A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E R A B B I N I C A L U M N I O F T H E R A B B I I S A A C E L C H A N A N T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A RY • A N A F F I L I AT E O F Y E S H I VA U N I V E R S I T Y
CHAVRUSA
DECEMBER 2006 • KISLEV 5767
Architectural rendering of the Glueck Center, to be erected directly west of the Mendel
Gottesman Library Building on 185th Street.
Yeshiva Breaks Ground for Jacob and
Dreizel Glueck Center for Jewish Study
istory was made on the Wilf
H Campus at a groundbreaking
ceremony for the Jacob and
Dreizel Glueck Center for
Jewish Study. The Glueck Center is the
first building to be constructed on the
Wilf Campus in over 20 years and will
house a two-story, 470 seat Beit Midrash,
the largest at YU. The Center and the
Beit Midrash bear the names of Jacob
and Dreizel Glueck z”l in gratitude to
the Glueck family for their visionary
lead gift toward construction of the
new facility.
Philanthropist Jacob Glueck is a
Holocaust survivor who came to the US
virtually penniless and built one of the
country’s leading flavor producing and
processing companies. Mr. Glueck and
his wife became leading philanthropists
:dx ,ufrc–vrucjc tkt
in the US and Israel. In 1998, Mr.
Glueck was the recipient of the Eitz
Chaim Award, the highest honor RIETS
can bestow for advancement to Jewish
life. Vivian Glueck Rosenberg, Mr.
Glueck’s daughter, is a member of YU’s
Board of Trustees and the Board of
Directors of Stern College for Women, as
well as co-founder of the Dreizel Glueck
Bikur Cholim Foundation. She and her
husband, Henry Rosenberg, are continu-
ing her father’s example of leadership in
the Jewish community.
“I am delighted that the first new
construction of my presidency – a proj-
ect that was begun by Dr. Lamm—is a
Beit Midrash, a house of study for our
sacred texts, which will without doubt
spread so much light and warmth and
continued on page 14
,hbeb vru,v iht VOLUME 41 • NUMBER 2
Rabbi Hershel
Reichman Invested
As Bronka Weintraub
Professor in
Talmud at RIETS
abbi Hershel. Reichman beca-
R me the newest member of the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theolog-
ical Seminary faculty to occupy
an endowed chair when he was invested
by President Richard M. Joel as the
Bronka Weintraub Professor of Talmud
on Sunday, Sept. 17, in the Harry
Fischel Beit Midrash of Zysman Hall on
the Wilf Campus.
President Joel praised Rabbi Reichman,
who has taught at RIETS for over 30
years, for “his ability to beautifully convey
Highlights
continued on page 2
Yeshiva Breaks Ground for..................1
Glueck Center
Rabbi Reichman Investiture ..............2
Divrei Chizuk ....................................3
Chomer L’Drush ................................4
Rabbinic Services ..............................5
Back to the Beit Midrash ..................6
Chag Hasemikhah in Israel ................8
In Appreciation of YU ........................9
Rabbinic Placement
Musmakhim in the Limelight............10
Amudei Hamusmakhim ..................13
Life Cycle ........................................15
Rabbi Hershel Reichman
continued from page 1
Torah, to sing Torah, and to make Torah
come alive” for his students. Rabbi
Zevulun Charlop, Max and Marion Grill
Dean of RIETS, fondly recalled success-
fully appealing some 34 years ago to Dr.
Samuel Belkin, ztz”l, then President of YU
and RIETS, for permission to hire the
young rabbi, who, at the time, was the
assistant to The Rav, Rabbi Joseph
B. Soloveitchik, ztz”l, and an activist send-
ing Jews to settle in Northern Israel. Rabbi
Julius Berman ’59R, RIETS Board chair-
man, noted that the Bronka Weintraub
Chair now held by Rabbi Reichman is the
institution’s 24th endowed chair, “which
tells the world just how much our Roshei
Yeshiva are at the heart of our yeshiva and
especially RIETS.”
In his acceptance remarks, Rabbi
Reichman said, “This is a very special
occasion for me. I have the chance to
thank the people who really made a
difference in my life: my late father, who
was my first rebbe; my mother, Mrs. Ella
Reichman, an outspoken supporter of
Israel and leader in Emunah for many
years; Rav Soloveitchik, who, for us, is still
alive through his teachings; Rav Belkin and
Rav Lamm, for giving me the privilege of
(L–R): Carmi Schwartz, President Joel, and Rabbi Dr. Lamm pose with the honoree.
2
Rabbi Reichman delivering a shiur during the investiture.
teaching; President Joel, for his caring
and encouragement; and my talmidim
(students), who have taught me so much.”
Rabbi Reichman then gave a shiur on the
enduring presence, both spiritual and
halakhic of the site where the Beit
Hamikdash stood, using biblical, Talmu-
dic and rabbinic sources. He then segued
into a discussion on the levels of sanctity
and priority attributed to the synagogue
and beit midrash and explained why the
beit midrash has a higher degree of sancti-
ty. Rabbi Reichman dedicated his remarks,
which were filled with warmth and
humor, to the enduring memory of Bronka
Weintraub, z”l, whom he called “a devot-
ed daughter of Israel.”
Mrs. Weintraub’s nephew, Carmi
Schwartz, was the guest of honor at a
luncheon in Weissberg Commons which
followed the investiture ceremony. Rabbi
Lamm praised Mr. Schwartz who, as
executor of Mrs. Weintraub’s estate,
arranged for the chair to be endowed in
her memory. Mr. Schwartz, a distin-
guished Jewish communal professional
who has been a consultant and lay leader
for numerous organizations since his
retirement as Executive Vice President of
the Council of Jewish Federations,
received an honorary doctoral degree from
YU in 1987. After receiving a symbolic
replica of the Weintraub Chair, Mr.
Schwartz spoke of Mrs. Weintraub’s life-
time of devotion to Israel and Jewish
causes. He explained that she grew to love
YU and RIETS through her leadership
affiliation with the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine, of which she and
her third husband, Jacob Weintraub, were
Founders and Benefactors. ■
Divrei Chizuk From Our Leaders
Rabbi David Miller
nd Yisrael loved Yosef more than his other sons because he
A was a ‘ben zekunim’… Rashi points out that the phrase
‘ben zekunim’ is translated by Unkelos as ‘bar chakin,’ i.e.
that Yosef was the wise son, he had a unique capacity
to learn, and therefore, continues Rashi, Yaacov taught Yosef all
that he learned from Shem and Ever.
This statement of Rashi is very strange. It is true that Yaakov
learned in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever for fourteen years on his
way to the house of Lavan, but if Yaacov had to choose a certain
body of knowledge to pass on to his son Yosef—wouldn’t it have
made more sense to teach Yosef the Torah of Avraham and
Yitzchak? Wouldn’t that which Yaacov learnt when he was an “ish
tam yosheiv ohalim,” when he was learning with his father and his
grandfather, have been a more proper heritage to pass down to
his favorite son?
Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, zt”l, answered
this question as follows: Certainly Yaacov
taught all his sons, including Yosef that
which he received from Avraham and
Yitzchak, the heritage we have as Jews.
However, there is a unique body of knowl-
edge—the knowledge of Shem and Ever—
that Yaacov felt he should transmit specifi-
cally to Yosef. What is the special charac-
teristic of the knowledge of Shem and
Ever? It is the key to remaining G-d fear-
ing in an environment which is totally
inhospitable to a religious lifestyle. Shem
was brought up in the generation of the
flood; Ever in the generation of the Tower of Babel. They had to
struggle to maintain their spiritual identity in a society with total-
ly antithetical values, and they succeeded. This is why Yaacov
spent fourteen years in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever before flee-
ing to Charan. He knew he would need that strategic knowledge
to maintain his spiritual development in the house of Lavan and
in the society of Charan. He learned that special Torah, so well
that after twenty years by Lavan, he was able to return to Eretz
Yisrael and tell Eisav: “Im Lavan garti, v’taryag mitzvot shamarti.”
Yaacov had a premonition that his wise son Yosef, who was so
similar to him in so many ways (see Rashi on “toldot Yosef”—they
were similar in appearance; both had brothers that hated them;
both had brothers who wanted to kill them; etc.), would also
need the knowledge of Shem and Ever. Yosef would also have to
struggle to maintain his identity in a foreign environment similar
to Shem, Ever, and Yaacov, and therefore Yaacov specifically
taught these ideas to Yosef.
What was the content of Torat Shem V’Ever? We don’t know, but
perhaps an insight of my mechutan, Rav Chaim Brovender ’65R, in
an explanation of the Ramban on Chumash, would at least parallel
one aspect of this very special tradition.
The juxtaposition in the calendar of the parsha of V’Yeshev
with Chanukah is reflected in masechet Shabbat (22a) where the
drasha of the pasuk “vhabor reik, ein bo mayim” is found in the
middle of the entire sugya of Chanukah.
Chazal there infer from the tautology “reik, ein bo” that the pit
was empty of water, but was full of snakes and scorpions. The
Ramban in his commentary on Chumash was bothered by the
question as to whether the brothers were aware of this situation.
If they were aware, how would casting Yosef into the pit serve as
the means of “hatzalah” that Reuven intended? If they were
unaware, then why would the Torah bother to give us this infor-
mation? The Ramban posits that the brothers were totally
unaware, because had they become aware that at any point Yosef
was being miraculously saved from certain death (similar to
Daniel in the lions’ den), they would have
immediately realized that their thesis was
totally wrong. Yosef was a tzaddik in G-d’s
eyes. They never would have continued
with the sale, the deception of Yaacov, etc.
Rav Brovender pointed out that the
Ramban is showing us a scenario in which
obvious and open miracles are occurring
literally under the feet of the brothers, and
their living and acting in ignorance of the
miracles brought about tragic results.
The knowledge and perspective that
we are living in a world that cries out ‘al
nisecha shbechol yom emanu’ and yet socie-
ty ignores the implications of that reality
would be a concise summary of the struggle between Judaism
and Hellenism.
The miracle of the ‘pach hashemen’ as the response to the
question of the braita “mai chanukah” puts in proper perspective
what the war was all about: the Nes nigleh of the pach hashemen
which reflects on the reality of a world of ‘Nisecha Shbechol yom
emanu,’ which is antithetical to the Hellenist philosophy.
Perhaps this is part of the tradition that served Shem and Ever
so well, and was passed down from Yaacov to Yosef. It would cer-
tainly be meaningful to us in our challenge of maintaining our
spiritual identity while living in western society, “im Lavan garti,
v’taryag mitzvot shamarti”. ■
RABBI DAVID MILLER ’71R, Associate Director of the Caroline and Joseph
S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem, occupies the Benjamin and Charlotte
Gottesfeld Chair in Talmud. He is also a senior lecturer in the Israel Defense
force Rabbinate when on reserve army duty. After making aliyah, he contin-
ued his studies at Kollel Shevet U’Mechokek in a program leading to designa-
tion as a dayan. He is also the spiritual leader of a shul in Har Nof.
3
Chomer L’Drush
or a long time, conventional wis-
F dom asserted that two geograph-
ically distinct and culturally dif-
ferent Jewries existed side by
side in Western Europe throughout the
Middle Ages. After the second hurban,
Palestinian Jewry’s influence was most
directly felt in Italy and, some time in the
tenth century, spread to Germany and
France. Around the same time, with the
rise of the Muslim caliphate in Baghdad
in the eighth century, Babylonian Jewry
developed as a strong center of power
in the Jewish world and, within a
century or two, influenced other
Jewries in the general Muslim
orbit, including those living in
the Iberian peninsula. By the
eleventh century, these two
Jewries— the Ashkenazim of Franco-
Germany and the Sephardim of Spain—
had developed into two independent reli-
gious and cultural groups no longer
dependant upon their centers of origin
and they continued as two separate and
distinct entities throughout the medieval
period into modern times.
The truth is that Sephardi and Askenazi
Jewries did not flourish in absolute isola-
tion of one another. It has long been
known, among other facts, that Sephardi
scholars had close connections with
Rabbenu Gershom, that the teachers of
the Ramban (Spain) were from Southern
France, that R. Avraham ha-Yarhi, author
of the Sefer ha-Manhig (Provence), and R.
4
Ashkenazim,
Sephardim and the
Hannukah Menorah:
A Study in Cultural
Cross-Transference
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter
Moshe of Coucy, author of the Sefer
Mizvot Gadol (Semag), traveled to Spain,
and that the Rashba (Spain) had students
1
in his yeshiva from Ashkenaz. The life
story of Rabbenu Asher (the Rosh) alone
is enough to make this point, representing
a combination of the Ashkenazi world of
the first half of his life and the Sephardi
world of the second.2 In recent times, a
large and growing literature has further
highlighted the connections between
these two Jewries.3
One remarkable example of this
cross-cultural relationship between
Ashkenazim and Sephardim is
the matter of the number of can-
dles lit on the holiday of
Hannukah. The Talmud (Shabbat
21b) states that the basic require-
ment is to kindle only one light each
night of the holiday for all the members of
the household. However, it continues,
those more scrupulous in their obser-
vance (mehadrin) light a separate candle
for each member of the household each
night.4 Finally, those who are unusually
scrupulous (mehadrin min ha-mehadrin)
add one additional candle each night (we
follow the opinion of Bet Hillel).
For some reason, or set of reasons, the
standard of mehadrin min ha-mehadrin
has been deemed the normative require-
ment,5 but its exact meaning is the subject
of a dispute between Tosafot (Ashkenazi
authorities) and Maimonides (a Sephardi
authority). According to Tosafot (Shabbat
21b, s.v. ve-ha-mehadrin), the only variable
considered is the number of the night;
hence one candle is lit the first night, two
the second, and so on, until the eighth
night when, at most, eight candles are lit,
regardless of how many people are pres-
ent. For Maimonides (Hilkhot Hannukah
4:1–2), however, the mehadrin min ha-
mehadrin level considers the number of
the people present in addition to the num-
ber of the night; hence, the amount of
candles lit any given night represents the
multiple of the number of the night times
the number of people present. As
Maimonides writes, if ten people are pres-
ent the last night of Hannukah, eighty
candles are lit.
Within a few centuries, something
very interesting occurred. Not only was
one culture influenced by the other, but,
remarkably, each culture adopted the rul-
ing of the other as normative halakhah. In
the sixteenth century, Rabbi Joseph Karo
ruled (Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim
671:2) like Tosafot, that no matter how
many people are present, the most can-
dles that could be lit on the last night of
Hannukah is eight, while Rabbi Moses
Isserles follows the Rambam and allows
for many more than eight candles to be lit
in a house on the last night of Hannukah;
each person present, he rules, lights
eight. The Sephardi Rabbi Karo follows
the Ashkenazi Tosafot while the
Ashkenazi Rabbi Isserles follows the
Sephardi Maimonides! In his commen-
tary on the Tur (Orah Hayyim 671), Rabbi
Yoel Sirkis (Bayit Hadash, s.v. ve-kamah)
notes that “our (Ashkenazi) custom is like
the opinion of the Rambam and the
Sephardi custom is like the opinion of
Tosafot.” His son-in-law, Rabbi David
Halevi, actually went so far as to add, “ve-
zeh lo matzinu be-sha’ar mekomot” (Taz,
ad. loc. 671:1). While it has been sug-
gested that this assertion is somewhat of
an exaggeration,6 the remarkable phenom-
enon of this cross-cultural criss-crossed
influence is certainly unusual and de-
serves particular attention.7 ■
 END NOTES
1 Many of these examples—and many more—
appear in an article written almost eighty years
ago. See Simchah Assaf, “Halifat She’elot
u-Teshuvot ben Sefarad u-ben Zarefat ve-
Ashkenaz,” Tarbiz 8:2 (1937):162–70. See too
H. J. Zimmels, Ashkenazim and Sephardim
(London, 1976), in passim.
2 See the almost ninety year old series of articles
by Alfred Freimann, “Ascher b. Jehiel: Sein
Leben und Wirken,” Jahrbuch der Judisch-
Literarischen Gesellschaft 12 (1918):237–317;
“Die Ascheriden (1267–1391),” 13 (1919):142–
254. They were translated into Hebrew and pub-
lished twenty years ago as Ha-Rosh: Rabbenu
Asher be-R. Yehiel ve-Ze’eza’av (Jerusalem, 1986).
3 See, for example, Avraham Grossman, “Ben
Sefarad le-Zarefat: Ha-Kesharim ben Kehillot
Yisrael she-bi-Sefarad ha-Muslamit u-ben Kehillot
Zarefat,” in A. Mirsky, A. Grossman and Y. Kaplan,
eds., Galut Ahar Golah (Jerusalem, 1988),
75–101; idem., “Relations Between Spanish and
Ashkenazi Jewry in the Middle Ages,” in Haim
Beinart, ed., Moreshet Sepharad: The Sephardi
Legacy 1 (Jerusalem, 1992), 220–39; Yisrael M.
Ta-Shema, “Hasidut Ashkenaz be-Sefarad:
Rabbenu Yonah Gerond— Ha-Ish u-Poalo”, in
Galut Ahar Golah, pp. 165–94; idem., “Rabbenu
Asher u-Beno R. Yaakov Ba‘al ha-Turim: Ben
Ashkenaz le-Sefarad,” Pe’amim 46–47
(1991):75–91; Jeffrey R. Woolf, “Maimonides
Revisited: The Case of the Sefer Miswot Gadol,”
Harvard Theological Review 90:2
(1997):175–203; Benjamin Bar Tikva,
“Reciprocity Between the Provencal School of
Piyyutim and the Schools of Catalonia and
Ashkenazi France,” in Gabrielle Sed-Rajna, ed.,
Rashi 1040–1990: Hommage a Ephraim E.
Urbach (Paris, 1993), 375–83.
For recent scholarship on Rabbenu Asher, see
Yehudah Galinsky, “Ashkenazim in Sefarad:
The Rosh and the Tur on the Codification of
Jewish Law,” Jewish Law Annual 16 (2006):
3–23. My thanks to Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel for
this last reference.
4 I will not deal here with the issue of who does the
lighting, the head of the household for each per-
son (hovat ha-bayit) or each person for him or
herself (hovat ha-guf). This is an important mat-
ter and the careful reader will note the different
positions taken on this matter among Rishonim
and Ahronim. See, for example, R. Yitzhak
Mirsky, Hegyonei Halakhah 1 (Jerusalem, 1989),
204–07. See also the article by Rabbi Dovid
Gottlieb in this issue of Chavrusa.
5 For one, well known, explanation, see R. Yosef
Dov Soloveitchik, Sefer Bet Halevi (New York,
1973), 29a, s.v. sham ve-ha-mehadrin.
6 See R. Shlomoh Yosef Zevin, Ha-Mo‘adim
ba-Halakhah (Tel Aviv, 1955), 166, n. 15.
7 For a very interesting, albeit problematic,
explanation for this shift, see R. Yehezkel
Katzenellenbogen, She’elot u-Teshuvot Knesset
Yehezkel #17.
For more on this issue, see R. Zvi Hirsch Chajes,
“Darkei ha-Hora’ah,” in Kol Sifrei Maharat”z
Hayot 1 (Jerusalem, 1958), 224;
R. Yitzhak Mirsky, Hegyonei Halakhah 2
(Jerusalem, 1998), 117–22. ■

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5
Back to the Beit Midrash
he well known Talmudic pre-
T sentation of neros Chanukah
(Shabbos 21b) describes a tri-
level stratification of the mitz-
vah. The basic requirement is “ner ish
u-beiso,” one candle per house, per night.
The mehadrin option is for every family
member to light one candle each night.
And finally, most optimally—mehadrin
min ha-mehadrin—is to light the number
of candles corresponding to the night of
the holiday. More specifically, following
the opinion of Beis Hillel we light one can-
dle on the first night, two the second, and
so on, until we light eight candles on the
final night of the holiday.
The exact relationship between the
final two levels, mehadrin and mehadrin
min ha-mehadrin, is unclear and is subject
to a dispute among the rishonim.
Tosafos ad loc., s.v. u-mehadrin main-
tains that the final level of adding a can-
dle each night is in lieu of the previous
fulfillment of everyone lighting for them-
selves. In other words, according to
Tosafos the preferred method is for one
person per home to light an additional
candle each successive night.
The Rambam, Hilchos Chanukah 4:1
argues on this understanding and rules
that mehadrin min ha-mehadrin builds
on and includes the prior method
of lighting. Namely, we increase the
number of candles lit each night in addi-
tion to lighting for every member of
the household.
6
The
Unique Status
of Hiddur Mitzvah
in Neros Chanukah
Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb
The Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim
671:2 follows the position of Tosafos while
the Ramo—at first glance—appears to
1
follow the Rambam’s understanding . How-
ever, a number of achronim have correctly
pointed out that a closer reading of the
Rambam and Ramo reveals that despite
some overlap, they appear to disagree about
the critical question of who should light the
neros Chanukah2. The Rambam’s position
is that even though the number of candles
takes into account every member of the
house, only the ba’al ha-bayyis lights the
candles, while the Ramo clearly rules
that—as is the common practice in
Ashkenazic homes—each family member
lights their own neros.
***
While the machlokes between Tosafos
and the Rambam seems to revolve around
whether or not it must be visibly clear to a
passerby what night of the holiday it is3, it
is unclear what issue underlies the debate
between the Rambam and Ramo—both
of whom deny the need for “heker shel
minyan ha-yamim”.4
R. Velvel Soloveitchik suggests that, in
fact, the positions of both the Rambam
and Ramo, respectively, are consistent
with their general views about the larger
question of the role of hiddur mitzvah.5
He bases his analysis on a seminal
teshuvah of the Beis ha-Levi, II #47, who
explains—in the context of a discussion
about removing additional pieces of the
foreskin after the essential bris milah is
already complete—that the Rambam and
Ramo (along with the Tur) argue about
the relationship between the actual mitzvah
and hiddur mitzvah. The Rambam under-
stands that for hiddur mitzvah to be mean-
ingful it must be performed simultaneous-
ly with the actual mitzvah whereas the
Ramo allows for the hiddur mitzvah to be
accomplished even somewhat apart from
the performance of the mitzvah itself.6
R. Velvel explains that this same issue
is at the heart of the debate regarding neros
Chanukah. The Rambam rules that the
head of the house must light all of the can-
dles—both those which fulfill the essen-
tial mitzvah and those for hiddur
mitzvah—because by so doing he inte-
grates the ikkar mitzvah with the hiddur.
The Ramo, on the other hand, allows every
member of the home to light independent-
ly—consistent with his general position
which allows for hiddur mitzvah to be
accomplished even independent from the
actual mitzvah requirement.
***
The implicit assumption made by R.
Velvel is that the hiddur mitzvah of
Chanukah candles is, essentially, the same
kiyyum—rooted in “zeh keli v’anvehu”—as
the hiddur mitzvah of mitzvos generally,
and one can therefore explain one’s posi-
tion about neros Chanukah based on posi-
tions held regarding other mitzvos.7
However, this assumption seems
questionable in light of a number of
anomalous characteristics of the hiddur
mitzvah of neros Chanukah.
First, the very fact that there is a
specifically prescribed method of per-
forming hiddur—as is outlined by the
Gemara Shabbos—is a departure from the
more subjective criteria which typically
governs the implementation of hiddur
mitzvah. Second, this is the only context
where we find the additional level
“mehadrin min ha-mehadrin.” And finally,
the preferred performance of the mitzvah
clearly requires an outlay of money which
far exceeds the general rule of “hiddur
mitzvah ad shlish” (Bava Kama 9b).
 In light of these discrepancies, per-
haps we can suggest that the hiddur of
neros Chanukah is unique and is in fact
quite distinct from the general notion of
hiddur mitzvah. More specifically, it
appears that whereas hiddur mitzvah is
generally something additional which
remains apart from the essential mitzvah,
the hiddur of neros Chanukah is different
in that it integrates into the very fabric of
the mitzvah.8
***
There are a number halachos where
this unique feature of hiddur mitzvah seems
to be evident.
For example, the poskim discuss wheth-
er one can still make a berachah if the first
candle has already been lit but one has not
yet kindled the remaining candles. Teshuvos
Rebbi Akiva Eger, Mahadura Tinyana, #13,
Teshuvos Kesav Sofer, Orach Chayyim,
#135, and R. Yosef Engel, Gilyonei Ha-
Shas, Shabbos, 23a all rule that one may
recite the berachah in this instance.9 But
this seems very problematic, as the Pri
Meggadim, Mishbetzos Zahav, 676:2 notes,
because the basic mitzvah is already com-
plete and we generally do not make bera-
chos on the fulfillment of hiddur mitzvah.
But the explanation may be that hiddur of
neros Chanukah is unique in that it is
incorporated into the mitzvah itself and
1 See the Taz ad loc. # 1 and the Sedei Chemed,
Ma’areches Chanukah, #9 who note the oddity of
the Shulchan Aruch—and subsequent Sefardic
tradition—following Tosafos while the Ramo and
Ashkenzic tradition follow the Rambam. See the
article by Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter in this issue
of Chavrusa.
2 Teshuvos Galya Maseches, #6 and Aruch
ha-Shulchan, Orach Chayim 671:15.
3 See the Biur Ha-Gra, Orach Chayim s.v. v’yesh
omrim and the Beis Ha-Levi Al Ha-Torah,
Derashah L’Chanukah, s.v. b’Gemara chad amar.
See as well, R. Daniel Feldman, Binah B’Seforim,
I #5. For alternative explanations, see R. Asher
Weiss, Minchas Asher al Maseches Shabbos,
#32 and R. Avroham Farbstein, Keneses
Avroham al Inayanei Mitzvos u-Moadim, #7.
4 A number of different explanations are suggest-
ed. See for example, the discussions of R. Yosef
Dov Soloveitchik in Kovetz Mesorah, IV p. 9, R.
Yosef Lieberman, Mishnas Yosef al Inyanei Orach
Chayim, II #36, and R. Yitzchok Sorotzkin,
therefore one can make a beracha on
its fulfillment.10
Another example of this phenomenon
may be the debate about a case where one
lacks sufficient candles to fulfill the mitz-
vah optimally and only after having already
lit does the person come into possession of
additional candles. The question arises
whether, when lighting the additional can-
dles (to correctly correspond to the night
of the holiday), another berachah should
be recited. The Magen Avraham, 651:25,
Elyah Rabba, 672:7, Birkei Yosef, 671:13,
and others debate this question.
In truth, the very possibility—let alone,
final ruling—that one should make a
berachah is startling considering that the
basic mitzvah has no doubt already been
fulfilled (see the Machatzis ha-Shekel,
676). However, if hiddur is actually a com-
ponent of the mitzvah and not additional to
it then it is understandable why one would
even make a berachah in this situation.11
A further echo of this understanding is
implied by the ruling of R. Meir Simcha,
Ohr Sameach, Hilchos Chanukah, 4:12,
regarding a person who cannot afford neros
Chanukah. In such a case, the halacha
requires a person to do whatever it takes—
including selling the shirt off his back—to
raise enough money to fulfill the mitzvah.12
Unlike the Chemed Moshe (cited approv-
Gevuras Yitzchok al Inyanei Chanukah, #10.
5 Hilchos Chanukah who is very bothered by this
Chiddushei Maran Riz ha-Levi, Hilchos
Chanukah 4:1.
6 See R. Moshe Shternbuch’s important discussion
in Moadim u-Zemanim, II #123 on the parameters
of how independent the hiddur can be even
according to the position of the Ramo. See, howev-
er, R. J. D. Bleich, Sefer Zichron Ha-Rav pp. 4–11.
7 R. Velvel seems to have been preceded in this
position by Rabbenu Chananel—see the
commentary of Rabbenu Chananel to Shabbos,
ad loc. and Bava Kama 9b.
8 Support for this idea can be found in the comments
of the Ra’avan, I #35 cited by R.Lieberman, op
cit. and the Sefer Ha-Ittur, Hilchos TzItzis, III no.
2 cited by R. Shmuel ha-Levi Wozsner, Teshuvos
Shevet ha-Levi, III #84. This may also explain the
striking presentation of the Shulchan Aruch, ad
loc. who only cites the maximal fulfillment of
“mehadrin min ha-mehadrin” without ever men-
tioning that me’ikkar ha-din the obligation can be
fulfilled with one candle per night. See the com-
ingly by the Mishnah Berurah, 651:3) who
limits this to raising sufficient funds for
the basic obligation of one candle per
night, the Ohr Sameach suggests that one
must even go to such lengths in order to
fulfill the demands of “mehadrin min ha-
mehadrin.” The most likely explanation for
such a surprising and extreme position is
that the hiddur mitzvah is, ultimately,
inseparable from the basic mitzvah and is
therefore equally demanding.
***
The mitzvah of neros Chanukah thus
emerges as the source of a new and fasci-
nating halachic construct. Far from being
just another example of the general prin-
ciple of zeh keli v’anvehu, our ambitious
and maximal fulfillment of the mitzvah is
rooted in the unique integration of the
ikkar mitzvah and the hiddur mitzvah.13 ■
Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb, rabbi of Congregation
Shomrei Emunah in Baltimore, MD, received
semichah from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary (RIETS) in 1999 and was a
fellow in the prestigious Harry and Bella Wexner
Kollel Elyon. Rabbi Gottlieb is a member of the
Executive Board of the Rabbinical Council of
America (RCA) as well as its recently reconsti-
tuted Vaad Halacha. He is the author of the
sefer Ateres Yaakov. He can be reached at
rabbigottlieb@shomreiemunah.us.
ments of R. Elazar Menachem Shach, Avi Ezri,
omission of the Shulchan Aruch.
9 This position is based on comments of the Beis
Yosef, Orach Chayyim 676.
10 See also Teshuvos Shevet ha-Levi, loc cit. and
R. Nosson Gestetner, Teshuvos Le’horos Nosson,
II #53 who discuss variations of this case and
rule similarly because of the unique role that
hiddur mitzvah plays in neros Chanukah.
11 R. Betzalel Zolti, Mishnas Ya’avetz, Orach
Chayyim, # 66.
12 See Rambam, ad loc. and Shulchan Aruch,
Orach Chayyim 671:1. For an explanation of
this demanding requirement, see the Maggid
Mishneh, ad loc., Teshuvos Maharam Schick,
Orach Chayyim, #331, and Teshuvos Avnei
Nezer, Orach Chayyim, #501.
For further development of this idea and its
application to other halachos of neros Chanukah,
see my Ateres Yaakov, #5.
7
 RIETS celebrates Shabbaton,
Chag Hasemikhah and
Yom Iyun in Israel
Rabbi Yaakov Mintz ’06R stands at the dais along with (l–r)
Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh, Rabbi David Miller, Rosh Hayeshiva
Rabbi Dr. Lamm, President Joel and Howard Weisband,
Senior Advisor to the President on Israel affairs.
O
n Sunday afternoon March 19th, 32 musmakhim
in Israel were honored with a Yom Iyun and a Chag
HaSemikhah. The Israeli musmakhim were part of a
group of 185 rabbis—the largest in the history of YU’s
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary —who celebrated
their formal ordination on Sunday, March 26, at the quadrennial
Chag HaSemikhah in New York.
More than 600 people attended the family Shabbaton on the
Shabbat preceding the Yom Iyun/Chag Hasemikhah, where peo-
ple from across Israel joined together to share their experiences
as YU alumni and olim. Alumni were overjoyed to see old friends
and receive updates on what is happening at YU. Sunday after-
noon featured a special Chag HaSemikhah and Yom Iyun for the
32 musmakhim in Israel. The Chag HaSemikhah featured a pres-
entation of the 32 musmakhim and a charge to the musmakhim
by Rabbi Dovid Miller ’71R, Associate Director of the Caroline
and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem and the occupant of
the Benjamin and Charlotte Gottesfeld Chair in Talmud.
President Richard M. Joel and Rabbi Norman Lamm, Rosh
HaYeshiva and Chancellor, addressed the musmakhim.
8
The Yom Iyun, cosponsored with the RCA Israel Region was
themed, “The Rabbinate and the Community in the 21st Century.”
The Yom Iyun featured a keynote address by Rav Zalman
Nechemia Goldberg, entitled, “The Task of a Rabbi as a Posek in
the Community.” RIETS Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky ’91R
presented a shiur entitled, “The Prohibition of Issuing Halakhic
Rulings in the Presence of One’s Teacher.” Other RIETS mus-
makhim in Israel presented shiurim. Rabbi Daniel Mann ’89R,
the Shoel U’Mashiv & Magid Shiur in Halacha at the Yeshiva
University in Israel (YUI) RIETS Kollel delivered “The Authority
of the Rav of the Community” (“Mara D’Atra”); Rabbi Moshe
Dovid Weissman ’04R, founder of Kollel Zichron Tova Sara, Beitar
Illit, spoke about, “Lay Judges as Agents of Ordained
Magistrates”(“Shlichusayahu Ka Avdenan”); Rabbi Menachem
Raab ’47R, Chairman of the RCA Israel Region, offered a D’var
Torah at lunch, which was followed by shiurim by YUI RIETS
Kollel Magidei Shiur. Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh ’97R delivered
remarks on “Legislative Authority of the Rabbis,” and Rabbi Aaron
Rakeffet ’67R enlightened the attendees on “A Historical
Overview of Semikhah.” ■
RIETS Roshei Yeshiva
(l–r) Rabbis Goldwicht,
Sobolofsky, Miller, Bednash
and Glickman join President
Joel and Rosh Hayeshiva
Rabbi Dr. Lamm at the Chag
Hasemikhah in Jerusalem.
In Appreciation of
YU Rabbinic Placement
By Pearl Markovitz
his year marked the 12th Yahrzeit of our Father, Rabbi
T Chaim Yehoshua Meskin OB”M who spent 31 years at
the helm of the Young Israel of Sunnyside. Albeit a small
geographic area off Queens Boulevard en route to
Manhattan, Sunnyside and especially the Young Israel communi-
ty, contributed significantly to what New York Jewry has become
today. Graduates of local Yeshiva day schools, now as parents and
grandparents, have populated our larger Jewish communities with
Rabbis, doctors, religious studies teachers, community activists
and even Olim.
Recently, the edifice of the Young Israel,
especially the main sanctuary—once elegant
and inspiring—has been deteriorating as the
parishioners have dwindled. A decision was
made by the National Council of Young Israel
to sell the property to a developer to be
replaced with condominiums. However, at the
same time, a stalwart and loyal group of wor-
shipers were determined to continue the min-
yan in rented rooms at a local apartment build-
ing. Believing in the credo “If you build it, they
will come,” they purchased 50 Artscroll Siddurim and Machzorim
for the Yomim Noraim and B”H no fewer that 50 adults came to
daven. Seeing the potential for perpetuation, the group contacted
the National Council of Young Israel as well as the Gertrude and
Morris Bienenfeld Department of Rabbinic Services of Yeshiva
University to seek out a new rabbi for the newly revitalized Young
Israel. To the joy and gratitude of our family and of course the
Sunnyside Community, Rabbi Yonah Levant’02R, a young Rabbi
enrolled at Yeshiva University’s Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel
Elyon Semikhah Honors Program accepted the position and relo-
cated with his young family to head the Young Israel. In addition,
< Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside.
Rabbi Levant has amassed three young kollel couples to move into
Sunnyside to learn with the baalei batim and keep the daily minyan-
im ongoing. He is currently seeking an Assistant Rabbi who will also
learn with his kollel.
The personal gratification of the Meskin family is enormous.
The annual Tikkun Leil Shavuot Shiur held in Kew Gardens Hills
in memory of Rabbi Chaim Meskin as well as the ever-increas-
ing number (kain yirbu) of great-grandsons named in his memo-
ry are significant. However, even transcending these memorials is
the re-”Jew-venation” of Sunnyside and specifically the Young
Israel. In the 1940s and 1950s, before kiruv and baalei teshuva
were household words, our father welcomed the remnants of
European Jewry to our community and prevailed upon them to
send their precious children, the sparks of life remaining from
the Shoah, to Yeshiva day schools. To enable them to do so, he
became a one-man tuition-reduction advocate
so their children’s education would be afford-
able. Rabbi Meskin also pre-dated the Wo-
men’s Torah learning thrust by learning serious
Talmud with a few local young girls who were
frustrated by the lack of Gemara in their
school curriculum. On Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur our father addressed three packed
services and ignited sparks of interest in many
otherwise unaffiliated Jews.
It is truly a fitting tribute to a rabbi who
accomplished so much in a modest and under-
stated manner toward the furtherance of Yiddishkeit in Queens
and eventually the larger Jewish community. We wish Rabbi
Levant and his lovely Rebbetzin and family our heartfelt wishes for
overwhelming success in their new community of Sunnyside. And
we wish to reiterate our gratitude to Yeshiva University’s Office of
Rabbinic Placement for facilitating this wonderful shidduch. ■
In appreciation, Pearl Markovitz & the extended Meskin Family
Rabbi Yonah
Levant (far right)
with congregants
at Young Israel of
Sunnyside.
9
Musmakhim in the Limelight
Rabbi Farber receiving a citation from Raanana Mayor Nachum Chofri
Ki Mitzion Tetzei Torah Udvar
HASHEM M’Yerushalayim.
Over the past few issues of Chavrusa, we have spotlighted
musmachim who all share a common denominator, be it
geography, age or vocation. In this edition, we highlight our proud
alumni who have chosen to fulfill their Zionistic dream and move
to Medinat Yisrael. According to our records, about 20% of the
Rabbinic Alumni—or almost 400 RIETS musmakhim—current-
ly reside in Israel, a fact about which we are very proud.
Chavrusa spoke with three musmakhim who have moved
their families to Israel after holding prominent positions in chutz
la’aretz: Rabbi Dr. Seth Farber (RSF), Rabbi Yehoshua Fass
(RYF) and Rabbi Ira Kosowsky (RIK). You can see their respec-
tive biographical information at the end of the article. While we
interviewed these three chaveirim separately, for stylistic reasons
we are presenting this feature as if they were interviewed togeth-
er, as they answered similar questions and made similar points.
How are the RIETS musmakhim in Israel doing?
Are they succeeding in finding positions in avodat hakodesh?
RYF: When Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) was first founded, one of the
major obstacles to American aliyah was employment. In order to
alleviate this challenge and ensure successful aliyah, NBN created
an employment department that helps our Olim find jobs. Today,
10
the department includes 5 employees and has successfully devel-
oped a wide array of contacts. The employment department func-
tions as a professional recruitment agency, receiving about 25
calls daily about available positions in companies and institutions
around Israel. The companies turn to us because they appreciate
the work ethic and skills of North American olim; they do not
want to spend money on headhunters (we provide the service free
of charge); and they know that we will send them quality
resumes that match the needs of their companies and institu-
tions. We are proud of the achievement of the employment
department: Between 90% and 94% of NBN olim find employ-
ment within 6 to 8 months of their aliyah.
Chinuch is difficult in Israel as there are so many Jewish edu-
cators in Israel and so few placements. So many colleagues have
told me, “I would be on the next NBN plane if I knew I had a chin-
uch position waiting for me.” Many of our potential olim arrive in
Israel with proposals for new schools or programs. Numerous
yeshivot have been opened and other educational programs
launched which provide new job opportunities for olim in chinuch.
RIK: It is difficult to find a chinuch position in Israel, although
there are many more opportunities available today. The yeshiva/
seminary scene for a m’chanech generally consists of two or three
part-time jobs in different places, as the full-time positions are
generally filled. While the m’chanech can be marbitz Torah to a
range of students and develop an expertise in specific areas such
as halacha, Tanach, Talmud… there is at times frustration that
you just want to be part of the development and growth of one
specific program. It is also more challenging to develop a person-
al connection with students when traveling to and from different
jobs. I also have friends, graduates of YU, who are teaching in
schools for Israelis. They were determined to become involved in
Israeli society and have actualized their dream. A strong knowl-
edge of Hebrew is obviously a prerequisite for the latter. There
are still other musmakhim who have created a niche in the mar-
ket by creating new schools and unique educational programs.
While there are so many educators in Israel and limited place-
ments, there are still many success stories that provide inspiration
for achieving our dreams of being m’chanchim in Israel.
Our musmakhim have a strong Zionist education. How do you
address the struggle of living the Zionist dream versus their
potential impact in chutz la’aretz?
RSF: I still struggle with the decision. I often ask myself if my con-
tributions would not be greater in the States. When I evaluate my
work here, I realize that I’m involved with the broader Jewish com-
munity of 4 million Jews, not just my shul, or even the 78,000 peo-
ple in the Raanana community.
RYF: When people ask me this question, I
try to answer on a very personal level. Each
individual has to make an honest cheshbon
hanefesh; it’s a humbling assessment of
oneself and one’s ability to contribute and
better society, weighing the pros and cons
of a person’s influence and ability to effect
change. I will add, however, that we cannot
underestimate the educational value of a
person who is making aliyah. The individ-
ual may not continue to make the same
impact in the classroom or on the pulpit,
but picking up one’s family and moving to
Israel does have a huge impact on stu-
dents, congregants and others.
RIK: I have been involved with chinuch in
England, America, South Africa and Israel.
I cannot imagine myself absent from the
classroom or not creating and implement-
ing an educational program. This was an
incredible dilemma my wife and I consid-
ered before making aliyah. However, this
was question number 2 for us. Our num-
ber one question was what would be best
for our family and where we wanted our
children to grow up. We want our children
to have a connection to Am Yisrael in Eretz
Yisrael, for the center of Torah Judaism
is here. If I had to choose between being
a plumber in Israel or a successful
m’chanech in chutz la’aertz, personally, I
would be a very frustrated plumber. I feel
blessed that God has given me the oppor-
tunity to actualize my dreams as an educa-
tor in Israel.
How have the American olim acclimated to
Israeli culture?
RYF: I find that most American olim find a
balance between a need to be with other
like-minded individuals with similar back-
grounds, and a need to integrate into Israeli
society. In some communities there is
already a saturation of English-speakers,
and there definitely should be more of a
push for some olim to become more inte-
grated. On the other hand, for olim
Chadashim who are transitioning into
Israeli society, it is certainly easier to be in
communities that offer the support of
other English speakers. You don’t move to
Israel in order to be in an American com-
munity, but at the same time, most people
find that they need an American communi-
ty (at least in the beginning) in order to
succeed in Israel. While some olim want to
live on a moshav and live among Israelis,
most do not, and mitzvat yishuv ha’aretz
does not imply that you have to live in a
totally Israeli environment.
Rabbi Ira Kosowsky
NBN’s olim for instance have initiated
various non-profit organizations, created
businesses that provide employment oppor-
tunities for countless olim and Israelis alike,
have generated capital in local VC funds,
and have contributed to the health and
social fields. Outside of the employment
realm, NBN olim are involved in volunteer
activities. One such example is an olah of
ours who created a website during the
recent Northern war to assist residents of
the north in anyway possible.
RSF: The purpose of ITIM: The Jewish
Life Information Center is to help Israelis
navigate the difficult maze that is the
Rabbanut here. In the last few months,
ITIM has helped more than 20 RIETS
musmakhim who have congregants getting
married in Israel. We can help arrange for
American chaveirim to officiate at wed-
dings in Israel and we are in the forefront
of helping chaveirim whose gerim come to
Israel. Every month RIETS musmakhim
tell me how useful they have found our
website with its hands-on approach and
easy accessibility to the general public.
Our general clientele are secular Israelis
who seek more counsel and compassion as
they encounter specific life-cycle events.
Here in Israel, the pastoral side of experi-
encing these life cycle events is absent.
Israelis do not even think of turning to
their rabbis for aid in this regard. RIETS
educated its students to believe in provid-
ing the community with a sense of
empowerment with a sense of Jewish life.
That is completely lacking here. We help
800 people a month via our staff and our
interactive website (www. Itim.org.il). We
seek to fill the void by the lack of the
American style of the rabbinate. In
America, a community chooses its rabbi;
here, communal rabbis are chosen by the
chief rabbis. The rabbonim are govern-
ment officials and do not feel the same
allegiance to their communities.
This can change by more American
rabbonim coming on aliyah. This same
stress equally applies to the shul I helped
found. We started in Jerusalem as Kehilat
Moriah and because many of the congre-
gants moved to Raanana, the shul basical-
ly moved there too and became Kehilat
Netivot. It was founded by North Am-
erican Jews who were accustomed to the
American style rabbinate. They were used
to their shul being a place of dialogue
between their personal lives and their reli-
gious lives. Our shul is so different from
what most Israelis know. We now have 60
core families, with 150 children. But
Israelis are open to change and presently
50% of the mitpallelim on Shabbat are
Israelis. Our current facility was designed
by Ada Karmi, the noted architect who
11

Rabbi Yehoshua Fass
designed the Israeli Supreme Court. We
sponsor scholars in residence, community
tiyulim, a welcoming committee and many
other features of American shuls. Our peo-
ple pay membership and our shul’s budget
is also supplemented by grants. We strive
for a demographic of half olim and half
native Israelis.
As an example of opportunities here,
our shul hosted the only debate for the
mayoral race in Raanana, which consisted
of four candidates. One candidate was
dati, one was from Peace Now and the
other two were secular. Rather than
debating politics, they debated values,
using the text from Akeidat Yitzchak. The
mayor sees our Beit Knesset as his spiritu-
al home and he prayed with us on Rosh
Hashanah. We received a citation from
the Raanana municipality for the commu-
nity’s efforts to house refugees during the
recent Lebanon War.
What and who inspired you to a career
in avodat hakodesh?
RIK: For me it was being an advisor in
NCSY. There were a lot of high school stu-
dents who were searching. The motivation
was there and the questions about so many
issues never ceased. It was exciting and a
privilege to be in an environment where
12
people can grow at their own pace. NCSY
is open and informal; no one is judged and
everyone can grow at their own pace.
This is really the model we have creat-
ed at Machon Maayan. We have endeav-
ored to create a place where you are
inspired to grow. It is a holistic program
where there is a combination of intensive
Torah study, community internships,
Shabbatonim, and weekly seminars using
Israel as our classroom. We facilitate the
opportunity for a student not only to
learn, but to experience Judaism and
Israel on a deeper intellectual, emotional
and personal level. We also offer courses
in leadership and throughout the pro-
gram, we empower our students to
become involved and take ownership. We
encourage our students to use their tal-
ents that God has given them back to the
community. We want them to be active in
JSU, NCSY, their local shuls and college
upon their return. We accept them for
who they are not who we want them to be;
in partnership, we encourage them to
explore the beauty and depth of Torah and
Yiddishkeit.
RIETS afforded me the opportunity to
study Torah in depth. After five years of
teaching at Carmel College in England, I
returned to Israel and studied at Yeshivat
Hamivtar and I found that the learning
was totally different after years in the
field. I absorbed the material for myself
but constantly asked myself how I can
transmit the material to others? I’m a big
believer in people making their own edu-
cated decisions. We ran an encounter pro-
gram in South Africa and a student
announced that he didn’t believe in the
Torah. The Rabbi there asked him ‘How
do you know? Did you read the Torah? Have
you read the first Rashi in Chumash?
How can you make an informed decision
without the facts?”
Rav Yehudah Parnes ’51R taught me
how to analyze, to get to the core of an
issue, to dig deeper and deeper and to
define your terms. I always say that as we
grow physically, we must also grow intel-
lectually and spiritually as well. Rav Dovid
Miller ’71R’s shiurim on halacha taught
me how to learn practical halacha by
understanding the roots and essence of a
din and its application.
My father, Rabbi Philip Kosowsky
a’h ’56R, was an educator par excellence
who brought people in to our home on a
weekly basis. I learned from him that
teaching is more about relationships than
knowledge. Once the student is comfort-
able with the teacher, they can move for-
ward together.
RSF: I was inspired by the religious lead-
ership at YU. I spent two years plus in the
Gruss kollel. The rebbeim I had interact-
ed with preached involvement with the
community coupled with a firm base in
Talmud Torah and lomdus. No matter
where you are, they taught, you need to
keep on learning. Not only do I use
www.YUTORAH.org a lot, but I find
myself constantly recommending it to
others. It helps me prepare for shiurim
and my own personal talmud Torah.
RYF: I am the complete YU product—
MSTA for high school, YC for college and
then RIETS. The rebbeim to whom I was
exposed were never secluded from amcha.
They juggled family, talmidim and com-
munity. Looking back, the rebbeim with
whom I had the greatest affinity were the
ones who did the most amount of juggling.
When my cousin was killed in a piguah, I
knew that I could not just merely grieve; it
had to become manifest into giving back to
amcha. That was the genesis of NBN. I
also learned a lot about this when I served
in Boca Raton with Rabbi Kenneth
Brander ‘86R.
What can RIETS, Rabbinic Alumni and
the Yeshiva University in Israel office do
for YU/RIETS alumni in Israel that will
help you in your work?
RSF: The numbers of resources that have
been created are terrific. The infrastruc-
ture (websites, materials, video confer-
encing…) is a tremendous resource that
really benefits us. Perhaps creating a
means for greater dialogue among rabbon-
im would be helpful. A few years back,
Rav Miller at Gruss hosted a public forum
about the rabbinate in Israel that many
people in avodat hakodesh found helpful.
RYF: Rabbinic Alumni in Israel is a huge
untapped resource. We have almost 400
chaveirim living here, which is a major
force within the olim community. Firstly,
since there is a lack of communal rabbis
in Israel, these individuals could act as
surrogates, even if on an informal basis.
People still need a rav and a posek who is
local and who understands their lifestyle.
Secondly, these chaveirim can be ambas-
sadors, scholars-in-residence, and they can
write. How about an English siddur for
Toshavei Eretz Yisrael? Why can’t a RIETS
alumnus do that? Many of the RIETS
alumni here are blessed to be grandpar-
ents. Many of our Olim have their grand-
parents back in the states. Perhaps some
of our chaveirim could be surrogate bub-
bies and zeidis for these Olim.
RIK: Those of us in chinuch need to con-
tinue learning and growing. I would love
to share ideas and thoughts with chaveir-
im, asking one another how to respond to
certain questions and situations. In edu-
cation, we tend to focus on our area of
expertise, but we need to share ideas and
expand our horizons.
Many American Jews struggled this past
summer during the war in Lebanon?
What do you suggest?
RYF: To feel the pain and empathize. The
concept of ‘Imo anochi b’tzara’ means that
the empathy should not be lip service.
Davening, learning and chessed were dif-
ferent this summer in Israel. Nine out of
ten families that I knew had people living
in their homes or relatives on active duty.
The war and its effects were tangible. I
traveled 12 times back and forth this sum-
mer. In some Diaspora communities, peo-
ple felt it; people sent vests, goggles, night
vision equipment and anything they
could, in order to help. They looked for
things to send—which means that they
cared. The rabbonim need to lead by find-
ing and creating ways in which all Jews
feel the pain of any threat to Israel, so that
it can be just as real, even if it is 6,000
miles away. Life cannot be business as
usual. Money is often a quick fix that
comes out of your pocket, not your heart.
A person should feel that his heart is
aching. During the 2000 Intifadah, I was
a rabbi of a congregation who was calling
for the recitation of tehillim. When my
cousin was killed, I realized that I hadn't
been doing enough.
You can adopt a family, call them
weekly. Many rabbinic alumni were host-
ing families. In 5 hours, each rav in each
American community could call a rav in
Israel about getting pen-pals (phone pals).
The members of the Boca Raton Syna-
gogue initiated a five day mission to Israel
and told the rav that they wanted him to
lead them. They came to NBN and we
made packages for single soldiers who had
just become olim, whose families still
lived in the US. Can you imagine what
they were enduring? Someone in Boca
suggested an idea that those who did not
join the mission should help their chil-
dren write notes to these chayalim. They
packed the hand-written notes in the
packages. Almost every chayal (when they
got out of harms way) told NBN that
those notes rocked their world. Chayalim
cried to me on the phone as to how much
those notes meant to them. More than
once I heard a chayal say, “I realized that
I’m her hero.”
On a personal note, I am proud of all
the olim this summer. Not one person
cancelled. This summer we had our 22nd
NBN flight. We were not expecting
tremendous media coverage, but the fact
that every single North American oleh fol-
lowed through and made Aliyah during
the war hit the newspapers and radios in
Israel. I think these flights got the most
publicity of all of our flights. The commit-
ment of each oleh despite the turbulent
political background showed the extent of
their desire to follow through with their
Aliyah dreams. ■
Rabbi Dr. Seth Farber ‘91R, Director of ITIM:
The Jewish Life Information Center and Rabbi of
Kehillat Netivot in Raanana, received his Ph.D.
from Hebrew University. He is the author of
“An American Orthodox Dreamer: Rabbi Joseph B.
Soloveitchik and Boston’s Maimonides School.”
He taught in Maimonides School in Brookline,
MA and directed Ma’ayan, a Boston-based adult
education program for Jewish women that he
co founded.
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass ‘98R serves as Founder and
Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. After
receiving his rabbinic ordination and degrees in
biology and education from Yeshiva University,
Rabbi Fass moved to Boca Raton, Florida as a
Judaic fellow in the newly established kollel.
A year and a half later, Rabbi Fass assumed the
position as assistant Rabbi of the Boca Raton
Synagogue, the fastest growing American
Orthodox synagogue—only shortly later to be
renamed associate Rabbi. For five years, Rabbi
Fass directed the Helen Julius Reiter Institute of
Judaic Studies which taught over 500 students
weekly. After an Israeli relative of Rabbi Fass' was
murdered by a terrorist bombing, Rabbi Fass
decided to embark on an even greater challenge
for Israel and the Jewish people, by co-founding
and Nefesh B'Nefesh, a foundation whose sole
mission is to revitalize Aliyah by eliminating the
obstacles that prevent and hinder those who
dream and will to move to Israel.
Rabbi Ira Kosowsky ‘93R, Director of Machon
Maayan, believes in personal growth through
open discussions, in-depth Torah study, and
community involvement. Machon Maayan is an
Orthodox offshoot of the Institute of Youth
Leaders Abroad of the Jewish Agency and the
Orthodox Union’s Israel Center. Rabbi Kosowsky
has established student leadership programs in
many countries – including England, South Africa
and the United States—that are characterized by
practical leadership training, which has empow-
ered the graduates to get involved in many
meaningful challenges in the Jewish world.
He also holds a Master’s degree in Bible from
Bernard Revel Graduate School and received a
second semikhah from Yeshivat Hamivtar.
13
Amudei Hamusmakhim
Rabbinic Alumni would like to Rabbi Daniel Bouskila Rabbi Marshall Korn Rabbi Marvin Rosen
thank the following chaveirim who Los Angeles, CA Flushing, NY Teaneck, NJ
have contributed at the Amudei
Rabbi Michael Broyde Rabbi Abraham J. Kram Rabbi Jonathan I.Rosenblatt
Hamusmakhim level towards their
Atlanta, GA Englewood, NJ Bronx, NY
Rabbinic Alumni dues for 5767.
Rabbi Edward M. Davis Rabbi Jonah Kupietzky Rabbi Dr. Yosef Rosenshein
Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie Hollywood, FL New York, NY Brooklyn, NY
New York, NY Rabbi Michael Dubitsky Rabbi Dr. Zalman Levine Rabbi Dr. Solomon F. Rybak
Rabbi Everett S. Ackerman Phoenix, AZ Teaneck, NJ Passaic, NJ
Brooklyn, NY Rabbi Zvi Engel Rabbi Haskel Lookstein Rabbi Max N. Schreier
Rabbi Hyman Arbesfeld Fairfield, CT New York, NY Brooklyn, NY
Kew Gardens, NY Rabbi Baruch Englard Rabbi David Miller Rabbi Ronald L. Schwarzberg
Rabbi Richard Bieler Brooklyn, NY Montreal, Quebec, Canada Highland Park, NJ
W. Hempstead, NY Rabbi David Fine Rabbi Moshe Mirksy Rabbi Yair Silverman
Rabbi Marvin S. Bienenfeld Overland Park, KS Schenectady, NY Berkeley, CA
Long Beach, NY Rabbi Jeffrey Frankel Rabbi Elazar R. Muskin Rabbi Victor Martin Solomon
New York, NY Los Angeles, CA Teaneck, NJ

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin Rabbi Moshe Neiss Rabbi Lawrence J. Teitelman

Rabbinic Alumni would like
to thank Rabbi Manfred M.
Rechtschaffen ’56R for an
$18,000, Master Builder gift
to the RIETS Rabbinic Welfare
Fund. Rabbi Rechtschaffen is
a Director on the Board of the
Sy Syms School of Business
and he and his wife, Pamela,
are YU Guardians.
Englewood, NJ Riverdale, NY Jackson Heights, NY
Rabbi Uri Avraham Gordon Rabbi Irwin Peyser Rabbi Mark Eric Urkowitz
New York, NY Atlantic Beach, NY Houston, TX
Rabbi Maurice J. Grebenau Rabbi Dale Polakoff Rabbi Marc Volk
Dallas, TX Great Neck, NY Merrick, NY
Rabbi Alan M. Kalinsky Rabbi Myron Rakowitz Rabbi Norman A. Walles
Los Angeles, CA Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan Rabbi Stephen N. Richter
Teaneck, NJ New Hempstead, NY

Yeshiva Breaks Ground
continued from page 1
enrich the world in so many ways,” said President Richard M.
Joel.
The Center will contain two large, modern lecture halls, 50
faculty offices and 11 classrooms, facilities for seminars and con-
ferences, and will be connected to the adjacent Mendel
Gottesman Library. It will be a venue for faculty and students to
study and meet informally to share ideas.
“It is so meaningful that the Beit Midrash will be connected
to the library because it underscores our commitment to study
the sacred texts with open eyes to allow these profound values to
enrich the world,” Mr. Joel noted.
The facilities will incorporate state-of the-art technology.
Students will have electronic access to the resources of the
Gottesman Library and to the growing array of texts, research and
commentaries available online from the world over.
The university’s mission of Torah Umadda (the synthesis of
general and Jewish studies) will be represented by the symbolic
linking of the Glueck Center and the Gottesman Library via a
ground floor atrium. This spacious and light-filled facility will be
known as the Nagel Family Atrium and Student Commons, in trib-
ute to YU Benefactors Jack and Gitta Nagel and their children.
Israel and Caryl Englander also made a generous contribution
to the Glueck building which will bear the name Beit Moshe Ben
Yaakov HaKohen, z”l. Michael and Fiona Sharf provided the aron
hakodesh (ark), and the Samuel and Claire A Mozel Charitable
Trust endowed the fourth floor of the Center. Dr. Susan
Dworken, a prominent educator, endowed a classroom in memory
of her husband, Rabbi Steven M. Dworken, formerly Executive
Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America, Assistant
Director of RIETS’ Max Stern Division of Communal Services,
Director of Rabbinic Services and past president of RIETS’
Rabbinic Alumni. He was an esteemed and much beloved leader
of the Jewish community. ■

14
Life Cycle
BOOKS
Rabbi Cary A. Friedman ’96R has
written “Wisdom from the Batcave:
How to Live a Super, Heroic Life”
(Compass Books).
Rabbi Mendy Gopin ’72R on
the publication of his new sefer
“Davening With The Rav: My Rabbi &
My Rebbe.” It is divided into three
sections: (1) a number of personal
anecdotes regarding the Rav,
gathered over a 40 year period,
both in Boston & New York; (2) the
various Nuschaos HaRav for the
Yomim Noraim; & (3) Hanhagos of
the Rav in shul, spanning the entire
calendar year.
Rabbi Jonathan Miskin ’93R on his
self published encylopedia of every
individual in Tanakh, called “Tanakh
Profiles,” available online at
www.tanakhprofiles.org.
Rabbi Dr. Seymour Moskowitz
authored an historical novel, “Falcon
of the Quraysh,” about the eighth-
century Muslim conquest of
Andalusia, Spain. It emphasizes the
biography of the Emir Ahmed Abd
ar Rahman I and the support given
to him by the Jews of Spain and
North Africa, which helped usher in
the Golden Age of Spain.
Rabbi Joseph Radinsky, who has
published a new Sefer in Hebrew
“Hegyonai Torah,” with the help of
Rabbi Shimon be Elisha of Bet El
Yeshiva in Israel. It is a condensa-
tion-translation of Rabbi Radinsky’s
9 Torah Concepts books with
additional material published for
the first time.
Rabbi Michael Taubes ’83R for
co-editing “The Yom Kippur Machzor:
with commentary adapted from
the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B.
Soloveitchik.”
Rabbi Stanley Wagner ’56R,
along with Rabbi Israel Drazin, has
authored a new sefer: “Onkelos On
the Torah: Understanding the Bible
Text. Bereshit & Shemot.”
Rabbi Moshe Walter ’05R on
his article: “Can Porcelain be
Kashered? ”—appearing in the
Journal of Halacha and Contem-
porary Society, Number LII,
Succot 5767.
MAZAL TOV
RIETS Student Ranan and Rebecca
Amster on the birth of a son.
Rabbi Elchanan, Rosh Yeshiva,
and Miriam Adler on the birth of a
daughter. Also to the uncle, RIETS
Student Jeremy Gaison.
Rabbi Marc ’70R and Gilda Angel,
on the birth of a grandson.
Cantor Bernard Beer, Belz School
director, and wife Barbara on the
birth of a granddaughter, Chana
Batsheva and on the birth of a
grandson, Yaakov Shlomo Eliyahu.
Rabbi David and Rochelle Blum
’01R on the birth of a daughter,
Perel Sarah
Rabbi Joshua and Adele Cheifetz
’56R on the birth of granddaughter,
Shira, and on the birth of great-
granddaughter, Gila.
RIETS Student Jonathan Cohen on
his marriage to Ruthie Israeli.
RIETS Student Ariel and Yael Davis
on the birth of a son, Yehuda Yaakov.
Also to the grandparents, Rabbi Dr.
Hillel ’75R and Racheyl Davis.
Rabbi Shmuel ’76R and Barbara
Goldin on the marriage of their son,
RIETS student Yossi Goldin to
Shifra Cooper
RIETS Student Yossi Goldin on his
marriage to Shifra Cooper.
Rabbi Sheldon ’71R and Zelda
Goldsmith on the bar-mitzvah
celebrations of two grandchildren
Yosef Chaim Stefansky and Avrumi
Felsenthal.
Rabbi Uri and Julie Goldstein
’05R on the birth of a son,
Aviad Sar Shalom.
Rabbi Dr. Wallace ’69R and
Ronnie Greene on the birth of
granddaughter, Alexandra, and
a grandson, Joe Chanan.
Rabbi William ’55R and Sylvia
Herskowitz on the marriage of their
granddaughter Tova Katz to Ithamar
Jutkowitz, and on the bar mitzvahs
of their grandsons Akiva Katz and
Jonathan Herskowitz.
RIETS Student Shimshon and
Ashley Jacob on the birth of a
daughter, Adira Chana.
Rabbi Joseph ’03R and Elisheva
Kalinsky on the birth of a son.
Also to the grandfather, Rabbi Alan
Kalinsky ’76R.
Rabbi Alan Kalinsky ’76R execu-
tive director, Orthodox Union-West
Coast Region, on being honored at
its Dinner for his contributions to
the Los Angeles community for the
past 20 years.
Rabbi Eliakim ’92R Koenigsberg,
Rosh Yeshiva, and his wife Tova on
the birth of twins (boy and girl);
Rabbi Chaim ’02R and Pesha
Loike on the birth of a daughter,
Rachel Tziona.
RIETS Student Elimelech and
Chaya Rosenthal on the birth of a
daughter, Adina.
RIETS Student Aryeh and Dvora
Sanders on the birth of a daughter,
Nechama.
Rabbi Fabian ’52R and Ruth
Schonfeld on the birth of a great
grandson .
Rabbi Eliav ’06R and Adi
Silverman on the birth of a son.
Rabbi Yair ’02R and Ilana
Silverman on the birth of a son.
RIETS Student Moshe Stavsky on
his marriage to Mirel Adler.
Rabbi Mayer ’97R and Estee
Waxman on the birth of a son.
RIETS Student Jay and Sharon
Weinstein on the birth of a
daughter, Ora.
Rabbi Nathan and Leah Weiss on
the birth of a great grandson.
Rabbi Alan Yuter, father of
Rabbi Josh Yuter ’03R, on being
Chavrusa wishes Rebbitzen Shevi
and Rabbi Benjamin Yudin ’69R
a hearfelt mazal tov on the recent
“Shabbat of Celebration” held by
their shul in their honor. For 37
years, the Yudins have led Shomrei
Torah with love and dedication,
even having the minyan meet in
their home during its initial 12
years under their leadership. A
very grateful community honored
this very special ‘First Family of
Fairlawn.’ Chizky v’Imtzu.
appointed Adjunct Professor of
Hebrew Literature at Baltimore
Hebrew University.
Rabbi Naphtali ’06R and Abby
Weisz on the birth of a daugther,
Baila Danya.
Rabbi Dr. Erich Zauderer ’63 on
the marriage of his granddaughter,
Elana, to Gabi Pinchasov.
OUR CONDOLENCES
Rabbi Solomon Berl, Belz Faculty,
on the loss of his wife, Mrs.
Eleanor Berl.
The family of Rabbi Meir Felman
’36 on his passing. Rabbi Felman
was a graduate of YU’s high
school, college, RIETS and Revel,
and a past president of the YU
Rabbinic Alumni.
The family of Rabbi Philip
Goodman on his passing.
The family of Rabbi Maynard
Hyman on his passing.
Rebetzin Sarah Konovitch on the
loss of her husband, Rabbi Simon
Konovitch ’46R.
Rabbi Meyer Kramer ’41R and his
son Rabbi Dr. Doniel Kramer ’73R
on the loss of wife and mother,
Rose Meyer.
Rabbi Shelley Morris ’04R on the
loss of his father, Barry Morris.
Rabbi David Rogoff ’55R on his
loss of his wife.
Rabbi Sheldon ’57R and Hedda
Rudoff, YU Guardians, on the loss
of their daughter, Shaindy.
Rabbi Adrian Skydell ’43R on the
loss of his brother, Harry.
15
 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
an affiliate of Yeshiva University
Max Stern Division of Communal Service
500 West 185th Street
New York, NY 10033
Hosted by Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future

CHAVRUSA is a publication of the

Rabbinic Alumni of the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary, an
affiliate of Yeshiva University

Richard M. Joel
President

Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm

Chancellor, Yeshiva University
Rosh HaYeshiva, RIETS

Rabbi Kenneth Brander

Dean, Center for the
Jewish Future

Rabbi Dr. Solomon Rybak

President, Rabbinic Alumni

Rabbi Ronald L. Schwarzberg

Director, Jewish Career Development
and Placement
Rabbi Elly Krimsky
Assistant Director, Jewish Career
Development and Placement
Editor, Chavrusa
Rabbi Levi Mostofsky
Director of Rabbinic Programming
Associate Editor, Chavrusa

Rabbi Dovid Kupchik

Coordinator, Educational Placement

Keren Simon
Administrator, Jewish Career
Development and Placement
Naphtali Lavenda
Rabbinic Intern, Jewish Career
Development and Placement

RIETS
Rabbi Zevulun Charlop
Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS

Rabbi Chaim Bronstein

Administrator, RIETS

Rabbi Julius Berman

Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
RIETS