshops and
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Stein (far right) worked with a team of PhD students at a Princeton aerospace lab.
Fried did research with Einstein professor.
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YUTodaY on The Web
www.yu.edu/news
Web exclUsive:
Finding the Sacred in SenegalFind out how a recent mission to Senegal run by American Jewish World Service changed the perspectives of four students.
awww.yu.edu/senegalmission
video phoTo gallerY
Watch high school students interview Holocaust survivors in the Names Not Numbers project.awww.youtube.com /yeshivauniversity
See photos of our students working as counselors at Counterpoint israel summer camps.awww.counterpointisrael .com
plUs
visit awww.yu.edu/news for up-to-the-minute University news.
YESHivA UNivERSitY
4FAll 2009
4volUmE 14 • No. 1YUTodaYDr. Henry Kressel
Chairman, YU Board of Trustees
Richard m. Joel Dr. Norman lamm President Chancellor
Georgia B. Pollak Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
Stanley I. Raskas, Chairman, Board of Directors, Yeshiva College; Shira Yoshar, Chairman, Board of Directors, Stern College for Women; Josh Weston, Chairman, Board of Directors, Sy Syms School of Business; Ruth L. Gottesman, Chairperson, Board of Overseers, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Kathryn O. Greenberg and Leslie E. Payson, Co-Chairs, Board of Directors, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Robert Schwalbe, Chair, Board of Governors, Wurzweiler School of Social Work; Mordecai D. Katz, Chairman, Board of Directors, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies; Carol Bravmann, Chair, Board of Governors, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology; Moshael J. Straus, Chairman, Board of Directors, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration; Julius Berman, Chair man, Board of Trustees, (affiliate) Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Sem i n ary; Miriam Goldberg, Chairman, Board of Trustees, YU High Schools; Theodore N. Mirvis and Michael Jesselson, Co-Chairs, Board of Directors, (affiliate) Yeshiva University Museum. Board listing as of Sept. 1, 2009 .
yUToday
valerie Peters Kelly Berman Boris volunuev Editor-in-Chief Editor Designer
Dan Bretl, Paulette Crowther, Enrique Cubillo, Susan Davis, Zev Eleff, Marc Fein, Karen Gardner, Norman Goldberg, Peter Robertson, Hedy Shulman, V. Jane Windsor, Yael Wolynetz, Matthew Yaniv
Contributors
yutoday@yu.edu
YUToday is published quarterly by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs and is distrib uted free to faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and friends. It keeps them informed of news from across Yeshiva University’s undergraduate and graduate divisions and affiliates. The quarterly newsletter covers academic and campus life, faculty and student research, community outreach and philanthropic support. It showcases the University’s mission of Torah Umadda, the combina-tion of Jewish textual study and values with secular learning, through stories about the diverse achievements of the University community.
© Yeshiva University 2009 • Office of Communications and Public Affairs Furst Hall Room 401 • 500 West 185th St. • New York, NY 10033-3201 • Tel: 212.960.5285
Stern Expands Curriculum With New GrantsjewiSh edUcaTion Track eSTabliShed wiTh SUpporT from leGacy heriTaGe fUnd
Nine young women who dream of becoming Jewish studies teachers begin
their studies at Stern College for Women this fall, thanks to a recent grant from Legacy Heritage Fund that has created a new concentration in Jewish education within the Jewish studies major.
“Legacy Heritage Fund, through this Jewish Educators Project, will ultimately elevate the caliber of instruction in Jewish schools nationwide, providing children with a new cadre of dynamic and creative teachers to enrich our educational systems,” said Dr. Karen Bacon,
The Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean.The scholars will receive
full tuition support in the form of grants and forgivable loans for three years of undergraduate
study. Graduates who work in the field of Jewish education for three years will have their loans forgiven in full.
Each scholar will be assigned a mentor for the first two years of her employment in Jewish education to support her professional development.
Deena Rabinovich, an instruc tor in Bible at Stern College, directs the program. She will develop new pedagogic courses, oversee fieldwork, student teaching and mentoring, and coordinate the program with the offerings at Azrieli for stu dents wishing to pursue advanced degrees. n
A new fellowship offered by Stern College this fall, with the partnership and support of the Jewish Foundation for Education of Women (JFEW), will enable highachieving sophomores to further excel in the sciences.
“Stern is home to a record
number of women enrolled in science programs in preparation for careers in both clinical areas and research,” said Dean Bacon. “With the support of the foundation, a select group will now have the benefit of enhanced scholarships, mentoring and stipends to conduct research.”
This year and next, 10 JFEW Fellows will receive $10,000 scholarships for each of three years. A stipend of $2,500 will support their summer research internships.
The fellows will be offered the opportunity to attend and present research at national and international conferences. Mentors from the Stern faculty will advise the students on course selection, research experience and preparation for graduate school applications.
“Since 1880, JFEW has helped women achieve their educational aspirations and contribute to society,” said Jill Smith, vice president and chair of the foundation’s Jewish Community Program. “Stern is similarly committed to women’s educational achievement.” n
Rabinovich directs program.
JFEW fellowship prepares students for science careers.
jewiSh foUndaTion for edUcaTion of women creaTeS Science fellowShip
Barry Eichler Appointed New YC Dean
Dr. Barry Eichler ’60Y, professor of Bible and ancient Near Eastern studies at
Yeshiva College (YC) and Bernard Revel Grad uate School of Jewish Studies, has been appointed as dean of YC for the next two years. Dr. David Srolovitz resigned as dean in late July to accept a highlevel research opportunity in Singapore, where he is scientific advisor to the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research’s (A*STAR) Science and Engineering Research Council and scientific director to A*STAR’s Institute for High Performance Computing. Srolovitz is on leave as professor of physics at YC.
Eichler, a distinguished scholar and educator, joined YU full time last year after 40 years as professor of Assyriology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. A YC graduate, he returned periodi
cally over the years as a visiting professor at Revel.
“Dean Eichler shares my commitment to invest in building the undergraduate enterprise at Yeshiva and to advance the quality of teaching and research,” said President Richard M. Joel. “He is dedicated to celebrating the Torah in all its facets and to ensuring that our students will be welcomed at the finest graduate and professional institutions.”
Eichler founded Penn’s Jew ish studies program and curated the Babylonian Tablet Collection at its Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He taught at Penn Law and was a visiting professor at Hebrew University and a fellow at Yale University.
He is the author or editor of five books and many articles. Most of his publications focus on the application of Mesopotamian literature to the study of the Bible. n
Eichler founded Penn’s Jewish studies program.
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New Syms Seminars Target Entrepreneurs and Family Businesses
S y Syms School of Business further expands the scope of its education
beyond undergraduate programming this fall when it launches the Center for Executive and Professional Education. The center will offer postgraduate edu cation and professional devel opment to meet the needs of business professionals, especially in the Jewish community.
“Success in business de mands continual updating of our knowledge and skills,” said Dr. Michael Ginzberg, dean of the business school. “This is never more true than at a time of rapid economic change such as we are experiencing today.”
“The center’s professors are experienced practitioners and talented educators who know what is needed to succeed in today’s economic environment and have the skills to communicate it,” Ginzberg added.
The center launches with two oneday seminars this fall dedicated to entrepreneurship skills and another series in the spring dedicated to family business challenges and notforprofit leadership. “These are areas where we have great experience,” Ginzberg said.
The certificategranting seminars will be held on Sundays to cater to Shabbatobservant
business professionals. Teaching these seminars will be Dr. Brian Maruffi and Dr. Steven Nissenfeld, both professors of management, and Michael Strauss, adjunct professor and entrepreneurinresidence, as well as outside industry experts.
The center is working toward offering an Executive Master of Business Administration program (EMBA) in fall 2011, which will be designed for midcareer managers and professionals.
It will also hold classes on Sundays for Sabbath observers and those who cannot do the typical Saturday coursework of many other EMBA programs. n
Thank YoU To everyone who conTribUTed To yeShiva UniverSiTy’S fUndraiSinG SUcceSS ThiS year. With your help, the University realized some $105 million in cash during its 2007/08 fiscal year. “Although we are pleased with the approximate three percent increase from last year, the demands for more scholarship aid for our students and funding of our programs and services are so significantly greater in these challenging economic times that increased philanthropic
support is critically important to propel us forward in the coming years,” President Richard M. Joel said. This year’s total cash raised, the highest in YU history, demonstrates the confidence that donors have in the University as a vital and vibrant institution committed to ensuring the future of the Jewish community. Visit the new giving Web site, www.yu.edu/giving, to make a gift, see videos and read news about alumni, donors, students and friends who are making a difference at Yeshiva University. n
Students Land Prestigious Internships
U ndergraduate students completed a range of prestigious internships
this summer that will be a valuable bridge between their YU experience and graduate study or the working world. YU’s Career Development Center helps students find internships, while faculty often help connect them to appropriate research opportunities.
Yehudit Fischer, who is majoring in biochemistry and Judaic studies at Stern College, interned at Hebrew University’s Research Center for Bioengineering in the Service of Humanity and Society. Fischer worked with a PhD student to investigate ways to sterilize foods and drugs in areas of the world that lack refrigeration.
“This experience has provided me with a glimpse of what conducting research in Israel is like,” said Fischer, who hopes to move to Israel one day. “I think having made some contacts here will be beneficial for the future.” Fischer will apply to doctoral programs in biomedical engineering in the fall and plans to work in that industry or academia.
Political science majors Chaya Citrin and Steven Paletz worked on Capitol Hill as part
of a program run by the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs. Citrin interned for Rep. Michael E. McMahon of New York, while Paletz worked for Rep. Ileana RosLehtinen of Florida, the ranking member of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee.
Citrin organized materials for staffers, responded to constituent queries, attended hearings and showed constituents around the Capitol. “Communicating with a wide base of constituents made me realize how complex their issues are
and how difficult it is to balance them,” said Citrin.
Paletz led tours, wrote letters, edited speeches and conducted research on proposed bills. “It is important for my generation to become more involved in public service, and to do it proudly while wearing a yarmulke,” said Paletz.
These are just three of the many exciting internships and research opportunities that students completed this summer. For more profiles of students’ summer internships, go to www.yu.edu/interns n
Yehudit Fischer hopes to work in biomedical engineering in Israel.
YU Appoints19 New Faculty
Y eshiva University appoint ed 19 under graduate and graduate professors
this fall.Dr. James A. Kahn, a fore
most expert in economics, was appointed the Bertha and Henry Kressel Professor of Economics and chair of the combined undergraduate economics departments. He comes to YU after a long tenure at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, most recently as vice president since 2004. Last year, Kahn was concurrently a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is the author of more than two dozen articles and the recipient of many awards and grants. Kahn received his PhD from the Manhattan Institute of Technology in 1986. Kahn will be teaching in both the men’s and women’s undergraduate programs.
Dr. Ronnie Perelis joins Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies as the Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Abraham and Jelena (Rachel) Alcalay Professor of Sephardic Studies (JudeoSpanish). His area of research is the history and literature of Marranos, Spanish Jews forced to convert to Christianity under threat of expulsion, the subject of his PhD research at NYU. He
has taught at institutions including Brandeis University, University of Pennsylvania and NYU.
Dr. Moshe Krakowski has been appointed assistant professor at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. Krakowski received his PhD at Northwestern University in 2008 and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago. His research interests include conceptual change, spatial intelligence, ultraOrthodox Jewish education, worldview, epistemology and nondominant epis temologies. Krakowski has presented his work at numerous conferences and has taught and led workshops for elementary school teachers.
See all new faculty at www.yu.edu/newfaculty2009 n
Kahn will chair economics.
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the honors program, this opportunity would not have been open to me,” said Stein, who called the program “the highlight of my YU academic experience.”
Dr. David J. Srolovitz, then dean of the college who came to YU after a distinguished tenure at Princeton, introduced him to Princeton’s researchers in aerospace engineering. It is just one example of the University’s faculty using their networks of col
leagues and collaborators around the world to help students find research opportunities that match their interests and academic goals.
Stein, who is also pursuing rabbinic studies at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Sem
inary, said he discovered twin interests in teaching Torah and studying science at YC. “The two coalesce as part of my passion in doing something for the Jewish people,” said Stein, who plans to move to Israel eventually with his wife, Talya.
“My dream was always to use creativity found in Torah and an engineering background to make a serious contribution in Israel,” said Stein. “YU has been a driving force that has brought me much closer to realizing that dream.” n
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Yeshiva University signed a memorandum of understanding in June with haifa University to collaborate on public health research and educational opportunities for faculty and students. The agreement extends the relationship that yU’s institute of public health Sciences has established with the public health foundation of india into a three-way international collaboration. The initiative was developed by dr. Sonia Suchday, co-director with Dr. Paul Marantz of the institute, and Dr. Yael Latzer, associate professor at Haifa University’s Department of Social Welfare and Health Sciences. The arrangement will help students and faculty in the U.S., Israel and India gain a better understanding of international health issues, and will bolster Israel’s academic community in light of pressure to boycott Israeli academics.
The national institutes of health (NIH) has awarded einstein a five-year, $10 million grant to study how the motion of atoms on both extremely short and long time scales contribute to enzyme function. This work has the potential to provide the deepest possible understanding of the chemical reac-tions that are both central to life and become dysfunctional in disease states. Enzymes are proteins that increase the rate of, or catalyze, chemical reactions within cells. It is well known that atomic motion alters the shape of proteins over relatively broad time scales, from milliseconds to seconds. Theoretical and experimental techniques developed at Einstein and at Emory University now allow investigators to “watch” these chemical reactions. The findings of the study, led by dr. robert callender, professor of biochemistry, may have important impli-cations for drug design since enzymes are targets for a broad array of pharmaceuticals.
The organization for the resolution of agunot (ORA), a program under the auspices of the Center for the Jewish Future that helps disputing couples resolve their differences and obtain a timely divorce in accordance with Jewish law, recently resolved its 100th case since its establishment five years ago. ORA provides all of its services, from confidential consultations and professional referrals to mediation and engaging neighbor-hood and community support, free of charge. It operates under the guidance of rabbi hershel Schachter, rosh yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and utilizes an extensive team of attorneys, rabbis, mental health professionals and community volunteers. In addition to the resolution of its 100th case, ORA still has 72 active cases of agunot, or “chained wives,” from across the country, Israel and around the world.
Continuing a tradition of bringing kollelim [Torah study institutes] to various Jewish communities around North America, the center for the jewish future (CJF) ran four kollel programs this summer in Teaneck, denver, los angeles and Toronto. Rabbinic and undergraduate students learned with community members under the guidance and mentorship of roshei kollel, CJF staff and expert rabbis. The kollelim “infuse the student body with leadership qualities, empower Jewish communities across America, and celebrate the Torah of Yeshiva University,” said rabbi kenneth brander, The David Mitzner Dean of CJF. The center also held a Torah learning program at lincoln Square Synagogue this summer for women of all ages to pursue advanced Talmudic and Judaic study. Highlighting the women’s beit midrash fellows program was a course led by elana Stein hain, who completed advanced studies in Talmud at YU’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) and is the community scholar at Lincoln Square Synagogue.
Seven of the 20 recipients of the prestigious wexner foundation Graduate Study fellowship this year are yU graduates or students. The fellowship program encourages the development of promising leaders in the North American Jewish community through graduate training, professional men-toring and specialized programming. They will receive an annual stipend of $20,000. They are: lea (new) aizenman ’08S, a Presidential Fellow in 2008-09; cynthia bernstein ’06S; rafael cashman ’09AG; Zev eleff ’09Y; debra Glasberg ’09BR; marc herman ’09BR; and Simcha willig, a student at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
Einstein Shares $46M Grant for Research on BiodefenseCoNSoRtiUm to PRotECt SoCiEtY FRom iNFECtioUS DiSEASES
A consortium of research centers in the tristate region, including Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, has received a $46 million grant to conduct research on emerging infectious diseases.
The grant, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health, will allow the continuation of activities of the Northeast Biodefense Center (NBC).
Established in 2002, the center is the largest of 10 designated Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research in the U.S.
Its investigators conduct interdisciplinary research on diag nostics, therapeutics and vaccines to address the challenges of emerging infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance.
Highlights of the center’s work over the past few years include the creation of diagnostics used to guide containment of the SARS outbreak in Beijing in 2003, insights into pandemic influenza enabled by resurrection of the 1918 influenza virus and new vaccines and drugs for emerging infectious diseases.
“The magic of the NBC is that for the first time it has brought together many regional institutions that had no history of collaboration in a joint effort to protect our society from a wide range of emerging infectious diseases,” said NBC’s deputy director Dr. Arturo Casadevall, the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at Einstein.
“Groups that previously had never interacted are now working together to develop diagnostics, vaccines and drugs
against many types of infectious diseases,” Casadevall said. “The net result has been greater progress, communication, coordination and preparedness to meet existing and future biological threats.”
Five Einstein researchers are involved in the center, including Casadevall, who is developing passive immunization strategies for anthrax.
The center comprises more than 350 scientists and 28 institutions in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Other lead institutions include: Cornell Uni versity; Mt. Sinai School of Medicine; Public Health Research Institute; Rockefeller University; Stony Brook University; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Wadsworth CenterNew York State Department of Health and Yale University. n
New Ferkauf Research Project Focuses on Holocaust Survivors’ Grandchildren
A s the surviving generation of the Holocaust enters their twilight
years, a new research project spearheaded by Dr. Louise Silverstein, a professor at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, is examining how knowledge of the Holocaust is passed down to survivors’ grandchildren and taught at schools.
The multiphase, longterm study began in 2007, with the support of the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center for International Affairs, by creating an archive of interviews with grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Recent Ferkauf graduates Dr. Penina Dorfman ’09F and Marina Stolerman ’09F interviewed almost 30 thirdgeneration, or “3G,” young adults and found a wide diversity of experiences.
“Some of the grandchildren knew a lot about their grandparents’ experiences while others knew very little,” Silverstein said.
Some participants were devoting their professional lives to studying the Holocaust while others stated that they almost never thought about the tragedy. One reported being continually haunted by thoughts of her grandparents’ suffering.
Silverstein became interested in learning about how the Holocaust was being taught in the U.S. and in Israel—which
gave rise to the second phase of the project. Silverstein teamed up with Dr. Tal LitvakHirsch of Ben Gurion University—whom she met while on a trip to Israel to study Yad Vashem’s archives—to conduct a collaborative study comparing Israeli and U.S. educational approaches to teaching the Holocaust, and the effects of
these educational efforts on 3G young adults. Sharon Peled, a Ferkauf doctoral student, is collecting and analyzing this data.
“One of the main findings that is emerging is the lack of a formal, standardized curriculum for teaching about the Holocaust in the U.S.,” Silverstein said. “Teaching is informal and highly variable. We find this state of affairs concerning. How
can we be sure that the Holocaust will never be forgotten if it is not being taught well or even at all?”
In the project’s third phase, two Ferkauf graduate students, Dana Marnin and Penina Weiss, are compiling a bibliography of the variety of educational approaches to teaching the
Holocaust in the U.S. “Our goal is to identify
the best programs and create a model curriculum that we will recommend to various state and national educational organizations,” said Silverstein.
She added: “We anticipate new questions will arise as the research continues. Thus we look forward to additional phases in this project.” n
Silverstein says lack of formal Holocaust curriculum is “concerning.”
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Cardozo Report Criticizes Immigration Home Raids
T he Immigration Justice Clinic at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
released the first public study of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s
home raid operations, finding that immigration agents have engaged in widespread constitutional violations during such operations.
The report documents the prevalence of violations involving immigration agents forcing their way into private residences during predawn hours, without warrants or other legal author ity, and seizing residents without legal basis in a pattern suggestive of racial profiling.
The report concludes that the large majority of people arrested during home raids are not dangerous targets but rather civil immigration violators in the wrong place at the wrong time—
people who have, for example, overstayed their visas.
While ICE has publicly and repeatedly admitted that it does not obtain judicial warrants for its home raid operations, the report finds a pattern of ICE agents physically breaking their way into private homes in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. The study finds a pattern of ICE agents abandoning their purported focus on highpriority targets and illegally seizing residents without legal authority in an apparent effort to meet inflated arrest expectations.
Finally, the data reveals that Latino residents are dis
proportionately likely to be arrested without any articulated basis. Indeed, approximately 90 percent of the collateral arrest records reviewed, in which ICE officers did not note any basis for seizing and questioning the individual, were of Latinos—though Latinos represented only 66 percent of target arrests.
“The government’s heavyhanded tactics are a monumental waste of public resources resulting primarily in the arrest of hardworking immigrants who pose no danger at all to society,” said Peter L. Markowitz, director of the Immigration Justice Clinic and coauthor of the report.
Through two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, the report’s authors obtained significant samples of ICE arrest records from home raid operations in both New York and New Jersey.
The report relies on an analysis of these arrest records together with national data regarding immigration suppression motions and individual accounts of ICE home raids. The report also relies upon the observations of political and law enforcement leaders who have a unique vantage point from which to view ICE misconduct during home raid operations in their local jurisdictions. n
Markowitz co-authored report.
Azrieli Trains Jewish School Teachers with Support from Legacy Heritage Fund Limited
A new grant from Legacy Heritage Fund Limited will help attract, train
and retain more highquality teachers for placement at Jewish day schools.
The Legacy Heritage Teacher Training Fellowship funds five qualified recent grad uates this year—and 20 in total over the next three years—to teach at schools across North America while studying toward master’s degrees at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.
“This fellowship will im prove the quality of Jewish education by training young talented people interested in making a difference,” said Dr. Scott J. Goldberg, director of YU’s Institute for UniversitySchool Partnership, which piloted the program last year.
The fellows receive a fulltuition scholarship for three summers of coursework culminating in a master’s degree from
Azrieli with two years of teaching in the intervening months.
Veteran teachers at the host school mentor the fellows through classroom observation and weekly meetings. Azrieli
faculty trained both the fellows and their mentors this summer and will provide guidance to the mentors and the fellows throughout the school year.
In addition, the fellows engage in professional development via conferences and online seminars.
“By recruiting and supporting these fellows in their initial years of teaching, the grant helps YU nurture the future leaders and practitioners in the field of Jewish education,” said Joey Small, the institute’s fellowship coordinator.
The fellowship builds on the success of the Teacher Training and GiveBack Fellowships that were initiated a year ago. The institute matched schools in Chicago, Memphis and Los Angeles with wellqualified teachers. The new fellowship continues to focus on schools outside the New York area, where the need for welltrained Jewish teachers is more acute. n
new aZrieli joUrnal focUSeS on holocaUST edUcaTion
PRISM: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Holocaust Educators, published by Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and funded by the Rothman Foundation, offers educators a practical, scholarly resource on teaching the Holocaust at
the high school, college and graduate school levels. The peer-reviewed journal is edited by Azrieli faculty members Dr. Karen Shawn, visiting associate professor of Jewish educa-tion, and Dr. Jeffrey Glanz, the Raine and Stanley Silverstein Professor of Professional Ethics and Values.
Each issue will examine a specific topic through a variety of lenses, including education, history, literature, poetry, psychology and art. Experts from high schools, colleges, universities, muse-ums and resource centers in the U.S. and Israel will bring diverse perspectives highlighting particular facets of the issue at hand.
The first issue, published this fall, explores the concept of trauma and resilience in children during the Holocaust, as well as the effects today of teaching and learning about it. The second issue, published in spring 2010, will look at bystander behavior, while the third, published in winter 2011, will examine relationships among family members during the Holocaust and in its aftermath. To obtain a copy of the journal, e-mail prism@yu.edu
a n i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y j o u r n a l f o r h o l o c a u s t e d u c a t o r s • s p r i n g 2 0 0 9 • v o l u m e 1 , n u m b e r 1
y e s h i v a u n i v e r s i t y • a z r i e l i g r a d u a t e s c h o o l o f j e w i s h e d u c a t i o n a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n
Arye Sufrin is a fellow teaching at YULA Boys High School.
Genetic counselorContinued from Page 1
community conversationsContinued from Page 1
conferences on genetics research together last year. “I helped Leah make connections with valuable members of her intended field, and she exposed me to some of the wonderful activities she is involved in, including the YU Student Medical Ethics Society Conference in 2007,” SchreiberAgus said.
Fried’s thesis explores ethical issues surrounding PGD, including preimplantation sex selection and checking for Huntington’s Disease. In the case
of the latter, a genetic disorder that does not impair a person’s life for decades, scientists and ethicists have raised the concern that it is immoral to prevent life, especially when a cure may be discovered in the future.
“Most halachic arbiters have determined that one can use PGD to prevent lifethreatening diseases. But there is still some ignorance in the Jewish community about what the technology involves,” Fried said. “One of my goals is to inform our community about how PGD can be viewed in halachic terms.” n
Philanthropies of Greater Boston; Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder of the National Jewish Outreach Program; Rabbi Dovid Stav, chair of Tzohar Rabbis in Israel; and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The conference brought teams of people together in task forces to craft solutions to specific challenges. “We’re stronger when we work together because we all bring our own expertise,” said Rabbi Ari Rock
off, director of community partnerships for CJF. “This was not just a gathering for the purpose of gathering, but a dynamic ongoing ‘community of community leaders’ engaging in nonstop dialogue together.”
One task force will look into ways of using technology to connect community members and continue the conversations that took place at ChampionsGate. A second group will generate ideas to address issues affecting Orthodox singles while a third will develop best practices for governing boards and institutions.
YUToday will report in subsequent issues on these and other task forces as their activities take shape.
“The conference was inspirational, stimulating and informative. It can be summed up by my feeling that YU is the epicenter for Modern Orthodoxy and it is listening, and together we can make a difference,” said Roz Schultz, a lay leader from Toronto who sits on the CJF advisory council. n
6 YUTodaY
s www.yU.edU/newS fall 2009
FacUlTYSpotlight
For more than 40 years, Dr. Peter Achinstein has made a career out of writing about his two related
interests: the philosophy of science, and its history. Now, still as prolific as when he first began, Achinstein is being honored by Oxford University Press with two forthcoming volumes.
The first book, Evidence, Explana-tion and Realism: Essays in the Philosophy of Science, will collect a group of Achinstein’s previously published articles, reedited to reflect the author’s most current observations. The second volume will feature 20 essays written by leading scholars in honor of the Harvardeducated professor. Achinstein hopes both volumes will be out in the next year or two.
After many years teaching at Johns Hopkins University, Achinstein was appointed the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein University Professor of Philosophy last spring.
Achinstein’s work deals with, among other topics, determining what type of evidence should count to prove a scientific theory or hypothesis, which was the focus of his 2001 book, The Book of Evi-dence, as well as of Particles and Waves, for which he received the prestigious Lakatos Award in 1993.
To illustrate, Achinstein offered the historical example of Jean Baptiste Perrin, the French physicist and Nobel
laureate who proved the existence of molecules in 1908. Although he could not see or observe them, Perrin—an example of a socalled “scientific realist”—argued
that he had quantitative experimental evidence from which the existence of molecules could be conclusively inferred.
“Antirealist” detractors of Perrin’s work argued that scientists should not be permitted to draw such a theoretical conclusion unless they could directly observe and measure the postulated entity.
Achinstein’s essays in Evidence use the same historical approach to tackle the issue of whether scientific explanations need observational confirmation. He pointed to ongoing debates over superstring theory—which posits that all the elementary particles in nature are produced by the vibrations of strings in multidimensional space—as an example of a theory that is believed by many physicists but rejected by others because no experimental evidence has been proposed to prove it.
Beginning this fall, YU’s new Center for History and Philosophy of Science, led by Achinstein, will bring in guest speakers to expose undergraduate students to debates such as these.
“Because of the analytical, questioning nature of their training in Talmud studies,” he said, “YU students are particularly wellequipped to grapple with philosophical issues that arise in the foundation of science.” n
W ith five books to his credit, Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, who teaches in the Irving I. Stone
Beit Midrash Program (SBMP), has earned a reputation as a prolific author of Jewish scholarship.
His latest work, Divine Footsteps: Chesed and the Jewish Soul, published by the Michael Scharf Publication Trust of YU Press in January, delves into a rich array of rabbinic sources to address issues of performing kindness and morality. The volume includes insights into the Jewish laws regarding lending money,
administering and handling charity, and visiting mourners and the sick.
“Sometimes it is helpful to see how the timeless position of Torah and its sages bolster today’s conception of ethics,” Rabbi Feldman said. “Other times it’s instructive to note how perspectives rep
resented throughout the halachic [Jewish legal] literature differ from society’s outlook, so that we may locate a proper balance between Judaism and the modern world.”
His latest book serves as the prototype for a new initiative he is overseeing with Scharf/YU Press to increase the publication of scholarship by roshei yeshiva [professors of Talmud] at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and YU’s rabbinic faculty. He is helping to steer several books toward publication.
“Scharf/YU Press has been a leader in producing scholarship for decades,” said Rabbi Feldman, who is the spiritual leader of Etz Chaim in Teaneck, NJ. “As the institution continues to grow, I will be working with some of our leading Torah scholars to maximize scholarship and its accessibility.”
He was selected for the role because of his “profound editorial ability to discern quality in identifying publishable works that are of value for the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Yona Reiss, The Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS.
In his own writing, “Rabbi Feldman has been successful in finding Torah sources that provide guidance on how to deal with clashing imperatives in accordance with our traditions,” Rabbi Reiss added.
In recognition of this last trait, he was selected as program director of the Rabbinic Research and Resource Center run by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future. He fields questions from rabbis seeking access to Jewish scholarship on contemporary matters and who need assistance resolving challenging pastoral situations and crafting speeches.
It’s a talent that comes through in his teaching as well. “Rabbi Feldman presents everything in such an organized and eloquent manner that it is impossible not to fall in love with the Torah he is teaching us,” said said Judah Abraham, a student of his for the past three years. n
Peter Achinstein Tests the Basis of Scientific Proof
Author Rabbi Daniel Feldman Assumes Editorial Role at YU Press
Rabbi Feldman has published five books.
new GranTS for Science reSearch
dr. anatoly frenkel, pro-fessor of physics at Stern College for Women, is one of four principal investigators awarded a grant of $1.92 mil-lion over three years from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the fundamental proper-ties of nanoparticles that are
essential for catalysis (the speeding up of chemical reactions). His research could ultimately help develop more efficient catalysts and lead to alternative sources of energy. “Catalysis is at the core of the chemical and petroleum industries in the U.S. and is thus of critical importance to the national economy,” Frenkel said.
dr. neer asherie, assistant professor of physics and biology at Yeshiva College, was awarded a three-year,
$300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study protein phase behavior—“what hap-pens when you take a solu-tion of proteins and change the conditions,” Asherie explained. By studying the changes that occur in pro-tein solutions, he hopes to
better understand protein condensation diseases, such as cataracts or Alzheimer’s, and improve processes such as the industrial purification of proteins.
dr. marina holz, assistant professor of biology at Stern College, was awarded a one-year, $30,000 grant from the Wendy Will Case Cancer Fund to research the role of the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin)/S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1) genetic pathway in breast cancer. Holz is inter-ested in identifying genetic
and molecular differences between normal and cancer cells that would allow scientists to design targeted therapies. YUToday featured Holz’s research in the summer 2009 issue.
Achinstein teaches philosophy at YC.
“ YU students are particularly well-equipped to grapple with philosophical issues that arise in the foundation of science.” dr. peTer achinSTein, The jay and jeanie SchoTTenSTein profeSSor of philoSophy
“ It is impossible not to fall in love with the Torah he is teaching us.” jUdah abraham, STUdenT
YUTodaY 7
fall 2009 www.yU.edU/newS ß
scene&Heard
q “we cannot retreat to the convenience of being overwhelmed by the inequities and injus-tice around us,” Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, said in her address to graduates of Wurzweiler’s Block Education Plan in July. “The worst consequences of the growing inequity are seen today in the eyes of our children—those dying of hunger in Africa and those neglected in our own communities,” Messinger said. Forty-four students from Israel, Canada and across the U.S. graduated from the summer program. n
q “The best investments happen when you have the confidence to believe that you are right,” said William Ackman, managing member and portfolio manager of Pershing Square Capital Man-agement, who captivated more than 70 alumni with his keen insights into today’s financial markets and tomorrow’s economic future at a Yeshiva University Wall Street Committee reception held in June. Ack-man qualified his statement: “Of course, being right is never enough. You have to work with the delicate balance between conviction and humbleness.” n
q “with as little as $25,000 you can ultimately generate up to a million dollars for your heirs by using the power of tax-free roth ira com-pounding,” said Henry Rubin, director of gift plan-ning, at a seminar on “How You and Your Money Can Survive a Recession” in June. About 200 peo-ple learned about wealth-saving ideas from Rubin as well as attorney Lee Snow and Dr. Aaron Levine, the Samson and Halina Bitensky Professor of Eco-nomics at Yeshiva College. n
p “most people have many ideas, but we only pay a premium to those who can take one idea and make it happen,” said Michael Strauss, who guides budding entrepreneurs at Sy Syms School of Business as its entrepreneur-in-residence. Strauss was a judge in the school’s 2009 Dr. Wil-liam Schwartz Business Plan Competition. Student Matthew Sussman won the first-place prize of $5,000 for his energy drink business, Proseed. n
p “day school board presidents are aware of the need and the opportunity to improve board per-formance in areas that include financial planning and fundraising,” said Harry Bloom, director of planning and performance improvement at the Institute for University-School Partnership, at a July press conference announcing the results of the first survey of Jewish day school board practices by the institute. “This is highly promising news for the cause of day school affordability,” Bloom added. More than 100 board presidents from day schools across the denominations completed the survey. Watch a video of Bloom discussing the survey results at www.yu.edu/boardsurvey n
> Go to www.yu.edu/news for more on these events, including videos.
Wurzweiler Deans Recognized for Pioneering Social Work Profession
Wurzweiler School of Social Work’s Dr. Sheldon R. Gelman, the
Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean, and Dr. Carmen Ortiz Hendricks, associate dean and professor, have been named “Social Work Pioneers” by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). The award honors social work professionals for their leadership, contributions to the field and recognition by their peers. Both have held leadership positions within the NASW.
Gelman, who also has a master of studies degree in law from Yale University Law School, has published numer
ous articles dealing with the impact of legislation and policies on the delivery of social services. He has contributed to The
Encyclopedia of Social Work, The Social Workers’ Desk Reference and The Handbook of Human Services Management.
Gelman has held office and served on national commissions of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the Amer ican Association on Mental Retardation.
Hendricks has made significant contributions in the area of culturally competent social work. As a member of NASW’s National Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, she
was a major contributor to the development of its Stan-dards for Cultural Competence in the Social Work Practice. She is a founding member of the chapter’s Latino Social Work Task Force.
Hendricks has cowritten or coedited a number of seminal books published by CSWE Press, including Learning to Teach—Teaching to Learn: A Guide to Social Work Field Edu-cation and Women of Color as Social Work Educators: Strengths and Survival. n
Gelman Hendricks
YUTodaYYESHIVA UNIVERSITY • 500 WEST 185TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10033 • FALL 2009 • VOLUME 14 NO. 1
YU Museum Features Hyman Bloom, Expressionist PainterExHiBit FoCUSES oN SPiRitUAl WoRKS oF ACClAimED ARtiSt
Nearly 50 paintings, draw ings and prints by acclaimed Boston Expres
sionist painter Hyman Bloom will go on display at the Yeshiva University Museum as part of the exhibit Hyman Bloom: A Spiritual Embrace. The exhibit, on view Sept. 14, 2009 – Jan. 24, 2010, comes just after Bloom’s death on Aug. 26 at age 96.
Focusing on Bloom’s exploration of spiritual subjects, the exhibit features paint ings of rabbis, dating from 1938 through 2005, as well as works that explore the occult and alternative spirituality.
Bloom began painting rab
bis, cantors and Torah covers at the very beginning of his career, using them as a metaphor for his own spiritual questioning. But he shrugged off the idea that he made religious art. “I decided to paint what I knew,” Bloom said. “It was a good subject to paint.”
In his paintings, Bloom scrapes away at the surface, changing the placement of the figure and drawing over what seems to be finished work. The result is an expressionist rendering of a figurative subject.
Willem de Kooning once said that he and Jackson Pollock considered Bloom to be “the first Abstract Expressionist in Amer
ica.” Some art historians believe that if nonrepresentational or nonfigurative art had not so completely engaged critics in the 1950’s, Bloom might have been more renowned today.
Bloom was born in 1913 in Brunoviski, a Latvian village not far from what is now the Lithuanian border. In 1920, he immigrated to the U.S., settling in the Orthodox Jewish community of Boston’s West End.
Enrolling in drawing classes at the West End Community Center, Bloom met Harold Zimmerman, an influential teacher, who encouraged drawing from the imagination. Bloom also studied drawing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and, together with his friend and fellow artist Jack Levine, at Harvard University.
Bloom lived and worked in Nashua, NH. He is included in the collections of major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
A retrospective exhibition was held at the National Academy of Design in 2002, and an earlier version of YUM’s exhibition was organized by the Danforth Museum of Art in 2006.
His interests were wide and included the study of theosophy, psychic research, Eastern religion, classical Indian music, psychedelic re search and Jewish mysticism. n
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE
paid
LANCASTER, PA
PERMIT #299
Many of Bloom’s paintings depict rabbis and cantors.
An affiliate of Yeshiva University
Rabbi isaac Elchanan theological Seminaryibjkt ejmh ubcr ,chah
Annual Dinner of TributeTU e S day, ocTob e r 27, 2009 – 9 ch e S hvan 5770
THE GRAND HYATT • NEW YORK CITY
5 P.M. SHIUR • 6 P.M. RECEPTION • 7 P.M. DINNER
For more information, contact rietsdinner@yu.edu or 212.960.0852.
SAVE T
HE DAT
E
sunday, december 13, 2009the waldorf=astoria • new york city
convocation 5:30 p.m. • dinner 7 p.m.
for information, please call 212-960-5468 ore-mail hanukkahdinner@yu.edu
www.yu.edu/hanukkah
Second annUal crUiSe headS To balTic coaST and rUSSiaMembers of Yeshiva University’s 2nd annual cruise, which trav-eled to the Baltic Coast and Russia this year, davened mincha [prayed at the afternoon services] at the Chorale Synagogue in St. Petersburg (above). An international group of 92 alumni and friends of YU and their family members went on the cruise, run with Lasko Kosher Cruises, in August. Joining the group were President Richard M. Joel (above, center) and his wife, Esther, as well as Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and Senior Scholar at YU’s Center for the Jewish Future, who gave shiurim [lectures] as the group’s scholar-in-residence. After spending Shabbat in Co-penhagen, the group traveled to Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; and Stockholm, Sweden, ending in Copenhagen. They met with members of the Jewish community and visited sites of Jewish interest at each stop. n
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DINNER AND CONVOCATION
E I G H T Y - F I F T H A N N U A L