Dor L’Dor: Yom Iyun for Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts Hosted by YU at Beren Campus
The lobby in Beren’s 245 Lexington building was unusually crowded for a Sunday morning, when current students came in with their mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers on Feb. 16 for a Yom Iyun. The gray and rainy morning didn’t prevent a sizable crowd from joining for the event, which featured a number of YU’s Torah educators and administrators. Attendees hung their coats at the entrance before heading up to Koch Auditorium, where they schmoozed and enjoyed a light brunch before the speeches started.
The theme of the event was “Living Unique Lives: Serving as an Or Lagoyim,” and each of the four panelists — Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, Professor Rachel Besser, Rabbi Shay Schachter and Dean Rebecca Cypess — were given opportunities to reflect on the prerogative of the Jewish people to serve as a light unto other nations. Besser, Lebowitz and Schachter each gave Torah insights on the theme of Or Lagoyim, followed by Cypess joining them for a Q&A-style panel moderated by Dean Shoshana Schechter.
Before the speeches, YU President Berman spoke about his experience delivering the benediction at President Trump’s inauguration. He joked that when he was told that only the president would get to have his speech projected on the teleprompter, he responded, “Well, I’m also a president.” Dean Schechter, who organized much of the Yom Iyun and moderated the panel, emphasized Berman’s dedication to YU by pointing out that after delivering the benediction in Washington his first stop was to the Beren Campus to share his experience.
Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz spoke about the phrase “Baruch Hashem,” which has become a buzz-word to communicate Jewish identity. He noted that it was in fact coined by non-Jewish historical figures. The first people in Tanakh to use this phrase were Noach, Eliezer and Yitro (in addition to Melchizedek, who uttered the similar phrase “Baruch El Elyon”) — all, notably, non-Jews. He tied this into Parshat Yitro, emphasizing the contribution that Yitro made to the Jewish judicial system, and underscoring the idea that although Yitro was not a member of the Jewish nation, one of Judaism’s fundamental tenets is that the wise man is one “who learns from every person,” not only from Jews (Avot 4:1). Being an Or Lagoyim does not only signify the role of the Jewish nation as projecting values outward, but also Judaism’s ability to learn from and recognize truth in the rest of the world.
Rabbi Fine led Tehillim and introduced Besser who shared a conversation she had with a Chabad woman at one of her children’s school events. After talking for some time, Besser asked this woman if it was hard for her that she lives in Passaic and is not on shlichut (literally, a mission — the term used to describe Chabad outreach to communities around the world). The woman’s response surprised her: “How do you know that I’m not on shlichut?” The message was clear: being an Or Lagoyim also involves doing outreach within the Jewish community, and there is outreach to be done everywhere in the world — as long as you are seeking people with whom to connect and inspire.
Rabbi Shay Schachter spoke about an event that occurred during the pandemic when he and a group of his father’s (Rav Hershel Schachter) students encouraged the senior Rav Schachter to type up halakhic responsa to address the many COVID-19 related halakha questions. Rabbi Lebowitz later noted that upon seeing his spoken words being typed on the screen, Rav Schachter declared, “I don’t have to write a teshuva, it’s writing itself!”
After publishing some of these responses, a doctor who was a member of a hospital’s medical ethics committee reached out to Rabbi Shay Schachter and communicated interest in hearing Rav Schachter’s halakhic response. His committee was struggling to reach a conclusion about a ventilator related dilemma because the circumstances were so unprecedented. The doctor explained, “All of us on the committee are sharing what we feel is right, but none of us have a precedence. I heard that the Jewish people have a precedent for dealing with questions like these.” Rabbi Shay Schachter paired this doctor with someone to translate Rav Schachter’s teshuva and teach it to him. The doctor later reached out to share that many local hospitals had adopted “the Jewish approach” to this ventilator dilemma. Rabbi Shay Schachter saw this as a supreme example of being an Or Lagoyim.
During the panel, Cypess quoted a midrash in which Rav Yochanan describes Hashem’s voice as emanating from Mount Sinai at the time of the giving of the Torah and splintering into 70 languages (70 being the representative number of all languages of the world) so that all nations would understand the Torah. In a similar vein, Rav Yochanan is cited elsewhere as saying that the Sanhedrin must be proficient in all 70 languages of the world so that the judges never have to hear testimony through translation. Cypess noted that both of these teachings of Rav Yochanan emphasize the point that it is the job of the Torah and the Jewish judicial system to not only focus inward on the Jewish people, but also to look outward and serve the entire world.
Fundraising and publicity were two obvious motivations for the event, which concluded with a tactful request for donations to continue supporting Torah opportunities like these for the women at YU. Camera crews were also visible throughout the event, capturing photos of multi-generational YU students and alumnae. Members of the camera crew also handed out several XL hoodies with YU’s new tagline “I Am Yeshiva University,” which recipients were allowed to keep after having their photographs taken.
As the event came to a close, Dean Schechter opened the floor to questions, upon which one woman in the crowd good-naturedly raised her hand and asked, “When will we be doing this again?” General appreciation for the day seems to be a shared sentiment among those who attended. Avigail Levine (SCW ‘26) shared with The Commentator that “the Yom Iyun was very special and inspiring,” and she enjoyed hearing the speakers give insights into the meaning and importance of our role as an Or Lagoyim.
The theme of intergenerational learning on Beren’s Campus continued the following day — Presidents Day — when family members of GPATS students were invited to join the beit midrash for morning seder and shiur with Rabbi David Nachbar. This afforded an opportunity for family members to experience beit midrash learning more similar in style to the Dor L’Dor program offered at YU’s Wilf Campus on the same day.
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Photo Caption: Stern Yom Iyun
Photo Credit: Rabbi Azi Fine
