A Yeshiva in Washington, DC? Part 2

Only a few months before the Beth Judah Institute of the Hebrew Academy opened registration in the Fall of 1953, a graduate of the Mirer Yeshiva and his wife had purchased a house at 1333 Emerson Street NW. In the following years Rabbi Nechemia and Nechama Malin would try to transform this house into the District of Columbia's first true Yeshiva. 

Nechemia was born in Brest Litovsk on December 24, 1918^[1] to Rav Isser Yehuda and Rachel Malin. Before the outbreak of WWII, Nechemia was studying in the Mirer Yeshiva. Nechemia accompanied his peers and tens of thousands Jewish refugees who fled to Lithuania and eventually to Japanese occupied Shanghai. Nechemia and his older brother Meir continued to study at the relocated Mirer Yeshiva in the crowded Shanghai Ghetto^[2]. After the war ended, the Malin brothers followed the Yeshiva to New York, where they continued studying for several years^[3]. 

At some point in the early 1950s, Nechemia married Elizabeth (Nechama) Bogner. Elizabeth was the daughter of Rabbi Arthur (Meir) Bogner, who fled Austria with his family in 1938^[4]. Rabbi Arthur Bogner worked as the Rabbi of the Ezras Israel Congregation of Northeast Washington, DC. 

The Malins moved to the District in 1953 and appear to have begun laying the groundwork for their Yeshiva as soon as they arrived. (It's certainly conceivable that Rabbi Bogner or others invited Nechemia to DC for this purpose.) 1333 Emerson St was put up for sale in Feburary 1953. On March 13, 1953, the owners of the house at 1333 Emerson, Luther and Ethel Iager, filed a petition with the zoning board to establish the "Or[-]Torah Rabbinical Seminary" in their home^[5].

The Iagers were not Jewish, so their involvement in the permitting of the Yeshiva is curious. A potential explanation may stem from the nature of the Iagers' sale of their house. The February 28 real estate advertisement for 1333 Emerson Street says that the "Owner [was] selling on doctor's orders."^[6] The Iagers' need to quickly sell the house may have led them to help their willing buyers, the Malins, to establish a Yeshiva on the property. 

The zoning board rejected the Iagers' appeal to form the Yeshiva on their property^[7]. Despite this, the Malins went through with the sale and signed the deed for 1333 Emerson St in June 1953. 

In mid August 1954, the National Jewish Ledger reported on a meeting that Rabbi Nehemia [sic] Malin held with other local Rabbis to discuss a fundraising drive for the "Rabbinical Seminary of Brisk". The Ledger also noted that both local and out-of-town students were already registered for the coming term.^[8]

Rav Moshe Feinstein sent a letter to R' Nechemia Malin that was dated to Motza'ei Shabbos Bereshis 5715 (October 23, 1954). The letter seems to have been carried by one of R' Nechemia's students on his was back to Yeshiva after Sukkos break.^[9]

In the winter of 1955, R' Nechemia Malin and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, R' Menachem Mendel Schneerson, exchanged a series of letters that are partially preserved in the published collections of the Rebbe's correspondences^[10]. Nechemia Malin appears to have written to the Rebbe asking him to advocate for him to receive some of German reparation funds that were being divvied by a small council of refugee Roshei Yeshiva who had escaped the Nazis with their Yeshivas. The Rebbe's advocacy seems to have been successful in getting R' Nechemia Malin's Yeshiva some of the money^[11].

By 1959 the Brisker Yeshiva seems to have begun an after school program to educate Jewish teens. This program mentioned in an article about a Shlomo Carlebach concert that the Yeshiva was hosting to raise funds for itself. The article noted that the Yeshiva was "a school which prepares high school students for advance studies to become Rabbis and other workers in the religious field."^[12]

In the Fall of 1960, the Brisker Yeshiva opened the first parochial Yeshiva high school in the District. An article from the school's first banquet in April 1961, described the school:

"Yeshiva High School which began its program with 15 students last September, is located at 1333 Emerson street N.W. The school teaches Jewish religious subjects in addition to regular high school courses. It is the only Jewish high school in the city."^[13]

The Yeshiva High School's success was very short lived. It's unclear if the school opened for a second year in the Fall 1961. A February 1962 advertisement for an estate sale at 1333 Emerson street listed school desks among the assorted furniture.^[14] The Malins sold the house on March 1, 1962. This seems to be the end of the Brisker Yeshiva in DC. 

The relationship between R' Nechemia Malin's Yeshiva High School of 1960 and the later Yeshiva High School that opened in 1964 is unclear. Certainly they did not share any of the same leadership, but it is possible that they shared the same demographic of parents who were interested in such a school. 

---

^{[1] See Nechemia Malin's passport and other immigration documents: https://www.ebay.com/itm/154811749102 (Accessed January 19, 2023)}

^{[2] Yechiel Sever and Mordecai Plaut, "News: HaRav Nechemia Malin zt"l," Dei'ah ve'Dibur, October 17, 2013. http://www.chareidi.org/archives5774/vayeiro/armalinvyr74.htm}

^{[3] "The Last Stanzia — Part II," Hamodia, July 18, 2021. https://hamodia.com/frominyan/last-stanzia-part-ii/
[4] Moshe Weissberg, "Imma Shel Malkhut: haRabbanit Nechama Malin a"h," Bechadrei Charedim, September 8, 2011. https://www.bhol.co.il/news/87252
[5] "Official Notices: Board of Zoning Adjustment," Evening Star (Washington, DC), March 13, 1953. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1953-03-13/ed-1/seq-55/
[6] [Advertisement,] "Boss & Phelps Present 4 Attractive Home Values," Evening Star (Washington, DC), February 28, 1953. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1953-02-28/ed-1/seq-28/
[7] "Zoners Again Reject Chevy Chase Lot as Pepco Substation Site," Evening Star (Washington, DC), March 27, 1953. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1953-03-27/ed-1/seq-21/
[8] "Yeshiva to Expand," National Jewish Ledger (Washington, DC), August 20, 1954.
[9] "Letter from Rav Moshe Feinstein" https://www.kedem-auctions.com/en/content/letter-rabbi-moshe-feinstein-1
[10] Igros Kodesh Vol. 21, Page 283, Letter 8,041. https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15914&st=&pgnum=302
[11] https://forum.otzar.org/viewtopic.php?t=15506#p279943
[12] "Israeli Singer to Give Concert," Evening Star (Washington, DC), June 7, 1959. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1959-06-07/ed-1/seq-19/
[13] "Jewish School Founders Feted," Evening Star (Washington, DC), April 25, 1961. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1961-04-25/ed-1/seq-5/
[14] [Classifieds] "Miscelaneous for Sale: Furniture—...1333 Emerson," Evening Star (Washington, DC), February 11, 1962. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1962-02-11/ed-1/seq-88/}

2010-Purim - The Observer - Being Four Sons in the Orthodox World

Being Four Sons in the Orthodox World

by Goatee McMurray

Purim 2010

The wise son, what does he ask? “What is this homosexuality panel to our university?” And you shall moderate the conversation and tell him none of the halakha and you shall say, “This is the homosexuality panel that our university held in December.”

The wicked son, what does he ask? “What is this homosexuality panel to you?” And you shall grind your pearly white, radiant-with-a-touch-of-ivory-chic teeth and tell him about the homosexuality panel and say, “This is the homosexuality panel that got my university aflutter.” For had he attended Yeshiva University, he would not have come out of the closet.

The simple son asks, “What is this?” And you shall tell him, “This is the homosexuality panel that took place at our university. And this is the transcript of the panel, and these are the videos of the panel and these are the 308,999 blog and website comments about the panel which we check on a regular basis in case we get wind that lesbians are coming to speak at Yeshiva University and someone from The Observer needs to cover the event in the next issue.”

And to the son who does not know how to ask about the panel or sexual orientation in general because he attends a Jewish day school with no sex-ed in the curriculum you should say, “This is the homosexuality panel that the Tolerance Club and Wurzweiler held in December.” (He’s too young for you to know whether he’s gay or straight, though he himself might already have an inkling.)

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2010-Purim - The Observer - In Light of Recent Events

In Light of Recent Events

by Shalva Shalom

Purim 2010

In light of recent events [wink wink nudge nudge g4y p4n3l], Yeshiva University has instituted a new, long-time policy of enabling and ennobling euphemisms and imprecise language regarding topics of a questionable and inflammatory nature. YU’s stance, says President Richard Joel, is an attempt to make Yeshiva students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends comfortable discussing, commiserating, meeting and enjoining, united in the goals set forth in YU’s mission statement and inherent in the institution’s positive accomplishments, highlighted in YU’s illustrious history and serving as inspiration to this day.

“As a Torah U’Madda institution,” commented an anonymous administrator, “we are responsible for protecting what we prophetically and democratically know to be Judaism from the extreme, illiterate ultra-religio control freaks on the right and from the sacrilegious, naked parades of liberals who write our T.V. shows on the left.”

Purportedly, the altneu policy is designed to make all official comments say everything and nothing at the same time.

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2010-Purim - The Observer - Last Week's News Briefs

Last Week's News Briefs

by Rav Hamechaber

Purim 2010

Excerpted for relevant material

> Yeshiva College students have launched a new club called the YU Intolerance Club. The club’s stated mission is to promote intolerance of all things leftist, liberal, or that start with the letter L. In response, the YU Tolerance Club issued a statement in support of tolerating the existence of the Intolerance Club.

> Rabbi Blau moderated a panel discussion on the controversial topic of not having attended Shana Bet. Rabbi Twersky objected to the lack of tznius in publicizing one’s flaws.

> 800 students attended a parsha shiur in Weissberg Commons; 200 more students were turned away.

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2010-Purim - The Observer - The Heterosexual Question

The Heterosexual Question

by Anonymous

Purim 2010

A recent survey of Yeshiva University’s Yeshiva College (YC) student body, conducted by the Society for Campus Equality and Wellness (SCEW), found a surprising –and to some, disturbing –number of heterosexual men on campus.

“When I read the numbers, I was shocked,” said one YC student, who wishes to remain anonymous. “I mean, where have they been hiding all this time?”

The SCEW survey found that 79% of YC students have seen a heterosexual man on the fourth floor of the Pollack Library; 83% have seen a heterosexual man walking into Golan Heights restaurant; and 92% have actually spoken to a heterosexual at least twice in the course of one semester.

“I think it’s all a sham,” said a YC student walking out of Belfer Hall, who wishes to remain anonymous. “If you ask me, it’s just one guy, and everyone happens to know him.”

With the latest discovery still fresh on campus, students are not sure how to react. Yeshiva University, a Modern-Orthodox institution, is generally accepting of open expression when it comes to student and teacher identities. However, the apparent heterosexual population has not voiced its existence since YU’s founding in 1886.

“It’s weird…it’s like all of a sudden they’re all over the place and we can’t stop talking about them,” said one student from Stern College for Women (SCW), who wishes to remain anonymous.

Indeed, the heterosexual students are making their voices heard. They’ve dominated headlines in the university presses, in several articles, such as The NonGay Question, Relating to Heterosexuality, Circling the Issue, and Inside the Closet.

“I’m really happy for them,” said a YC reporter for The Commentator –YC’s campus newspaper–who wishes to remain anonymous, “it’s almost as if they’ve become a media sensation overnight. We can’t get enough of them, and neither can our readers!”

Students are not the only ones to voice their opinion on the sudden emergence of a heterosexual population. As Yeshiva University is a Jewish institution, rabbinic authority has its say on the matter as well.

“Interesting. That’s the first word that came to my mind when I heard about this,” said MaHaRaT Sally Smith, shlita. “The public appearances might be assur, since m’meila proclaiming one’s heterosexuality b’reshus harabim is mechzei k’yuhara, and the gavra will effectively be machti es harabim in the aveira of lo sachmod,” she concluded. MaHaRaT Smith is a well-respected halachic authority among her peers, and hopes to graduate to the level of “Rabbah” within the year.

Yet the heterosexual lobby does not stop at newspaper headlines, despite the MaHaRaT’s psak halacha. According to the president of the Torah Ideals that Keep Us Nourished (TIKUN) club, there may be plans to organize a heterosexual panel in the coming months in order to really bring the issue to the forefront.

“I don’t expect many people to come, since the topic is so taboo,” said the TIKUN president, who wishes to remain anonymous, “but it’s still a worthwhile endeavor.”

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2011-03 - The Commentator [Purim] - Burns Security Guard Unsure Whether to Let Transgendered Professor into Glueck

Burns Security Guard Unsure Whether to Let Transgendered Professor into Glueck

SATIRE

March 2011

Recently-female Stern College for Women (SCW) Professor Sarah Schmidt sparked a minor Yeshiva University scandal upon trying to enter The Glueck Center for Jewish Study last week. Burns Security Guard Carlos Alvarez halted the confused professor in the glass doorway, vociferously demanding an ID. Startled, Schmidt replied, "I seem to have left it downtown."

"Can't come in here without an ID," insisted Alvarez. Schmidt shuffled through her purse, hoping to find the small card, but confident that the guard would grant her entry despite any issues of ambiguous identity. "I'm a university professor . . . I teach here," offered a harried Schmidt. Alvarez, intransigent, insisted, "Well you should make that clearer. Wear the necklace."

As countless beis medrash dwellers discreetly flashed their driver's licenses and amusement park passes to get inside, Schmidt eventually gave up. "I can't go in Glueck because I lost my ID, and I don't want to go in Furst because the rooms have malfunctioning projectors," complained Schmidt. "I feel like I don't fit in on either side."

"I don't understand why she couldn't come in," said Jenny Danzler (SCW '11 ). "She's an incredible professor and everyone loves her. Why can't this university find space in its philosophical framework for someone who can't find their ID?"

Dr. Schmidt complained that "this never used to be a problem. But, ever since the start of last year, when I got a new sticker for my ID, everyone seems to do a doubletake."

"I haven't carried around my ID since I was about 12," said Jacob Fretzler (YC '10), former president of the Tolerance Club. "I used to be afraid of the consequences—people telling me I can't go where I want to—but now I just march into Glueck with pride."

Students regularly complain about the requirement to flash their IDs when entering a university building, questioning the dubious value of such an inconvenient policy.

"We have no such policy," announced Rabbi Reiss.

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

2011-03 - The Commentator [Purim] - Jewish Homosexual Demands More Condemnation

Jewish Homosexual Demands More Condemnation

SATIRE

March 2011

After wrestling with his sexual inclinations for years, YC Sophomore David Smith came out of the closet earlier this month. The transition, he says, has been harder than he could have imagined: "I haven't been spit at, cursed out, or publicly degraded," Smith complained. "It's like people don't even care."

Smith, who hid his true sexual orientation for years out of fear for public ostracism and private disparagement, has been disappointed by the "liberal lovey-dovey stuff," as he describes it. "Where are all the good old hell-damners?" he asked.

Smith is another in a line of Yeshiva College students who have been welcomed as themselves with "love, support, and understanding," said one senior administrator. The letter Smith recently posted on his blog (www.controversialgayjew. com) was met with nearly unanimous support, as 98 of 104 comments ran along the lines of "we are proud of you, David." The remaining six were split evenly between confusion about whether Smith was the 60s Abstract Expressionist sculptor and gentle corrections of Smith's grammar.

Smith was prepared – and even excited – for the anticipated condemnation. "I thought this was going to be really epic, especially after the panel last year," he said. He pulls out a stack of note cards. "I even prepared a whole series of sassy comebacks! Do you want to hear them? Please?"

Instead, he has had to face the worst-case scenario: acceptance. "This has been incredibly hard for him," said Laura Smith, David's mother, who has known about her son's orientation and encouraged him for the last eight years. "He has always been sure of who he was – an outcast, a pariah – but now he's not so sure. I don't understand how the community could do something like this to him. He's only twenty-one, and now he has to try to reinvent himself completely on the assumption that people will accept him?"

Though understated by nature, Smith has taken to extreme flamboyant behavior in an attempt to claim this very identity: "I don't even like pink, but what can I do? I'm sick of people treating me with civility and respect, and I really wish they would treat me the way that I've always expected to be treated." Smith has only been further frustrated, though, by a Facebook campaign that got nearly half of Yeshiva College students to wear pink shirts last week in support of him.

"At this point, I've been approaching random Yeshivish people on the street and telling them I'm gay!" said Smith. But even that hasn't worked: a guest at the Wilf Campus over Shabbat from a rightwing yeshiva sat down with David on Friday night to talk about the struggles of living openly gay in the Orthodox community. "The conversation didn't last all that long," said Smith, "so we ended up talking about Glee for like four hours."

Despite all the hardships. Smith is managing to acclimate to his new life. "It's hard when everyone has been so...supportive," Smith sighed. "But I'm Switching shiurim next week, and I'll see if I get a rise out of a different Rosh Yeshiva."

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

2003-11-07 - The Leper [Satire] - Closet Onlysimchas Viewer Also Closet Homosexual

Closet Onlysimchas Viewer Also Closet Homosexual

by Jason Blair Jr.

November 7, 2003

Woodmere, NY – Late one night last week, the parents of local resident Jason Weinberg walked in on their son as he was perusing the guestbook of a recently engaged couple on onlysimchas.com. In a subsequent discussion Jason revealed that he had in fact been a closet viewer of onlysimchas since the Web site’s inception. Interviews with the boy’s peers have led the family to reevaluate its understanding of Jason’s sexual orientation.

News of Jason’s preferences sent shockwaves through his high school, HAFTR, a modern orthodox institution in Long Island. According to students, Jason has never had any trouble in school and has participated in many extra-curricular activities. He is president of the chess team, an unusually active member of the debate squad, and a dedicated wrestler. A classmate of Jason summed up the prevailing view of Jason’s dumbfounded friends. “I can’t believe that he spends hours a night checking out posts on onlysimchas,” he said. “That’s so gay.”

Such sentiments have spurred local parents into organizing a grassroots campaign to get the onlysimchas site shut down. The Web site ostensibly provides an on-line forum for Jews to exchange best wishes and photographs on the happy occasions of weddings, bar/ bat mitzvahs, engagements, and births. But HAFTR parent Sheila Broslowski had her doubts. “If onlysimchas can turn Jason gay then what about the rest of the kids?” she lamented. Many students, citing the site’s flamboyant use of exclamation points, agreed with Broslowski’s contention that persistent browsing of the site can potentially “gayify” viewers.

Some, however, maintain that the community is jumping to conclusions. “Just because someone reads posts on onlysimchas doesn’t make him gay,” said accountant Phil Silverman. “He could just be a woman.”

This article can be found on the Wayback Machine

2010-02-28 - The Commentator [Purim] - Yeshiva Hosts Panel of Intolerant Bigots

Yeshiva Hosts Panel of Intolerant Bigots

SATIRE

February 28, 2010

Last Sunday, four brave figures emerged before a 700-person throng in Weissberg Commons to discuss their struggles growing up in the YU world as active, practicing bigots. The audience listened intently to the heart-wrenching stories of two racists, a homophobe, and a terrorist. "My friends were always so...so...accepting," said one panelist. "They were always helping out others in need, going to gay panels, recycling—that kinda stuff. But all I ever wanted to do was learn Torah." Many present at the panel said the event changed their lives, giving them a wholly new perspective, but don't actually think they're going to now do anything different. All but two Roshei Yeshiva signed a letter guaranteeing the four panelists copious Olam Haba, adding that any MYP students who attended the event will have their past shiur Incompletes changed to A's.

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

2010-02-28 - The Commentator [Purim] - 'Recent Events' Catching On

'Recent Events' Catching On

SATIRE

February 28, 2010

In light of what it describes as a "tastefully and tactfully enabling and ennobling" handling of the gay issue at Yeshiva University, the organization formally known as Gay Straight Alliance Network International (GSANI) has replaced the word "Gay" in its title with the phrase "Recent Events." It will now be known as Recent Events Straight Alliance Network International. Explaining the name change, public spokesperson Levi Ticus stated, "We've been looking for a long time for a better word to describe homosexuals. The old word was a problem – put briefly, it was sooo gay. Now we have a tasteful way of describing homosexuals without offending the public." Aside from RESANI, several other organizations have adopted the change, including the Gay Liberation Front (now RELF), as well as YU's own Tolerance Club (YUREC).

Asked about his reaction to the name changes inspired by his word choice, YU President Richard Joel replied wittily if unitelligibly, "Let them call it recent, but they must remain decent!" RIETS dean Rabbi Yonah Reiss, however, took a more negative tone, noting, "We must always remember that recent events are not meant to be discussed in a Yeshiva."

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2010-02-28 - The Commentator [Purim] - Prominent Rosh Yeshiva Emerges from Closet

Prominent Rosh Yeshiva Emerges from Closet

SATIRE

February 28, 2010

In a startling mishap that brought all YU students closer together, Rabbi Mayer Twersky inadvertently locked himself in a Glueck Center closet last Tuesday. "I was really worried," admitted a fretful semkikha student, "I thought he would never come out." As word spread, a crowd of male MYP students unwittingly huddled together for warmth in the cold rain outside the Center to recite Tehillim for the closeted Rosh Yeshiva, and chanted "Get Rabbi Twersky out of the closet."

As the gathering of concerned students grew, one unsuspecting and well-intentioned Rosh Yeshiva herded them into Weissberg Commons to discuss their feelings. A series of disgruntled announcements about that discussion will come out of the RIETS office later this week, followed by an unending stream of Closetator articles. Richard Joel's office announced that the Presinator (as he likes to be called by his coworkers) will come out with two letter later today, one in favor of the discussion, and one against it.

Unfortunately, the crack squad of YU security staff failed to free the startled Rabbi for several hours, trapping him with a mop and a pile of uninstalled Glueck center outlets. They begged him to try the door-knob from the inside, but the Rabbi was too afraid of what he would find if he reached out in the mysterious closet. The Rosh Yeshiva heard some noises, possibly the protests of the Rubin scaffolding raccoon to this intrusion on its new home, but he adamantly refused to turn on the light and expose anything or anyone who was in the closet with him.

Rabbi Twersky supposedly mistook the dark closet for a classroom while closing the door behind him. "I generally close my eyes when walking into a Glueck center classroom," Rabbi Twersky explained, "because I am nervous of what pritzus the building-wide wifi and disturbing Glueck hallway pictures might surprise me with." It is unclear as to why he and Rabbi Reiss have not demanded that the wifi be removed from Glueck yet. After asking what Yeshiva The Closetator attended in Israel, Rabbi Bronstein assured us that they would likely remove the routers themselves over Passover break when no one would be around to stop them.

The thinly veiled and euphemistically named YU Closet Klub (YUCK) requested that the Rabbi engage them in an open dialogue about his experience. Several Roshei Yeshiva signed a letter condemning any consideration of a free exchange on this issue, declaring closets an "abomination." They further demanded that maintenance remove all closets from the YC campus in order to preserve unintereupted, straight, hallway walls. Little do they know, cracks have recently appeared in the walls of RIETS as well.

A queer number of hours and several screwdrivers later, Rabbi Twersky emerged from the questionable cupboard and remarked, "It's so liberating to be out of the closet, I do not know why people would choose to be in there in the first place... it's so dark and lonely."

At the moment, the University's official position on the accidental closeting of Rabbi Twersky is ambiguous. A University Alumni representative, Steven Greenberg, encouraged open discussion about this issue, along with all humanitarian crises, while at the same time condemned all those who did so as legitimizing the act of locking yourself in a closet. Avi Klostic, president of the YU Tolerance Club, best known for making tolerance controversial, asked the Rosh Yeshiva to hold a panel discussion on his choice to lock himself in a closet. The Rosh Yeshiva declined, claiming a strong allergy to panels of any kind, and insisted that his decision to be closeted was not a choice.

"I am glad Rabbi Twersky had the strength to come out of the closet," said an anonymous YC alumnus who recently attended a panel discussion, "but he really should look where he is going in the future."

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

2010-02-28 - The Commentator [Purim] - Azhara Hamura

אזהרה חמורה

עלו על דעתינו העניין—תועבת ה'—של חגיגות 

נפרדות ח"ו לזכרים ולנקבות, ועלינו לתקן את האסון הזאת.

ע"כ באנו לגלות דעתינו, דעת ישר »»

אם אין קמח אין תורה, אם אין בנות יש "גֵי פָנֶל"

ונראה לנו שיש איסור חמור להשתתף ולהופיע בחגיגת ישיבת רבינו סטיבן גרינברג!

ועדיף שכולם ילכו לחגיגת בנות שטערן בכרדוזו כדי 

להשתכר איתן, לדבר איתן, וביעקר לשדך איתן!

באנו על זה למען קדושת וטהרת עמינו,

2010-02-28 - The Commentator [Purim] - Student Pulse: Gay, Cheating, Coffee, and Such.

Satire

Student Pulse: Gay, Cheating, Coffee, and Such.

1. The Gay Question?

Yes	45%
No	32%
Maybe	23%

Since everybody knows that Sy Syms students cheat like, a lot, what is the most creative method of cheating?
a. Asking your neighbor
b. Writing answers on your hand
c. Stealing the test
d. Stealing money and bribing the professor
e. Stealing the professor and selling the money
f. Using ESP
g. Using ESPN
The correct answer was e.

3. Coffee is the best, right?

a.

Yes

74%

4. What would you say is the relationship between YU's Wireless Internet and your mood on a daily basis?

a. The lack of reception frequently correlates with a lack of patience for my peers and classes	3 bars %
b. No Internet Make Angry	Limited Connectivity %
c. All Jewish History and no Gmail make Moshe a dull boy	youtube.2%
d. I don't even go to classes where I know I can't get internet	everybody %

"The slow internet speed has made my...uh...videos very tough to load. And also, it's ruined three shidduchim for me on YUconnects."
"I think the last comment should have been more explicit"

5. According to a recent Gallup poll, President Obama's unfavorables have risen to 57%

a. Yes	0%
b. No	0%
c. N/A	0%

"I'm not entirely sure this is really a question"

6. Where should the women's chagiga be held?

a. The fourth floor of IHP	475%
b. Weissberg Commons	100%
c. Cardozo	-3
d. Xerxes's Harem	129 Nations %

Quick Numbers:

• 9,461 students started the survey, of which 437 finished it. 6,478 were from YC, 2,963 were from SCW, and 20 students were from either Sy Syms school.
• The gayest major by far was English, with well over 30% of the English major respondents, and another 70% of other majors who sounded like they were English majors, answering "yes" to the Gay Question.
• The smartest group on campus is The Closetator Staff, 100% of whom agreed that coffee was the best.
• Both Sy Syms for Women students wanted the chagiga to be in Xerxes's Harem.
• Third-year MYP Honors Psychology Majors who take an average of 13.4 credits per semester and live on campus on the sixth floor of Rubin all responded that No Internet Made [them] Angry.

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

2005-05-16 - The Commentator - A Shtikle Faygele, Uber Nisht a Zionishe Kayfer

A Shtikle Faygele, Uber Nisht a Zionishe Kayfer

by Josh Harrison

May 16, 2005

When the Hassid in Boro Park saw me reading Daniel Boyarin's Border Lines he asked if I had "sefeikos in emunah." I told him that he might sympathize with Boyarin, seeing as how both of them are anti-Zionists. Sadly he was a "modern" Hassid and he told me that he didn't "judge people just on Zionism one way or the other." [sic]

Boyarin challenges our assumptions in many ways. His first challenge comes merely through being Boyarin. Elusive and brilliant, this Talmudist doesn't have the classical rabbinic mien. Despite his short gig teaching at YU, Boyarin admits that he falls "seriously out of step" with his "self-identification as an Orthodox Jew."

I am seriously out of step with my community at this moment, in a position of marginality...The present is a time in which Jewish Orthodoxy has been redefined as including the unquestioning support for a political entity, the State of Israel, and all of its martial adventures...On the stairs of my synagogue, in Berkeley, on Rosh Hashana...I was told that I should be praying in a mosque.

Beyond his anti-Zionism, Boyarin admits to a love for Christianity. He has "always been in love with some manifestations of Christianity...For an oddly gendered teenager, Saint Francis, the sissy proved an increadibly tantalizing figure of a man." This from an intellectual whose output includes a book on the mysterious chug HaIyun group of Spanish Jewish exegetes, not to mention a book on Midrash!

The challenge of dealing with a figure as different as Boyarin might faze some Centrist Orthodox students. It certainly flummozed my "modern" Hassidische friend. Boyarin is weird, and he admits it in the front of his book. He has gender identity issues, and he likes Christians and Palestinians, not to mention the Talmud. In the beginning of his Dying for God, he actually thanks his therapist for counseling him through the writing of his previous books. Yet, it would be a shame if these idiosyncrasies led us to abandon the actual theories in Border Lines. After all, if there is a challenge beyond that of Boyarin himself, it might be Boyarin's cutting-edge theories.

Border Lines rests on two central claims. First, Boyarin gives his account of the development of heresy and Orthodoxy (in his specific context, the rise of "Christians" and "Jews" from a Judeo-Christian whole). According to Boyarin, heresy begets Orthodoxy as Orthodoxy begets heresy. Thus, the rabbinic elite made certain elements taboo, and those elements became Christian. The opposite of the newly proscribed rituals or theologies would be the newly minted Orthodoxy. In this vein, Boyarin reads "Justin martyr with an ear out for echoes of the role that the contruction of Judaism was playing in his efforts to produce Christian identity." Afer this, Boyarin reads claims of epistemic succession (we call it mesorah) in Judaism and in Christianity.

Of course, Boyarin's theory flounders if he cannot prove that there was a Judeo-Christianity in antiquity. If there was no hybrid group that was stamped out by heresiological border guards, then there was no imposition of a border on an ambiguous group. According to Boyarin "hybridity was threatening to a 'pure' rabbinic Judaism as it was to an Orthodox Christianity." (14) One of the central tasks that Boyarin sets for himself is proving this hybridity.

In order to prove that there was a hyphenated and hybridized Judeo-Christianity, Boyarin sets out to read logos theology into the rabbinic discourse. The belief that "between God and the world there is a second divine entity, God's word (logos), or God's wisdom," used to be seen as the "trip wire" between the Jews and the Christians. Boyarin argues that this situation came to be "via the technologies of heresiology," and that it has nothing to do with the reality of a hybridized Judeo-Christianity. People saw a trip wire where there was none, assuming that the static borders presented to them were always just so.

Assuming from the get go that rabbinic Judaism wasn't the predominant form of Judaism in antiquity (think of the demainproducing am haaretz of Talmudic fame) Boyarin digs up a popular logos theology that is native to Judaism and not to Christianity. Statements about the memra of God in Targum, for instance, are taken as instances of logos theology (even if, post-Maimonides, we read them allegorizations of physical depictions of God in scripture). For Boyarin, "the memra performs...all of the functions of the Logos of Christian Logos theology." Quoting Elliot Wolfson's Through a Speculum that Shines, (Wolfson is currently visiting at Revel) Boyarin digs up Metatron from Sanhedrin 38b, and sees that archangel as an intermediary between God and man. Finally, Boyarin finds an extensive "passage in Philo that could just as easily fit into Justin [Martyr]'s Apologetics." There, Philo basically says that the voice of God is "seen as light is seen...the radiating splendor of virtue indistinguishable from a fountain of reason."

If logos theology was native to Judaism, it got taken by Judeo-Christians. This led to a rabbinic excommunication of the logos and a Christian crucifixion of the memra. Boyarin describes the excommunication of the logos in vivid detail. Detailing a rabbinic conspiracy centering on the Talmudic passages of Hagiga 14b, Boyarin finds evidence of a systematic attempt to push the logos out of the Jewish canon. This attempt started in the epicenter of the rabbinic universe, with one of the greatest expositors of rabbinic Judaism, Rabbi Akiva.

...the second century Rabbi Akiva is portrayed as interpreting these verses [Daniel 7:9] in a way that certainly would seem consistent with Two Powers in Heaven. The crux is his indentification of David, the Messiah, as the "Son of Man" who sits at God's right hand, thus suggesting not only a divine figure, but one who is incarnate as a human being as well. "I am [Messiah] and you shall see 'the Son of Man' sitting on the right hand of power and coming in on the cloud of heaven." (Mark 14:62)...His contemporary Rabbi Yose the Galilean (perhaps a more assiduous reader of the Gospels) strenuously objects to Rabbi Akiva's "dangerous" interpretation...Of course, the Talmud itself must record that Rabbi Akiva changed his mind on order for him to remain "orthodox." Two Powers in Heaven is thus not foreign even at the very heart of the rabbinic enterprise.

Boyarin goes farther than positing a comprehensive rabbinic conspiracy to excommunicate the logos from the inner sanctum of rabbinic Judaism. Boyarin marks the death of logos theology as the factor that allowed the rise of the Talmudic hermeneutic. Contrasting the Talmud with the Council of Nicea and other early Church debates, Boyarin points to the famous story of Menahot 29b as the prime example of "the development of rabbinic discourse." "The rabbinic literary tradition itself seems to 'remember' the historical processes that generated its own contruction of dissensus as constitutive of its power and authority." When Moses saw Rabbi Akiva interpreting the crowns of the letters, he "was being told to be quiet and recognize that there is much that human beings cannot know," for the knowledge of Rabbi Akiva was thoroughly "opaque." (166) In contrast to the legend of the Council of Nicea, Boyarin brings the story of the oven of Akhnai [Bava Metzia 59a] as illustrative of the rabbinic hermeneutic. Victory at the council of Nicea is proven "via the miracles performed by great and holy confessors," where in "the rabbinic legend of the same moment, debate is made the crux of religious life...God himself...cannot interfere with this holy dialectic." While there are stories that seem to militate against this reading, like Tosefta Hagiga 2:9, Boyarin historicizes rabbinic religion, and attributes the polyphonic sentiments to the later Stammim, the later redactors of the Talmud, identifying statements that didn't value the opne dialectic of the Stammim as an earlier strata. The redactors, of course, read their hermeneutic back into the "Yavneh" of the early Talmud, creating a "Yavneh legend."

The implication of Boyarin's book is troubling. On the one hand, he begs us (in his preface) not to commit the almost violent act of labeling "Others," of spinning off heresies and Orthodoxies. On the other hand, Boyarin identifies the entire Talmudic dialectic in its glorious indeterminancy in the break from logos theology. Further complicating the picture is the opposite example of a harmonious Christian discourse, one more concerned with Halakha le'Maaseh than pilpul. Boyarin, points to at least one model of compromise when he asks for Jews to "maintain our existence, our cultural, religious memory...without fetishizing borders and boundaries in the encactment of an ethnic cleansing that...negates the very meaning of Jewish survival until now."

As students in Yeshiva College, I feel like we fundamentally agree with Boyarin. Struggling to maintain boundaries without fetishizing them, we even erupt into internecine battles about where the boundaries should be and what precisely constitutes "fetishization." With all of Boyarin's discourse on his own troubled sexuality, it shouldn't surprise us that his definition of a fetish is probably a little different than ours, but the point remains just the same. If we don't have boundaries, the we have not Talmud, no glorious hermeneutic of indeterminacy. If our boundaries are overwrought, then we commit violence to others unfairly. It is important to be "modern," and like my Hassidic friend not to "judge people just on Zionism [or any other issue] one way or the other."

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

Marxism and Mountain Music - Bibliography

Bibliography for Marxism and Mountain Music

1935-04-08. “The Peace Strike” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4931 [although YC can’t participate in the demonstration, it agrees with the ideology of the demonstrators]

1935-11-07. “Student Mobilization for Peace Scheduled At Yeshiva on Monday; Dr. Revel and Faculty to Speak” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4935 [Student leaders organize a local demonstration at YC against Fascism a day before the national demonstration.]

1935-11-21. Gershon J. Feigon, “Students Hail United Front Opposing War” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4936

S. Koop Rehd, “Hapoel Hamizrachi Greets Freshmen with Billows of Smoke, Cake, Speakers, Dances, and a Veteran”

1936-03-05. Editorial, “Sinai versus Capitalism” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4941

1936-05-06. “ASU Group Formed by Yeshiva Students” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4945

“Plan For United Front Proposed by Ludwig Lore.” [argues for the need for a global opposition to fascism, citing Italy’s offenses against the labor movements in the country]

1936 Masmid. American Student Union https://archive.org/details/masmid1936/page/59/mode/1up?view=theater

1936-10-28. Eleazar Goldman, “Maybe I’m Wrong.” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4949

                Editorial, “Issues 1936 Style.”

1936-11-04. Editorial, “Democracy Vindicated” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4950 [celebrates the decision of the American people to uphold liberal democracy.]

1937-02-10. “Jewish Students in Poland Mistreated” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4961

                Eleazer Goldman, “Maybe I’m Wrong: To Comrade Stalin”

1937-03-17. “Anti-War Rally Set for April; Yeshiva to Join” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4965

1937-04-28. “Diverging views heard at peace day meeting” The Commentator https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4970 (editorial about the anti-nazi rally)

1937-12-15. “Walden Talks On Hapoel Hamizrachi,” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4985

1938-01-05. “Letter to the Editor” [petitioning the student body to join the ASU. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4986

1938-01-12. I Dlugacz, “Letter to the Editor” The Commentator. [argues against joining the American Student Union since they supported Stalin and not the ideology of Trotsky] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4987

1938-03-02. “Letter to the Editor” [anonymous student complains about working conditions for office workers at YC] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4990

1938-04-06. I Dlugacz, “Letter to the Editor” The Commentator. [critique of the socialism of Hapoel Hamizrachi, defends Trotsky’s interpretation of Marx.] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4992

1938-05-04. Editorial, “A United Appeal for Peace.” [Addresses the rising conflicts gloabally, and is signed by the editors of many student newspapers in the NYC] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4993

1938-10-18. “Jewish Students Launch Campaign Against Polish ‘Ghetto Benches,’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-students-launch-campaign-against-polish-ghetto-benches

1938-11-30. “German Persecution Denounced by Mass Protest in Auditorium.” https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/4998 (editorials in response to Kristallnacht)

1939-01-04. Editorial, “Youth versus Fascism” https://repository.yu.edu/handle/123456789/5000 (supportive of the efforts of the ASU)

1939-03-01. Purim Edition, “Assimilators Expelled as Novel Non-Aryan Policy Takes Effect” https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5004

1939-10-11. Jacob E. Goldman, “Maybe I’m Wrong” The Commentator. [Comments on how Stalin’s alliance with Hitler betrays the fascist nature of his government despite its outwardly Marxist rhetoric. Considers the Russian part of the divided Poland to be worse for Orthodox Jewry since they were militantly atheist.] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5011

1940-02-14. Jacob Goldman, “Maybe I’m Wrong’ [regarding communist control of the American Youth Congress.] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5016

1940-02-28. Editorial, “Justice Begins at Home” The Commentator [demands that the admin provide better working conditions and pay to the office workers] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5017

1940-03-27. Editorial, “Justice Begins At Home” The Commentator [students upset that the admin has retaliated against their complaint by preventing student waiters from collecting tips at a formal dinner] https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5019

2008-01-28. Zev Eleff, “On Commentaries and Observations: The Origins of Newsprint Media at Yeshiva University,” The Commentator. https://web.archive.org/web/20091006100248/http://www.yucommentator.com/2.2828/on-commentaries-and-observations-1.297545

Zev Eleff, “Freedom And Responsibility: Censorship at Yeshiva College in the Early History of the Commentator,” Undergraduate Honors Thesis, (Yeshiva University, 2009). https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4256

2011-04-13. Elie Friedman and Adam Zimilover, “The Holocaust in America: Yeshiva College During World War II,” The Commentator. https://web.archive.org/web/20110419134028/http://www.yucommentator.com/polopoly_fs/1.1820185!/75.8.pdf

 

2011-12-21 - The Commentator - Letter to the Editor [Responding to Zvi Weiss]

Letter to the Editor [Responding to Zvi Weiss]

December 21, 2011

To the Editor:

I agree with Rabbi Weiss that these are important issues and in no way do I feel that they should be ignored or trivialized. I will address his three critiques in the order in which they were raised.

Yes, homosexuality is clearly a religiously charged issue. Yet, that does not mean that simply being a religious figure—or even a leading rosh yeshiva—entitles one to broadcast his or her views publicly as an authority on homosexuality. It should be patently obvious that the said figure needs to be acutely familiar with the issue at hand to comment, and it is immensely frustrating when rabbis speak out as authorities on issues in which they lack the necessary background to do so. (In my opinion, this occurs most frequently when rabbis decide to play the character of the political pundit, but that is a topic for another discussion.)

Weiss asks why I did not seek out the position of rabbis – well, it turns out my rosh yeshiva at the time was in attendance of the gay panel, which itself was moderated by the mashgiach of Yeshiva. I have little doubt that both of these figures had immeasurably more experience in dealing with homosexuals than the roshei yeshiva who decided it was their role to defend the purity of our institution by engaging in polemical denunciations of the event. But to be perfectly frank, though I sincerely do appreciate and value their guidance, even if they were not to support the gay panel, it would not have changed my mind. In that sense, I do not feel nearly as confined to blindly follow the dictates of my rabbis based on a radical notion of Da’as Torah as does Rabbi Weiss. He concludes his thought by accusing me of having an “agenda” and of not being interested in “the Torah viewpoint.” Perhaps nothing in Rabbi Weiss’s letters reflects his myopia than the supercilious presumption that there is such a thing as “the” Torah viewpoint on any given matter.

In regard to the question about support of the Israeli government, though Rabbi Weiss puts the word in quotes, I never suggested that we “automatically” support the policies of every Israeli government. As anyone who knows me (or has seen my Facebook wall) is well aware, such a claim is laughable – to say the least, I have absolutely no problem with criticizing policies of the Israeli government. If he feels that not following the Orthodox interpretation of halakha is a justification for such criticism, it is certainly his prerogative to do so. I was upset not because Weiss questioned the decisions of a particular government, but that he questioned his support for the enterprise of a Jewish state, suggesting that it certain circumstances it behooved us to “reconsider exactly how we relate to a Jewish state” as a whole. Moreover, of course there is a time for criticism, and the second government of Yitzhak Rabin may well have been one of those times. There is a clear difference, however, between disagreeing with the wisdom of the Oslo Accords and with demonizing the character of Yitzhak Rabin. Let us also leave no doubt about something else: the Shin Bet was not responsible for the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. Rabbi Weiss is only embarrassing himself by writing that “the conduct of the Shin Bet appears extremely disturbing when one reviews the evidence.” This is nothing more than the Israel version of “the CIA was behind the JFK assassination” and it is not a claim to be taken with any amount of seriousness.

Weiss concludes his letter by vying to win the contest over who is more intolerant toward whom, but it is not a competition in which I will play along. I will say one line about anti-Haredi sentiment, though. Perhaps if more than 40% of Haredi high schools taught math and English; perhaps if more than 400 of the 14,000 18-year-old Haredi males enlisted in the IDF; perhaps if more than 35% of Haredi men were employed; then, maybe, anti-Haredi feelings would drop significantly. I suppose we would have see serious internal reforms in Haredi society for us to know for sure.

Yitzhak Bronstein

YC ’12

 

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

This article can be found on the Wayback Machine

2011-12-21 - The Commentator - Letter to the Editor [Responding to Yitzhak Bronstein]

Letter to the Editor [Responding to Yitzhak Bronstein]

December 21, 2011

To the Editor:

While I see no reason to respond to the personal insults of Yitzhak Bronstein, there are some important issues that he raises that (I feel) do require a response.

A. Da’as Torah

Homosexuality is described in the Torah as a to’evah (abomination). It is also one of the sins for which the Torah requires yehareg v’al ya’avor (one should allow oneself to be killed rather than violate this sin). It would seem quite logical that any discussion about such a religiously “charged” matter should certainly have the input of roshei yeshiva in terms of both halakha and hashkafa.

For Orthodox Jews – for whom Torah is central – I do not understand how there could be a thought of excluding such input. Mr. Bronstein cites an example of the rosh yeshiva who had “never been approached by a homosexual student” yet was most vocally opposed to the gay panel. First of all, there may be perfectly valid halakhic/hashkafic reasons for such opposition, anyway. I strongly doubt that Mr. Bronstein is halachically or hashkafically qualified to make such a determination (I know that I am not). However, giving Mr. Bronstein the benefit of the doubt, I noted in my original letter that there are “erudite, articulate, and knowledgeable rabbis in RIETS” who could certainly address this issue. Did Mr. Bronstein try to approach anyone else?

Further, if he really felt that the Rabbis were “ignorant,” there are fine experts (such as Dr. David Pelcovitz) who could certainly work with the rabbis in helping to develop an appropriate Torah response to the issue of having a “gay panel.” Mr. Bronstein’s reasoning appears to indicate a lack of interest in the Torah viewpoint and more interest in his own agenda.

B. Support of the Israeli Government

Rabbi H. Schachter shlita wrote in the name of Rav Soloveitchik zatzal (in “Nefesh HaRav“) that our support for the Israeli Government is only within the framework of Torah and mitzvot. The entire importance of the “State” is only in terms of its being a part of the rest of the Torah and mitzvot. If there is any contradiction between support for the [Israeli] Government and what Hashem demands, there is no question that we do NOT support the government. The Rav himself stated (as quoted in “Divrei HaRav“) that “the tie of the Jewish People with the State of Israel is ONLY based upon the eternal world of Torah…” And, in “Thinking Aloud”, the Rav complained that “Zionism – religious Zionism – has replaced Torah.” As Orthodox Jews, then, it behooves us not to “automatically” support the Israeli government. Rather, we must always evaluate the actions of the specific government and take respond appropriately. The incidents that I originally cited are not mere speculation and deserve critical analysis – not dismissal. In particular, the conduct of the Shin Bet appears extremely disturbing when one reviews the evidence.

C. “The Left”

I used the term “so-called left” to refer to the various secular leftist parties (such as Meretz) who have truly demonized the religious citizens in Israel. I specifically used that term because I recognize that there are some leftists who do not demonize the religious citizens. However, one has only to look at the history of the State (going back to before its founding) to see how parties such as MAPAI did their best to undermine and marginalize the religious. It is unfortunate, but this still continues in Israel. And, it is far more virulent than the “intolerance of the religious.” As an aside, Mishpacha Magazine had an excellent editorial pointing out that even though the “Chareidi” are actually getting, more involved in Israeli society, they are now being attacked for that. In other words, no matter what Haredi Jews choose to do, the “so-called left” will bash them, anyway. In that light (as well as in light of the historical commemorations of the Rabin Murder which often became events at which the “religious” were condemned), it is certainly accurate to say that “the left continues to be more intolerant than we (i.e., Religious Jews) are.”

The above are important issues and I do not claim to state how they should be addressed. However, they should not be ignored nor trivialized as Mr. Bronstein appears to do.

Zvi Weiss

YC ’71, RIETS ’74

(All rights belong to the Commentator)

This article can be found on the Wayback Machine 

2010-08-26 - The Commentator - A Statement of Principles for the Orthodox Community

A Statement of Principles for the Orthodox Community

by Simeon Botwinick

August 26, 2010

Dialogue about the role of homosexuals in the Orthodox community took a significant step this summer with the rapid circulation of a public statement of principles on the subject. Signed by over 150 Orthodox rabbis, educators, and mental health professionals, the statement affirms the responsibility of Orthodox communities to treat homosexuals with the same basic dignity and respect extended to all human beings, while presenting practical proposals on how inevitable situations should be handled.

Posted online on July 22 of this year, the first draft of the statement was initially prepared by Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot approximately four months earlier. It was then circulated, commented upon by dozens of respondents, and revised, with especially significant contributions made by Rabbi Aryeh Klapper and Rabbi Yitzchak Blau.

According to Rabbi Helfgot, the statement "clarifies and puts on the table many ideas that have already been discussed," putting in clear language some "hopefully helpful thoughts."

Although this issue has of course long existed in the Orthodox community – many have been thinking about it for years, pointed out Rabbi Helfgot, and community rabbis confront it regularly – never before had there been a perceived sense ofneed to articulate or at least suggest some clear guidelines.

"The immediate catalyst for this was the panel hosted at YU last year," said Rabbi Helfgot (referring to the "Being Gay in the Orthodox World" panel hosted on December 22, 2009 by the YU Tolerance Club and the Wurzweiler School of Social Work), "but that panel ended up causing much controversy." Many of the immediate reactions were visceral ones. Rabbi Helfgot and others wanted a statement on the subject that they could take the time to step back and think rationally about, to "fashion a consensus document that would have integrity and sensitivity, while at the same time being faithful to halakha."

After Rabbi Helfgot had prepared a draft of the statement, he sent it out to many rabbis, educators, and mental health professionals through email, postal mail, telephone, and personal meetings. The document spread by word of mouth until some 300-400 people had seen it. Many of these people responded with comments and suggestions, creating a feedback loop that allowed changes to be incorporated into later drafts.

"Although hundreds of hours of revisions went into the document," noted Rabbi Helfgot, "it was mostly just specific wording that was changed. There was always a question of how much emphasis to place on each issue, but there were no major battles over matters of principle."

In April, Rabbi Helfgot asked Rabbis Blau and Klapper to help rewrite the entire document, taking into account many of the suggestions that had been sent in. When the three had a final piece they felt confident about, they began sending it out for support. "We received many replies," said Rabbi Helfgot, "Many agreed wholeheartedly and agreed to sign on. Others responded that they appreciated the document, but didn't agree with some of the content. Still others, including a few YU rebbeim, said that they agreed in principle, but didn't want to sign a public document for various reasons."

The document was eventually posted, along with the initial hundred-plus signees, on an independent blog (http://statementofprinciplesnya.blogspot.com). "I didn't want the statement to be identified with any specific institution or organization or personalities," explained Rabbi Helfgot. "The point is that it is an independent initiative with no funding and no one person behind it. It's just an independent group of people who felt it was important."

Although right now the document was intended simply to clarify and an issue that has yet to be publicly dealt with, Rabbi Helfgot admitted that he had hopes the document would become something of a standard in the Orthodox community. "In the future it might be positive if educational and religious institutions would adopt these or similar principles," he said. "But of course, that's in the future, and is up to those organizations and their members."

If early support for the statement is any indication, the document may soon become far more than just an independent statement ofprinciples. Among the initial signees were many heads of Orthodox high schools, including Rabbi Tully Harcsztark (SAR), Rabbi Mark Gottlieb (MTA). Mrs. C.B. Neugroschl (Central), Rabbi Joshua Levisohn (MJBHA). Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein (Ramaz), Rabbi Scot Berman (Ulpana), Rabbi Jeff Kobrin (North Shore), and Rabbi Yosef Adler (TABC).

(All rights belong to the Commentator) 

Bibliography of LGBTQ Discourse at Yeshiva University

This bibliography, mostly made up of articles published in Yeshiva University student newspapers and magazines, attempts to capture the development of the LGBTQ discourse at Yeshiva University prior to the formation of the Yeshiva University Pride Alliance. Many of the articles linked here were only recently made available online through the YU library's project to digitize student publications on its new online repository, YAIR. More recent articles that were published after around 2012 can still be found on the student newspaper's websites, and are linked at the appropriate entries. Generally, articles that were published between 2000 and 2011 are only preserved in the YU Library's archive as paper copies with a few captured by the Wayback Machine. I transcribed the articles that are no longer online and republished them here.

The Bibliography is divided into two sections. The first and largest contains a mix of news and opinion articles that in some way address the broader topic of LGBTQ identity. Some of the articles directly engage with the topic, while others include mere references that imply a particular perspective. The second section is much smaller and contains all the relevant satirical articles published in the Purim editions of the student newspapers as well as the two relatively short lived satirical newspapers.

For more information about the 2009 Panel titled "Being Gay in the Orthodox World," look here: https://www.syaross.org/misc/gaypanel/ 

Section 1:    

1963-11-20. Steven Prystowsky, “Survey Sees Many Jewish College Students Breaking Religious Ties.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5425 [Survey finds that many of these Jewish students have no religious objection to homosexuality. Author of the piece finds this problematic.]

1966-09-22. Rabbi Marvin Antelman, “Historical Sources for Mechitzah Evaluated.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5459 [Uses the term ‘homosexual’ to describe the male prostitute prohibited in Duet. 23:18.]

1968-02. Rabbi Norman Lamm, "The New Dispensation On Homosexuality: A Jewish Reaction To A Developing Christian Attitude," Jewish Life (New York, NY), Jan.-Feb. 1968. (responses to the article)

1968-02-21. “Rabbi Lamm Decries New Church Approach to Homosexuality Issue.” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6308

1971. "An Interview With Harvey Bernstein" Masmid 1971. https://archive.org/details/masmid1971/page/25

1974-04-24. David Gleicher, “Jewish Gays Form A Unique Type of Shul.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5581 [Gleicher reports in homophobic terms. Anonymous ‘leader’ of synagogue attended Torah V’Daas and defended the mission of the synagogue saying it was bringing people closer to Judaism.]

1975-10-30. “Equal Rights Amendment: Con.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6053 [Suggests Homosexual marriage and adoption being legal as a Con for the proposed amendment to the NYS constitution.]

1977-03-23. Steve Cohen, “’Directions’ for Whom?” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5678 [Defends YCDS’ theoretical right to produce ‘Boys in the Band’ a play about gay musicians.]

Michael Goldberg, “Same Direction.” [Maintains his belief that such a play should have no place in YU.]

1978-11-08. Benjamin Hornstein, “Religious Observances Hindered In American Penal Institutions.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5694 [Orthodox Jewish prisoner advocate Simcha Miller understands unsafe prison conditions to lead to homosexuality.]

1980-03-26. “Commie After Dark.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5708 [Author recommends seeing the play ‘Bent’ which is about homosexual lovers suffering under Nazi oppression.]

1981-10-05. Dov Fisch, “Who is a Jew and What is a Smokescreen” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6372

1983-02-16. Michael Broyde, “Missionary Activities.” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6378

1984-02-29. Amy Rubin, “Experience The World.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6186 [Article about internships, Diane Feldman wrote an article about Gay rights for The Villager (Greenwich Village).]

1984-03-01. “RIETS Restructures Semikha Program: Fourth Year is Added.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5740 [New curriculum includes instruction on the halachic perspective of modern issues including homosexuality.]

1984-11-00. Deena Schram, “Readings on Judaism and Psychology.” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6387

1986-02-00. Gershon Kaplan, “Behind Closed Doors.” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6394 [Summarizes the perspectives of the YU Rabbanim on the issue of Homosexuality and the need to be compassionate for the AIDS crisis. Metadata incorrectly identifies the paper as a ‘Purim edition.’]

1986-12-31. Tzvi Dresdner, “Science and Health: Donating Blood — More Than a Phlebotomy.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5769 [Discusses the need to donate more blood as a result of blood shortage due to AIDS crisis.]

1987-04-08. Zev Kleiner, “Hakarat HaTov.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6216 [Cardozo student is thankful for the Observer sending copies of the paper to Cardozo, since he feels the school is rather isolated from the greater Jewish YU community. One clear sign of that in his mind was the Gay and Lesbian club.]

1987-10-29. Josh Fruchter, “Lamm Meets With Students.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5775 [Mentions a letter that circulated the dorms decrying YU for not shutting down a homosexual society at Einstein, Lamm defended the University’s policy.]

1988-11-08. Arnon Kemelman, “Eidelberg Slandered.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5791 [Kemelman defends Eidelberg’s assessment of YU noting that Eidelberg righly found it problematic that there were professors at YU who supported Gay rights activism.]

1988-12-20. Behnam Dayanim, “Over 800 Attend Chanukah Dinner; YU Raises $84M.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5794 [Surgeon General C. Everett Koop spoke about the issue of prejudice towards the homosexual population who are most affected by AIDS.]

1989-10-05. “Preview: Dinkins.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5813 [Explanation of David Dinkin’s mayoral campaign platform includes his support of Gay rights.]

1990-10-31. Avi Lopin, “We Can’t Put Out the Fire.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5845 [Lists Gay rights in America as one of many reasons to make Aliyah.]

1991-12-11. Michael Poppers, “Retort to a Republican.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5860 [Critiques another article’s perspective that the republican party is the party of Orthodox Judaism, nevertheless, Poppers implies that he believes that homosexuality should be illegal.]

1993-02-17. Chava Boylan, “Losing Sight Of The Objective.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6286 [Discusses Bill Clinton’s first months in office, seems to ridicule his focus on the issue of Gay soldiers in the military.]

1993-02-24. Jamin Koslowe, “Tendler Speaks Out on AIDS; ‘Console, but don’t condone homosexual AIDS victims.’” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5878

1993-03-31. Yoni Kadden, “Take Your Heads Out of the Sand.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5880 [Praises the YUSPAC for their lecture raising awareness for AIDS.]

1993-04-28. Eric Creizman. “Lamm Addresses Controversial Issues at Dorm Talks.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5881 [Lamm defends Beit Shimchat Torah’s ability to attend the Salute to Israel Parade, but limits them from using it as a platform to protest for gay rights.]

1993-05-11. Gene Alperovich, “YU Marches On — But Only After a Fight.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5882 [YU refuses to march in Israel Parade if Beit Simchat Torah gets its own float. Organizers agree to force the synagogue to march under the general Reform movement banner.]

1993-11-23. Rayzel Kinderleher, “Jews Don’t Have AIDS.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6496 [Addresses misconceptions about AIDS within the orthodox community and urges more education about the disease.]

1993-12-08. Ryan S. Karben, “Sorounded By Controversy, YCDS Gears Up For ‘Lips Together, Teeth Apart,’”The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5888 [Controversy arises over play that contains direct discussion of AIDS and homophobia, rabbinic faculty discourage students from attending the play.]

Steven Miodownik, “Rav Tendler Delivers Lecture on AIDS Awareness Day.” [Tendler maintains his stance of disapproval for the Gay lifestyle but encourages people to be compassionate to those infected with AIDS and be pragmatic about slowing the spread of the disease.]
Yisroel Holczer, “Homosexual Group Meets On JJC,” [Small group of Lesbian and Gay Wurzweiler students meet on campus, YU admin states that they must accomodate the students under NYC law but they disaprove of the activity.]

1993-12-22. Oren Keiser, “On Homosexuals at YU.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5889 [Student defends WSSW pride alliance arguing that most members are not Jewish and not beholden to Jewish law.]

1994-03-10. Dov Simons, “Tough Issues Examined at Dorm Talks.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5892 [Rabbi Lamm urges students to be respectful of Gay people, but to refrain from completely accepted the aspects of their lifestyle that are against Halacha.]

1994-05-01. David Schertz, “The Year in Review.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5896 [Contains mention of the controversy around the Wurzweiler public discussions on Gay and Lesbian issues.]

1994-11-01. Owen Cyrulnik, “Debate Rages Over Gay Clubs at Cardozo.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5899 [Outline of public outrage surrounding the existence of pride clubs at Cardozo, Einstein, WSSW.]

1994-11-15. Michael Fragin, “A Toava Cannot be Tolerated Within the Walls of YU.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5900 [Fragin Wants YU to enforce Torah behavior on all its campuses and shut down the Cardozo Gay club.]

Zach Hepner, “Official Newspaper of YC.” [Wonders why Commentator is reporting on the Gay Club at Cardozo as it is not part of YC, the Comm’s jurisdiction.]

1994-12-12. Michele Berman, “AIDS Program Halted at YC and SCW.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6513 [Includes some commentary on YU admins attitudes toward homosexuality in the orthodox community.]

1994-12-14. Nachum Lamm, “Stand Up for Kiddush Hashem.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5903 [Lamm argues that YU shouldn’t feel bound by its need to receive govt. funding but rather standing up for religious values would be a kiddush hashem.]

1995-02-14. Owen Cyrulnik. “YU in Midst of Turmoil Over Gay Club at Cardozo; Media Attention Puts Issue in the Spotlight.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5908

1995-02-28. Owen Cyrulnik, “YU Attorneys Meet With Student Press Over Cardozo Gay Issue.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5909 [YU attorneys explain why it can’t prevent gay clubs from forming on campus, citing YU’s status as a non-religious corporation since late 60s.]

1995-04. Elli Schorr, “Abomination OR Just Plain Misunderstood; The Cardozo Controversy.” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6464 [Schorr lays out his Halachic perspective of the controversy.]

1995-05-09. Meir S. Zeitchik. “Gay Club Publicity Threatens YU’s Image.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5913

1995-07-20. “Focus on Issues: Yeshiva College Students Seek to Establish Gay Club.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. https://www.jta.org/archive/focus-on-issues-yeshiva-college-students-seek-to-establish-gay-club [Original article missing from pdf, transcribed version contains typos]

1995-09-13. Nick Muzin, “Rabbi Tendler Declares ‘Unqualified Support’ For President Lamm on Gay Issue.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5915 [Rabbi Tendler supports Rabbi Lamm’s handling of the issue of pride clubs at YU graduate schools.]

1995-10-31. Abraham Unger, “Letter to the Editor: Speak Out.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5917 [Unger wants YU admin to speak out against the clubs more adamantly.]

1996-03-27. Shmuel Bodenheimer, “CBS Correspondent Lectures on American-Israeli Relations.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5924 [Dan Raviv defends Clinton’s stance on Jonathan Pollard by noting that he had to act tough after being ‘soft’ on Gay soldiers in the military.]

1996-04-24. Ari D. Hirt. “The 1990’s.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5926 [Contains summary of the controversy surrounding gay clubs at Cardozo and Wurzweiler in the previous year.]

1996-04-29. Arnon Storfer, “Faculty Votes to Allow Two Credits for YCDS.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5925 [Mentions controversy over play that contained homosexual and homophobic themes.]

1996-05-07. Owen Cyrulnik, “From the Editor Emeritus.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5927 [considers gay clubs to be a threat to YU’s existence as a proponent of Torah U’Madda.]

1996-09-05. Dina Bogner, “’Rent’ Rocks the Theater World.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6536 [Bogner praises play that includes protagonists who are Gay and have AIDS and are struggling to make rent.]

1996-12-20. Benjamin Balint, “Traditional Jewish Liberalism.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5932 [Balint critiques Jews who claim tradition as a basis for their leftwing values (including Gay liberation) as detached and ignorant from the tradition. He finds conservative values to be a better representation of the Jewish tradition.]

1997-10-06. Benjamin Balint, “It’s the Morality, Stupid: Jews for Gingrich.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5941 [Balint continues his attack on Jewish Liberalism.]

1998-02-23. Michelle Muller, “McBride, Kincaid Speak for Authors-in-Residence Series.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6549 [Includes description of Kincaid’s book ‘My Brother’ about her brother who was Gay and died of AIDS.]

1998-08-23. Chanan Hoschander, “Housing Denied To Homosexual Couples.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5950 [Gay couples at AECOM denied housing.]

1998-09-08. Mordechai Levovitz, “This Policy is a DRAG!” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5951

1998-09-10. Sarah Cate, “Einstein Sued.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6554 [Gay and Lesbian partners of AECOM students denied university housing.]

1998-10-29. Yehudit Robinson, “A Call For Tolerance.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6556 [Notes the murder of Matthew Shepard and calls for people to be more accepting of gay people without disregarding Halacha.]

1998-11-17. Jason Cyrulnik. “On-Campus Military Recruiting Draws Ire of Cardozo Gay Community.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5953

1998-12-22. Etan Mintz, “Homosexuality, Torah U’Madda, and the Messiah; Lamm Confronts the Issues that Move YU Students at Fall Dorm Talks.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5954

1999-03-09. Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dovid Tendler. “Edah and the ‘Luchos Ho’edus.’” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5957 [Tendler accuses ‘Edah’ a more liberal orthodox organization of condoning reform and respecting Gay rabbis.]

1999-03-22. Dassi Zeidel, “Israeli Culture Comes to New York.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6562 [Gay character in an Israeli movie at Israeli film festival in NY.]

Dina Gielchinsky, “They Should Have Called it ‘Very Ordinary People.’” [Review of the play ‘Public Places, Private Lives’, which contains a gay character.]

1999-05-18. Aaron Klein. “RIETS Musmach Announces His Homosexuality; YU Rabbeim Are Appalled.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5960

1999-09-06. Mordechai Levovitz, “Defending the Schmutz.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5961 [Levovitz defends modern secular sexually liberated culture as within the bounds of Judaism’s respect for logical moral laws, since it revolves around a common understanding of consent.]

2000-02-21. Adam Cohen, “Baseball’s Bigot.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5966 [discusses the potential issues with MLB suspending player for being racist and homophobic. Ultimately concludes that MLB’s decision to penalize the player is good for minorities in general.]

2000-04-11. Marina Stolerman, "Boy Dead in Wisconsin," The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6570 [Poem about Gay college student who was murdered.]

2000-05-22. Jonathan Rubin, “Gay Musmach Speaks at Yeshiva Student's Apartment.” The Commentator. link

“Yeshiva Denies Housing for Same-Sex Couples; Appeals court Upholds Decision and Practice; Future Policy Unclear.”link

2000-09-28. David Rosen, “Spitzer to Support Gay Students in Einstein Housing Battle.” The Commentator. link

Editorial, “#45 -- Religious Affiliation: None.” link

2001-08-28. Adina Levine, “Likely Victory for Lesbian Lawsuit; Court of Appeals Decision Changes Course of the Case.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6936

2001-12-11. Steven I. Weiss, “Movie Review: Trembling Before G-d.” The Commentator. link

“Trembling Before G-D: An Interview With the Director.” link

2001-12-18. Jessica Russak, “The Facts of Life.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6943 [Defends the inclusion of explicit literature in the curriculum includes example of play about Gay soldiers.]

2002-01-08. Steven I. Weiss, “Trembling Before G-D: An Interview with the Director, Part II.” The Commentator. link

2002-08-25. Zack Streit, “From the Editor's Desk.” The Commentator. link

2002-08-26. Miriam Colton, “New Policy Permits Same-Sex Couples in Einstein Housing.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6950

2002-09-11. Zack Streit, “From the Editor's Desk.” The Commentator. link

2002-10-18. Michael Matto, “Torah or Homophobia?” The Commentator. link

2002-12-31. Ben Shapiro, “Richard Joel: The Wrong Man for the Job.” The Commentator. link

2003-03-28. Shayndi Raice, “Moving On Up.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/7094

2003-May/June. Yechiel Weiner, “Regarding the Main Transgression in Forbidden Sexual Activity: The Act of Sex or the Pleasure, Specifically with Homosexuality, Bestiality, Sex With a Non-Jew, and a Menstruating Woman.” [Hebrew] Beit Yitzchak 35 (2003). https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=59824&st=&pgnum=645&hilite=

2003-08-27. Jason Koslowe, “Res Publica; A Case For Gay Marriage.” The Commentator. link

2004-02-19. Amitai Bin-Nun, “Confrontation with Same-Sex Marriage.” The Commentator. link

2004-09. Rebecca Rosenberg, “Ali G: From the Kibbutz to Hollywood.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/7999

2005-04. Ilana Levin, “Jewish Community Mourns Pope John Paul II.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8319

2005-05-16. Josh Harrison, “A Shtikle Faygele, Uber Nisht a Zionishe Kayfer.” The Commentator. link

2005-11. Suri Greenwald, “A Light Goes Out: Remembering Rabbi Herman Naftali Neuberger.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8348

Laya Pelzner, “A Look at the Advertising Industry: Advertising Week 2005.”

2006-03. Rachel Ali Elbaz, “Tit for Tat: Livingstone’s Comments and Consequences Reconsidered.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8395

Sara Chamama, “The Downtown Connection.”

2006-04-03. Eitan Kastner, “University Dismisses Gay Einstein Student’s Discrimination Claim.” The Commentator. link

2006-12. Chana Wiznitzer, “Modesty, Violence and Priorities.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8411

2007-03. Gila Kletenik, “In God We Trust But Separation is a Must.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8443 [Decries America’s obsession with identity politics from a left wing perspective, seems to fear a religious ban of Abortion and Gay marriage.]

2007-09. Olivia Wiznitzer, “The Importance of Human Dignity: Am I in place of God?” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8494

2007-10-23. Paul Adam, “How We Lost the Right to Censure Ann Coulter.” The Commentator. link

2007-11. Shlomit Cohen, “The General Assembly: Reflections on Jewish Identity and Social Justice.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8504

2008-09-25. Noach Lerman, Mordechai Siev, and Daniel Kahn, “Yeshiva Values in The University; Transgender Professor Generates Discussion: What are YU's Values?” The Commentator. link

2008-10-03. Olivia Wiznitzer, “To Understand is not to Condone” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8676

Olivia Wiznitzer, “Transitioning: The Halachic Ramifications.”
Olivia Wiznitzer, “Dr. Ladin’s Transformative Journey.”
Olivia Wiznitzer, “Transsexual Professor at Stern College: Student Perspectives.”
“Interview With a Transsexual Within the Orthodox Jewish Community.”
Aviva Bellman, “Gender Identity Disorder: What Is It?”
Olivia Wiznitzer, “Transsexuals in the Frum Community Speak Out.”

2009-01-01. Raffi Holzer, “Should YU Tolerate Tolerance?” The Commentator. link

Pearl Herzog, “Letter to the Editor”. link

2009-02-10. Michael Schopf, “Is Tolerance Always Appropriate,” The Commentator. link

Lawrence I. Bonchek, “Tolerant Enough?”
Avi Kelvin, “Halakhic Mask.”

2009-February. Anonymous, “A Burning Fire and a River of Tears: One Day in My Shoes.” Kol Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4862 [Anonymous gay student confides in his struggle to belong in orthodox spaces.]

2009-04-02. Ezra Alter and Noach Lerman, “Kol Hamevaser Pulls Issue on Relationships & Sexuality.” The Commentator. link  

2009-10-29. Anonymous, “The Homosexual Question: Time for Modern Orthodoxy to Remove the Blindfold.” The Commentator. link 

2009-11-19. Julian Horowitz, “Framing the Issue: Responses and Reactions to ‘The Homosexual Question.’” The Commentator. link

Sivan Kerem and Jo Jo Freundel, “Responses to ‘The Homosexual Question.’” link
Sammy Steiner, “Relating to Homosexuality: An Interview with Dr. David Pelcovitz.” link

2009-12-21. “News Briefs: New Events Promote Discussions of Homosexuality on Campus.” The Commentator. link

2009-12-21. Tovah Silbermann, “Tolerating the Tolerance Club.” The Observer. link

Yaelle Frohlich, “President Richard Joel and Menahel Rabbi Yona Reiss Issue Statement Addressing Religious Proscription of Homosexual Activity.” link
Simi Lampert, “‘Trembling Before G-d’ at TAC Event.” link

2009-12-23. Michael Cinnamon, “Out of the Closet; Homosexual Student and Alumni Speak to Standing-Room-Only Crowd on Wilf Campus.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2009/12/out-of-the-closet-homosexual-student-and-alumni-speak-to-standing-room-only-crowd-on-wilf-campus/ See Comments on the Wayback Machine

2010-02-01. Editorial, “Sensitivity in the Face of Controversy: Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 19:17.” Kol Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4868

Raphy Rosen, “Where do We Go From Here?”

2010-02-09. Michael Cinnamon, “From the Desk of the Editor-in-Chief: A Brief, and (Hopefully) Final Analysis of the Gay Panel and Its Implications.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2010/02/from-the-desk-of-the-editor-in-chief-a-brief-and-hopefully-final-analysis-of-the-gay-panel-and-its-implications/ See Comments on the Wayback Machine

2010-02-11. “Timeline of YU Homosexuality Discussion.” The Observer. link

2010-03-23. “Closetators Stolen.” The Commentator. link

2010-08-26. Simeon Botwinick, “A Statement of Principles for the Orthodox Community.” The Commentator. link

2011-11-10. Yitzhak Bronstein, “Learning from the Murder of Rabin,” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2011/11/learning-from-the-murder-of-rabin/

2011-12-09. Zvi Weiss, “Letter to the Editor: A Response to ‘Learning from the Murder of Rabin,’” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2011/12/letters-responses/

Yitzhak Bronstein, “Letter to the Editor [Responding to Zvi Weiss].”

2011-12-21. Joshua Freundel, “Sex, Scandal, and the Response of Our Orthodox Institutions,” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2011/12/sex-scandal-and-the-response-of-our-orthodox-institutions/

Benjamin Abramowitz, “Rendezvous with Reality: A Response to the Beacon Controversy.” https://yucommentator.org/2011/12/rendezvous-with-reality-a-response-to-the-beacon-controversy-2/
Zvi Weiss, “Letter to the Editor [Responding to Yitzhak Bronstein].” link
Yitzhak Bronstein, “Letter to the Editor [Responding to Zvi Weiss].” link

2012-03-21. Daniel Atwood, “Should We be Mourning Joe Paterno? Homosexual Acceptance and the Prevention of Rape.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2012/03/should-we-be-mourning-joe-paterno-homosexual-acceptance-and-the-prevention-of-rape/

2012-05-15. Amy Stone, “On the Dangerous Dykes Book Tour.” Lilith. https://lilith.org/2012/05/on-the-dangerous-dykes-book-tour/2/

2012-11-15. Arel Kirshstein, “A Letter to the Student Body From a Non-Anonymous Homosexual Student.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2012/11/a-letter-to-the-student-body-from-a-non-anonymous-homosexual-student/

2012-12-31. Sarah King, “Something Rich and Strange.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2012/12/something-rich-and-strange/

2013-02-15. Arel Kirshstein, “Coming Out Narratives Beyond the LGBT Experience.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2013/02/coming-out-narratives-beyond-the-lgbt-experience/

2013-10-20. Gavriel Brown. “United States of Judaism: the Pew and the Future of Modern Orthodoxy.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2013/10/united-states-of-judaism-the-pew-and-the-future-of-modern-orthodoxy/ (Mentions majority of Modox support LGBT)

2014-04-04. Dasha Sominski, “A Call for Safe Space.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2014/04/201404a-call-for-safe-space/

2015-01-02. Sarala Pool, “Merchav Batuach: Creating Safe Spaces on Campus.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2015/01/merchav-batuach-creating-safe-spaces-on-campus/

2015-02-09. Daniel Atwood, “Creating a Community of Support.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2015/02/creating-a-community-of-support/

2015-02-22. Eli Balsam, “Discrimination or Not? You Decide.” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2015/02/discrimination-or-not-you-decide/

2015-03-17. Daniela Alexandra Porat, “Out, Proud, and Kinda Loud at Yeshiva University.” Tablet Magazine. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/out-proud-yeshiva

2015-05-12. Blanche Haddad, “Seeing a Professor Anew: An Insight into the Trans and Jewish Narrative of Dr. Joy Ladin.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2015/05/seeing-a-professor-anew-an-insight-into-the-trans-and-jewish-narrative-of-dr-joy-ladin/

2015-05-12. Meira Nagel, “An Insight Into RFRA: Religious Freedom v. Civil Discrimination.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2015/05/an-insight-into-rfra-religious-freedom-v-civil-discrimination/

2015-08-25. Makena Owens, “Stop, Drop and Don’t Just Roll With It.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2015/08/stop-drop-and-dont-just-roll-with-it/

2015-08-25. Miriam Pearl Klahr, “My Lonely Reaction to Obergefell v. Hodges.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2015/08/my-lonely-reaction-to-obergefell-v-hodges/

2015-10-19. Yadin Teitz, “Give and Let Live?” The Commentator. https://yucommentator.org/2015/10/give-and-let-live/

2015-11-16. Miriam Renz, “‘There’s Something I have to Tell You’: Creating an Emersonian Community.” The Observer. https://yuobserver.org/2015/11/theres-something-i-have-to-tell-you-creating-an-emersonian-community/

Section 2 [Satire]:

1966-Purim. “Fagel Flees, Lizzie Leaves; Pick a Queen, Pick a Dean.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5059 

1972-Purim. “Badboy: ‘Man Of The Year.’” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5547 

1975-Purim. “Litter To The Editor.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5592 

1975-02-26-Purim. “SOY Calls for Wine Women and Song.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6050

1995-Purim. “Thanks A Bundle.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5970

“Nulman Forces Gay Club to Remain Open at Cardozo.
“Fifth Jewish Studies Program Unveiled.”
“The Yeshiva University Purim Story.”

1996-Purim. “YU Christian Club Finally Pushes Lamm too Far.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5969 

1996-Purim. “Shir La-Shalom: The Making of a President, 5756.” Hamevaser. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6468 

1998-Purim. “It Is Peram, Share in My Simka.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/5971 

1999-Purim. Suri Negiah, “SCW and YC to Hold Coed Dance.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6560 

2001-03-08-Purim. “Under the Mechitzah.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/6922 

2002-02-Purim. Dean Canadian Bacon, “Get Back in the Closet.” The Commentator.

2003-03-Purim. [Table] “Perhaps Our Campus Isn’t As Polarized As Thought.” The Commentator. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/8689

“YSU President and Desecrator News Editor Make Out Up.”

2003-11-07. Jayson Blair Jr., “Closet Only Simchas Viewer Also Closet Homosexual.” The Leper.

2004-Purim. Haysoos Christianson, “Jesus: God to Some, Religious Icon to Others and Now International Celebrity.” The Observer. https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/7886

2010-02-28. [PURIM - The Closetator] “Prominent Rosh Yeshiva Emerges From Closet,” The Commentator.

“New Boxers: Yeshiva Hosts Panel of Intolerant Bigots.”
“‘Recent Events’ Catching On.”
“Student Pulse: Gay, Cheating, Coffee, and Such.”
“אזהרה חמורה.”

2010-02-28. [Purim - The Unobservant] Goatee McMurray, “Being Four Sons in the Orthodox World.” The Observer.

Shalva Shalom, “In Light of Recent Events.”
Rav Hamechaber, “Last Week's News Briefs.”
Anonymous, “The Heterosexual Question.”

2011-02-22. Arel Kirshstein, “OHP Creates Conversion Therapies for Straight Men.” The Quipster. [The full article is missing from the Wayback Machine. title on archived website. Twitter, Facebook]

2011-03-Purim. “Burns Security Guard Unsure Whether to Let Transgendered Professor into Glueck,”The Commentator.

“Jewish Homosexual Demands More Condemnation.”