Beis Yitzchak, Student-Run Sefer, to Publish First Issue in Nearly a Decade
Beis Yitzchak, a student organized sefer [religious publication] of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) with articles authored by Yeshiva University-affiliated Roshei Yeshiva, students and alumni on various Torah topics in Hebrew, is scheduled to publish for the first time since 2015.
The 48th volume of the formerly annual publication will collect articles written in Hebrew on various topics primarily related to the tractate RIETS and Undergraduate Torah Studies (UTS) programs are studying, but it will also accept all articles on Gemara and Halacha provided that they meet editorial approval.
This year’s project, which is accepting submissions through this month, is spearheaded by editors-in-chief Dovid Wartelsky and Michael Fagin, and executive editor Akiva Garner.
Beis Yitzchak is expected to be available around Rosh Hashanah at the beginning of the next academic year. Approximately 40 articles are expected, including more than a dozen from roshei yeshiva, rabbeim and prominent rabbinic alumni.
“Beis Yitzchak is the perfect opportunity to have your personal Chidushim edited and published in one of the oldest and most prestigious journals in the Torah world,” Fagin told The Commentator. “It's a timeless way to cement your learning and create a feeling of accomplishment that you have a seat at the table of Torah.”
Beis Yitzchak was last published in 2015, when the Yeshiva studied Mesechet Ketubot. Though article collection continued for the next few years, primarily in 2017 and 2019 when the Yeshiva studied Kedushin and Bava Kamma respectively, a lack of student interest in overseeing the project caused the publication to be stalled. An attempt to restart Beis Yitzchak was made in 2019, but it did not come to fruition.
This year, student interest was rekindled. The articles on Bava Kamma submitted in 2019 are to be merged with the current volume on Gittin. Other articles on Kedushin submitted in 2017, which were collected but never published, are anticipated to be released as a standalone volume predated to 2017.
“Beis Yitzchak is something you can keep on your shelf and show your grandchildren,” added Fagin. “‘Look,’ you can say, ‘I was published in the same pages as the Gedolim of yesteryear (Rav Schachter, Rav Willig, Rav Rosensweig), as well as the modern-day Gedolim (your contemporaries, or even YOU, who have gone on to become a Gadol BaTorah).’
“It's a timeless way to cement your learning and create a feeling of accomplishment that you have a seat at the table of Torah.”
Other than Fagin, Wartelsky and Garner, the other editors working on the project are Edan Friedman, Yitzhak Graff, Yinon Gurvich, Nadav Heller, Noam Putterman, Yossi Rybak, Akiva Sturm and Uriel Sussman.
________
Photo Caption: The first Beis Yitzchak in nearly a decade will be published around next Rosh Hashana
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University
