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Correspondence

Feb. 15, 2001

Letter from R. Hirt on Working Committees for Education (2001)

Yeshiva University Jewish Education
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2001 Statement to RIETS Dinner (2001)

My predecessor, Dr. Belkin, o.b.m., determined at one point in his career that the function of Yeshiva/RIETS was to be primarily educational, and leave communal affairs to other relevant organizations, such as the RCA and OUJCA. In other words, he decided that YU’s business was educational, not that of a communal movement. When I came into office twenty-five years ago, that problem was uppermost in my mind, and there were forces agitating for both points of view. I decided that without ever giving up our primary educational goal, YU/RIETS must undertake greater communal responsibilities. Let me explain why the change.Yeshiva’s policy made sense in the conditions that prevailed at that time. The RCA, together with the Rabbinic Alumni of Yeshiva, was a force in both Orthodox and general Jewish communal life. Pulpit rabbis were prominent, their synagogues were strong, their voice was heard and respected. The UOJCA had begun to come into its own as a significant element in communal life. The OU was especially strong in unifying and promoting Kashrut in American Jewry. It made sense, therefore, for Yeshiva to limit itself to and focus upon formal education, and that is why it was decided that Yeshiva’s superb achievement in fostering youth work be transferred to the Orthodox Union, which accepted the challenge and fulfilled its responsibilities with a high degree of success. Yeshiva, which had done so much constructive work in fostering new communities and creating new synagogues, decided to suspend those operations as well; surely, that was a task which belonged to both rabbis and synagogues, not to schools. Of course, at that time Yeshiva’s financial condition had begun to worsen, and this contributed as well to its decision to slim down its operations.However, twenty-five years ago during the transition between two administrations, life had begun change. I noticed that the RCA had grown much weaker: the Rav was ailing, Rabbi Israel Klavan of the RCA was soon passing …
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Letter to Jewish Studies Committee with Recommendations for Strengthening Jewish Education (1974)

I have found a certain number of glaring deficiencies in the training and background of Yeshiva High School students who have made their way to my Jewish philosophy classes in the course of the past decade and a half. The following very brief recommendations for standards are based upon this experience: (1) Students should have a rudimentary knowledge of the outline of Jewish history, i.e., the sequence of periods, and the knowledge of some of the great names attached to each.**Pirkei Avot.** I find that fairly ignorant laymen who had the most elementary Jewish education in Europe are familiar with *Avot*. Our own students, however, who are initiated into some of the profoundest complexities of Talmudic reasoning, haven't the faintest knowledge of what *Pirkei Avot* is all about. I would make the knowledge of *Avot* a prerequisite for high school graduation.**Bible (Chumash).** Chumash is taught in a very spotty fashion in our own high schools. Apparently, there is a feeling by certain members of the high school faculty that teaching Chumash is beneath their intellectual station (an attitude which, apparently, Moses did not share). Graduation requirements should list specific portions of the Chumash that a student must know thoroughly, including a limited number of famous passages from Rashi.**English.** I suppose this complaint is just another cry in the wilderness, but I am distressed at the incredibly poor training of so many students in the simplest elements of English composition. Probably this is part of the spirit of the times, but I do think the high schools ought to emphasize English writing—clarity, punctuation, grammar, vocabulary—a great deal more than they do.
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Letter from Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik about Necessary Changes to the Yeshiva Curriculum (1950s)

My dear Dr. Belkin: Pursuant to our conversation of April 26th and in accordance with your request, I take the liberty of submitting this memorandum dealing with the educational problems we have frequently discussed and which are of genuine importance to the further growth and development of the graduate division of the Yeshiva. The suggestions here grow out of my personal experience both as a teacher at the Yeshiva, interested not only in classroom work but also in the emotional and intellectual response of students, and as a rabbi, observing Yeshiva graduates grappling with communal problems, counseling, preaching, and leading. I have also interviewed many students at different levels, and the general impression from all these conversations is that certain basic changes are inevitable if today’s student, tomorrow’s rabbi, is to avoid frustration, self-dissatisfaction, and feelings of inferiority that lead to cynicism or vanity. In candor, the Yeshiva student is not the happiest fellow on the American campus. He is far from convinced that he receives adequate rabbinical training or even the minimum indispensable knowledge for a successful career in the tradition of the rabbinate. He feels that the intellectual harvest at ordination is not commensurate with the investment of years and mental effort. Dissatisfaction with both Halachic and philosophical training leaves him feeling lost when confronted with either practical or ideological problems. This generates resentment and indifference toward his alma mater. After much reflection, I have concluded that comparison with the Lithuanian yeshivot of old is helpful: those institutions were built on total immersion in Torah study, served only a select few, emphasized depth over breadth, shunned practical application, avoided philosophical articulation, and had no promotion system. They may have been adequate for their time and place, but they cannot serve the American Jewish community. We must, therefore, formulate ant…
Yeshiva University Jewish Education