Yeshiva College - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Yeshiva College is located in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

’s Washington Heights

Washington Heights, Manhattan

Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...

neighborhood in Upper Manhattan

Upper Manhattan

Upper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary may be defined anywhere between 59th Street and 155th Street. Between these two extremes lies the most common definitions of Upper Manhattan as Manhattan above 96th Street...

. It is Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...

’s undergraduate college of liberal arts and sciences for men. (Stern College for Women

Stern College for Women

Stern College for Women is the undergraduate women's college of arts and sciences at Yeshiva University. It is located at Yeshiva University's Israel Henry Beren Campus in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan....

is Yeshiva College’s counterpart for women.)

Roughly 1,100 students from some two dozen countries, including students registered at Sy Syms School of Business

Sy Syms School of Business

The Syms School of Business is Yeshiva University's business school for men and women...

, attend Yeshiva College.

On July 27, 2009, it was announced that Barry L. Eichler, Ph.D., will succeed David J. Srolovitz, Ph.D. as dean of Yeshiva College.

Philosophy

Students at Yeshiva College pursue a dual educational program that combines liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional studies with the study of Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

and Jewish heritage, reflecting Yeshiva’s educational philosophy of Torah Umadda

Torah Umadda

Torah Umadda is a philosophy of Modern Orthodox Judaism, concerning the interrelationship between the secular world and Judaism, and in particular between secular knowledge and Jewish knowledge...

, which translates loosely as “Torah and secular knowledge” (the interaction between Judaism and general culture).

History

Like many venerated American colleges and universities, Yeshiva College was founded originally as a religious seminary. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) was established in 1896 as the first yeshiva for advanced Talmudic study in America. Its first president, Dr. Bernard Revel, envisioned an institution in which yeshiva students would be able to “harmoniously combine the best of modern culture with the learning and the spirit of Torah.” Through Dr. Revel’s efforts, Yeshiva College was founded in 1928, with 31 students. The creation of the college coincided with the move of RIETS, with its Teachers Institute and Talmudical Academy High School, from the Lower East Side to the newly built Washington Heights campus.

Since its inception, Yeshiva College has become a vital and major institution in the United States for training Jewish secular and religious leaders for nearly 90 years. The growth of its student body over the years necessitated the building of the Rubin and Morgenstern Residence Halls, which supplemented the original and subsequently refurbished Muss Residence Hall. The growth of its academic programs also necessitated the creation of the Mendel Gottesman Library to house its manuscript, rare book and scholarly collections of Judaica, the development of the Pollack Library collections in secular studies, as well as the construction of Furst Hall and Belfer Hall for additional classroom, administrative and laboratory space.

Yeshiva College now has an enrollment of more than 1,000 undergraduate men with an additional 300 students learning in major yeshivot in Israel. Students are drawn from the world Jewish community including North America, South America, Europe, Israel and Australia. To this diverse student body, Yeshiva College offers a varied Jewish Studies and liberal arts curricula with intensive support services for their educational, social and religious needs.

Academic programs have never been stronger. For the last 10 years, the college has continued to build on its academic excellence. The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program (1999) is designed for exceptionally gifted students seeking intellectually rigorous experiences, individualized mentoring, exciting research opportunities and leadership development. It also offers extraordinary summer travel classes to Japan, Italy, Spain and destinations yet to be imagined. Participation in Honors Program offerings are also open to non-honors students and thus it augments the college’s academic opportunities for all highly motivated Yeshiva College students. During the last six years, through the generosity of Mr. Ronald P. Stanton, the college has experienced a 30 percent growth of its tenure-track faculty in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. The new faculty has invigorated Yeshiva College’s commitment to high-quality research in their disciplines and to innovative teaching in their classrooms and laboratories.

In recognition of more than 20 years of sustained support by the Wilf families for their many contributions to Yeshiva, especially in the area of need-based and merit scholarships, the Washington Heights campus was named in their honor (2002). Most recently, the completion of the Glueck Center for Jewish Study (2009) in the heart of the Wilf Campus physically reaffirms the centrality of Torah studies in the college’s academic mission.

In his remarks in 1928, Dr. Bernard Revel consecrated Yeshiva College “to the pursuit, interpretation and advancement of universal knowledge in harmony with the great affirmations of Judaism concerning God and man, which are the basis of enlightened civilization … and which still hold a vital message for humanity.”

Dr. Revel’s dream continues to be realized at Yeshiva College day in and day out, with its ever-growing commitment to academic excellence in Jewish and secular studies and its continued dedication to the intellectual, social and spiritual well-being of its student body.

Academics

Majors offered include:

Biology
Chemistry
Classical languages
Computer sciences
Economics
English
French
Finance
General Business
Hebrew
History
Jewish studies
Management
Mathematics
Music
Philosophy
Physics
Political science
Pre-engineering
Psychology
Sociology
Speech and drama

Combined and joint programs in business administration, dentistry, engineering, Jewish education, Jewish studies, law, occupational therapy, optometry, podiatric medicine, and social work are also available.

Minors offered include:

American studies
Architecture
Art
Biology
Business
Chemistry
Classical languages
Computer sciences
Economics
English (Literature and Writing tracks)
Foreign languages
French
Hebrew
History
Jewish studies
Mathematics
Music
Philosophy
Physics
Political science
Psychology
Public health
Sociology
Spanish
Speech and drama

The Robert M. Beren Department of Jewish Studies unifies and centralizes all academic Jewish studies offerings at Yeshiva College: Bible, Hebrew, Jewish history, Jewish philosophy, and Judaic studies.

In addition to courses leading to the B.A. degree, all students undertake Jewish studies requiring intensive analysis of classic texts in Hebrew and Aramaic. Students are enrolled in a full course of study in one of the following options:

James Striar School of General Jewish Studies/the Mechinah Program
Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies
Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies
Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program

Yeshiva College's Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors program stresses writing, critical analysis, cultural enrichment, and individual mentoring.

The S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program allows students who wish to spend a year in Israel to take courses at one of 51 different Israeli institutions.

Student life

Athletics include Maccabees basketball, tennis, fencing, cross-country, golf, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, and baseball. Other student activities include the newspaper The Commentator and the radio station WYUR.

Student Government

The student government, the Yeshiva Student Union, includes the Student Organization of Yeshiva and Judaic Studies Programs (SOY/JSC), the Sy Syms School Of Business Student Association, and the Yeshiva College Student Association.

Dormitories and student housing

Approximately 90% of the undergraduate student population(s) lives on campus.

The Wilf Campus includes three main dormitory buildings: Morgenstern, Muss, and Rubin Residence Halls. Many upperclassmen live in the surrounding independent housing that is run by the university or in other nearby buildings.

Notable alumni

Rabbi Chaim Brovender
Chaim Brovender
Chaim Brovender is an Israeli Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist rabbi. In October 2000, Brovender was beaten by Palestinian police while head of the Yeshivat Hamivtar yeshiva in the Israeli settlement of Efrat.-WebYeshiva:...
Shaye Cohen
Hillel Furstenberg
Ari Goldman
Daniel Kurtzer, former United States Ambassador to Israel and Egypt
Matthew Levitt
Matthew Levitt
Matthew Levitt is an American expert on Islamist terrorism. Levitt is a senior fellow and director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and professorial lecturer in International Relations and Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins...
Rabbi Albert L. Lewis
Albert L. Lewis
Rabbi Albert L. Lewis was a leading American Conservative rabbi, scholar, and author; President of the Rabbinical Assembly , the international organization of Conservative rabbis; and Vice-President of The World Council of Synagogues...
Josef Mandelbaum, CEO of American Greetings
American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation, Inc. is the world's largest publicly-traded greeting card company. It is based in Brooklyn, Ohio and sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, party products , and electronic expressive content...
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok was an American Jewish author and rabbi. Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen, a 1967 novel which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies.-Biography :Herman Harold Potok was born in The Bronx, New York City, to...
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Shlomo Riskin
Shlomo Riskin is the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 12 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the West Bank; dean of Manhattan Day School in New York City; and founder and dean of the Ohr Torah Stone...
Henry Siegman
Henry Siegman
Henry Siegman is a German-born Jewish American nonfiction writer and a journalist specializing in the Middle East policy towards Israel, and a visiting professor at the University of London.-Early life and education:...
Shlomo Sternberg
Shlomo Sternberg
Shlomo Zvi Sternberg is a leading mathematician, known for his work in geometry, particularly symplectic geometry and the differential geometry of G-structures....

Facilities

The campus is centered around the area of Amsterdam Ave and West 185th Street (Yeshiva University's main office is 500 185th St). The buildings in the campus are:

David H. Zysman Hall
Sol and Hilda Furst Hall
Belfer Hall
Schottenstein Center
Mendel Gottesman Library
Max Stern Athletic Building and Benjamin Gottesman Pool
Ruth and Hyman Muss, Morris and Celia Morgenstern, Joseph and Dora Strenger, and Leah and Joseph Rubin Residence Halls
Glueck Center for Jewish Studies