YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

∞ SPRING 2015

∞ VOLUME 19 • NO. 2YUTODAYThe Science of Self- Defense

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YU Goes Global

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Focus on Faculty

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Examining Aging at Ferkauf

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Yeshiva University recently announced that it will unify the undergraduate faculties at Yeshiva Col-lege and Stern College for Women as part of its

effort to improve student education and create efficien-cies. The campuses and classes will remain separate, but the faculty will combine its resources. Dr. Karen Bacon

will serve as the inaugural Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of the undergraduate faculty of arts and sciences at YU.

“The faculty, individually and collec-tively, is the lifeblood of this critical institu-tion and we will now advance to rightsize the administrative parts of the University,” said YU President Richard M. Joel. “For several years, we have been discussing the need for a more unified undergraduate fac-ulty of arts and sciences. Dean Bacon is a valued educator of integrity and has served with distinction in the highest levels of aca-demic leadership. I look to her and all our faculty to continue to exercise their prerog-ative in shaping what is a fine curriculum still further.”

Over the next three years, faculty at the two colleges will work together to create unified departments and curricula, where

appropriate, as well as more blended courses and cross-campus collaborations that will enhance the efficiency and quality of student learning. “This new model repre-sents an important change in the way we function and the way our students can derive even more value from their YU experience,” said President Joel.

Bacon will draw on her substantial administrative experience and deep knowledge and understanding of Yeshiva University and its values as she guides this aca-demic process.

“My entire career as an administrator has been shaped by my respect for faculty and the academic en-terprise and by an appreciation for the difference a first-rate education can make in a student’s life,” said Bacon. “A unified undergraduate liberal arts faculty, collaborat-ing and innovating, has the potential to fashion a Yeshiva University education that is even stronger than it is today. I feel honored to have a role in actualizing this next stage in the development of Yeshiva University.”

Bacon will have offices on both the Wilf and Israel Henry Beren Campuses. She will be assisted by associate deans for Yeshiva and Stern College, which will retain their unique identities and function as separate schools, as will the Sy Syms School of Business, which will con-tinue its successful growth and partnerships with the two liberal arts colleges.

Yeshiva College Dean Barry Eichler will retire in June and return to his teaching and research after a sab-batical. “Dean Eichler has invested his heart and soul into Yeshiva College after assuming the deanship at my re-quest,” said President Joel. “We are honored to have him return to teaching, which is his first love.” n

While all entrepreneurs and start-ups begin with a good idea, most are also driven by the bot-

tom line. But at Yeshiva University, a new fund is enabling students to apply that hy-brid of inspired innovation and business acumen to endeavors that seek to make a difference, not a profit.

Neal’s Fund, established in memory of Neal Dublinsky z”l ’84YC, provides micro-grants to student social entrepre-neurs founding start-ups that will benefit the broader Jewish and global communities.

The grants range from $1,000 to $2,000, with a maximum of $5,000 per project. Student proposals are judged on their uniqueness, creativity, projected im-pact and long-term vision by the Office of University and Community Life and a committee established by Harry Dublin-sky, Neal’s brother.

“Neal’s Fund allows our students to dream about changing the world through their creative and entrepreneurial ideas,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, vice presi-dent for university and community life. “Neal cared very much about helping the world around him. This fund established by his family and friends is a very fitting tribute to his memory.”

The start-ups receiving grants run

the gamut from Tech4Life, an organiza-tion, founded by Gabriel Simkin, seek-ing to help impoverished communities achieve computer literacy, to Music Vs, a volunteer network that forges relation-ships with hospital patients using the universal language of music as a point of connection.

“As college students infused with idealism and a passion for healing the world, we were frustrated with the limi-tations that our small budgets placed on our efforts,” said Joe Teplow. “But we realized that, while as individuals, our power and impact is somewhat limited, pooling our time, energy, and money as a collective could truly make a difference.” Together with three friends, Teplow cre-ated Good Street, an online community where participants commit to giving just a quarter each day to a handful of causes, pooling thousands of people’s pocket change into a donation with the potential to create real, impactful transformation. “We are so honored and excited to merit Neal’s Fund’s support in our journey to making Good Street the go-to place for doing good every single day—we’re roll-ing out exciting new programs, features, and events to help build a stronger, more powerful community here on the street.”

Daniel Benchimol, who recently

moved to the United States from Ar-gentina, conceived the idea for his orga-nization, Enmunitos, after frustrating searches for online Torah learning in his native Spanish were unsuccessful. “I had very little time on my hands so I was searching online for short videos that would teach me something that I could take with me throughout my day and week,” he said. “The more time I spent searching, the less time I had to learn.” Benchimol suspected he was not alone: according to a study, close to half a million Jews around the world speak Spanish. He decided to take action.

“The goal is to bring Spanish-speak-ing Jews one step closer to their roots, with concise, professional-quality Torah videos,” said Benchimol. “We’re already making an impact—many well-known rabbis from Latin American countries are reaching out to us to collaborate on vid-eos, and we reach thousands of people each day with hopes to grow. Neal’s Fund believed in us and gave us the financial re-sources to make this idea a reality.”

The Fund’s namesake, Neal Dublin-sky, grew up in Queens, New York, and graduated with honors from Yeshiva

New Fund Gives Student Social Entrepreneurs a Boost

Dean Bacon to Lead Unified Arts and Sciences Faculty

Continued on Page 4 ç

Dr. Karen Bacon will serve as the inaugural Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of the undergraduate faculty of arts and sciences

Effort to Improve Education and Efficiencies; Yeshiva College and Stern to Remain Separate

Grantees Gabriel Simkin and Daniel Benchimol meld entrepreneurial spirit and social responsibility

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The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law recently launched its pioneering

Versa website, making English translations of important He-brew-language Israeli Supreme Court decisions readily avail-able to the public.

Matthew Diller, dean of Cardozo, heralded Versa as “an exciting milestone, not only for the Cardozo community but also for the legal profession and aca-demia as a whole.”

Versa is a product of the Israeli Supreme Court Project (ISCP) at Cardozo, established in 2013 and overseen by the Yeshiva University Center for Jewish Law and Contem-porary Civilization in partnership with the Floer-sheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy at Cardozo. This was an outgrowth of a 2012 agree-ment between the Friends of the Library of the Supreme Court of Israel and Cardozo to transfer authority and funding to the law school to under-take translating significant cases of the Supreme Court of Israel into English.

The website content is important “to facili-tate comparative legal study,” said Michael Herz, codirector of the ISCP and the Arthur Kaplan Pro-fessor of Law at Cardozo, noting the difficulty of comparative legal study, especially when it is in a foreign language. “The Israeli Supreme Court is,

in the words of U.S. Justice Stephen Breyer, ‘one of the world’s great legal institutions.’ We believe that making its opinions more generally available will benefit scholars, lawyers and judges around the world.”

“Versa is a key component of the ISCP’s vi-sion to become a leading center for the study of complex issues facing multicultural democra-cies around the world,” said Suzanne Last Stone, director of the Center for Jewish Law and Con-temporary Civilization.

The website, versa.cardozo.yu.edu, contains a searchable database of hundreds of translated cases, media from ISCP events, and links to items pertaining to the court.

The ISCP and Versa are supported by the David Berg Foundation. n

YUTODAYYESHIVA UNIVERSITY

∞ SPRING 2015

∞ VOLUME 19 • NO. 2

DR. HENRY KRESSEL Chairman, YU Board of Trustees

RICHARD M. JOEL President

PAUL OESTREICHER Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs

YUTODAY

MATT YANIV Director of Public Relations,

Editor in Chief

MALKA EISENBERG PEREL SKIER HECHT GISEL PINEYRO Editor Associate Editor Art Director

Aliza Berenholz, Dina Burcat, Michael Damon, Caitlin Geiger, Bruce Lander, Tova Ross, Suzy Schwartz, Ronit Segal, Adena Stevens, Devon Wade, Avi Zimmerman

Contributors

yutoday@yu.edu www.yu.edu/cpa

YUToday is published quarterly by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs and is distrib uted free to faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and friends. It keeps them informed of news from across Yeshiva University’s undergraduate and graduate divisions and affiliates. The quarterly newsletter covers academic and campus life, faculty and student research, com-munity outreach and philanthropic support. It showcases the University’s mission of Torah Umadda, the combination of Jewish study and values with secular learning, through stories

about the diverse achievements of the University community.

© Yeshiva University 2015 • Office of Communications and Public Affairs Furst Hall, Room 401 • 500 West 185th St. • New York, NY 10033-3201 • Tel.: 212.960.5285

Stanley I. Raskas, Chair, Board of Overseers, Yeshiva College; Shira Yoshor, Chair, Board of Overseers, Stern College for Women; Steve Uretsky, Chair, Board of Overseers, Sy Syms School of Business; Roger Einiger, Chair, Board of Overseers, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; David Samson, Chair, Board of Overseers, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Froma Benerofe, Chair, Board of Overseers, Wurzweiler School of Social Work; Mordecai D. Katz, Chair, Board of Overseers, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies; Carol Bravmann, Chair, Board of Overseers, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology; Moshael J. Straus, Chair, Board of Overseers, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration; Joel M. Schreiber, Chair, Board of Trustees, (affiliate) Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary; Miriam P. Goldberg, Chair, Board of Trustees, YU High Schools; Michael Jesselson and Theodore N. Mirvis, Co-chairs, Board of Directors, (affiliate) Yeshiva University Museum

Board listings as of March 12, 2015

Canarsie’s Sephardic Community Establishes YU Scholarship Fund

The Sephardic Jewish Center of Canarsie in Brooklyn, New York, recently closed its doors after half a century of serving its once

burgeoning Jewish community. To ensure that its legacy continues and in gratitude to Yeshiva University for its role in the founding of the cen-ter, community members recently established a scholarship at YU in honor of the center’s spiri-tual leader of the past 45 years, Rabbi Myron Ra-kowitz ’47YUHS, ’51YC, ’51IB, ’57R, and his wife, Sarah ’74F.

The Rabbi Myron and Sarah Rakowitz En-dowed Scholarship will provide financial assis-tance in perpetuity for deserving and needy Sephardic students at YU’s undergraduate schools and at the YU-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. The donation of more than $250,000 was spearheaded by Jeff Beja, the cen-ter’s president, and other community leaders in tribute to the center’s dedicated and longtime rabbi.

The Sephardic Jewish Center served a Ju-deo-Spanish Sephardic community, hailing from

Turkey, Greece and, later, Cuba. Rabbi Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky, YU’s vice president for univer-sity affairs, helped found the center as part of YU’s Sephardic Community Program, and in 1969, suggested Rabbi Rakowitz for the post of rabbi. The congre-gation elected Rabbi Rakowitz, filling a position held previously by Rabbi Chananya Berzon ’63YC, ’65R.

The Rakowitzes made a personal contribution of

$200,000 to their alma mater as well, establishing a fund in memory of Rabbi Rakowitz’s parents. The Shlomo Shabsai and Ruth Rakowitz Tutorial Fund for Talmudical Study at the Marsha Stern Talmu-dical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys will help pay the salary of a rabbi to provide tutoring in Talmud for high school students. “My father always helped his students catch up in Tal-mud wherever we went,” said Rabbi Rakowitz. “I appreciate what YU did for me, and I would like to see students advance. I am grateful for the educa-tion that I received.”

Rabbi Rakowitz has been active in YU affairs as president of alumni, chairman of the rabbinic welfare community and president of rabbinic alumni as well as on the placement committee for rabbinic alumni.

“Rabbi Rakowitz is an outstanding rabbi and a talmid chacham [scholar] and one of the most devoted and loyal rabbinic alumni,” said Rabbi Dobrinsky. “He and his wife are very devoted to the community, and we are excited that their leg-acy will continue at Yeshiva University.” n

Cardozo Site Offers Access to Israeli Supreme Court Opinions

The Sephardic Jewish Center’s Rabbi Myron and Sarah Rakowitz

Professor Michael Herz Professor Suzanne Last Stone

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Two Yeshiva University faculty members have been awarded grants by the Defense Threat Reduction

Agency (DTRA), the U.S. Department of Defense’s official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction.

Dr. Sergey Buldyrev, professor of physics at Yeshiva College, is a princi-pal investigator on a multiyear $450,000 grant analyzing the catastrophic cascade of failures in interdependent networks. Picture the connections between power grids, waterworks, Internet cables and other systems—if one part of one system goes down, it initiates a domino effect on each network it’s connected to, taking others down with it. “Supposing a ter-rorist attacks a certain power station—they’re smart enough to find the one most likely to cause a computer shutdown, which could shut off control of gas or water,” said Buldyrev. “Everything could

shut down. This catastrophic collapse of infrastructure—the ‘cascade of failures’—is what people imagine when they think about what might happen at the end of the world.”

Using simulated computer models, Buldyrev and his col-laborators at Boston University and Bar-Ilan University seek to anticipate where and how these cascades might begin by un-derstanding the interdependence of the many different networks that service the basic everyday needs of modern society. “We have to understand what would hap-pen if certain nodes were attacked and how to design more resilient infrastruc-tures which could sustain such an attack,” he said.

While Buldyrev’s research will be primarily used for military needs, he noted that it has applications to epidemi-

ology and finance as well; the same theory that could protect the United States from a terrorist strike could also be used to stop the spread of Ebola or prevent a market collapse like that of 2008. Undergraduate stu-dents at Yeshiva College have assisted Buldyrev with his study. “They learn programming and modeling of com-plex networks and how to work on the high performance computational

cluster in addition to many other skills, which will be important for their future careers no matter what path they take,” said Buldyrev.

Dr. Anatoly Frenkel, professor of physics and cochair of the physics depart-ment at Stern College for Women, will serve as coprincipal investigator on a one-year $195,000 grant to improve materials used to protect soldiers from chemical warfare in the field.

“In war, because they could be exposed to chemical agents, soldiers breathe through masks with special fil-ters that will treat these agents,” said Frenkel. “There are two ways to disable the warfare agent: to absorb it, making sure it doesn’t penetrate the filter and by extension the soldier’s airstream, or for the filter itself to have catalytic proper-ties that would decompose the agent into harmless molecules. My role is to help the chemists who design the filter material understand if and how it’s working.”

In collaboration with scientists from Virginia Tech, Emory University and Kennesaw State University, Frenkel is studying the impact of simulated warfare agents on different filter materials. He is employing a special technique called X-ray absorption, in which X-rays are beamed at the filter so their interaction with metallic components within the fil-ter—thought to be responsible for the fil-ter’s capacity to decompose agents—can be studied.

Stern College students will be able to assist Frenkel with his research through summer internships.

“The Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics is very proud of the pro-fessors for having secured support from the DTRA, demonstrating the level of research that is done at YU in this impor-tant area,” said Dr. Gabriel Cwilich, chair of the division. “Since training students in research is a crucial part of their educa-tion for future careers in the sciences and medicine, we are glad that funding agen-cies like the DTRA are helping us make those goals possible.” n

U.S. Defense Agency Supports Faculty Research

Dr. Anatoly Frenkel (left) is improving materials to protect soldiers from chemical warfare

Dr. Sergey Buldyrev

An unprecedented initiative from the Program for Jewish Genetic Health, an affiliate of Yeshiva

University and the Albert Einstein Col-lege for Medicine, is enabling men and women of Ashkenazi heritage age 25 and older to undergo testing for the most common BRCA mutations at a significant discount. In conjunction with Monte-fiore Health System, this effort—the first of its kind in the United States—makes BRCA testing affordable to individuals regardless of their personal or family his-tories or their insurance or financial situ-ations, which have been barriers to date.

Approximately one in 40 individu-als of Ashkenazi Jewish descent carries one of three founder mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, a carrier rate tenfold higher than that of the general population. Females carrying a BRCA mutation face a significantly higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer in their lifetimes, while male BRCA mu-tation carriers are at higher risk of devel-oping prostate and breast cancers, among other cancers. BRCA carriers also have a 50 percent chance of passing the altered gene onto each of their offspring, who in turn will have an increased susceptibility for these cancer types. Individuals who learn that they are BRCA carriers through genetic testing have cancer risk-reducing and reproductive options.

Today, most health insurance poli-cies will only cover genetic testing for those considered at high risk to carry the mutation—those with a significant per-sonal or family history of these cancers. However, low-risk individuals or those without health insurance are faced with steep out-of-pocket costs, typically more than $600. Thanks in part to a generous grant from the Foundation for Medical Evaluation and Early Detection, the Pro-gram for Jewish Genetic Health is now providing low-risk and uninsured indi-viduals with testing for $100, along with complimentary pretest genetic counsel-ing courtesy of Montefiore.

According to Dr. Nicole Schreiber-Agus, director of the Program for Jew-ish Genetic Health, one of the primary goals of the new initiative, that includes a research component, is “to identify new BRCA mutation carriers in this low-risk group, who otherwise would have gone undetected.”

“We have seen people who had no idea that they were high risk for a BRCA mutation until they completed our online questionnaire,” said Dr. Susan Klugman, medical director of the Program for Jew-ish Genetic Health. “This demonstrates that it is crucial for the Jewish commu-nity to understand more about their fam-ily health histories and to be educated about inherited cancer risk in general.”

Klugman stresses that “the decision to pursue genetic testing is a personal one and not everyone is ready to handle the in-formation, but we believe that an afford-able and accessible mechanism should be available to those who are interested.”

Even in this early phase, interest in the initiative has come from as far away as Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Los Angeles, but there is still a lot of work to be done as far as spreading awareness.

“Since BRCA mutations are so com-mon in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, there is a very low threshold for indi-viduals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry to be considered at risk for having a BRCA mutation,” said Klugman. “Unfortunately, most people do not realize this, and they don’t think of their personal or family his-tory of cancer and their Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry as being significant when in fact, they both are.” n

Jewish Genetic Health Initiative Creates Affordable BRCA Testing

k To learn more, visit yu.edu/genetichealth

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Sy Sym’s Master’s in Accounting Adds Up

At Sy Syms School of Business, a thriving master’s in accounting program is helping new graduates enter the workforce with state-of-the-art tech-

nical skills and management insight from top industry leaders.

Now in its fifth year, the master’s program has more than doubled its enrollment since its inception. However, the program’s intimate atmosphere ensures each student receives plenty of mentor-ship, creating opportunities for interaction with faculty—one of many elements that has made the master’s program in accounting so appealing to students all over the world.

“We have students from China, Colombia, Argentina and France as well as students from universities across the United States with great accounting programs, like Georgetown Univer-sity and Ohio State University, as well as students from our undergraduate schools,” said Professor Joseph Kerstein, the program’s director. “In addi-tion to offering cutting-edge accounting courses and rare in-depth analysis of specialty areas, such as hedge fund management and forensic account-ing, we are known for our ethics component, taught by our dean, renowned business ethics ex-pert, Dr. Moses Pava. Especially with all the cor-ruption in the world of business accounting over the last several years, we feel the unique focus on both ethics and leadership that we offer is important.”

He added, “Our program also benefits from belong-ing to Sy Syms, which has received accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business—the top accreditation body in the United States for busi-ness education—and its location in the heart of New York City opens up many opportunities to our students. Every-thing combines to make our master’s an internationally competitive program.”

The program, which can be completed on either a full-time or part-time schedule to accommodate stu-dents’ busy professional lives, offers classes two nights

a week at YU’s Israel Henry Beren Campus in Midtown Manhattan in areas ranging from advanced accounting and taxation to business leadership. For those who come to the program with a non accounting background, addi-tional courses are available over the summer to quickly bring students up to speed.

“We’re not only providing students with advanced technical skills, but also helping them think about broader managerial issues,” said Pava.

Ultimately, the program prepares all students for the New York State CPA exam and the next step in their careers, with graduates employed at firms like Citrin Cooperman, Deloitte, Duff & Phelps, Grant Thornton, Loeb & Troper, Marks Paneth, PricewaterhouseCoopers and WeiserMazars.

“What makes these classes unique is the mixture of both academic analysis and research with real-life prac-titioner experience,” said Francine Mellors-Rothen-stein, a vice president and director at Ernst & Young,

who co-teaches a course on business ethics with Pava. Sample topics in the class include how economic theo-ries affect corporate behavior, the need for more stake-holder involvement, fraud prevention and detection and the future role of the auditor as a result of various regu-latory reforms in the United States and Europe. When

possible, Mellors-Rothenstein draws on real experiences from her work at Ernst & Young to illustrate class discussion. “I try to bridge the distance between the academic and practitioner viewpoints,” she said.

Chaoyi Liang, a Chinese student who earned his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University, valued the balance of research and professional experience the program offers. “The master’s program in accounting provides me with the best professors who have sophisti-cated experience within the accounting field,” he said. “The real-world experience is very helpful and practical to help me build my future career.” The program’s reputation and network has al-ready helped Liang—he found his current intern-ship as a hedge fund research analyst through a career fair on campus.

Brett Bar-Eli, a recent Sy Syms graduate en-rolled in the master’s program, chose to pursue his master’s at Sy Syms because of the program’s

flexibility—many other master’s programs hold classes four nights a week, rather than two, which can be diffi-cult to juggle while working in the field. He also wanted to continue the quality education he felt he received as an undergraduate. “Throughout my college years, I had the opportunity to experience YU’s culture in the classroom, with small classes, engaging discussions and professors who take the time to learn the students’ names,” said Bar-Eli, who will begin a full-time position as a transactions and restructuring advisory associate at KPMG this August. n

k To learn more about the program, visit yu.edu/accounting

Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration is making cutting-edge Jew-

ish education accessible to teachers and communities across the globe with a fully accredited online master’s degree program.

“What’s most exciting about this op-portunity is providing students around the world with the same extraordinary Azrieli content that in the past was only available to those who could come in and meet us,” said Azrieli Dean Dr. Rona Novick. “Our online program combines

all the knowledge, skills and affinities that accrediting bodies believe is important for modern teachers to have, but melds it with an appreciation for Jewish tradition and Jewish education that isn’t normally available to many teachers in their local communities.”

Incorporating new techniques, like asynchronous discussion boards, online case studies, high-tech animations and simulations and multimedia source mate-rial in addition to readings and lectures from Azrieli’s faculty, the program blends seamlessly with the master’s courses Az-

rieli students take on campus. “We under-stand the importance of community, cooperation and networking, and we’re committed to harnessing the power of technology,” said Novick.

As the program expands, Novick an-ticipates the inclusion of virtual cafés, where teachers and students can engage in asynchronous learning around the clock, as well as in-person faculty visits to students’ local communities. n

k To learn more about the online master’s program, visit yu.edu/azrielimasters

Online Master’s Attracts Jewish Educators Worldwide

Neal’s Fund ç Continued from Page 1

College before attending the New York University School of Law. In 1987, at the age of 24, he was diagnosed with an ad-vanced stage of lymphoma just as he was beginning his career as a corporate attorney in Los Angeles, California. De-spite medical setbacks, Dublinsky fought his illness and succeeded in living a full life for another 23 years, often providing support based on his own experiences to others struggling with cancer.

“My brother lived most of his adult life as a cancer survivor and strongly be-lieved in reaching out to help others,” said

Harry Dublinsky. “The social mission of Neal’s Fund mirrors the life he led by training a new generation of communal leaders, teaching them to reach beyond the daled amot [four cubits] of their own communities to create positive change for the world while emphasizing the need for accountability and transparency in the process. Neal’s Fund pushes to the forefront these student entrepreneurs who are using their ideas not for commer-cial gain, but to better the world around them.”

Other recipients of Neal’s Fund in-

clude YU’s Counterpoint Israel program, a summer immersive service-learning initiative that works with at-risk Israeli youth in impoverished towns in southern Israel, and Project Teach, founded by YU undergraduates and students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which runs fun educational programming based on science and the humanities for hospital-ized children and their families. n

k To learn more about Neal’s Fund or to make a donation, visit yu.edu/cjf/neals-fund

Stern College Student Awarded Archaeology

Fellowship

Sima Fried, a sophomore at Stern College for Women, has been awarded the Ackerman Family Dig Fellowship in archaeology for the upcoming summer. The fellowship covers the cost of room and board for the entire field season at Tell es-Safi/Gath in Israel, known as the biblical Goliath’s hometown, where Fried began her research last sum-mer under the supervision of Dr. Jill Katz, clinical assistant professor of archaeology at Stern College.

“I have always had a passion for history, and archaeology is a unique and intimate way to interact with the past,” said Fried of Woodmere, New York.

s STAY CONNECTED AT WWW.YU.EDU/ALUMNI

HENRY KRESSEL ’55YC

In September 2009, Dr. Henry Kressel was elected chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University. This milestone marked the first time an alumnus was elected to serve as the board’s chairman.

Kressel’s life story has been and continues to be a notable one; he is a renowned scientist, engineer, author, investor and philanthropist.

As a young child, Kressel survived the Holocaust with the help of a brave French Catholic family, Andre and Eliane Traband. His parents and a sister died in Auschwitz. After the war, Kressel and his older sister Clara came to the United States where he enrolled in Chaim Berlin High School in Brooklyn, New York. When he graduated in 1951, Kressel decided to con-tinue his Jewish educa-tion at a place where he could also receive a top-rate secular education and pursue a career in science.

“I knew YU was the only place that could offer me this,” said Kressel.

At Yeshiva College, Kressel found dedicated teachers, smart peers and challenging courses. “I majored in physics, but I also took many other courses, including those in the liberal arts, with great teachers,” said Kressel. “I specifically remember tak-ing English composition with Herman Wouk, the great novelist who taught at YU when I was a stu-dent. I credit him with igniting my interest and later career in writing.”

After he graduated Yeshiva College, Kressel went on to study at Harvard University, where he received an MS in applied physics; the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received an MBA; and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his PhD in material science. Kressel credits YU with helping prepare him for the rigors of these illustrious graduate schools. “Thanks to my undergraduate education, I found that I was better prepared in my graduate work than were most of my classmates,” he said proudly.

He married Bertha Horowitz z”l ’56YUHS, ’56TI in 1956. She passed away in 2012. They have two children, Kim ’90C, married to Zeev Ephrat, and Aron, married to Lois Arenson, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Kressel’s professional career began in 1959 primarily at the RCA research laboratory based in Princeton, New Jersey, where he rose to the position of vice president responsible for electronics research. In 1983, he joined War-burg Pincus, a global private equity firm, and eventually became a senior part-ner, where he oversees investments in high technology companies.

A world-recognized expert in electronic devices, Kressel holds 31 U.S. patents and led pioneering research on lasers, transistors, solar cells and other devices. The recipient of several professional awards, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He has penned more than 120 scientific publications as well as four books, including, most recently, Competing for the Future: How Digital Innovations Are Changing the World Press, and Investing in Dynamic Markets:

Venture Capital in the Digital Age, both published by Cambridge University Press. Kressel was appointed regents lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, and serves as an adviser on technology commercialization at the University of Cambridge.

In 2003, Kressel joined the board of the Sy Syms School of Business at the suggestion of his good friend and YU alumnus Manfred Rechtschaffen. This led to an introduction to President Richard M. Joel by another friend and YU alumnus Irwin Shapiro.

Kressel joined the YU Board of Trustees in 2005 and chaired its Aca-demic Affairs Committee before being elected to the chairmanship in 2009, a position from which he will retire at the end of this academic year.

“It is the duty of every alumnus to make sure that future generations can continue to benefit from the YU experience,” said Kressel. “I truly believe that YU is the most impor-tant educational institu-tion in the United States for developing the success-ful leaders of the Jewish community, and it is key to helping sustain the future of the Modern Orthodox community both in the U.S. and the world at large.”

In 2008, the Kres-sels established the Henry Kressel Research Schol-arship, a program that offers students the oppor-tunity to craft a yearlong intensive research project under the direct supervi-sion of University faculty.

The Kressels became Benefactors of YU and endowed a chair in economics. Kressel has played an integral role in charting the course of the future

of Yeshiva University and has been instrumental in its advancements over the years as a university on the cutting-edge of education and reimagining.

“The mission of YU remains the same, but the educational process and content has evolved over time to reflect new realities,” he said. “Like all institutions of higher education today, YU must adjust its operations and structure to reflect more efficiency in delivering its services, while at the same time maintaining excellence and mission focus.”

In 2014, Kressel married Rina Uziel, a noted jewelry designer and entre-preneur who is very active in the Jewish community. Uziel has two children in New York, Rami, married to Barbara Kukafka, and Ronit, as well as two grandchildren.

“At the reunion, I hope to see old friends and share life experiences that we’ve accumulated over the years,” said Kressel.

“Dr. Kressel is the poster child for the concept of hakarat hatov, recog-nizing the good,” said President Joel. “He is mindful of how his life was shaped by his undergraduate years at Yeshiva College and has acted upon those memories. He has recognized the role that Yeshiva University plays in the future of the Jewish people and has committed many years of service, leadership and philanthropy. For the past six years, he has led YU as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees with grace, intellect, academic commit-ment and integrity and will continue beyond his chairmanship.”

An Accomplished Legacy

Continued on Page 4 ç

On May 17, the graduates of Stern College for Women, Sy Syms School of Business and Yeshiva College will participate in Yeshiva University’s 84th annual commencement exercises. Later that day, YU alumni will gather to celebrate their 60th, 50th, 40th and 25th reunions at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. AlumniToday highlights a noteworthy member from each of the classes of 1955, 1965, 1975, and 1990.

Dr. Henry Kressel

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Charlotte ’60YUHS and Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Zeitz ’56YUHS, ’60YC, ’62R, ’74BR announce the marriage of their grandson Ari Zeitz, son of Stacy ’88S and Robert Zeitz ’90YC, to Chavi Mayer.

1960s Sara and Rabbi Aharon Angstreich ’65YUHS, ’70YC, ’72F, ’72R announce the marriage of their daughter Devora to Gadi Yedidovitch of Haifa.

Helen ’65YUHS, ’70TI and Rabbi Meier Brueckheimer ’63YUHS, ’67YC, ’70R, ’70F announce the birth of a son to Orit ’00S, ’03W and Aryeh Brueckheimer of Beitar Illit, Israel.

Rabbi Herb Cohen, PhD ’64YC, ’70R, ’70F has recently authored Kosher Movies: A Film Critic Discovers Life Lessons at the Cinema, published by Urim Publishers. The book has been acclaimed by personalities such as Vincent Coppola and Senator Joseph Lieberman. Rabbi Cohen writes a weekly movie review in The Jewish Tribune, and his film reviews have appeared in The Huffington Post, the Atlanta Jewish Times, and The Intermountain Jewish News.

Stanley Fischman ’66YC, ’86A recently served as Scholar in Residence at the Young Israel of Hollywood, FL, where he made three presentations including one on his

book, Seven Steps to Mentschhood: How to Help Your Child Become a Mentsch.

Arlene Press Goldis ’68S celebrated the Bat Mitzvah of granddaughter, Eliana Matana, daughter of Mira ’98S and Yakir Wachstock, together with Hadassah (Kessler) ’64YUHS and Jacob Wachstock ’63YUHS.

Dr. Eugene Korn ’68YC co-edited Ploughshares into Swords? Essays on Religion and Violence (Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Israel, 2014, Kindle edition). He contributed “Religious Violence, Sacred Texts, and Theological Values” to that volume. Dr. Korn’s 2012 essay, “Rethinking Christianity: Rabbinic Positions and Possibilities,” was translated into Hebrew and published as an independent booklet as Ha-natzrut B’einei Ha-yahadut: Avar, Hoveh V’atid (American Jewish Committee, 2013) for use by the Israeli Rabbinate and school system, and was recently translated into Italian for use by the Italian Rabbinate and Italian Catholic clergy.

Rabbi Jordan S. Penkower ’60YUHS, ’64YC, ’67BS, ’69BR, ’69R, professor, department of Bible, Bar-Ilan University, recently completed

Masorah and Text Criticism in the Early Modern Mediterranean and co-authored The Bible in Rabbinic Interpretation-Rabbinic Derashot on Prophets and Writings in Talmudic and Midrashic Literature, Volume Two: Joel and Amos with Menachem Ben-Yashar.

Ann and Rabbi Gary Pollack ’60YUHS, ’64YC, ’68R celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of their grandson, Hillel Gedalia Neuman, son of Liba and Heshy Neuman ’94YUHS, ’99SB, and the Bat Mitzvah of their granddaughter Zipora Rachel Balter, daughter of Dubby and Yekutiel Balter.

Dr. Sara Reguer ’63TI, chair of the department of Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College, published My Father’s Journey: a Memoir of Lost Lithuanian Jewish Worlds (Academic Studies Press, 2015). Her father, Dr. Moshe Aron Reguer, earned

all of his degrees at Yeshiva University, and taught there for 40 years.

Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg ’69YC, ’74R, ’74F, ’92A has continued his life’s mission of honoring his Holocaust survivor parents’ memory with the publication of The Holocaust as Seen through Film and will donate the proceeds from the book to Holocaust education and needy Holocaust survivors and their offspring. Additionally, Rabbi Rosenberg recently reflected on the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz in an article titled “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the perspective of its Jewish composers, who published the Oscar-winning song on the eve of the Holocaust.

Dr. Charles Sprung ’67YUHS, ’71YC, Director of the General Intensive Care Unit, Hadassah Medical Organization, was recently awarded

the prestigious Bonei Zion Prize by Nefesh B’Nefesh.

Rochel Sylvetsky-Tabak ’63TI celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of three grandsons, who are also grandsons of the late Dov Sylvetsky ’62R, ’66BR: Evyatar, son of Akiva (legal advisor to the Shomron, Efrat, Gush Etzion) and Dr. Noa Sylvetsky of Efrat; Nachum Elimelech Nevies, son of Drs. Zehava (nee Sylvetsky) and Naftali Nevies of Elazar and Gush Etzion, will be a Bar Mitzvah the last day of Pesach; Yonatan Yehuda Sylvetsky, son of Rav Avraham (teaches in Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva Gavoha) and Avital Sylvetsky of Kiryat Moshe, Jerusalem will be a Bar Mitzvah on April 18.

1970s Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler ’74YC, ’76R, ’77BR recently served as the Religious Zionist Slate Scholar-in-Residence at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills. Rabbi Adler addressed the community on Torat Eretz Yisrael and explained the importance of voting for the Religious Zionist Slate in the World Zionist Congress elections.

David L. Ferstendig ’78YC, an expert on New York civil practice and procedure, has been named editor of the New York State Law Digest.

Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt ’76YUHS, ’79YC served as Scholar-In-Residence at The Young Israel of Stamford in their “Medicine, Ethics and Halacha” Shabbaton.

Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg ’74YUHS, ’77YC, ’81R recently published A Perfect God Created an Imperfect World Perfectly.

Sharon and Dr. Daniel Gottlieb ’79YC, ’84F announce the marriage of their daughter Eyelet to Danni Brenner.

Carrie and Rabbi Dr. Morrie Klians ’76YC celebrate the birth of a granddaughter Ella Tamar, daughter of Daniella ’07S and Jeffrey Remin ’07YC .

Cantor Yehoshua Redfern ’77BZ recently performed before a sold-out crowd at University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally Redfern, accompanied by Cantor Daniel Gildar, recorded a live CD album from the event, “Yehoshua Live.”

Nechama and Elliot Rosner ’72YC announced the birth of their grandson Yaakov Baruch (“Coby”) born to their children Aliza and Shmuel Rosner ’11BS .

Dr. Samuel Schneider ’74BR, ’79BR, associate professor of Hebrew, Yeshiva College, recently publiched an article “Yosef Chaim Brenner and Judaism,” in the annual Hebrew periodical Hador (Vol. VI, 2015, USA).

Dr. Joseph Trachtman, O.D., Ph.D., F.C.O.V.D.-A ’78F was recently featured in NASA’s Spinoff magazine for a device that was developed during his doctoral dissertation research in experimental psychology at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. The device is known as the Zone-Trac®, which uses biofeedback to improve concentration and train relaxation.

Esther (Gleicher) ’75YUHS and Rabbi Dr. Mark Weiner ’78YC, ’79F, ’80R and Janet and Dr. Josh Kunin ’83E celebrated the marriage of their children Aryeh Dov and Rivkah Leah.

Chana Reifman Zweiter ’72S, founding director of Kaleidoscope/The Rosh Pina Mainstreaming Network, was recently awarded the prestigious Bonei Zion Prize by Nefesh B’Nefesh.

1980s Rabbi Baruch Simon ’81YUHS, ’85YC, ’89R spent Shabbat with the West Side Institutional Synagogue and was featured as the guest speaker.

Susan L. Abramson Mayer, EdD, RN-BC ’86W announces the birth of a grand-daughter, Samara Chava (Ava Lily) and the Bar Mitzvah of a grandson, Scott Michael.

Deena and Rabbi Morey Schwartz ’85YC, ’90R, ’91BR announce the birth of their granddaughter, Ariella Chana, born to their children Yoni and Suzy and the birth of a grandson, Elai Yehuda, all of Hashmonaim, Israel.

YOUR NEWS IS OUR NEWS! Class Notes is where Yeshiva University celebrates the milestones and accomplishments of its alumni. In this section, you can catch up on everything your classmates have been up to over the years, from marriages and births to professional and personal achievements.

Submit your class note by emailing alumni@yu.edu with the subject line “Class Notes” or by visiting www.yu.edu/alumni/notes to complete the online form. We hope that you enjoy reading about your fellow alumni and friends, and we look forward to hearing about your achievements.

1940s Barbara and Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper ’48YC, ’50W announce the birth of their great grandchild, Tehillah, born to Atara and Efraim Marcus ’04YC.

1950s Sandy and Nat Geller ’52YUHS, ’56YC celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of their grandson, Yosef Uzziel Rothenberg, son of Amy ’86YUHS and Harry Rothenberg.

Gilda ’63S and Rabbi Jerry Hochbaum ’54YC, ’56R recently made aliyah to Jerusalem.

Mr. Leon Wildes ’54YC, father of Rabbi Mark ’89YC, ’93C, ’94R and Michael Wildes ’89C was honored at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Reception on December 3, 2014 recognizing the establishment of The Wildes Family Scholarship. The scholarship was created to offer financial assistance to enable qualified students to attend Cardozo.

Naomi (Baumol) and Dr. Erich Zauderer ’59YC, ’63R announce the marriage of their granddaughters: Tova to Shlomo Chaim Todd, Dafna to Yehuda Gutkind and Adina to Eli Kuhnriech.

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Director of Yeshiva University in Israel and director of YU’s S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program Stephanie (Schechter) ’85YUHS, ’89S and YUIA Treasurer Alan Strauss ’82YUHS, ’86SB announce the engagement of their son Yehuda to Rivky Bromberg, daughter of Izzy and Ruchie Bromberg.

Alan L. Yatvin ’83C was recently named to the board of directors of the American Diabetes Association.

Robin (Goldstein) ’87YUHS, ’91S and Fred Zemel ’89YC, ’92C announce the marriage of their daughter Zahava to Daniel Mark of Hashmonaim. Mazal tov to grandparents Marianne and Alter Goldstein, z”l ’60YUHS and Morton and Yocheved (Judy) Zemel.

1990s Rabbi Hayyim Angel ’93YC, ’93BR, ’95R,’96A recently published Jewish Holiday Companion, a book of brief essays on the holidays, their symbols, and synagogue readings. The book is published by Kodesh Press.

Freida and Rabbi Dr. Elihu Schatz ’50YUHS, ’54YC, ’57R of Hashmonaim, Israel, announce the birth of a great-granddaughter to Idit and Noam Freeman, the birth of a great-granddaughter to Becky and Amiad Gilor, and the birth of a great-granddaughter to Shaindie and Shai Markovich.

Mitchell First ’95R recently published a book, Esther Unmasked: Solving Eleven Mysteries of the Jewish Holidays and Liturgy (Kodesh Press, 2015).

Dr. Scott J. Goldberg ’96SB, vice provost, Yeshiva University and an associate professor at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education, recently addressed Mount Sinai Jewish Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, NY.

Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider ’93R recently published a new Haggadah, אחדות in Hebrew by לילה שלYediot Achronot Press in Israel. A second printing of the English version “The Night That

Unites” (Urim, 2015) has also just been released in the U.S. and Israel after selling out the first printing. The Haggadah is the first book to feature the teachings of three influential thinkers and religious leaders of the past century–Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Rabbi Joseph Soloveichik and Reb Shlomo Carlebach.

Tamar (Parness) ’95SB and Jeremy Lustman ’96YC recently celebrated the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter, Avital Nina, in their home community of Hashmonaim, Israel. Mazal Tov to grandparents Chani (Weissman) ’61YUHS and Jay Parness ’58YUHS and Elsa (Cantor) ’69S and Mark Lustman ’67YC.

Rabbi Menachem Penner ’91YC, ’95R, Max and Marion Grill Dean, RIETS and Rav, Young Israel of Holiswood in Queens recently served as Scholar-in-Residence at Congregation Ahawas Achim B’nai Jacob & David in West Orange, NJ.

Rabbi David Polsky ’96YUHS, ’01YC, ’05R, Rav, Anshe Sfard Synagogue of New Orleans was recently featured in an article on Nola.com.

Dr. Dale Rosenbach ’99YUHS, ’03YC was invited to lecture at the 2015 Greater Long Island Dental Meeting on the topic of “Dental Implants: Where Do They Go and How Do We Get Them

There?” He also recently published a technique article entitled “How to Extract Teeth as Atraumatically as Possible” in the March 2015 edition of Dental Products Review.

Penina Rybak ’92S wrote the book The NICE Reboot: A Guide to Becoming a Better Female Entrepreneur—How to Balance Your Cravings for Humanity & Technology in

Today’s Startup Culture (Maven House Press, 2014). Penina’s second book, Autism Intervention in the iEra: The Socially Speaking™ Program will be published in April 2015. She also has a Socially Speaking™ iPad App.

Rabbi Eliezer Schnall, PhD ’95YUHS, ’00YC, ’02F, ’03R, ’06F, professor of psychology at Yeshiva College, authored “Virtues that Transcend: Positive Psychology in Jewish Texts and Tradition” as part of Springer’s new volume Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures. Rabbi Dr. Schnall’s chapter, co-authored with two former Yeshiva College students, Rabbi Mark Schiffman ’09YC, ’11A, ’12R and Aaron Cherniak ’14YC, takes a Torah Umadda approach to the cutting-edge field of positive psychology.

Ari Zoldan ’99SB, CEO of Quantum Media Group, LLC, recently attended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3, 2015 in Washington, D.C.

2000s Riva ’10S and Rabbi Alon Amar ’06YUHS, ’11YC, ’14R announce the birth of a son.

Tova and Rabbi Noah Baron ’02YC, ’08A, ’10R announce the birth of a son.

Erica ’08S and Joshua Elsant ’08YC announce the birth of a son, Dov Ber. Mazal tov to grandparents Gail (Epstein) ’72YUHS, ’76S and Dr. Martin Elsant ’75YC and Helen and Reuben Davis.

Yehudit (Lerner) ’99YUHS, ’03S and Rabbi Nachman Elsant ’04YC, ’07R announce the birth of a son, Chaim Leib. Mazal tov to grandparents Gail (Epstein) ’72YUHS, ’76S and Dr. Martin Elsant ’75YC, and Abigail (Dworetsky) ’70YUHS and Rabbi Yaacov Lerner ’71YC, ’73R, ’74F.

Sara Libby and Rabbi Shaul Epstein ’02YC, ’07R, ’07BR announce the birth of their son, Ephraim Shmuel.

Malka ’05S and Rabbi Maury Grebenau ’01YC, ’04R ’07A announce the birth of their daughter, Meira Shira.

Remembering Rabbi Jacob Rabinowitz z”l

The Yeshiva University commu-nity mourns the passing of Rabbi Jacob Rabinowitz z”l ’42YUHS,

’46YC, ’48R, beloved former dean of undergraduate Jewish studies.

Rabbi Rabinowitz’s affiliation and dedication to YU, from student to dean, spanned several decades and linked the administrations of Dr. Ber-nard Revel, Dr. Samuel Belkin and Dr. Norman Lamm.

“Rabbi Yaakov Rabinowitz—a gentle, warm, passionate teacher and leader—informed Yeshiva University since his student days for decades,” said President Richard M. Joel. “For

an entire generation of Yeshiva life, he was amongst the handful of educators who took responsibility for its mission.”

Rabbi Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky, vice president for university affairs, who was close to Rabbi Rabinowitz for almost 50 years, recalled his “cherished friend as a devoted administrator of YU whose foremost concern was for the well-being

of the students in the undergraduate Jewish studies schools and in his Yeshiva College chemistry courses. He was kind, sincere and a wonderful role model wor-thy of emulation by students, faculty and younger colleagues.”

Rabbi Rabinowitz was born in New York City on June 1, 1926. He majored in chemistry and was a student for two years in Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s shiur [lecture] at Yeshiva College. He joined the faculty at YU’s James Striar School of General Jewish Studies in 1957 and the chemistry faculty at Stern College for Women in 1961. From 1964 to 1966, he was assistant professor and director of religious guidance at Stern and was appointed the first dean of students for the undergraduate schools in 1966. He was named dean of the Erna Michael College of Hebraic Studies in 1968 and was appointed dean of undergraduate Jewish studies in 1977, serving as the chief administrator of Jewish studies programs at YU’s undergraduate schools.

Rabbi Rabinowitz resigned as dean of undergraduate Jewish studies in 1989 and returned to teaching, retiring in 1999. He was appointed emeritus professor of Talmud and awarded an honorary doctorate of Hebrew Letters by the Univer-sity upon his retirement.

He is survived by his wife, Toby; two sons, Rabbi Baruch and Rabbi David; and two daughters, Mrs. Esther Shulman and Mrs. Fayge (Safran) Novogroder. His son, Rabbi Joseph z”l ’81R, passed away in 2013. n

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STANLEY RASKAS ’65YC, ’69BR, ’69R

For Stanley Raskas, chairman of the Board of Overseers of Yeshiva College, com-mitment to Torah Umadda is in his genes.

His family’s dedication to Judaism—his grandfather Louis was sent from the United States to learn in the preeminent Eastern European yeshivot of Slabodka and Radin—went hand in hand with the establishment of the family’s dairy busi-

ness by his great-grandparents, Isaac and Shifra Raskas, in the late 1800s in St. Louis, Missouri. His maternal grandfather, Rabbi Tobias Geffen, was a rabbi in Atlanta, Georgia, for more than 60 years and was responsible for the original Coca-Cola kosher certification. And Rabbi Geffen’s sandek [godfather] in Kovno, Lithu-ania, was the namesake of RIETS, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor.

“I grew up in a Modern Orthodox home in St. Louis and attended the Epstein Hebrew Academy through eighth grade, but there was no yeshiva high school in town, so I attended public high school and learned in an intensive after-school pro-gram,” recalled Raskas. “I knew I wanted to go to college in a Modern Orthodox environment, where I could achieve excellence in both Jew-ish and secular subjects as well as have the opportunity to make a wide circle of Jewish friends.”

He found that and more at Yeshiva College, where he majored in economics and enjoyed classes with outstanding professors like Dr. Samuel Soloveichik, Rabbi Israel Wohlgelernter, Rabbi Harry Wohlberg and Dr. Aaron Brody.

The 1960s—Raskas’s time at YU—was a notable decade for college students, many of whom were caught up in various political and social causes of the day. At YU many students took to activism on behalf of Soviet Jewry. “Who can forget attending rallies led by Jacob Birnbaum that took place in front of the Russian Embassy?” said Raskas. “Many of the young leaders of Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry went on to become outstanding members of the Jewish communal world and remain active today.”

While at YU, Raskas served as a senior editor of The Commentator, as secretary treasurer of the Student Council and as a member of the debate team. “Being on the debate team not only honed my speaking skills but also gave me a chance to travel around the country and represent YU,” said Raskas.

Raskas went on to attend the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, earning a master’s in Hebrew literature, and received semicha [rabbinical ordina-tion] at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He was the founding rabbi of the Young Israel of Scarsdale, New York, in 1968.

After two years in the rabbinate, he returned to St. Louis and worked for more than 25 years in the family business, Raskas Foods. The company produced cultured dairy products and was the second-largest manufacturer of cream cheese in the United States. As an owner and vice chairman, Raskas helped oversee the transi-tion of the business from a small family-run organization with 25 employees into a professionally managed entity with both nationwide and international sales and three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. More than 500 people were work-ing there when the company was sold in 2002. Raskas was also an executive board member of the U.S. Dairy Export Council and a member of the International Dairy Foods Association.

Raskas and his wife, Sheri z”l, then moved to New Rochelle, New York, to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Shortly after, he met fellow alumnus Fred Gorsetman ’67YC, ’71R and eventually joined his boutique investment banking firm, Oxbridge Financial Group, as a director. “I wanted an opportunity to continue

the business skills I had acquired, and this gave me that chance,” said Raskas. Sheri passed away in 2009. Raskas assumed the chairmanship of the Yeshiva College Board of Overseers

in 2010 and served as a member of the YU Board’s Strategic Planning Sub-Commit-tee. From his vantage point, he has observed the positive transformations YU has experienced over the last decade. “The college curriculum has been totally revamped to give students much more varied and enriched courses,” said Raskas.

“The extracurricular offerings represent a very wide choice of opportunities, and perhaps one of the greatest changes is in the area of career guidance and job place-ment. Our graduates obtain excellent entry-level positions and continue to be accepted at all the top medical, legal, and professional graduate programs.”

In 2012, Raskas received an honorary degree at Yeshiva University’s annual Hanukkah Convocation.

“In many ways, Stanley represents the happy warrior, a man of philanthropic generosity and personal warmth,” said President Richard M. Joel. “He has led the Yeshiva College Board beyond that and has been a source of wisdom to me and countless others.”

Raskas is proud of his and Sheri’s five children, all of whom graduated YU and are married to YU graduates: Michael, married to Karen Muth; Aliza, married to Steven Major; Tamar, married to Ethan Benovitz; Ari, married to Robyn Scharaga; and Jonah, married to Rachel Gelles.

“I am proud to say all of them are involved in Jewish communal life and live lives of Torah Umadda,” said Raskas. One of their granddaughters, Elana Raskas, is cur-rently enrolled in YU’s Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Study.

Raskas is now married to Joyce Kurz; the couple plans to attend the upcoming reunion.

“I’m looking forward to seeing many classmates and also remembering some who are no longer around,” said Raskas. “I’m also grateful for the chance to display hakarat hatov to an institution which was, and remains, an integral part of my life.”

RACHAYL (ECKSTEIN) DAVIS ’75S

Rachayl “Rock” Davis grew up in a small Jewish community in Ottawa, Canada, but spent her summers at Camp Morasha, where she developed a wide circle of like-minded friends and grew in her Jewish learning.

“I really looked forward to being in such a vibrant, fun and strongly Jewish environment, so when it came time for college, I knew I would attend Stern College for Women,” said Davis.

“Chaya Orlian [associate dean at Stern] and Rivka

Behar z”l (founder of Stern’s early childhood department) were my mentors at camp, too, so Stern was a natural progression.”

At Stern, Davis majored in education, planning a career as a teacher. She grew close with Peninnah Schram, professor of speech and drama, and continues to maintain a connection with her. “I believe I might have been among Professor Sch-ram’s very first students, taking Speech 101 with her and continuing with storytell-ing classes,” she said. Davis was so inspired by the courses that she joined a group led by Schram at the 92nd Street Y called Kernels of a Pomegranate: The Art of Storytelling—which remains a highlight of her college career—and participated in several speech festivals including the International Jewish Storytelling Festival.

“I also fondly recall being in the dorm with friends and my time as a dorm coun-selor,” said Davis. “For an out-of-towner to be able to live in Midtown Manhattan with so many good friends was a dream come true!”

Other college highlights included her classes, especially Tefillah with Rabbi Avi Weiss, Modern Jewish Problems with Rabbi Saul Berman, and Chumash with Rabbi Pesach Oratz z”l, who also taught her when she was a camper at Morasha. Davis was a vice president of student council and served on the first Counterpoint program, along with a select group of rabbis, teachers and advisers, in Australia in the summer of 1974. “Rabbi Norman Lamm, the former president of YU, went to

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Stanley Raskas

Rachayl Davis

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Australia the previous summer, and was so well received that the community wanted to continue the YU educational experience,” said Davis. “Dr. Abe Stern z”l, the father of YU’s Torah Leadership Seminar, which I participated in as an adviser for several years, was the leader of designing and implementing that Counterpoint experience. I found working with young high school students in a formative envi-ronment to be challenging, invigorating and incredibly meaningful. I met truly tal-ented and inspiring people, many of whom I am still in touch with today.”

Davis also met her husband, Dr. Hillel Davis ’72YC, ’75BR, ’75R, at a Dirshu Shabbaton. Dirshu was a grassroots, student-run organization that sent students to colleges around the country to lead Jewish programming for the Jewish students on campus.

After the Davises married, they lived in Brooklyn before moving to Oceanside, New York, where they lived down the block from Richard and Esther Joel.

For a short time, Davis worked in the public relations office at YU and then as the admissions director for a health care facility while beginning her studies towards a master’s in educational theater at New York University.

Following graduate school, she worked in the dean’s office at Stern as an aca-demic adviser for three years, taught at a local preschool and ran a Hebrew literacy program in a yeshiva day school on the south shore of Long Island, which included Hebrew storytelling and creative dramatics.

“My career has been varied, but virtually all of it has revolved around educa-tion,” said Davis. “Looking back, I always thought I wanted to teach, but I realized over the years that my real interests are in more informal education. Traditional teaching in front of a classroom didn’t play to my strengths, and experiential edu-cation, which is much more prominent today, didn’t really exist as a separate field of study back when I was starting my career.”

Eventually, Davis became a freelance educator, providing programming and extracurricular opportunities for local yeshivot, synagogues and community cen-ters, often in conjunction with the Jewish holidays. “Using Tu B’Shevat (the new year for trees) as an example, I would dress as a tree and ‘arrive’ from Israel and include the children in interactive and educational storytelling experiences,” said Davis. “For rosh chodesh [the new month], I would dress as a shiny, silvery moon and tell stories revolving around the new month while including the children in singing and dramatic exercises.”

Hillel served as YU’s vice president for university life for eight years before the Davises made aliyah [emigration to Israel] in 2011, at the same time her parents, Rabbi Simon ’46R and Belle Eckstein, made aliyah from Florida. The Davises now live in Jerusalem and have reconnected with many of their YU friends.

Davis utilizes her experience and skills performing and storytelling and as a trained medical clown. The majority of her work now consists of volunteering at local hospitals for Simchat HaLev, a medical clown organization, bringing smiles to patients.

She continues to take classes in improvisational theatre. After moving to Israel, she coauthored a book with Schram called The Apple Tree’s Discovery.

“I was blessed with having Rachayl as one of my first storytelling students at Stern, and she has remained a dear friend throughout these years,” said Schram.

“Whatever Rachayl does, she shares her gifts with an open heart and whole neshama [soul]. It has been a pleasure to be friends with Rachayl, be her coauthor and meet her in Jerusalem when I visit. I look forward to continuing our friendship, sharing stories and exchanging family news for many more years.”

The Davises have four children, all YU graduates: Nahva, married to Isaac Maman; Ariel, married to Yael Zemelman; Leora, married to Ezra Blumenthal; and Tali, married to Shaya Gartner. Three out of the four spouses are YU graduates, noted Davis.

“One son-in-law grew up in Australia,” she said. “So I guess he gets a pass.”

LAURA (GREENFIELD) GOLDMAN ’90SB

For Laura Goldman, an active volunteer and Jewish lay leader in Silver Spring, Maryland, community is a calling.

Goldman grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa., and after completing all of her high school credits in 11th grade, decided to go to Yeshiva University through the early admissions process. Aspiring to pursue a career in finance, she enrolled in the recently opened Sy Syms School of Business.

Not one to remain content with going from class back to her dorm room, Gold-man assumed many leadership positions in extracurricular pursuits—growing close to Zelda Braun, then associate dean of students, in the process. She served as a dorm counselor, the vice president of the Sy Syms Student Council, and president of the Business Society, to name a few.

“Some of my fondest memories are of going uptown (to the Wilf Campus) for the chagigas [holiday celebrations] and going out with friends on Thursday nights,” recalls Goldman, who was a Dr. Samuel Belkin Scholar. “I also participated in a Torah Umadda think tank, where students studied and discussed the challenges of Modern Orthodoxy and how Orthodox Jews balance the Torah Umadda lifestyle.

“One of the best things about YU was the access afforded the student body to a variety of internships in the professional fields,” she said. “It allowed you to coalesce your ideas of what you might want to do after graduating and also gave you the chance to develop relevant experience outside the classroom.” She gained investment banking experience by working for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette

in their retail brokerage department and for Bankers Trust on their currency trading floor.

She met her husband, Yossi Goldman ’88SB, while the two were in college.After graduating Sy Syms magna cum laude, Laura worked for the Federal

Reserve Bank of New York as a bank examiner. She studied banking law at Ford-ham University School of Law and worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jer-sey and the FDIC. She then accepted a full-time position at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, D.C., where she stayed for 12 years before entering private practice at Barnett Sivon & Natter, P.C., a D.C. banking and insurance regulatory law firm.

Goldman’s other interest is education. She is a parent educator and volunteer with the Parent Encouragement Program, a nonprofit educational organization for parents, teachers and others who want to deal constructively with children and teens and foster mutual respect and shared responsibility. Goldman volunteers at her children’s school, the Berman Hebrew Academy, and served as a member of the school’s Board of Directors and Development Committee. She also served as presi-dent of the Hebrew Day School of Montgomery County. She attends and teaches Torah classes and tutors women and bat mitzvah girls.

Goldman continues her community involvement in many organizational roles. Currently, she serves on the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Commu-nity & Global Impact Committee, has been nominated to the Federation’s board of directors and participates in other Jewish organizations, including NCSY, Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington, the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, Maryland Jewish Experience, Maryland Hillel and American Israel Public Affairs Committee. She served on the executive committee of Kemp Mill Synagogue over the last 10 years as a trustee and treasurer and, most recently, as vice president of Klal Yisrael, where she was responsible for shul liaising with external organiza-tions and programming related to Israel.

Goldman stays connected to YU by serving on the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) Advisory Council. She has participated in the YU ChampionsGate leadership conference and the Washington Leadership Fellowship Program.

“Laura continues to represent the best of our alumni,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, vice president for university and community life. “She plays leadership roles in her local community and in the greater Jewish community, and she has been a voice of clarity and wisdom on the CJF Advisory Council. We are lucky to have her on board.”

“It’s challenging to balance everything,” admitted Goldman. “But I have found that the best way to do so is to prioritize by first figuring out what’s most important to you at any stage of your life. After I had my third child, I consciously decided to step back from my legal practice to have more time with my kids and be able to stay involved with the community. Since then, I have developed myself as a lay leader, Torah learner and parent educator so that now I use my experience to help others.”

She noted, too, that balancing life is easier with good help and a supportive spouse.

So what drives Goldman’s compulsion to give back to the community?“Community doesn’t run without participation,” she said. “The ideal would be

to give because you’re passionate about whatever institution you’re giving to, but there’s also a sense of responsibility and a calling to give so that the community functions well. I believe we are here to contribute our particular gifts and talents and utilize the experience we’ve gained for the betterment of this world. That is meaningful and purposeful living.”

Goldman is looking forward to attending the reunion. “I think it’s always nice to catch up with people who have played a role during a formative time in your life,” she said. “My classmates became part of my imprint of early adulthood, and I’m looking forward to hearing about where our lives took us and how we got there.”

The Goldmans have four children—Evan, Daniel, Zachary, and Kira. n

Laura Goldman

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TORAH LEADERSHIP SEMINAR REUNION IN ISRAEL (FEBRUARY 15, 2015)More than 150 men and women gathered at Yeshiva University’s Jerusalem campus for the first YU Torah Leadership Seminar (TLS) Reunion in Israel. Managed under the aegis of the original Community Service Division of YU, TLS increased participants’ Jewish knowledge and bolstered their faith while developing their leadership skills. Participants viewed video greetings from YU President Richard M. Joel, and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin ’56YUHS, ’60YC,

’63R,’73BR, an early TLS advisor, delivered the keynote address.

ALUMNI MUSEUM TOUR (FEBRUARY 18, 2015)YU’s Silver and Golden Shield Society, which celebrates alumni who graduated 40 and 50 years ago or more, hosted a special guided tour at the Museum of the City of New York of its exhibition, “Letters to Afar: by Péter Forgács, Music by the Klezmatics.” The immersive video art installation is based on home movies made by New York City’s Jewish immigrants who traveled back to visit Poland during the 1920s and 30s. The group was accompanied by Dr. Eric Goldman, YU adjunct professor of cinema.

q Chaya (Carol Spatz) Passow ’70S, Dvora (Doris Weinrib) Kidorf ’70S

o Miriam and Eddie Abramson ’69YC, ’73R,

’73BR, Noa (Vivian Alperin) Lev ’71S

m Dr. Eric Goldman

m Ilana (Ellen Roberts) Mendlovitz ’69S, Aviva (Dukoff ) Stanislawski ’68TI, Judi (Riskin) Stern ’69S

o Lilly (Lubka) ’71S and Irving Cantor ’67HS

m Debi (Stern) Berko ’80S, Malka Stern, Judi (Stern) Becker ’84S

Tamar (Warburg) ’05S, ’08C and Yigal Gross ’06YC, ’08BR announce the birth of their daughter, Sara Aliza. Mazal Tov to grandparents Chaye (Lamm) ’72YUHS and David Warburg ’71YUHS, ’75YC, and Ronit and Yaacov Gross. Mazal Tov to great-grandparents Batya Haronian, Ilse Warburg, and Mindella and Dr. Norman Lamm ’49YC, ’51R, ’66BR.

Mr. Joshua Klarfeld ’02YC was recently named partner at Ulmer & Berne LLP. Joshua focuses his practice on product liability litigation, pharmaceutical, medical device and mass tort litigation. He is also engaged in complex business litigation.

Lynn ’05S, ’08BR and Rabbi Aaron Kraft ’06YC, ’09R announce the birth of a son.

Rabbi Beni Krohn ’06YC, ’10R was installed as rabbi at the Young Israel of Teaneck.

Rabbi Levi Mostofsky ’00YC, ’03R married Yifat Raz.

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna ’01YC, ’05R recently participated in a solidarity delegation to the French Jewish community.

Leah (Kanner) ’08S and Shmuel Segal ’03YC, ’08R announce the birth of their son, Avraham Netanel.

Sharon (Elsant) ’05S, ’08BR and Rabbi Jay Weinstein ’05SB, ’09R announce the birth of a daughter, Talia Esther. Mazal tov to grandparents Gail (Epstein) ’72YUHS, ’76S and Dr. Martin Elsant ’75YC; and Lenore and Stanley Weinstein.

Rivka and Rabbi Andi Yudin ’99YC,’02R announce the birth of a son, Dovid Yair. Mazal tov to grandparents Shevi and Rabbi Benjamin Yudin ’69R, James Striar School of General Jewish Studies rebbe.

Ari Zak ’02SB was promoted to partner at the New York office of Dechert LLP. Ari focuses his practice on financial services tax matters, with a particular emphasis on registered funds and alternative investment funds.

2010s Jamie (Klein) ’10SB and Shmully Ash ’10SB announce the birth of their son, Joseph Leo.

Daniel Danesh ’13YC was elected to the board of directors of the Iranian American Bar Association’s New York Chapter and was appointed chairman of its pro bono committee.

Abigail ’10YUHS, ’14S and Daniel Elsant ’12YC announce the birth of a daughter, Elisheva Esther. Mazal tov to grandparents Gail (Epstein) ’72YUHS, ’76S and Dr. Martin Elsant ’75YC; and Lauren and Joseph Hyman ’80C.

Tamar and Rabbi Effie Kleinberg ’12R announce the birth of a son.

Craig Kohn ’12YC recently wrote an inspirational article for aish.com titled “My Life with Asperger’s”.

Aleeza ’14A and Avi Lauer ’85YUHS, vice president and general counsel of Yeshiva University, celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Jennifer, to Josh Geffner ’07YUHS; she is the granddaughter of Deborah Steinhorn ’56YUHS, ’60S; Ilse ’60S, ’86W z”l and Rabbi Elias Lauer ’55YC z”l.

Margaret and Rabbi Leonard Matanky announce the birth of a grandson, Yaakov Levi, born to Aviva and Yitzi Matanky ’11SB.

Hundreds of runners and volunteers attended the 4th Annual Halachic Organ Donor (HOD) Society Race on Sunday, March 1 in Central Park to raise awareness about

halachic [Jewish legal] support for organ donation. Steven Rosenbaum ’00SB won the 5K Race for the male category in 17 minutes and 18 seconds and Sarah Mizrachi ’14S won the 5K Race for the female category in 21 minutes and 5 seconds.

In Memoriam Dr. Joshua Fishman, former academic VPRabbi Emanuel Greenwald ’43YUHS, ’47YC, ’50RMs. Julia Packer ’15SWallace Pruzansky ’51YUHS, ’55YCRabbi Jacob Rabinowitz ’42YUHS, ’46YC, ’48RAlbee (Albert) Reingold ’55YUHSDr. Dan Vogel, former Stern College deanMrs. Batya (Levine) Weiner ’08S

Legend for school abbreviations:

A: Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration • BR: Bernard Revel Graduate School • BS: Belfer Graduate School of Science • BZ: Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music • C: Cardozo School of Law • E : Albert Einstein College of Medicine • F: Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology • R: Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • S: Stern College for Women • SB: Sy Syms School of Business • TI: Teacher’s Institute • W: Wurzweiler School of Social Work • YC: Yeshiva College • YUHS: Yeshiva University High Schools

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s WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR IDEAS FOR PROGRAMMING IN YOUR REGION. CONTACT BARBARA BIRCH AT BIRCH@YU.EDU OR 212.960.0848. ALUMNITODAY 7

ANNUAL SEFORIM SALE ALUMNI FAMILY DAY (FEBRUARY 22, 2015) Nearly 100 children and their parents took part in a special three-part program at the Annual Alumni Family Day at the Seforim Sale. Programming included a magic show with magician Ben Cohen; mask-decorating, assisted by instructors from the Yeshiva University Museum, in preparation for Purim; and a soccer workshop with coaches from YU’s Men’s and Women’s soccer teams.

m Alumni and their children enjoy the magic show

m Assistant Athletic Director and Soccer Coach Shua Pransky holds court

TORAH BREAK: ALUMNI MEET FOR MIDTOWN LECTURE (MARCH 12, 2015) YU alumni gathered for a breakfast shiur [lecture] with Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, Joseph and Gwendolyn Straus Professor of Talmud, hosted by Terry Novetsky ’80YC, at midtown law firm Kaye Scholer. The lecture, “Avid Inish Dina leNafsheih: Vigilante Self-Justice in Jewish Law,” is part of a quarterly alumni lecture series held at different business locations throughout New York City.

m Rabbi Jeremy Wieder (right) delivers a lecture for alumni

From the NFL to Local Politics, Ora Kornbluth ’89S Has Tackled it All

Ora (Ruttner) Kornbluth ’89S, of Bergenfield, New Jersey, is a master juggler of multiple jobs and is angling to take on one more—mayor of her New Jersey borough.

Kornbluth is the director of business and operations for Yeshivat He’Atid, a Bergenfield day school; a statistician for the National Football League (NFL); and an official statistician for CBS Sports at MetLife Stadium when the Jets and Giants play their home games. She is also the programming director for a Passover pro-gram and, until 2013, was director of sports at Camp Regesh, a day camp in Monsey, New York, for 15 years. Up next, Kornbluth, cur-rently a Bergenfield councilwoman, hopes to win the borough’s November mayoral race.

“I drink a lot of coffee,” Kornbluth offers by modest way of explanation for her numerous roles. “I leave the house early, and I come home late. But I need to keep busy—that’s just who I am.”

Proof positive is her college career. As a student at Stern College for Women, Kornbluth served as senator of the student council dur-ing her junior year and president in her senior year; played forward for the women’s basket-ball team; and was a member of the computer science club. She was also editor of the Guide for the Perplexed, an annual yellow pages-like listing of people at college, restaurants in town, and activities and events. In her spare time, she worked first for an accountant and then for a food stylist while still a student at Stern, and as a counselor for Bais Ezra, which operates residential homes for adults with mental dis-abilities, on the weekends.

“I was able to do so much as a college stu-dent, and I think a lot had to do with the fact that Stern was a smaller school,” said Korn-bluth, who majored in economics and minored in computer science, while planning for a career in finance. “I found that Stern was able to nurture the student-mentor relationship because of its size, and I grew very close to Zelda Braun, who was dean of students at the time.”

She continued, “I also really loved the dorm life at Stern. It was exciting to be able to walk outside of your room at two or three in the morning and have friends up and hanging out in the hallways.”

After graduation, Kornbluth took a job with AT&T in its management training program, before securing a job as a tax assessor for the New York City Department of Finance. Later, she worked for a commercial property litiga-tion firm, where her knowledge as an assessor helped her fight property tax assessments.

During this time, Bat Torah–The Alisa M. Flatow Yeshiva High School in Monsey, reached out to Kornbluth, one of its graduates, to gauge her inter-est in coaching its basketball team. A longtime sports enthusiast, Kornbluth couldn’t say no. Eventually, she added teaching to her roster as well as direct-ing student activities at the school.

In 2000, her husband, Aaron ’87YC, discovered that his software firm, Blueflame, was redoing the statistics system for the NFL to capture, consoli-date, process and deliver game day data. He heard through the grapevine that

the NFL was looking to hire statisticians to monitor games and ensure that each play is recorded and processed correctly. Ora quickly applied and, out of the hundreds of applicants, was one of eight people hired.

It was a dream job for Kornbluth, especially as it only required that she work on Sunday during football season. She monitors the games and sees

that all the relevant information of each play is recorded properly. She was also hired to work at MetLife Stadium by CBS Sports, thanks to a referral by the NFL, as an official staff mem-ber of the New York Jets. There, she feeds the broadcaster the statistics about that particu-lar game to run on television. Kornbluth, who already knew the rules of football pretty well, had to study a formal guidebook to become as well versed as possible in the minutia of the game before taking a test with different examples of potential plays to determine how she would score them. She passed with flying colors.

“It’s definitely one of the cooler things on my résumé,” said Kornbluth. “I call this one my football season job.”

In 2012, Kornbluth was hired as the director of business and operations at Yeshi-vat He’Atid. “I was looking for a full-time job and this one combined my finance, manage-ment and yeshiva administration back-grounds perfectly.”

Since moving to Bergenfield, Kornbluth took active roles in her local community. She was president of the sisterhood at her shul, Congregation Beth Abraham (led by YU Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger); served as a member of the shul board numerous times; and has chaired the shul dinner for the past eight years.

Kornbluth also served on committees for the Police Athletic League and the Zoning and Planning Boards. She was approached by the Democratic Party to run for council for sev-eral years, but it was only when her youngest child started middle school that Kornbluth felt she could take the time to dedicate to yet another position.

“Because I didn’t campaign on Shabbos, I had to work harder the rest of the week,” Kornbluth said of her bid to become councilwoman in 2010. She won and was elected council president in 2013. She is currently the chair-woman of the Recreation Committee, police commissioner and ambulance commissioner.

Unsurprisingly, Kornbluth also makes time for giving back to YU. She helped organize her 25th reunion last year and also spoke at the YU Math Club about her NFL job—to great acclaim by math enthusiasts and sports fanatics alike.

“It’s hard to balance everything,” said Kornbluth of her many roles. “But I have an amazing husband who regularly pitches in to help with whatever needs to be taken care of.”

Though she concedes her lifestyle doesn’t make allowances for a whole lot of sleep or relaxation, Kornbluth wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’m an energy junkie, and I honestly don’t think I’d be very happy if I wasn’t busy.”

Ora and Aaron are the proud parents of Hindi, Nicki and Talya. n

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“ I was able to do so much as a college student, and I think a lot had to do with the fact that Stern was a smaller school, I found that Stern was able to nurture the student-mentor relationship because of its size... ”

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J udaism relies heavily on its legal library: written discussions of the law are almost synonymous with

the religion, describing practices that date back to the beginnings of the Bible. But what did those practices actually look like in the day-to-day lives of ancient Israelites? Like many civilizations of the time, the Jews of the biblical era used pa-pyrus for everyday business affairs; few artifacts from the era survive to illustrate how the rules and regulations found in the canonical Torah were observed.

For Yael Landman Wermuth, a doc-toral student at Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, the key to un-derstanding these texts is not so much in the history of ancient Jews but in that of their neighbors.

Landman Wermuth’s doctoral thesis examines areas of biblical law through a comparative lens, drawing on examples from the contemporary Mesopotamian and Hittite law codes, which contain many similarities to that of the Bible as well as ancient Near Eastern contracts, letters, trial records and other documents that offer a glimpse of legal practice in ev-eryday Mesopotamian life.

“Few documents like these from ancient Israel have survived because they were written on perishable materi-als—but in Mesopotamia, everything was inscribed on clay tablets. These tablets

provide a window into the legal practice of the day, which would have looked simi-lar to that practiced in ancient Israel,” said Landman Wermuth. “I use these different texts and sources to try to illuminate the difficulties that emerge from the biblical text to get a sense of what the legal prac-tice would have looked like and what legal issues would have arisen. I’m trying to un-derstand the structure of the law and how everything fits together and would have functioned in everyday life.”

Landman Wermuth is closely ana-lyzing a section of the Bible that deals with “bailment laws”—known in Hebrew as the “shomrim” laws—when one person guards another’s property for a tempo-rary period of time and is responsible for its safe return. “I use biblical narrative and prophecy as additional sources to un-derstand the institution of bailment and what it would have looked like in biblical Israel and Judah because archeologists to date have not unearthed any texts from ancient Israel that speak to this area of law,” said Landman Wermuth. “I’m trying to mine texts from other genres and sto-ries in the Bible to shed light on it.”

Landman Wermuth had also served as a graduate fellow in Jewish law and in-terdisciplinary studies at the Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civiliza-tion, under the auspices of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and as a Tikvah

Scholar in the Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization.

This year, Landman Wermuth was awarded a doctoral scholarship by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, which seeks to train qualified individu-als for careers in Jewish scholarship and research. She also received the Gorgias Press Book Grant, an annual award to two promising scholars of $500 in Gorgias ti-tles, which specialize in religious studies. Ultimately, though, Landman Wermuth

wants to be the one writing the books: she hopes her dissertation will become a de-finitive guide to her field.

“I’m hoping to contribute something that will be the most up-to-date study of this specific topic and also at the cutting-edge of the field in terms of synthesizing methodologies and connecting sources that haven’t been brought together in a way that I think will be fruitful,” said Landman Wermuth. n

Revel doctoral student Yael Landman Wermuth searches ancient Near Eastern documents for clues to Jewish legal practice in biblical times

Examining the Effects of Aging at Ferkauf

Jennifer Yuan, a doctoral candidate at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, recently published an article about her predoctoral research as a first

author in Human Brain Mapping, a high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journal. It’s a rare and significant achievement for a student in a PhD program—but in Yuan’s case, as a researcher in Dr. Roee Holtzer’s Neu-ropsychology and Cognition Lab, she’s actually in good company.

Over the course of the last academic year, four of Holtzer’s doctoral students—Yuan, Sarah England, Janna Belser-Eh-rlich and Elyssa Scharaga—and recent alumna Melissa Shuman-Paretsky were listed as first authors on articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

“Our students consistently achieve high clinical competence levels, as evi-denced by our higher than 90 percent match rate for competitive yearlong clini-cal internships around the country,” said Holtzer, professor of psychology and neu-rology at Ferkauf and director of its PhD program in clinical psychology with a health emphasis. “But to have this num-ber of students publishing first-authored empirical studies in peer-reviewed jour-nals constitutes a major accomplishment for our doctoral students.”

Holtzer’s group seeks to identify cognitive, psycho-logical and brain mechanisms of major public health concerns in populations struggling with aging, dementia and diseases that influence the central nervous system. As they explore the frontiers of neuropsychology and cognition, students also receive close mentorship and guidance from Holtzer that enable them to dive deep into their own areas of interest.

“Part of my role is to identify the student’s strengths and research interests, developing the right project to-gether with the student,” said Holtzer.

Yuan’s article, “Functional Connectivity Associ-ated With Gait Velocity During Walking and Walking-While-Talking in Aging: A Resting-State fMRI Study,” was the first study to use resting-state fMRI, a method of functional brain imaging that can be used to evaluate activity in the brain when the person is not performing a specific task, to examine neural correlates of gait per-formance. Her research allows for a new perspective

into the connectivity of brain networks at rest and their relation to mobility. She says Holtzer’s mentorship has been key. “Dr. Holtzer has been both an outstanding ad-viser and supporter,” Yuan said. “As an experienced re-searcher in the field, he is able to guide our projects and share knowledge, but just as important, he encourages and challenges students to develop their own indepen-dence. As a young clinician and researcher, having an inspiring, innovative network of students and faculty at Ferkauf has made a world of difference.”

Belser-Ehrlich and Shuman-Paretsky were first au-

thors together on the article “Psychometric Properties of the Brief Fatigue Inventory in Community-Dwelling Older Adults,” published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, which validated a subjec-tive measure of fatigue that could be used when studying community-dwelling older adults. This study extended findings from previous self-report inventories of fatigue in older adults by establishing its relationship with im-

portant functional, cognitive and health outcomes.

England was already a trained sil-versmith working for a designer when she decided to apply to Ferkauf’s PhD program after becoming fascinated with the connection between the mind and the body. She found the impact of brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases—a common side effect of simply getting older that is studied in Holtzer’s lab—particularly intriguing.

“I want to understand the mind-body connection better so I can help the greater population, which is aging,” said England, who now hopes to become a neuropsychologist. Her research—“Three-Level Rating of Turns While Walking,” published in Gait & Posture—focuses on mobility in the elderly.

For Scharaga—first author on the article “Preliminary Findings of the Brief Everyday Ac-tivities Measurement in Older Adults,” published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging—the decision to study functional abilities and the effect of aging on cog-nitive functioning in Holtzer’s lab was personal. “Being a caregiver for family members with neurological dis-orders made me interested in treating and conducting research in the field of neuropsychology, specifically in older adults,” she said. “Training in Dr. Holtzer’s lab has given me firsthand experience working within a collab-orative interdisciplinary team.” n

Revel Student’s Research Examines Daily Legalities of Biblical Life

Melissa Shuman-Paretsky, Janna Belser-Ehrlich, Jennifer Yuan, Elyssa Scharaga, and Sarah England were all listed as first authors on articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals

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Dr. Ruth Macklin, professor of epidemiology & population health and the Dr. Shosha-nah Trachtenberg Frackman Faculty Scholar in Biomedical Ethics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, received the Hastings Center’s 2014 Henry Knowles Beecher Award, given annually in recognition of a lifetime contribution to ethics and the life sciences. Macklin was also honored by the Global Forum on Bioethics in Re-search, which presented her with an award for contribution to progress in interna-tional research ethics.

Dr. S. Abraham Ravid, professor of finance at the Sy Syms School of Business, recently published an article in the Quarterly Journal of Finance. Titled “Location Specific Styles and U.S. Venture Capital Contracting,” and co-authored by Ola Bengtsson of Lund Uni-versity, the article documents a study that found significant differences between start-up contracts in California and similar contracts in other states. Across 1,804 contracts, Ravid’s study found that California-based entrepreneurs received more lenient con-tract terms from venture capitalists.

Dr. Lauren Fitzgerald, director of the Wilf Campus Writing Center and associ-ate professor of English, coauthored The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors (Oxford University Press, April 2015), a guide for undergraduate writing tutors, that cov-ers the basics as well as theoretical and practical aspects of writing center work. It includes scholarship by undergraduate tutor-researchers as well as references to scholarship in the field, bibliographies, research citations and assignments.

FOCUS | ON FACULTY

A three-volume set coedited by Dr. Louis Feldman, Abraham Wouk Family Chair in Classics and Literature, was recently awarded the Nahum M. Sarna Memo-rial Award and the 2014 National Jewish Book Award winner in scholarship by the Jewish Book Council. Titled Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Re-lated to Scripture (JPS, December 2013), it is the first of its kind in a Jewish con-text—a vast collection of extra-biblical texts that comprise ancient Israel’s ex-cluded scriptures.

Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychol-ogy’s Older Adult Program (FOAP) has received the 2014 Award for In-

novative Geropsychology Training from the Council of Professional Geropsychol-ogy Training Programs. The national award is given to one program each year that demonstrates excellence and cre-ativity in geropsychology training and is meant to encourage innovative training in the field.

“The program’s goal is to bridge the growing gap between demand for gero-psychology services and an under-supply of well-trained psychologist practitio-ners,” said Dr. Richard Zweig, director of FOAP. “It’s a real honor to receive this award from the national organization that sets the standards for training geropsy-chologists around the country.” n

Wurzweiler School of Social Work is currently implementing a $1.4 million training grant from the

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund more than 100 social work students in clinical field placements with at-risk youth in New York City.

“The primary purpose of the project is to increase the number of social work-ers with strong clinical competencies who will work with adolescents and tran-sitional-age youth at risk for developing or who have developed a recognized be-havioral health disorder,” said Dr. Ronnie Glassman, Wurzweiler’s director of field instruction and the principal investigator for the grant. “This will be accomplished by the creation of increased social work clinical internships.”

The grant was effective September 2014 and continues through 2017.

“Wurzweiler is one of three graduate

schools of social work in New York receiv-ing this grant,” said Dr. Carmen Ortiz Hen-dricks, Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean of Wurzweiler. “And it will have a

far-reaching impact on our field educa-tion, the curriculum and Wurzweiler’s mission to change the world.”

“It’s a workforce enhancement grant, meaning that students commit to actually obtain jobs working with that population for two years after they graduate,” Glass-man added.

Part of the grant will also focus on re-search and evaluation to determine how effective the program is and to identify goals and improvements for its imple-mentation in the future.

The grant will be implemented with the support of several additional Wurz-weiler faculty members, including Dr. Nancy Beckerman and Dr. Jay Sweifach, who will be involved in training and de-velopment in clinical practice and group work, and Eugene Tomkiel, assistant di-rector of field work instruction, who will work on arranging student internships. n

Dr. Ronnie Glassman

Wurzweiler Receives $1.4 M Training Grant to Help New York City At-Risk Youth

Ferkauf Wins Innovative Training Award

Dr. Jeffrey S. Gurock, Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History, recently published The Holocaust Averted: An Alternate History of American Jewry, 1938–1967 (Rutgers University Press, April 2015). In the book, Gurock imagines what might have happened to the Jewish community in the United States if the Holocaust had never occurred and forces readers to contemplate how the road to acceptance and empowerment for today’s American Jews could have been harder than it actually was.

Dr. Margarita Vigodner, associate pro-fessor of biology at Stern College for Women, recently published an article, “Can Your Protein Be Sumoylated? A Quick Summary and Important Tips to Study SUMO-Modified Proteins,” in An-alytical Biochemistry (November 2014). The article focuses on the optimization of important techniques used to study protein modifications. Daniel Pollack, a recent Yeshiva College graduate, and Abby Winchell, a current Stern College student, contributed to the article’s re-search, which was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

RIETS Dinner Pays Tribute to Communal Leaders

At its March 8 Annual Gala Evening of Tribute, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) honored the memory of Herb Smilowitz z”l for his lifetime of commitment to enhancing Torah learning at RIETS. Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Menachem Genack ’65YUHS, ’69YC, ’73R (left) and Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg ‘80YC, ’82F, ’83R, director of the Morris and Gertrude Bienenfeld Department of Jewish Career Development and Placement (right), received the Harav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveit-chik z”l Aluf Torah Award and the Distinguished Rabbinic Leadership Award, respectively.

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pPresident Richard M. Joel joined Catholic University of America President John Garvey and Baylor University President Ken Starr at the National Press Club in Wash-ington, D.C., on February 4 to discuss the state of higher education and the unique roll of faith-based universities. n

pDuring the fourth annual Thank A Donor Week, grateful students across both cam-puses wrote thousands of thank you notes to the donors who make a Yeshiva University education possible for so many of them. More than 75 percent of undergraduates receive scholarship assistance. To support YU scholarships, visit yu.edu/giving. n

uFrom March 28-29, the Heights Lounge became the base of opera-tions for YU’s first-ever Hackathon, an event that brought computer program-mers together for 24 hours of non-stop collaboration on computer software and hardware. More than 70 students from colleges across the tristate area joined forces to create a host of new programs that ranged from an interactive Daf Yomi website to developing code to teach a robot to sing “Happy Birthday.” n

pSenator Joseph Lieberman, Chair in Public Policy and Public Service and Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Kressel and Ephrat Family University Professor of Jewish Thought, discussed “The Haggada’s Politics: From 2,000 Years Ago to Today,” moder-ated by Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, on March 22 at Lamport Auditorium. n

pYU’s National Model UN conference marked its 25th anniversary February 8-10 when 450 young men and women from 44 Jewish high schools worldwide met to enact the roles of delegates at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in Stamford, Connecticut. n

pFor the fourth consecutive year, the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/ Yeshiva University High School for Boys varsity hockey team joined Team Lifeline to run the Miami, Fla. half marathon. The 14 students raised more than $50,000 for Chai Lifeline, an organization that assists seriously ill children and their families. Senior Zev Markowitz was the first student to finish with a time of 1:48. n

pNowhere But Here! Yeshiva University students celebrated Purim on campus at women’s and men’s chagigot [festivities]. View additional photos at yu.edu/purim. n

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YU Goes Global With Online Initiative Launch

In the coming months, Yeshiva University will launch a number of online courses, degrees and certificate pro-grams through a new online initiative, YU Global.

YU Global seeks to translate the creativity, beauty and academic rigor of a YU education to the online learn-ing space. It employs a variety of methods that combine cutting-edge educational theory and technology, such as blended classrooms that feature a mix of online lectures and in-person interactions, and immersive online courses whose innovative design encourage creative problem-solving and learning.

“YU Global is an important evolutionary step for Ye-shiva, offering an innovative approach to the delivery of advanced education and training,” said Dr. Selma Bot-man, vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Beginning in May, YU Global will also offer four online certificate programs in the areas of agile web ap-

plication development in Ruby on Rails, big data/data analytics, e-commerce technologies and mobile applica-tion development. Students in the programs will work with faculty mentors on real-world team projects to build the practical skills and experience employers are looking for.

“These programs will help students meet the grow-ing demand for high-tech careers and capitalize on the richness of resources that are available online,” said Bot-man. “In addition, our focus on mentoring will provide students with an unmatched Yeshiva University educa-tion as well as the opportunity to study at a pace that en-riches their learning experience.”

Another example of the unique kind of learning available to students through YU Global is a microeco-nomics course in the newly revamped executive MBA program at the Sy Syms School of Business. Now offered with support from YU Global, the program meets in per-son on campus as few as two Sundays each month and conducts other courses and class discussions online to allow its busy student-executives more flexibility and greater interaction in the learning process.

“Our executive producer, Abby Russell, and our in-structional designers worked with the course’s profes-sor to create a hypothetical video case study about a Brooklyn coffee company,” said Akiva Covitz, YU Glob-al’s executive director for strategy. “The learner is brought into the life of the company, meeting its found-ers, employees and customers, then asked in the course to think about the whole range of decisions they are faced with as managers.”

In addition to the EMBA program, YU Global offers advanced degrees in partnership with other YU graduate schools, including an online master’s degree from the Az-rieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Adminis-tration and a blended master’s from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

At the undergraduate level, many YU Global courses are already underway, with a planned catalog of 10 online courses this summer in subjects that range from account-ing to literature and speech science. These online courses will be available for current YU students as well as for students outside the University.

YU Global’s online catalog will eventually include graduate degrees, professional development programs and lifelong learning programs as well as additional cer-tificates. These courses will feature faculty members from Yeshiva University and will also draw on new pools of talented teachers and experts in various industries.

“In this online venture, Yeshiva is combining its deep educational expertise with transformative new teaching and learning technologies so that students and lifelong learners all over the world can now access YU courses and programs,” said Lydia Lazar, executive di-rector for global partnerships at YU Global. “The learner is at the center of this process, and the tools we are mak-ing available to faculty members allow the professors to add levels to their teaching that were previously un-imaginable.” n

k To learn more about YU Global and upcoming information sessions or to register for the certificate programs, visit global.yu.edu

Yeshiva University men’s soccer’s Aaron Braun and women’s tennis’s Shani Hava were each named Scholar-Athletes of the Year by the

Skyline Conference for the 2014 fall season. The duo earned their awards for achieving the

highest grade-point averages (GPA) amongst all first-team All-Skyline members in their respective sports.

Braun earned first-team All-Skyline honors after netting 11 goals and offering six assists for 28 points this year. He played an integral role in the success of this season’s Yeshiva men’s soccer team,

which earned a program-best 10 wins and went 10–7–1 overall. Braun, a native of Weston, Florida, and a freshman business and management major, attained a 3.83 GPA.

Hava earned a spot as a first-team All-Skyline member and was named the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year this past season. Her skill on

the court was pivotal in lead-ing YU women’s tennis to its first playoff spot in more than a decade. This past fall, she held down the number one single position and went 6–2 there. As a doubles player, she teamed with Jannah Eichen-baum, going 6–3 at the number one position. A freshman from Petach Tikva, Israel, Hava is studying business intelligence and marketing analytics, and earned a 3.94 GPA.

“I am so proud of Shani and Aaron. They are stars both on and off the court and an inspiration for all our stu-dent-athletes,” said Director of Athletics Joe Bednarsh. n

Maccabees Net Scholar-Athlete Awards

Shani Hava

Aaron Braun

Ritholtz Named First Team Academic

All-American

For the second time in as many years, men’s basketball’s Benjy Ritholtz has been named a College Sports Information Directors of America/Capital One Academic All-American.

The senior guard, who was a third team Academic All-American last year, was named to the first team this year, becoming just the second student-athlete in Yeshiva history to earn the honor in con-secutive seasons.

Ritholtz, of West Hempstead, New York, led the Skyline Confer-ence in points per game and three-point field goals made. The history major has amassed a 3.97 GPA.

k Get the latest athletics news, stats and schedule information at yumacs.com