YeshivaChainnan Resigns ARTS FESTIVAL 2000 Encourages Othersto Follow Record Number of StudentsAttend BY AARONl<wN and Committees."' Although Gottesman stated BY RAMICoffEN David S. Gottesman, who has that his decision was personal and served Yeshiva as Chairman of the would not list any specific tensions Drawing over one thousand Board for seven years, announced that exist between him and current people,the fourth annual YC/SCW his resignation last week effective Board members, a high-level Arts Festival has come and gone, June, 2000. Robert M. Beren, cur­ administrator informed The securing for itself a place in Yeshiva rent Vice-Chairman, will be assum­ Commentator that Gottesman "may tradition for years to come. Despite ing the Chairmanship upon have recently stepped on the many changes made to this year's Gottesman's withdrawal from wrong feet and is now leaving as a program, Arts Festival 2000proved office. result." The administrator said that to be the most successful to date. The announcement follows a Gottesman last year hired an inde­ Yeshiva deans and Arts Festival series of resignations by various pendent committee to review the directors could not have been hap­ upper-level administrators, balance of power within the pier with the results of the event. including Dr. Efrem Nulman, University infrastructure, and that . Steven •1:- Weiss of Yeshiva University Dean of Students, Dr. the analyst reportedly found that College, and Rebecca Leicht of Paul Virkuil, Dean of. Cardozo Vice President of Business Affairs, Stern College for Women shared ence of any event,with over three outstanding harmonica accompa­ Dr. Sheldon Socol, •exercised too · School of Law, Dr. David the burden as co-directors of the hundred in attendance in niment of Avidan Friedman. Other Nirenburg, Dean of Sy Syms much control and influence over festival, as this year's festival was Weissberg Commons. Students highlights of the concert included School of Business, and Rabbi University practices and academic co-sponsored by Stern College for gave powerful performances, Yakov Fleischmann, Eli Kohl, and Mevin Davis, University Registrar. programs." Socol refused to com­ Women and Yeshiva College. Past demonstrating the wide range of Danny Zwillinberg's performance Gottesman expressed hope that ment, while Gottesman denied that festivals were sponsored solely by musical talent in Yeshiva University. of Hendrix's •uttle Wing" and the his resignation will spark other the independent analyst had any­ Yeshiva College. The concert included a blend of Grateful Dead's "Sugaree." administrators to resign as well, so thing to do with his decision to Festival 2000 kicked off with a original music and energetic per­ Fleischmann's melodic vocals were the University may continue to resign, asserting that "the report is student-concert, now slated to be formance. Hillel Glazer, a YC Junior, backed by Kohl's powerful guitar grow and promote positive still a work in progress." the perennial •opening event" due performed his •Jerusalem Stone," riffs. For a change of pace, Elie change. He said,"I feel for the good During his term as Chairman, to its tremendous success. The an original piece about a Russian a Yeshiva has flourished greatly and · continued on page 18 of the institution rotation of concert attracted the largest audi- immigrant's return to Israel, to the Chairmen, not only on my level, but prospered on many levels. Einstein on the level of the individual has surged to its current ranking of SOY/REITS Publication schools,is appropriate and almost a twenty-one among medical necessity in order to keep a flow of schools nationwide; Cardozo has fre�h ideas moving ...The example I hired a new staffof renowned legal Causes Controversy set has [already] resulted in professionals and has instituted changes at Ferkauf, Syms, Stern and programs that have garnered inter- FadlitiesRemove5 Copies from Campus Einstein with respect to the Board, Chairman, Committee Chairman continued on page 20 BY AARONKlEtN The Commentator that he 1------------------------­ feels personally slighted by Beit Yitzchack,a religious publi­ the editors decision to Belz Professor cation of RIETS and SOY which fea­ include the controversial tures scholarly works by faculty and article, and expressed Fired For Cursing students, has elicited much criti­ regret over contributing to cism this year after the editors this year's edition. "Had I BY JASON (YRULNIK cussion of inappropriate topics decided to publish an article stress­ known such an article that had no place in a music class­ ing academic talmud learning over would be in there, I would A bizarre tenure at Yeshiva room could be tolerated no longer. that of a more traditionally routed never have written any­ University's Belz School of Music Feinberg reacted to the deci­ system. The article has caused thing for them," said came to an end three weeks ago,as sion with what he simply described many Rosh HaYeshiva, including Shachter. ''They've ·1ost all Mr. David Feinberg, one of the insti­ as "complete shock." Feinberg had Rabbis · Hershel Schachter, tradition and should be tution's most multi-faceted instruc­ been teaching a similar schedule of Mordechai Willig, and Yehuda ashamed of themselves. tors, was fired just three classes classes at the Belz school with Parnes, to pl!blicly denounce the They are stealing money into the semester. It is the ques­ comparable in-class behavior for printed work. These· contentions from the Yeshiva; this is not tionable set of circumstances sur­ some two years; during that span recently culminated in Yeshiva's what they're being paid to rounding the termination of of time he developed quite the fol­ refusal to finance Beit Yitzchak and print." Feinberg's stay that has evoked lowing of loyal students. Facilities' alleged confiscation of the Aaron Koller, coeditor­ outcries from concerned students. Feinberg's devotion to his students publication. in-chief of Beit Yitzchak, Cantor Bernard Beer, Director of was describe�y one YC Junior as The article in question,"Absolute said he knew the article the Belz School, citing complaints "unparallelect;timong the staff of Liability: Development of the Law would generate debate, from anonymous students that teachers that I have encountered ofthe Damaging Man,"was written but decided to publish it Feinberg's in-class decorum was in my college career." The under­ by MVP students Elli Stern andMeir Halivni, all of whom are associated · anyway,•to see what the response what the administration deemed standably close-knit relationship Katz, and quoted several sources with the Jewish Theological would be. I wanted to test the "unacceptable," informed Feinberg that developed between the that Rabbeyyim foundto be •prob­ Seminary. waters a little.* The response that that his services were no longer teacher and his students laid the lemati_c.• Among those cited are Rabbi Hershel Schechter,who's followed, he said, •was not at all welcome. Beer specified that ground for an open atmosphere Professors Saul Leiberman, works in Beit Yitzchak are said to Feinberg's notorious use of foul Shamma Freidman and David Weiss have greatly increased its sales,told con�inued on page 20 language in the classroom and dis- continued on page 20 Exclusive In This Issue:. Election Meet Presidential Candidates ••••••••••••••••••• Pag� 12 Insider ExclusiveWith Ben Younger ••••••••••••••••••• Page 15 Fever Hits Interview Are You MentallyAware? ••••••••••••••••••• Page 19 Yeshiva LETTERS TO THE EDITOR •·•••••••••••••••••• Pag• 6 PAGE17 SPORTS ••••••••••••••••••• Page 21 PAGE 24 March 28, 2000 Page 2 -------------------1lwww.vuc0MMENTATOR.c0Mj1----------------- ..J Pope's Personal Pilgrimage r , Perceived as Productive CO)MlMl1EMrA l[())]R Pope John Paul II recently ended his six day personal pilgrimage to Israel, 500 West 185th Street, New York, NY 10033, with some words he uttered at the Kotel, the Western Wall in Jerusalem. He said: E-Mail: [email protected]. � "G-d of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your name Telephone/Fax: (212) 928-8637. to the nations. We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the An independently operated student publication funded by the Yeshiva College Student �....... course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer. And asking your Council and published on a bi-weekly basis during the academic year. The views expressed in forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood ·with the the columns herein are those of the writers alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions people of the covenant. Jerusalem, 26.3.2000. Joannes Paulus II." These senti­ of TheCommentator, the student body, the faculty, or the administration.of Yeshiva University.. ments should be applauded by the Jewish community and should ·be given � We do not necessarily endorse any of the products· or services advertised in these pages. � credit for their reconciliatory message and moving tenor. Moreover, the Pope's Copyright 1999, Volume 64, TheCommentator. One issue free, $1.00 for each additional issue. trip to the sites of the Bible was spiritually inspiring to much of the world. AARON KLEIN ALEX TRAIMAN At Yad Vashem the Pope apologized for the members of the Catholic Church EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF who had persecuted the Jews with reference to the Holocaust, uttering the word shoa. There, at the memorial, Pope John Paul met a group of Jews who had ', PINCHAS SHAPIRO EPHRAIM SHAPIRO 0 known him as a young man. This trip to Israel has left warm images In the minds EXECUTIVE EDITOR of some Jews, while In others' his pro-Palestinian stance drew skepticism. MANAGING EDITOR L.. Nevertheless, many agreed that the Pope's personal words and interactions l SHMULI SINGER have gone a long way toward bettering relations between the Vatican and JASON CYRULNIK r lsrael,and may help heal some of the wounds accrued by Jews over the ages.