Sunday, May 20, 2007 g The Post 3L STYLE

“The goal is to produce a young man who would be very knowledgeable, very able to pursue his career of Jewish life according to the laws.” Rabbi Isaac Wasserman, who co-founded the school in 1967

After 90 minutes of morning prayer, students pass through swinging doors trimmed with an ornate lintel donated by alumni in honor of the school’s 40th anniversary.

YESHIVA: Secular studies emphasized too

< CONTINUED FROM 1L former Hebrew Alliance campus, students spend mornings and the yeshiva also consider secular most of the afternoon studying study for ninth- through 12th- and discussing the sacred texts, graders an essential element of but reserve the late afternoon for Jewish education. education in more quotidian sub- “There has always been a stron- jects, like English, science and ger emphasis than (at) your typi- math. cal East Coast yeshiva about the Studying the arcane meanings secular program,” says Rabbi of ancient writings isn’t a prosaic Aaron Kagan, the 10th-grade exercise. The rabbis believe that teacher and a son of one of the understanding Torah leads to be- school’s two founders, Rabbi Isra- ing a better person in the world. el Kagan. “The goal is to produce a In a 10th-grade class, Rabbi Aaron Kagan engages Shimshon Rubin of Denver, foreground, in Six college students and 47 young man who would be very a dialogue about the , the 22-volume compiliation of all the rabinic laws based on the high-schoolers from the U.S., Can- knowledgeable, very able to pur- Old Testament that was written approximately 2,000 years ago. ada and Mexico are enrolled at sue his career of Jewish life ac- the boarding school. They all live cording to the Torah laws,” says students and wise rabbis work and even the rabbis, who’ve been conversation, they’re the best of in an apartment building at Colfax Rabbi Isaac Wasserman, who in groups to tease out under- studying the same texts for de- buddies, and they have the ut- and Perry Street that has been con- founded the school with Israel standing of the Torah and its ap- cades, don’t always agree with most respect for each other,” he verted to dorm rooms. It’s across Kagan in 1967. plications to the world around one another. observes. “But when they’re fight- the street from a McDonald’s res- Torah study in the beis mi- them. Moshe Robinson, 20, a student ing, and they go back and forth, taurant, where the students will drash is a noisy, chaotic affair. Verbal sparring has been the in the college program, says he is you just don’t know what’s going never eat because they keep ko- The room, small, lined with keystone of Torah studies for awestruck when watching Israel to happen. The whole room just sher and take all of their meals in bookshelves, short lecterns and thousands of years. The beis mi- Kagan debating with the other lights up when that happens. And the campus dining hall. wooden chairs scattered in no drash at Toras Chaim a living rabbis. A few blocks away, at the apparent order, hums as young connection to that vibrant past, “You know that right after that > See YESHIVA on 4L

Above: David Urfali, 17, of Mexico, left, debates Aharon Wilen, 17, of Denver during a study period for 12th-graders. Left: Yeshiva students Shaul Pinsky of Milwaukee, left; Yosef Cohen of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Steven Shiermeyer of Greenwood Village compete in a pickup basketball game outside their dormitory. Photos: Glenn Asakawa The Denver Post 4L The Denver Post g Sunday, May 20, 2007 STYLE “You’re only making a living out there. The Torah way of life is what you’re living.” Starbucks stirs things up Moshe Robinson, a student in Toras Chaim’s college program with controversial quotes

By Rebecca Rosen Lum Contra Costa (Calif.) Times

Regular or nonfat? Single or dou- ble shot? Pro- or anti-creationism? Starbucks has been drawing heat- ed responses since the coffee gi- ant began printing quotations on its cups. Atheists fumed when they got a shot of the Rev. Rick Warren (“The Purpose-Driven Life”) with their latte, and Christians balked at gay writer Armistead Maupin’s comment that “life is too damn short” to spend in the closet. So outraged is one organization by the anti-evolution messages that it dispatched its members to Glenn Asakawa The Denver Post protest the practice via e-mail and Chaim Lakier of in his dorm room at Yeshiva Toras Chaim. phone calls. “I mean, my God,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Founda- tion. “It’s rather unforgivable. YESHIVA: Toras Chaim They’re going to give their custom- ers heartburn.” The cups include quotes by artists, writers, scientists noted for warm approach and other noteworthy people on a variety of subjects. < CONTINUED FROM 3L they’re all away from home — even The -based Starbucks be- the local students have to stay in the gan its “The Way I See It” program afterwards, you go, Wow, I wish I dorms,” Aaron Kagan says. to stimulate dialogue over coffee. Craig F. Walker Denver Post file could talk like that.” One of the primary reasons parents Company officials say they have from across North America send achieved their goal. Founders’ sacrifice their sons to study under these rabbis “Based upon the input we have In the late 1960s, when they is that reputation for kindness. received on the program, people Vincent Scaldiero re- brought their wives and families “Our rebbeim are people who are engage in discussion on some of laxes with a newspa- from the heart of the yeshiva system here not just to earn a living, but to these topics,” said Starbucks per in the front win- in to Denver to start the fulfill a life’s mission — a mission to spokeswoman Erika Mapes in an dow at Starbucks Cof- school, Wasserman and Israel Kagan be able to transmit, to teach younger e-mail message. fee at East Third Ave- had already established themselves students that which they believe in,” Still, servers say they hear many nue and Clayton to be young men of wisdom. Wasserman says. “And the environ- complaints. Street in Denver. “They both could have easily got- ment here has been such that there’s ten very respectable positions on the been a close and warm relationship Provoking discussion Left: Starbucks has East Coast, with many more students both inter-staff, and in terms of staff “Especially when it gets close to caused controversy to pick from, and they could have and students.” the holidays,” said Kristi Baldwin, with some of the quota- had a much bigger yeshiva,” Aaron “(The rebbeim) have a much more shift supervisor at a Walnut Creek, tions the chain has put Kagan says. “But there was a world friendly manner; you enjoy learning Calif., Starbucks. “They can be con- on its cups, such as out there that needed exposure to a with them,” Robinson says. “You can troversial.” Maupin’s quote sent this one supporting yeshiva system, and so, at great sacri- talk to them outside, so inside you some sippers back to the counter evolution. fice to themselves and their families; can learn with them.” to demand a different cup. Baldwin Dan Rosenstrauch they just went out and did it.” In recent years, the yeshiva has cre- said baristas dump the offending Contra Costa (Calif.) Times At the time, Denver’s west side ated ways to bring the beis midrash cup and offer a new drink with a was a thriving Jewish enclave, and alive for the Denver Jewish communi- smile. the school, the only yeshiva between ty in general. The school’s outreach And not everyone takes umbrage. and the West Coast, became program, The Jewish Experience, is “It’s nice to educate about the a hub for Jewish learning. dedicated to this purpose. culture,” said Ghenwa Serhan, a Today, the yeshiva is an accredited Walnut Creek customer. high school. Students in the college Building community “My first reaction was, ‘Eew, is ny to float religion on its merchan- “I go to a restaurant to eat, not to program typically complete a degree “The yeshiva’s goal was to allow Starbucks trying to cram creation- dise: Forever 21 and XXI clothing be proselytized, even if I agree that prepares them to become rabbis, their talented rabbis and educators ism down my throat along with my chains stamp the Bible quote “For with the agenda,” he said. or spend a year in beis midrash study to be available to the larger communi- Americano?’ ” said Berkeley jour- God so loved the world ” on shop- A Spokesman for In-N-Out Burg- before moving on to a larger school ty, to offer sophisticated learning op- nalist Susan Kuchinskas. ping bags. In-N-Out Burger has er declined comment. Forever 21 on the East Coast. portunities, and to be more active in Kuchinskas reacted to two been serving up Scripture with its and XXI could not be reached for The rabbis have high expectations building the Jewish community at quotes on the largest cups. One drinks and fries for 20 years. The comment. for their students’ involvement in Jew- large,” says Rabbi Raphael Leban, di- from biologist and author Jonathan biblical passages are on the bottom The label for All Natural Bragg ish life, no matter what path they take rector of outreach at The Jewish Ex- Wells links Darwin’s theory of evo- of its containers. Liquid Aminos bears a tiny fish- after completing their formal studies. perience. The program offers class- lution with eugenics, abortion and “I love it,” said Maggie Edmunds, symbol and scriptural reference “Whatever they do, they carry es, hosts events and runs a Sunday racism. The other from author Dav- a customer of In-N-Out Burger in to John 3:2. It reads, “Beloved, I with them basic Torah values: to school for children. id Quammen says evolution has Pinole, Calif. “It makes (the compa- wish above all things that thou lead, to be an example to others of For the rabbis and students at Ye- been “abundantly reconfirmed, ex- ny) seem more personal — not cold mayest prosper and be in health, what God expects of us, to be honest shiva Toras Chaim, bringing the val- plaining physical phenomena by and impersonal, like a corporation. even as thy soul prospereth.” Who in business dealings, and to be exem- ues of learning and study and a con- physical causes.” On a closer read- I would like to see more of this.” could argue with that? “I don’t plary in their character development. sidered life to the greater communi- ing, Kuchinskas recognized “an at- Ron Zee, a Christian, found word of want to have to walk down the And to realize that Torah learning is ty is an essential element of being tempt to provoke thought and dis- the cup-bottom Scripture at In-N- grocery store aisles carrying my never-ending,” Kagan says. Jewish. cussion — which it obviously has.” Out intriguing. When he lifted up a indexless Bible trying to make In spite of competition from yeshi- As Robinson says: “You’re only Gaylor isn’t buying. cup and found one, “I said to my- sure the food I’m buying is mak- vas that have cropped up around the making a living out there. The Torah “What are they going to do next, self, ‘Cool.’ ” The practice allows a ing the right religious statement,” U.S. in the last 40 years, the school way of life is what you’re living.” run quotes challenging the theory business unobtrusively to introduce said Chloe Etienne, an East Bay has built a solid reputation for being of gravity, then run a separate one itself and the beliefs of its owners, shopper. “It’s hard enough to read a place where learning is combined Eric Elkins is a freelance writer and by Galileo saying, ‘Oh, no, it’s Zee said. Nonetheless, silence is all the labels for nutritional con- with warm, familylike relationships vice president of marketing at FEED. true’? No wonder this country is go- golden; he wouldn’t want an em- tent.” “Sorry,” she said. “I believe between students and teachers. You can find his blog at ing downhill scientifically.” ployee to strike up a conversation in a separation between church “That’s created by the fact that datingdad.com. Starbucks is not the first compa- on the subject. and food.”

Sinclair – English Engagement

Ask the Experts *Engagements Q: I’m a bridesmaid in my sister’s wedding, along with *Weddings three of her friends and my 12-year-old sister. Her friends planned a very expensive shower without asking for my opinion, then told me I needed to contribute a *Babies huge sum of money toward the shower...and they asked my little sister for the same amount. I don’t think we *And More should be expected to fund this shower, as we had no ASK ABOUT OUR ULTIMATE David & Sara Sinclair, of The Woodlands, part in planning it. Should we pay up? Texas, are pleased to announce the WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT engagement of their daughter, Macy A: Certainly, a 12-year-old should not cough up her Elizabeth, to John Thomas English III, PACKAGE “JT,” son of Jack English of Littleton, and annual baby-sitting income for a shower, even if Todd & Marcy English Glasser of Littleton. The couple will wed July 14, 2007, at it’s for her sister. Divide the expenses among the Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church older bridesmaids. Since her friends kept you out of in Denver. Macy is a 2003 graduate For more information of Columbine High School and a 2007 the loop, you technically don’t have to put a penny graduate of State University, Call Susan where she majored in Marketing. JT is a towards the shower. But, that’s going to cause enough 2003 graduate of Chatfield High School, 303-954-1142 and a 2007 graduate of angst and drama for two seasons of Melrose Place. So Colorado State University, where he or Email [email protected] majored in Speech Communications. pitch in, buy your sister a small shower gift and take The couple plans to reside in Colorado. comfort in the fact that you were the better person. 5243545