Yeshiva University and Modern Orthodox Policy (1997)

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What's in a Name? An Introduction to Yeshiva University (1993)

The name "yeshiva" combined with "university" often seems to perplex people unacquainted with the history, background, and mission of these two venerable institutions. Most people in our society know what a university is, but their knowledge of a "yeshiva" is often cursory and, usually, based upon stereotypes — most of which are long outdated. How, they wonder, can there coexist in a single institution one department (the university) which stands for critical thought and pushing ahead on the frontiers of knowledge, and which prides itself on its universal concerns, with another (the yeshiva) which seeks to preserve an ancient way of life and is mostly confined to the Jewish people and religion? As a result, when hearing about Yeshiva University they are either puzzled or amused, as if the very name is an oxy moron, a contradiction in terms. Yet in over a century of its existence, and over fifty years of its having attained official university status, Yeshiva University has proven that the two are not a contradiction and, even if often divergent in mission, style, and purpose, they are ultimately compatible. The purpose of this brochure is to elucidate this relationship and introduce you to the reality that is Yeshiva University — surely one of the most unusual schools of higher education in the universe of universities, and most certainly unique in the history of the institution called "yeshiva." The Yeshiva — What Is It? The yeshiva (plural: yeshivot) is the oldest institution of higher learning in Judaism. As such, it may well be the oldest form of formal higher education in the world. The earliest yeshivot we know of flourished in both Palestine and Babylonia in the century before the Common Era. By comparison, universities began to coalesce into formal schools only in the late Middle Ages. So inseparable is the idea of higher formal education from the fabric of Judaism, that Jewish legend maintained that, in earliest Biblical days, Abraham sent Isaac to study i…

Yeshiva University

Chag Hasemicha 5763 (2003)

Rabbi Lamm addresses newly-ordained rabbis at the Chag Hasemicha 5763.

Yeshiva University

Culture, Counterculture, and Yeshiva University

Rabbi Lamm explores the role of Yeshiva University in framing an approach to contemporary secular culture.

Yeshiva University