The Yeshiva University OBSERVER VOLUME LXIII ISSUE I September 2017/ ELUL 5777

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Yeshiva University OBSERVER VOLUME LXIII ISSUE I September 2017/ ELUL 5777 THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF STERN COLLEGE FOR WOMEN AND SY SYMS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS The Yeshiva University OBSERVER WWW.YUOBSERVER.ORG VOLUME LXIII ISSUE I September 2017/ ELUL 5777 YU Launches Makor College Experience Program for Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities Sarah Casteel News Editor education, or have been granted some kind of state-funded training and building general life skills. This includes exploring Beginning in the fall of 2017, services for individuals with intellectual or developmental specific job fields in the classroom, real-life experience through Yeshiva University, in partnership with the Makor Disability disabilities in the past. Finally, applicants are required to job placements on campus, and academic advisors. The Services (formerly Women’s League Community Residences), have attended a high school program for students with such advisors will work with the students to determine an individual has launched its first year of the Makor College Experience disabilities. career path and to further develop career-building skills to help Program. A truly unprecedented and specifically designed them get there. In terms of life skills, the students will learn program, the Makor College Experience is a three-year, non- Each of the three years of the program has a specific focus. important skills such as cooking, traveling and budgeting. degree program for young men with intellectual disabilities. The first year will offer pre-vocational and job readiness The program is the first college dual curriculum for this type skills, interview training, workplace etiquette and budgeting. In addition to the secular education and various life skills of students. Participants will not only enjoy the specialized The second year is focused on “career exploration and incorporated into the program, Makor will offer a strong and education of the program itself, but a new and exciting experiences.” There will be opportunities to experience and meaningful Torah element as well. Participants will be assigned opportunity to become a part of the YU community. try out various jobs, as well as chances to be employed around a chavrusa and will spend their mornings in the various batei The program is geared towards young men with intellectual the YU campus and at local vendors and organizations. At the midrash on the Wilf Campus. “At Makor, we believe that disabilities between the ages of 18-25 who are looking to end of the second year, students will declare a major. They may when the students have a natural enjoyment in their Torah further their education after finishing high school. While choose from majors such as office and business skills, retail and learning, this inspiration will carry over to be their success in other young men tend to go to Israel and then college, this food services, communal work or human services. The third our program,” says Rabbi Feintuch, Rebbe and Educational community of individuals is inhibited from such opportunities year will focus on “supported employment.” The program Coordinator of the program. The chavrusas, minyanim and due to various complications that come along with their often offers mentors to help the students with their specific job plans, other Judaic events in which these students will participate are less independent lifestyles. This program is combatting the as well as helping them to create and build resumes. Finally, also incredible and substantial opportunities to connect with roadblocks that people with intellectual disabilities face by program faculty will reach out to YU alumni to help find job the rest of the YU community. offering a specifically designed program tailored to their needs. placements for the graduates. The social aspect of the program is anticipated to be In order to be eligible for the program, applicants must be The Makor Program helps its students to take their education profoundly meaningful both to the Makor students and the diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability. beyond high school, and into the next stage of life, in a variety other YU students. Beginning with the relationships formed They must also have some kind of history of receiving special of areas. Thus, the curriculum offers a significant focus on job in learning and davening, and extending to the many other cont’d p3 YU Center for Israel Studies Administrative Changes to Receives $1 Million Grant the Office of Student Life from Tzili Charney Leah Klahr Miriam Pearl Klahr Features Editor Managing Editor and philanthropist, continues her and Moreover, this change is actually a return Yeshiva University’s Leon’s mission of striving to help others, In June Dr. Nissel, to a system that has existed in the past and Center for Israel Studies was founded and create a vision of peace for Israel and University Dean of Student Life met is part of a greater move to restructure in 2007 with the mission of “deepening Palestine. She works as a costume designer with the three Beren Campus Student OSL. At the Beren Campus, Sarah Sheps Yeshiva University’s longstanding for Habima Theater in Israel, the Cameri Presidents to discuss changes for the will serve as Program Manager, Talia relationship with the State of Israel.” Theater of Tel Aviv, the Jewish Repertory upcoming year. Tami Adelson, long time Molotsky as Student Life Coordinator and This summer, Tzili Charney donated a $1 Theater, and the National Yiddish Theater Director of the Beren Campus Office of Yaelle Kassai will be this year’s Stanton million grant to the Center in the honor Folksbiene in New York. In 2014, she Student Life or OSL had recently left, and campus fellow. All three women are Stern of her late husband, Leon Charney. Leon founded the Leon Charney Resolution they were informed that she would not College alumnae and offer a unique insider Charney, who graduated from Yeshiva Center in Hakfar Hayarok, Israel which be directly replaced. Instead, Rabbi Josh perspective into the university. Meanwhile, College in 1960, was a prominent lawyer, works to advance peace education and Weisberg, former director of the Wilf Natan Bienstock and Tzvi Levitin, Wilf author, and Jewish activist, who served as an resolution. The Resolution Center also campus OSL, has become Senior Director Campus Student Life Coordinator and advisor to President Jimmy Carter, Prime advances Tzili Charney’s project of of Student Life for both campuses. Stanton Fellow respectively, will work Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and President facilitating communication between Israeli at the men’s campus along with Linda Ezer Weizman. He also worked with Prime and Palestinian families. Charney was The decision was made after various Stone, Director of Student Events for both Minister Golda Meir on Israel’s initiative awarded an honorary degree from YU in conversations with students that campuses. Though she will spend most of to help Soviet Jews immigrate to Israel. 2017. highlighted some of OSL’s weaknesses. her time at Wilf, Linda will come to the Charney aided President Jimmy Carter Dr. Steven Fine, Director of Yeshiva Rabbi Brander, Vice President of Beren Campus once a week to train the in assembling the documents leading to University’s Center for Israel Studies University and Community Life, praised newer staff members. Josh Weisberg will the Camp David Accords. As a prominent expressed the magnitude of Tzili Charney’s Rabbi Weisberg as being talented in split his time between the two campuses. philanthropist, he funded the Cardiology gift to the center. Fine explained, “Tzili multiple areas ranging from implementing For now his hours on each campus are not Wing at NYU Langone Medical Center, really understands our mission here. We’re top-down student life programming, set, with the plan being that he will go where and established the school of Marine not AIPAC, and we’re not the YU Israel enabling bottom-up student led initiatives he is needed. Rabbi Brander has stated that Sciences at the University of Haifa. In Club. Tzili’s gift enables us to go deeper, and interacting with students facing various the effectiveness of this approach will be 2005, Leon Charney received an honorary to look Israel’s legal system and culture in types of crises. He believes that having him assessed a month into the school year. degree from YU. the eye, and say, ‘Who are you? What are on both campuses will improve the student Tzili Charney, renowned artist, activist, experience for everyone. cont’d p8 cont’d p4 Editorial September 2017/ Elul 5777• Page 2 The Yeshiva University Dr. Berman Calls for Introspection - Take up the Charge Observer Mindy Schwartz Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief In his short Mindy Schwartz time as president, Dr. Berman has Managing Editor clearly placed a large Miriam Pearl Klahr emphasis on defining the univeristy, News Editor answering the worn- Sarah Casteel weary questions: What is YU? What Features Editor does it mean to be Leah Klahr a university and to be–as YU claims–the Opinions Editor flagship of Modern Orthodoxy? Kira Paley In a letter written to Web & Social Media students the week Manager before the investiture Shira Feen Dr. Berman wrote, “...In our rapidly changing world it is essential that YU know itself. We ending his speech on Sunday by Layout Editor must forthrightly articulate the values for which we urging everyone, including students, that “now is the time to get involved” in the future Shira Perton stand…we must identify and be passionate about YU’s of YU. grand purpose in the context of the Jewish community Business Managers and broader society.” But as students we should not just wait around to be engaged with - we must be proactive Sabrina Benmoha in engaging in these issues ourselves. We should take ownership over the issues facing Sarah Porgess He began taking up this charge in his speech at the this university and we should empower ourselves to discuss them and take action when formal investiture event on September 10th in which necessary.
Recommended publications
  • CHELM in JERUSALEM by R. Seliger
    CHELM IN JERUSALEM By R. Seliger It’s Sukkot, the holiday that requires observant Jews to feel the fragility of our existence by eating in the sukkah – the fragile temporary outdoor booth, exposed to the elements of early fall. I wrote this film review two years ago. If you have the opportunity, you should consider the delights of this unusual film. “Ushpizin” resembles an Isaac Bashevis Singer tale in its rendering of totally sincere (or naive) characters immersed in religious observances, a belief in miracles, and a personal relationship with the Almighty. The world of Jerusalem’s Hasidim is largely a ghetto in its isolation from the rest of modern Israel, but not quite. Two convicts, evading the law, show up at the doorstep of our hero, Moshe Bellanga, and his good wife Malli, on erev Sukkot. It turns out that one criminal was a friend from Moshe’s wayward days in Eilat before he became a Baal Tshuva [a newly observant Jew] as a Breslover Hasid. The Bellangas are overjoyed that the two can be their ushpizin – Aramaic for “holy guests” – for the holiday, as traditional lore enjoins. But there is nothing holy in how their low-life guests behave. That the virtually destitute Bellangas have a sukkah and the money to celebrate the festival at all are “miracles.” Actually, they are the result of perfectly explainable events, but the pious couple understands their dramatic change of fortune as divine intervention, as an answer to their devotion and a part of their ongoing dialogue with Hashem. Similarly, when bad fortune strikes, they are rendered bereft not only by the event itself, but also by the notion that they have done something displeasing in the eyes of God or, even more painfully, that their suffering has meaning they cannot fathom in the sacred scheme of things.
    [Show full text]
  • March Chronicle.Indd
    CONGREGATION NEVEH SHALOM March 2008/ADAR I/Adadr II 5768 CHRONICLE No. 6 This newsletter is supportedpp by y the Sala Kryszek y Memorial Publication Fund From the Pulpit Esther: The Paradigm of the Diaspora Jewish Existence If we accept the Exodus epic as our Jewish master story, then the drama contained in the scroll of Esther constitutes the paradigmatic story of Jewish existence in the Diaspora. A master story of an ethnic, religious or national entity is the central historical event or series of events that informs that society about its guiding values and principles. Clearly the Exodus from Egyptian bondage followed by the receipt of God’s revelation and wandering 40 years in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land serves that primary purpose for Jews. God heard the cry of the oppressed and chose Moses as God’s instrument in challenging Pharaoh to liberate God’s own people. Once free, the Children of Israel came to Mt. Sinai where God gave them laws to live by in order to establish a moral society. Together they persevered until they were worthy of inheriting the land that God promised them as an everlasting inheritance. However instructive our master story is in defi ning our most highly treasured values, nearly 2000 years of our history were spent far from our ancestral home in lands of the Jewish Diaspora. We lived in foreign lands as a subject minority population. We did our best to simultaneously be loyal residents (because not until the French Revolution and the American experience were we considered full citizens) and maintain our distinct identity as Jews.
    [Show full text]
  • Honor Your Parents: the Fulcrum of the Ten Commandments
    Honor Your Parents: The Fulcrum of the Ten Commandments here is little doubt thatkibbud av va-eim is a central mitzvah; it is not merely “another Rabbi Michael Rosensweig Tcommandment,” but an imperative Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel, RIETS vital to the enterprise of Torah and mitzvot. The Rambam Mamrim( Compiled by Rabbi Itamar Rosensweig 6:1) characterizes it as a “mitzvat Bella and Harry Wexner Fellow, RIETS, and Resident aseh gedolah” — a great positive Scholar, Cong. Ahavath Torah, Englewood, NJ commandment; the Yerusalmi (Pe’ah 1:1) declares it “chamurah shebichamuros;” — of the most serious belongs to a select class of mitzvot doubt of its axiological import. mitzvos, and the Tur (Yoreh Deah 240) 2 issued as a prequel to matan Torah. Yet when we assess kibbud av va-eim prefaces his discussion noting that At Marah, Bnei Yisrael were charged in the sugya (Talmudic discussion) of kibbud av va-eim demands a unique with a few essential commandments aseh docheh lo ta’aseh (the ability of a “punctilious observance.” that would both prepare them for and positive commandment to override What is the evidence for this afford them a glimpse of the Torah a negative commandment) — the evaluation? First, kibbud av va-eim they would later receive--sham sam lo sugya prima facie most informative appears in the most critical contexts of chok u-mishpat ve-sham ni’sahu —there of halakhic hierarchies — it emerges the Torah. It is delineated in the Aseret He established law and statute and as decidedly inferior to other Hadibrot (Shemot 20:12) — kabed there He tested it (Shemot 15:25).
    [Show full text]
  • [email protected] (You Know, the Ones That Took the 126 That It Will Never Work
    ב''ה 230 hale lane , edgware middx, ha8 9pz Volume 29 • Tishrei 5775 HOLIDAYGUIDEHOLIDAYGUIDE HOWHOW WILLWILL HEHE EARNEARN AA LIVINLIVINGG FFIDDLERIDDLER’S’S QQUEUESTSTIONION Table of Contents 8 24 10 7 featured 7 That’s alright, you can do it . 8 How will he earn a living? 10 Holiday Guide 14 Tishrei Calendar 20 Fiddler’s question 24 Yusta regular From the Editor 4 Message from the Rebbe 5 Lubavitch of Edgware News 16 Candle Lighting Times and Blessings 19 Lubavitch of Radlett News 22 Letters 26 20 3 Editorial Torah PUBLISHER Chadron Ltd on behalf of Lubavitch of Edgware. A division of Chabad Lubavitch UK Registered Charity No. 227638 EDITORIAL Editor: Mrs. Feige Sudak JUST A PINHOLE rom my earliest days i had a knows that to us the whole concept of ADVERTISING fascination for science and Teshuva – return is daunting and leaves To advertise please call technology. i was only eight years us very scared. particularly, as we come 020 8905 4141 F old when i managed to collect enough close to rosh hashanah and then even to SUBSCRIPTIONS ‘cigarette vouchers’ from my father’s Yom Kippur, the notion that we can repair Phone: smoking habit (in those days smoking our past and come to be close with g-d 020 8905 4141 was an acceptable form of behaviour) to is so distant from us that we just do not Email: exchange for a Kodak instamatic Camera believe it. so, we fight it off with excuses [email protected] (you know, the ones that took the 126 that it will never work.
    [Show full text]
  • Sukkos, 5781 Dear Talmidim, the Recent Uptick in Covid-19 Prompts
    1 Sukkos, 5781 Dear Talmidim, The recent uptick in Covid-19 prompts this letter. The Torah requires that we avoid dangerous activity. The protection afforded to Mitzvah performance does not apply when danger is prevalent (Pesachim 8b). In all gatherings, masks covering everyone's mouth and nose must be worn. In addition, appropriate social distance between attendees (except for members of the same household) must be maintained. Hands must be washed with soap and water or with proper hand sanitizer. On Shabbos and Yom Tov liquid soap or sanitizer may and must be used. On Simchas Torah, the usual hakafos and dancing are prohibited. At the discretion of every local rav, hakafos may be limited or eliminated. Any dancing must be done while wearing masks and socially distanced. Upon advice from medical experts, we recommend that the sefer Torah not be passed from one person to another. Preferably, one person should circle the bima 7 times. After each hakafa the tzibur should join in an appropriate nigun and "dance" in place. The practice of everyone getting an aliya is a minhag, not a din, and may be adjusted or eliminated at the discretion of the local rav (see links here and here for similar horaos}. Similarly, at weddings the usual dancing is prohibited. Any dancing must be done while wearing masks and socially distanced. Chasanim and their families are urged to limit the size of weddings and to insist upon and enforce masking and appropriate distancing by all their guests. Adherence to all the above is required by the halacha which demands great caution to protect life and good health.
    [Show full text]
  • CBY Weekly Shabbat Announcements 23 Iyar-1 Sivan 5777 May 19-26, 2017 Parshiyot Behar-Bechukotai/ Mevarchim Hachodesh
    CBY Weekly Shabbat Announcements 23 Iyar-1 Sivan 5777 May 19-26, 2017 Parshiyot Behar-Bechukotai/ Mevarchim HaChodesh SHABBAT SCHEDULE MAY 19-20 SPECIAL EVENTS Candles ....................................................7:05, 7:35 & 7:50 pm Bar Mitzvah of Eytan Jacoby 9 AM Mincha only ................................................................. 5:15 pm Seudah Shlisheet after 7:35pm mincha. Plag .............................................................................. 6:39 pm Mincha .....................................................6:45, 7:15 & 8:00 pm NEXT SHABBAT -BAMIDBAR Carlebach minyan (led by Michael Reinhart) .............. 7:00 pm Candles ................................................... 7:05, 7:35 & 7:57 pm Moroccan Shir HaShirim/mincha ................................ 7:55 pm Mincha only ................................................................. 5:15 pm Minyanim Plag .............................................................................. 6:44 pm Hashkama ................................................................. 7:00 am Mincha .................................................... 6:45, 7:15 & 8:05 pm Sefard ....................................................................... 8:30 am Ashkenaz (Social Hall) ............................................. 8:30 am Carlebach minyan ....................................................... 7:00 pm Moroccan ................................................................. 9:00 am Moroccan Shir HaShirim/mincha ................................ 8:05
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox-Israel-Coalition.Pdf
    VOTE ORTHODOX ISRAEL COALITION IN THE WORLD ZIONIST ELECTION YOUR VOTE DIRECTLY INFLUENCES HOW $5 BILLION IN FUNDING WILL BE ALLOCATED OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS HELP SECURE FUNDING FOR RELIGIOUS ZIONIST INSTITUTIONS AND INITIATIVES JANUARY 21 – MARCH 11, 2020 THE WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS ELECTION The World Zionist Congress convenes every five years. Delegates to the Congress are members of slates that represent various factions and ideologies across the spectrum of Judaism. Slates are awarded delegates based on the number of votes they receive in the World Zionist Congress Election. The more votes we receive, the stronger our voice will be at the Congress. These delegates determine leadership positions and will influence policies that shape the future of Israel and impact Zionist programming and organizations in the United States. RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA הסתדרות הרבנים דאמריקה THE OIC The Orthodox Israel Coalition (OIC) is a broad-based coalition of the major Religious Zionist and Orthodox organizations that has advocated for Orthodox ORTHODOX ISRAEL COALITION Jewry as part of the World Mizrachi delegation in in the World Zionist Congress MIZRACHI: VOTE TORAH for over 100 years. VOTE SLATE #4 • WWW.VOTEOIC.ORG VOTE WITH US! OIC AMBASSADORS RABBINIC LEADERS Rabbi Yosef Rabbi Yosef Blau Rabbi Marvin Rabbi Haskel Rabbi Marc Rabbi Michael Rabbi Hershel Rabbi Dr. JJ Adler Hier Lookstein Penner Rosensweig Schachter Schacter Rabbi Shalom Rabbi Hershel Rabbi Efrem Rabbi Kenneth Rabbi Raymond Rabbi Dr. Rabbi Elazar Rabbi Chaim Baum Billet Goldberg
    [Show full text]
  • © Cambridge University Press Cambridge
    Cambridge University Press 0521826926 - A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations Edited by Edward Kessler and Neil Wenborn Excerpt More information AAAA Aaron Aaron, as a point of contact between Jews and Aaron is a figure represented in both Testaments Christians, was acknowledged in the Letter to and referred to typologically in both. His priestly the Hebrews as the founder of the Jewish priest- role is the dominant feature shared by Judaism and hood, who offered acceptable sacrifice to God. Christianity, but in the latter this role is appropri- The anonymous author appropriated the still- ated in order to highlight the superiority of the developing Jewish tradition and contrasts the once- priesthood of Jesus. Thereafter, because the Jewish and-for-all priesthood of Jesus (which was claimed tradition continued to stress his priestly status, he to derive from the priesthood of Melchizedek) with faded out of the Christian tradition. the inferior yet legitimate priesthood of Aaron. In the book of Exodus Aaron appears as the There is no polemic intent against Aaron in brother of Moses and Miriam, playing a subordi- Hebrews. Two texts, Ps. 2.7 and 110.4, are used to nate but important role as spokesperson for Moses show that God designated Jesus as the unique Son before the Pharaoh, although in the earliest literary and High Priest. His self-sacrifice, analogous to the strata of the Torah there is no evidence that he is sacrifice of the High Priest on the Day of Atone- a priest. His priestly role becomes clear only in the ment,isdepictedasacovenant-inauguratingevent, later so-called Priestly Document, in the descrip- fulfilling the expectations of the new covenant in tion of the construction of the Tabernacle and the Jeremiah.
    [Show full text]
  • Miri Talmon-Bohm Schusterman Visiting Israel Studies Professor Department of Hebrew & Semitic Studies George L
    FROM THE LAND OF OUR FOREFATHERS TO OUR MOTHER, THE HOME-LAND: NEGOTIATIONS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN ISRAELI CINEMA Miri Talmon-Bohm Schusterman Visiting Israel Studies Professor Department of Hebrew & Semitic Studies George L. Mosse/ Laurence A. Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison ABSTRACT Israeli-Hebrew culture was constructed in a conscious effort to create an authentic new culture in the land of Israel, which will articulate the national revival of the Jewish people in its ancient homeland, contain the different cultural heritages in-gathering to the new country from the diverse diasporas and create an indigenous authentic culture in its new geographical and cultural context. With time, these initial aspirations have adapted to the constraints and processes in Israeli and global history. Israeli Cinema, as an integral part of the construction of modern Jewish identity in its Hebrew-Zionist version, reflects the fluid and volatile nature of Jewish identity, as well as transformations in the unique negotiations of “Jewishness” within Israeli culture today. 1. Prologue: Here in the Beloved Land of Our Forefathers In 1912, on a field trip of the Tel-Aviv Hebrew school “Gymnasia Hertzliya”, the music teacher Hanina Kracevsky taught the students a new song, whose lyrics were composed by another teacher at school, Israel Dushman. Dushman composed new lyrics to a Yiddish song, whose lyrics were originally composed by Maurice Rosenfeld and published in a Yiddish magazine under the title: “Exile March”. Rosenfeld’s Yiddish poem describes the endless journey of the wandering Jew, which is so vividly visualized in the painter Shmuel Hircshenberg’s paintings, and in particular the one titled “Galut” (meaning in Hebrew: Exile).
    [Show full text]
  • Dear Members, We Are Excited to Embark on the Final and Most Critical
    Dear Members, We are excited to embark on the final and most critical phase in choosing our next Mara D’atra. Last week, the search committee recommended, and the board approved, two candidates, Rabbis Daniel Fridman (Teaneck Jewish Center) and Chaim Strauchler (Shaarei Shomayim, Toronto), to be introduced to the membership next month. Each of these wonderful candidates will visit our community for a long weekend proba, giving members an opportunity to interact with him in various formal and informal settings. Most of the programming will take place in a heated tent that will be erected in the shul parking lot in early February. A detailed schedule of the proba shabbatot, which will take place on February 20–22 (R. Strauchler) and February 27–March 1 (R. Fridman), will be available shortly. We anticipate holding a membership-wide vote following Rabbi Fridman’s proba. Rabbi Daniel Fridman Rabbi Daniel Fridman has served as Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Center of Teaneck since 2016. Before that, he served for many years on the rabbinic staff at The Jewish Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, including as Resident Scholar from 2009-2016. Rabbi Fridman has served as S’gan Rosh Yeshiva at Torah Academy Bergen County (TABC) since 2016 after joining the faculty there in 2015. Rabbi Fridman has also been on the faculty of Lamdeinu, an adult education center in Teaneck, since 2015, where he has given, among other things, a women’s Talmud shiur and classes on Parashah and Haftarah. Rabbi Fridman is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America.
    [Show full text]
  • CFP: Thou Shalt Make Cinematic Images! Jewish Faith and Doubt on Screen (6/1/16; 10/26-30/16)
    H-Film CFP: Thou Shalt Make Cinematic Images! Jewish Faith and Doubt on Screen (6/1/16; 10/26-30/16) Discussion published by Cynthia Miller on Friday, March 18, 2016 CALL FOR PAPERS CFP: Thou Shalt Make Cinematic Images! Jewish Faith and Doubt on Screen An area of multiple panels for the 2016 Film & History Conference: Gods and Heretics: Figures of Power and Subversion in Film and Television October 26-October 30, 2016 The Milwaukee Hilton Milwaukee, WI (USA) DEADLINE for abstracts: June 1, 2016 AREA: Thou Shalt Make Cinematic Images! Jewish Faith and Doubt on Screen Despite Judaism’s commandment against making graven images of God, films representing Jewish faith in God—or doubt in the face of collective and personal catastrophes and competing worldviews—have abounded from the advent of the movie industry. Since God cannot be visualized, movies must rely on depictions of an omnipotent historical and moral force, or a source of belief compelling Jews to endure martyrdom, persecution, and segregation, and to observe Jewish law and rituals. Motion pictures about how God informs modern Jewish lives have become more varied with the emergence of Jewish denominationalism and secular ideologies, like socialism or Zionism, often pitting factions within the Jewish community against each other. This area welcomes papers and panels that explore how Jewish belief and disbelief in God are constructed by filmmakers in documentaries and feature movies. The following themes are suggestions and should not be construed as the only topics that would fit in this area: The portrayal of Judaism in documentaries: Heritage: Civilization and the Jews (1984), A Life Apart (1997), and The Story of the Jews (2013).
    [Show full text]
  • TORAH TO-GO® Established by Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld April 2015 • Pesach-Yom Haatzmaut 5775
    Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future THE BENJAMIN AND ROSE BERGER TORAH TO-GO® Established by Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld April 2015 • Pesach-Yom Haatzmaut 5775 Dedicated in memory of Cantor Jerome L. Simons Featuring Divrei Torah from Rabbi Kenneth Brander • Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh Rabbi Josh Blass • Rabbi Reuven Brand Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff • Rona Novick, PhD Rabbi Uri Orlian • Rabbi Ari Sytner Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner • Rabbi Ari Zahtz Insights on Yom Haatzmaut from Rabbi Naphtali Lavenda Rebbetzin Meira Davis Rabbi Kenny Schiowitz 1 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Pesach 5775 We thank the following synagogues who have pledged to be Pillars of the Torah To-Go® project Congregation Kehillat Shaarei United Orthodox Beth Shalom Yonah Menachem Synagogues Rochester, NY Modiin, Israel Houston, TX Congregation The Jewish Center Young Israel of Shaarei Tefillah New York, NY New Hyde Park Newton Centre, MA New Hyde Park, NY For nearly a decade, the Benajmin and Rose Berger Torah To-Go® series has provided communities throughout North America and Israel with the highest quality Torah articles on topics relevant to Jewish holidays throughout the year. We are pleased to present a dramatic change in both layout and content that will further widen the appeal of the publication. You will notice that we have moved to a more magazine-like format that is both easier to read and more graphically engaging. In addition, you will discover that the articles project a greater range in both scholarly and popular interest, providing the highest level of Torah content, with inspiration and eloquence.
    [Show full text]