A History of Student Government at Yeshiva University

At many educational institutions in the United States, there is some kind of school sponsored student government. Each school has its own policies for the powers and responsibilities afforded to this student government, but overall all schools have the same main goals in mind. The student government affords the students the opportunity to practice civic engagement in a low stakes environment and the school can benefit from some kind of student input to potentially improve some of their policies. 

Yeshiva University has had a student government since long before it was a University. The earliest recorded student government was formed for the Talmudical Academy high school in 1918 it was referred to as the Students' Organization of the Talmudical Academy High School (S.O.T.A.H.S.) and alternatively as the General Organization (G.O.). The Talmudical Academy High School itself was formed out of the merger of Yeshivas Etz Chaim and Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan in 1915. 

Though both of these schools offered some secular education, they existed outside of the educational framework of the American school system at the time. Yeshivas Etz Chaim educated elementary through middle school aged students, preparing them to attend a more advanced Yeshiva. Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan taught high school aged students, providing them with the opportunity to test for Semicha. Semicha candidates at the time would be around 18 to 20 years old. 

Along with the merger of the two Yeshivas, there was an emphasis on professionalizing the whole educational system. Yeshivas Etz Chaim would become an accredited college preparatory high school, now called the Talmudical Academy. Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan would begin to only accept high school graduates, making Semicha into a professional degree. Later additions to the Yeshiva curriculum such as Yeshiva College and later the graduate schools would increase the professional education required for a RIETS Semicha making it into a graduate degree. 

S.O.T.A.H.S. produced the Talmudical Academy yearbook, the Elchanite which records many of their activities. They arranged various clubs, athletics, and even basic medical services for themselves. 

Buried within the oldest surviving Elchanite Yearbook is a reference to the S.O.Y.. During Lag Ba'omer of 1923, the students of the Talmudical Academy and the Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan set out from their crowded building at 301 East Broadway and boarded the Broadway line of the Interborough Rapid Transit company. They traveled all the way up to Van Cortland Park to play their annual game of Baseball. The high school, as usual, beat the S.O.Y. 11-3. 

S.O.Y. at the time likely stood for the Students' Organization of the Yeshiva. This reading is based upon its name in 1926, as recorded in Hedenu (our echo) the S.O.Y.'s oldest surviving publication. Hedenu was a bilingual, Hebrew and English newspaper that gradually became a literary magazine over the course of its life. Hedenu never discusses much about the origins of the S.O.Y., though S.O.Y. leadership often used it as a mouthpiece to publish their general communications. An essay written by Solomon Wind, the President of the S.O.Y. in Hedenu's first issue reflects the perception that the S.O.Y. is already old and has peaked in the past. This may be a rhetorical construction on the part of Solomon Wind, however it is much more insecure narrative of student government activity than what can be found in the Elchanite Yearbooks. The December 1928 issue of Hedenu includes a S.O.Y. page that generally discusses what the S.O.Y. has been up to. There is a list of all the people involved with the organization and the committees they serve on, and there are some articles describing the athletic activities of the S.O.Y.. The number of committees and the roles of the positions on the executive board are useful for understanding the abstract constitution and function of the organization in 1928. There were 16 councilmen, and 7 members of the executive committee. There was a president, vice-president, secretary, editor (of Hedenu), Gabai, Dining Room Manager, and Athletic Manager. The S.O.Y. seems to have assisted in running the prayer services, providing extra-curricular programing like guest speakers and athletics, stocking the library, managing some dormitory functions including the mail. 

All the issues of Hedenu from 1926 to 1928 were digitized by Otzar Hachochma. 

There was a third school operating out of RIETS during the 1920s. That the Teachers' Institute or Beit Midrash Le'Morim. This school had its own student government. The Teachers' Institute was formed in 1917 and merged with RIETS in 1921. Its first yearbook Nir was published in 1925 by the students of the Teacher's Insitute. It was only in the 1925-1926 academic year that the faculty of the school assisted the students in organizing a student government, the Histadrut Talmidei Beit Midrash Le'Morim, or if it had a name in English, the Students Organization of the Teachers' Institute. 

This young Students' Organization managed the publication of Nir, the Teachers' Institute Library, and potentially some athletic activities (since there was an athletic manager on the board). It is worth noting that there was no record of athletic activities in the Nir yearbook, so it is unlikely that this position was as active as his counterpart in the S.O.Y. and the S.O.T.A.H.S.. 

The environment of the student governments of RIETS would change with the formation of Yeshiva College in 1928. Initially the students worked with the faculty to publish an annual journal called Masmid. Both the Masmid 1929 and 1930 were published under this arrangement. It was only in the 1930-1931 academic year that a broader student government organization was formed. This organization was initially called the Students' Organization of Yeshiva College, or S.O.Y.C. They quickly changed the name to the Yeshiva College Students Council, Y.C.S.C., probably because it was so similar to S.O.Y.

As Yeshiva College and the broader school of Yeshiva University grew, the role of the Yeshiva College Student Council transformed over time. I will try to cover some of the more notable policy shifts in future posts. 

A Brief Encounter Between Chaim Yaakov Widrewitz and RIETS

As an amateur researcher of the early history of YU, I am deeply indebted to the writings of Gilbert Klaperman. For his doctoral research that accompanied his rabbinic degree, he produced a critical history of Yeshiva University. Lacking any archival records from before 1915, Klaperman turned to newspapers and oral history to construct a grounded narrative. Like any pioneer in a particular field, Klaperman got a lot right, but also made many errors. 

I am fortunate to have the luxury of the National Library of Israel's digital newspaper collection to exponentially increase my ability to find relevant information in the collection. Klaperman had to manually search through tens of thousands of pages of newspaper material to find his many sources. His imperfect method of search meant that he missed some information that challenges the facts that form the basis of his historical narrative. Though on the whole, his historical narrative is generally reliable as an approximation of the historical events. 

Klaperman (page 131) of his doctoral thesis, states that RIETS first sent out someone to fundraise out of state in 1900, a sign that it had grown too large to be supported locally. I found that RIETS actually sent out a fundraiser to travel across the country from July 1, 1898.

https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dth/1898/07/01/01/article/12 

The fundraising advertisement begins with a basic description of Yeshiva. 

"Here in New York there is exists a Yeshiva, already in its second year, where one studies Gemara with Poskim, and for two hours a day a teacher teaches the English language, and the boys get board, clothing, and all expenses."

Then follows with an appeal for funds.

"Therefore we sent out a fundraiser, the great rabbi and speaker Yisrael Yosef Litvik [sic] and we request that all rabbis, slaughterers, and presidents receive him with honor wherever he goes. And support the elevated matter, to elevate the horn of Torah in America, the money from each city should be sent to the treasurer M. A. Germansky, and they will get receipts from New York."

And ends with the following signatures.

"Yaakov Yosef, Rav ha-Kollel

Hillel Katz who is called Klein

Shlomo Natan Kotler Judge of the Kollel"

Chaim Yaakov Widrewitz moved to America in 1892 to lead the Lubavitch community in New York. The Adas Lubavitch and Niezhin published a letter in Hapisgah on August 12, 1892, announcing that he would be their spiritual leader.

Initially it seems that Widrewitz worked with Yaakov Yosef and the established orthodox rabbinate of New York to police Kashrut. A public letter reprinted from March to April 1896, declaring a slaughterhouse on Governor Street to be not Kosher, was signed by both Yaakov Yosef and Chaim Yaakov Widrewitz. They were also jointly signed on another letter that ran from May to August 1896 declaring a rival rabbinic organization, bearing the name Kollel America v'Tiferet Yerushalayim to be illegitimate. 

The two rabbis seem to have developed beef in October of the same year. On October 2, Yaakov Yosef and his assistant Hillel Klein declared the United Dress Beef Company to no longer be under their supervision. Following a summons of shochetim from this slaughterhouse to a Din Torah in late September. 

On October 12 Chaim Yaakov Widerwitz endorsed the Kashrut of shochetim of the United Dress Beef Company. 

This seems to have been the start of Widerwitz and Yosef's feud over Kashrut in New York City. 

The feud played out in some interesting ways. Shortly after RIETS announced that it was sending out a fundraiser, Chaim Yaakov Widrewitz protested this development. On July 7, 1898, about a week after the announcement was made, Widrewitz published a letter in the Jewish Daily Herald. Widrewitz argued that it was embarrassing for the New York Jewish community to have to fundraise from outside the city for its Yeshiva. He claimed to have consulted with Yehuda David Bernstein and Asher Lemel Germansky, the treasurer, who agreed with his perspective. It seems as if Widrewitz was blaming the Rav Hakollel for the idea of sending out fundraiser for the Yeshiva, and inflicting shame upon the New York Jewish community. 

Its difficult to know exactly what happened then, but my gut feeling is that Widrewitz was trying to use this small issue of the Yeshiva fundraising outside of the city against his local rabbinic rival. Claiming that Yaakov Yosef was bringing shame upon the New York Jewish community with the intention of swaying public opinion. 

At some point I should look more into the United Dress Beef Company affair, but for the moment I must let it sit because I don't really have time to investigate further.

An Early Washington DC connection to RIETS

As an amateur researcher of both Yeshiva University history and the history of the Washington, DC Jewish community, it is rare for these two subjects to directly intertwine. The Jewish community has always been a small world and in my ongoing project to catalog as many historic newspaper articles as I can find that relate to the early history of Yeshiva University, I found a direct intersection between my two main historical interests. 

To explain this intersection, I must give a little bit of background. 

In 1871, a 16 year old Yitzchak Levy landed in the port of New York. He left behind his young wife Sarah back in the Russian Empire. By 1873, Yitzchak had built a stable enough livelihood in New York to bring his wife over. They built a life form themselves in America. Yitzchak went by Isaac, and Sarah started going by Cecilia. They raised a large family of 12 children who all lived to adulthood. Looking to advance their prospects in the retail clothing industry, Isaac and Cecilia moved their family to Washington, DC in 1887 or so. 

In 1890, Isaac joined with his small but growing number of Jewish neighbors in Southwest Washington, DC to form the Talmud Torah Congregation¹. In Hebrew they called it חברה תלמוד תורה. He continued to serve in leadership at his Synagogue and operate his store in Southwest Washington until he passed away in 1926, when he was about 70 years old². 

In February 1897, a small group of ambitious Orthodox Jewish rabbis and layman filed a charter to form a traditional Orthodox Yeshiva in New York City, which they called the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Though they initially pitched their vision as a school that would teach Talmud and Halacha for young men who were interested in the rabbinate, by late January 1897, they began advertising that their prospective school would teach Chochma (scholarship/science) and Derech Eretz (local national culture) in addition to the traditional Talmud and Halacha. Until 1915, the school was not able to offer more than middle school level English for secular studies and did not offer any academic Jewish studies to augment its Talmud and Halacha curriculum. 

The students at the Yeshiva were frustrated by the school's inability to expand beyond the traditional Yeshiva curriculum. Many of them were immigrants themselves who likely sought out RIETS under the assumption that they would be able to pursue academic Jewish and secular studies while still participating in a Yeshiva environment. Much of the Jewish public sided with the demands of the students and resulting ugliness of the dispute damaged the Yeshiva's reputation. This eventually led it into financial difficulties forcing it to close its doors in August 1908.    

These two stories intersect on August 26, 1908, about a week after the Yeshiva's closure went public. The Jewish Morning Journal, printed a letter that Isaac Levy sent them³. I have prepared a transcription and translation of it below. 

שטיצט ישיבת ר' יצחק אלחנן

א בעל הבית פון וואשינגטאָן ווערט א מעמבער מיט 10 דאָלאר א יאָהר — שיקט פיר א האלב יאָהר דיוס.

מר. יצחק ליוויי, א ביזנעסמאן, פון 922 פאור-ענד-איי-העף סטריט, וואשינגטאָן, די. סי. האָט אין "מאָרגען זשורנאל" אריינגעשיקט 5 דאָלאר פיר ישיבת רבינו יצחק אלחנן מיט פאָלגענדע בריעף:

הערר רעדאקטאָר:—

אזוי וויא איך האָב געלעזען אין "מאָרגען זשורנאל" אז עס איז געשלאָסען געוואָרען דיא ישיבה דורך מאנגעל אין געלד און איך ווייס אז אייער צייטונג האָט זעהר פיעל געטהאָן פיר דער ישיבה האָף איך אז איהר וועט יעצט אויך אלעס טהאָן דיא ישיבה זאָל ניט געשלאָסען ווערען. דאָס וואָלט ווירקליך געווען דיא גרעסטע שאנדע פיר אלע אידען אין אמעריקא.

איך בין א מיטגליעד פון דער ישיבה זייט זיא איז געגרינדעט געוואָרען און איך האָב ביז יעצט געצאָהלט 3 דאָלאר א יאָהר. יעצט בין איך ווילינג צו צאָהלען 10 דאָלאר יעהרליך און איך שיק דיערמיט 5 דאָלאר פיר א האלב יאָהר דיוס.

איך האָף אז עס וועלען זיך געפינען פיעלע אידען וואָס וועלען דאָסזעלבע טהאָן און דיא הייליגע ישיבה וואָס טראָגט אזא שטאָלצען נאָמען וועט עקזיסטירען און ארויסגעבען רבנים מיט תורה און חכמה וואָס וועלען זיין א שטאָלץ פיר דעם אמעריקאנער יודענטהום. יעצט איז דיא צייט ווען אלע אָרטאָדאָקסישע אידען דארפען זיך פעראייניגען און אויפהאלטען דיעזען ריכטיגען אנשטאלט.

אכטונגספאָל

יצחק ליוויי

Support the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

A gentleman from Washington will be a member for 10 dollars a year — Sends a half year’s dues. 

Mr. Isaac Levy, a businessman, from 922 four-and-a-half street, Washington, D. C. sent to the “Morning Journal” 5 dollars for the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary with the following letter:

Mister Editor:—

As I read in the “Morning Journal” that the Yeshiva was closed through a lack of money and I know that your newspaper has done a lot for the Yeshiva, I hope that now you will also do anything so that the Yeshiva should not remain closed. This would actually be the biggest disgrace for all Jews in America. 

I have been a supporter of the Yeshiva since it was founded and until now, I have paid three dollars a year. Now, I am willing to pay 10 dollars yearly and presently I am sending 5 dollars for a half year’s dues. 

I hope that it will find many Jews who will do the same thing and the holy Yeshiva who carries such a proud name will exist and generate Rabbis with Torah and scholarship (chochma) who will be a pride for American Judaism. Now is the time when all Orthodox Jews need to unite and support this righteous institution.

Respectfully,

Isaac Levy

---

1. ^"Certificates of Incorporation," Evening Star (Washington, DC), May 27, 1890. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1890-05-27/ed-1/seq-5/
2. ^"Isaac Levy, Merchant, Dies of Heartstroke: Proprietor of Southwest Store was Prominent in Talmud Torah Synagogue," Evening Star (Washington, DC), July 22, 1926. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1926-07-22/ed-1/seq-44/
3. ^"Support the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary," Jewish Morning Journal (New York, NY), Aug. 26, 1908. [Yiddish] https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/tjm/1908/08/26/01/article/64

Our Organization - A Glimpse of Student Life at 1920s RIETS

In May 1926, the students of the Rabbi Elchanan Theological Seminary, yeshivas rabbeinu yitzchok elchonon as they would have known it, published their first newspaper named hedenu or Our Echo. It ran for over a decade, printing infrequently, but aiming for an issue for each month. Hedenu was bilingual, Hebrew and English, and was intended to provide an opportunity for the yeshiva students to practice their Hebrew and English composition. In the first few years, the paper was mostly in Hebrew, but by the 1930s the English section had grown to be about half of each issue. The publication of this paper was facilitated by the Students' Organization of the Yeshiva or histadrus talmidei yeshivas rabbeinu yitzchok elchonon as they called it in Hebrew. 

With hedenu, the S.O.Y. had a mouthpiece to encourage students at the yeshiva to participate in its activities and administration. In the first issue of hedenu, published on May 18, 1926, the president of the S.O.Y., Shlomo Wind, wrote an essay to encourage his peers to participate in the activities of the S.O.Y. I found his commentary on the nature of student life shockingly relevant to my own experience at the same school almost a century later. 

As a fun fact, Shlomo Wind went on to teach at the Teachers Institute, The Hebrew Teachers Training School for Girls (before it was transformed into Stern College for Women), and Stern College for Women during its first decade. 

I transcribed the original Hebrew text of the article and wrote an English translation below. 

הסתדרותנו

ש[למה] ווינד

 

חברים, בני הישיבה!

הגיעה השעה שנכּנס בשיחה גלויה בדברים הנוגעים לחיינו החברתיים. נסיר את המחיצות המבדילות בינינו ונבוא לידי התענינות כּללית — ליצור סביבה יפה ומתוקנה בתוכנו.

לכו נא ונוכחה! אם בּקרב לבּנו שוֺרה איזו דאגה המכאיבה אותנו, אם בּקרב נפשנו הומות הרגשות המבקשות בּטוי, נודיע איש לרעהו את הדבר המעיק אותנו, וגם את הדברים שלפי דעתו יובילונו להתרוממות הנפש ולמצב כלכלי נכון.

הלא כולנו יחדו בּני-ישיבה, וגורל משותּף לכולנו, ולמה נהיה כזרים איש לרעהו בחיינו החברתיים? שמעתּן קובלנא רגילה בפי כמה תלמידים: הלא זה מאָז ומעולם שהיתה לנו הסתדרות, האם הצליחה אַף פּעם לעורר את לבנו לרעיון של התאַחדות, לרגש של אַחוה ואַהבה?

לענות על השאלה הזאת קשה באמת עד מאד. היחס בינינו לא היה כיחס אברי הגוף הניזונים מלב אחד. כּל תּלמיד התרכּז בּעולמו הוא — למצוא תנאים נוחים רק בּשבילו, קרובים אָנו, אבל רחוקים היינו. אחדים הצליחו המגמתם שבּחרו להם, ואחדים מבּלי עזרה, נכזבה תוחלתּם. התּוצאה: אי-התענינות בּחיינו החברתיים, קפאון הנפש ושפלות הרוח.

כּמו כן, אין ההסתּדרות אחראית בּעד מצב של פּירוד כּזה. כּי מה היא הסתּדרות ולשם מה היא באה? הסתּדרות היא בטוי-כּח של לבּות השואפים לאידיאל אחד, למחשבה עקרית המכילה מגמות שונות. הסתּדרות הנוצרת מאיחוד-כחות מדרכת את נטיות חבריה להצלחת כּולם. ואם אין כּחות מאוחדים, אם כּל אחד עושה בשלו ולעצמו — מאיזה חומר תּוצר הסתּדרות נשגבה ומוצלחת, וכח השפּעתה מאַין יבוא?

למה לא תהיה התאַחדות לבבית בּינינו שתּפיח בּנו רוח של חיים ומרץ, התלהבות נאותה ונשגבה למען נוכל התקדם בּחיינו באופן הכי נעלה? "או חברותא או מיתותא" אָמרו חז"ל. כּמה רעיונות נשגבים בּפתגם זה! נבוכי-רוח אָנו בחיי בדידות. חיים כאלה אינם שוים כלום.

כּולנו צריכים חזוק בּעבודתנו. ולמען הלהיב ועורר מרצנו, צריכים אָנו לחלופי רעיונות, לרוח שיחדש בּנו את כּחותינו. גם העולם לא היה יכול להתקיים אלמלא נתחדשו מעשי בראשית בּכל יום ויום. עבודתנו הבּלתּי נעימה בחיי בּדידות יכולה להשנות לעבודה הכי נעימה בחיים חברתיים. בּחיי אחוה ורעות, בּחיים המושפּעים מאידיאל נעלה ונשגב.

ועוד זאת, חברים, הסתּדרות כּשהיא חזקה ומבוססה, ושיש לה הכּחות המשותּפים של כּל התלמידים, יכולה לשכלל את המצב הרוחני והכּלכּלי של חבריה. כּחות משותּפים מולידים כחות אחרים. כּחות טמירים ונעלמים מוצאים את בּטויים בּנקל על-ידי עזרה הדדית. עבודה משותּפת תּוסיף לנו אומץ והתאוששות להרחיב ולהגדיל את חוג השפּעתנו לטובתנו במדה שלא שערנו מאז.

בטוח אני, שבּקרב נפשנו אָנו קובלים על פּזור-נפש כּזה במעלה חלודה על כּחותינו הנפשיים. בּטוח אני, שעומק עמוק בּלבּנו מפכּים גלי חיים. אלא מפּני סבּה אחת או אחרת, אָנו מונעים אותם מעבור את גבולם.

ובכן, חברים, אליכם אקרא: "למה נוסיף סרה?" הבה נגול את האבן המעמסה מעל לבּנו, ויקלח הזרם של אחוה ורעות. יעשה הזרם הזה למעין מים חיים ואי-מפסיקים. יצא כל אחד מחוג הצר של עולמו הוא. נעבוד בּכחות מאוחדים ומרץ משותּף. ניצור חבורות שונות: חובבי פּלפּול, זמיר, שירה וספרות. ניצור סביבה יפה, שתּחת השפּעתה נחיה כחברים גמורים, ולבּותינו הקפואים מקור יחמו, ונרגיש את האחריות הנעימה של חיים צבוריים ונעלים, ואז נבין איש את שפת לבו ונמלא את דרישתו.

ואל כּל זה נוכל להגיע אַך ורק על-ידי הסתּדרות מוצקה המאחדת את כּלנו לשם שאיפה ומטרה אחת. זהו האמצעי היותר בּדוק בּחיים החברתיים והמעשיים. ארגון כּחותינו הוא עיקר גדול. נרכז אותם לנקודה אחת, נחזק ההסתּדרות ותקווֺתינו בע"ה תּתגשמנה.

Our Organization

Sh[lomo] Wind

Friends, members of the Yeshiva!

The time has come for us to enter in open dialogue on matters that affect our social life. Let us remove the barriers that divide us and join in the general interest to create a pleasant and improved environment among us.

Come and let us consider! If some anxiety that pains us dwells in our hearts, if there are strong emotions demanding expression in our souls, each one should tell his friend that issues oppressing him, and also the things that he believes will bring us an elevated spirit and general well-being.

Are we not all members of the Yeshiva, there is a shared lot for all of us, so why must we be like strangers to each other in our social life? I have heard a common saying among many students: Was it not a while ago that we had an Organization, if only we could succeed to awaken our hearts to the idea of unity, the feeling of brotherhood and love?

Answering this question is truly very difficult. The connection between us is not like the connection between limbs of a body that are sustained by one heart. Every student is centered in his own world — finding conditions that are pleasant only for him, we are close, but we have been distant. A few have succeeded in the direction they chose for themselves, and a few, lacking aid, have had their expectations disappointed. The result: No interest in social life, a frozen soul and a depressed spirit.

The Organization is not responsible for this situation of separation. For what is the Organization and for what purpose did it come into being? The Organization is the expression of power of hearts that desire a unified ideal, for a root philosophy that includes different directions. An Organization created from a union of powers directs its diversity of members to a collective success. But if there are not united powers, if everyone does his own thing — from what material can a successful Organization be created, and where will its power to influence come from?

 Why will there not be unity of heart between us that express in us a spirit of life and vigor, proper and elevated enthusiasm so that we can proceed with our lives in the move elevated way? “Friendship or death,” said our sages. How many great ideas in this message! We are depressed in this lonely life. Life like this is not worth anything.

We all need strengthening in our work. In order to ignite and awaken our vigor, we must exchange ideas, for the spirit that will renew our strengths. Even the enter world would not be able to continue existing without the renewal of the act of creation every day. Our unpleasant work in our lonely lives can transform to become pleasant work in social life, in a life of brotherhood and friendship, in a life that is influenced by an elevated and sublime ideal.

Friends, the Organization when it is strong and established, and it has the united powers of all the students, it can perfect the spiritual and material state of its members. Powers of union birth other powers. Powers hidden and obscured present their expression with ease through mutual aid. Shared work will increase our strength and recovery to widen and grow the sphere of our influence to our benefit to an extent never measured before.

I am certain, that within our souls we are accepting this scattering of souls to degree that rusts our emotional strength. I am certain that deep down in our hearts we are resisting the waves of life for one reason or another, we are preventing them from passing over their boundaries.

So, friends, to you I call: “Why do we continue to stray?” Let us roll the burdensome stone off our hearts, and the flow of brotherhood and friendship will spray. It will make this flow into a constant spring of water that never stops. Everyone will leave the narrow sphere of his world. We will work in united power and with shared vigor. We will create different clubs: Lovers of pilpul, song, poetry and literature. We will create a beautiful environment, which beneath its influence we will be complete friends, and our frozen hearts will thaw, and we will feel the pleasant responsibility of social life and we will ascend. Then we will understand our own individual hearts and fulfil their desires.

We can only achieve all of this through a grounded Organization that unites all of us with the same desire and goal. That is the central concept in social life and activity. Organization of our powers is a large foundation. We will centralize them to one point. We will strengthen the Organization and our hopes, God willing, will materialize.