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Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City whose first component was founded in 1886. Yeshiva's endowment is just over 1 billion dollars (see List of US colleges and universities by endowment: #46). In 2001, undergraduate enrollment was approximately 2,600. The undergraduate programs operate according to the Modern Orthodox Judaism philosophy of Torah U'Madda - implying "Torah combined with secular studies". It is regularly listed among the Top 50 national universities in US News and World Report.
Divisions
The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), a rabbinical school (i.e., its main yeshiva), is an affiliate of the University.
Separate undergraduate programs for men (Yeshiva College and the Sy Syms School of Business) and women (Stern College for Women and the Sy Syms School of Business) combine traditional liberal arts and sciences studies with extensive Jewish studies programs.
Coeducational graduate and professional programs are offered in numerous fields including medicine, at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; law, at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; psychology, at the Ferkauff Graduate School; Social Work, at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work; Jewish studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School; and Jewish education at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.
The University is also affiliated with two yeshiva high schools, Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls, located in Queens, and The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy Yeshiva University High School for Boys, located on the school's Wilf Campus.
History
Yeshivat Etz Chaim, a cheder-style elementary school, was founded on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1886. It was the first yeshiva in America and had few secular studies in its curriculum.
In 1896, to provide a school for Etz Chaim graduates, Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (RIETS) (chartered in 1897 as the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) was founded. The school was named for a great Torah scholar from Kovno by the name of Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor who died that same year. The two schools were always close, and they merged in 1915, first as the Rabbinical College of America, but then reverting to the RIETS name; the elementary division was phased out over the course of the 1920's as other schools opened. The first president of the newly-merged school was Rabbi Bernard (Dov) Revel. In 1916, he founded the first dual curriculum high school - the Talmudic Academy (now known as the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MSTA), blazing a path to what has become the norm in Orthodox Jewish circles.
Yeshiva College was founded in 1928 as an expansion to stem the tide of TA graduates to secular colleges. Later that year, Yeshiva moved to its current location in Washington Heights. (The alternative location was in Morningside Heights, near the current location of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University.) Yeshiva attained university status in 1946, under its second president, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Belkin. Over the following decades, new schools were opened, including a women's college and a medical school.
In 1970, Yeshiva revised its charter to become a secular university, changing the status of RIETS (the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) and its high schools to "affiliates", despite vigorous student and faculty protest.
Over the years there has been a growing unrest at Yeshiva. With a large portion of Modern Orthodoxy moving to the right there has been a significant divide in the student body at YU. Many of the Hanhola themselves have fought vigorously against the thesis of Torah U'madda and certainly with the way it has been implemented in the college. In fact, six years ago leading Roshei Yeshiva Rabbi's Parnes and Bronspiegal left YU to form the fast growing Lander College for Men. The difference between Lander College and Yeshiva University is that YU espouses a philosphy of Torah UMadda while Lander College espouses one of Torah UParnassah. At Lander College the secular faculty work together with the Rebbeim to ensure a proper education is being given to the students. At YU quite the opposite is true. Many of the Rebbeim feel the need to speak out against the policies and teachings of the college.
In 2002, Yeshiva again broke with tradition by appointing a layman (someone who is not an ordained rabbi), Richard M. Joel, as its fourth president, again over student and faculty protest. Yeshiva currently has over a dozen affiliated schools. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, who served as the university's third president, now serves in the dual position of Chancellor of the University and Rosh HaYeshiva ("head of the yeshiva") of RIETS.
Logo and slogan controversy
In late 2005, students and alumni petitioned against Mr. Joel, due to his decision to supplement the official Yeshiva University logo, containing the words "Torah Umadda", with a new "flame logo". They were also protesting Joel's alleged changing of Y.U.'s motto to "Bring Wisdom to Life." Joel countered that the motto of Yeshiva University will remain "Torah Umadda", and that "Bring Wisdom to Life" is a marketing slogan. The latter is featured on the Y.U. website and on banners around the uptown campus.
See also
- Bar-Ilan University – a Tel Aviv based university which aims "to blend tradition with modern technologies and scholarship, and teach the compelling ethics of Jewish heritage to all”.
- Hebrew Theological College - a Chicago based institution, "preparing its graduates for roles as educators and Rabbis", while providing "broad cultural perspectives and a strong foundation in the Liberal Arts and Sciences."
- Lander College - a New York City based college, founded because of dissatisfaction with YU's increasingly emphasis on secular studies, and which offers secular, University study in addition to its yeshiva program.
- Jerusalem College of Technology - a Jerusalem based college, founded to "educate students who see the synthesis of Jewish values and a profession as their way of life".
- Famous people affiliated with Yeshiva University
- Education in New York City
External links
- Yeshiva University homepage
- YU Maccabees Athletics
- WYUR:Yeshiva University Radio
- The Commentator (YU's student newspaper)
- The Center for the Jewish Future
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"Yeshiva University"