Building a Campus Community: How Rabbi and Rebbetzin Fine are Enriching Stern
For the past three years, the Fines, together with our incredible second rabbinic couple Rabbi Avrumi and Rebbetzin Michal Schonbrun, have made and continue to make a deep impact on Yeshiva University experience, specifically at Stern College.
“It’s been game changing,” Dean Shoshana Schechter, associate dean of Torah and spiritual life, told The Commentator. When Rabbi Jacob and Penina Bernstein, the previous Beren Campus couple, set out to make aliyah in 2021, Schechter began the search for a pair of “superstars” who would continue building infrastructure for Torah life. The perfect candidates were found — Rabbi Azriel and Rebetzin Ellie Fine.
The Fines have made innumerable contributions to Stern College, with one of the greatest being their success at strengthening the sense of community on the Beren Campus. Atara Sicklick (SCW ‘26) told The Commentator, “I initially formed a relationship with the Fines, coming back from Shana Bet. They had everyone for a meetup … Right off the bat, it felt like a warm place.”
Gaby Rahmanfar (SCW ‘24, GPATS ‘26), previous Torah Activities Council (TAC) president, shared her reflections with The Commentator: “Watching the Stern community evolve over the years, with the Fines joining, and with each year of them being on campus, the sense of community at Stern just growing and improving.”
“It would not be the same without them— Pashut,” Chana Schandelson (SCW ‘26), TAC board member, said. Schandelson told The Commentator that staying in for Shabbos, especially her first year at Stern, gave her the opportunity to create and nurture a strong relationship with Rabbi and Rebbetzin Fine. Schandelson discussed the emphasis that was put on building the Stern community this year, through the constant programming led by the Fines. “My relationship with the Fines has always been really special,” Izzy Adler (SCW ‘25) said. “I got to know them through staying in for Shabbos … They really treated us as if we were at their Shabbos table. They make Stern feel like more than just a school.”
“They’re constantly trying to figure out ways to improve the quality of the student experience here and help students maximize their personal, spiritual and religious growth,” Schechter said. “They are incredibly dedicated to our students and to our Beren Campus community and we are grateful to have them at the helm.” One notable example is how Rabbi Fine organizes a minyan on campus each week to enhance the Shabbos atmosphere.
The Fines’ mission to strengthen the communal feel on the Beren Campus starts primarily in the beit midrash. The Fines have worked hard to make the beit midrash a central space for all types of students, through programming catered to all interests. Rahmanfar talked about how “they’ve made sure that this space is used as our communal gathering point.”
The programming at Stern College since the Fines arrived has changed dramatically, with constant shiurim and events, giving options for all different interests. Minna Katz (SCW ‘26) said that the Fines have “[made] the beis a place where you want to come.” At Tuesday Night Live (TNL), a program where students pack the Beit Midrash to learn together, both Rebbetzin Ellie and Rabbi Fine give small chaburot, and are also available to schmooze and speak with students.
In addition to the major planning, Rabbi Fine takes the responsibility to make sure every aspect of programming goes smoothly, down to such details as reorganizing tables and chairs before an event to make space for everyone who wants to join. Not only did he help introduce TNL, but he invests his own time to prepare the snacks, kugel, yapchik and more.
It is clear from every interaction that they have with students that the Fines genuinely care about each individual. Whether it’s their interest in one’s Shabbos plans, or how a specific test went, the Fines are people who care about the little things in students’ lives. Nothing is too big and nothing is too small. Through individual meetings, chaburot and outpouring of warmth and support, the Fines have given individual students a feeling of connection with them, increasing the sense that students have a rabbi and rebbetzin on the Beren Campus. As Sicklick told The Commentator, “After leaving seminary, you feel like you have people to go to. We can still develop a connection like that with people who we trust and people who can answer halachic questions.”
Many students, like Schandelson and Katz, reflected on their first day of Stern orientation when they were waiting in line to move into the dorms. What is ingrained in their memory is being greeted by the Fines. “I immediately felt welcomed by their warmth,” Schandelson told The Commentator. Now, like so many, both feel comfortable asking halachic questions to Rabbi Fine, and speaking to Ellie about life. “They have such a genuine desire to connect with students and help them grow,” Schandelson said. After her first Shabbos on campus, Katz asked Ellie if they could have a chavrusa — they’ve continued with it ever since.
Adler also learns with Rebbetzin Fine each week. “She takes time out of her busy week to learn with me … when she’s learning with me, I feel like I’m the only person in the world,” Adler said. “She genuinely cares about every single person she speaks to.”
Though the Fines run big programming events, their specialty is in focusing on the little things. “The small things have added to creating the relationship with both of them,” Katz said. Whether it’s Rabbi Fine’s cholent at the Friday night oneg or homemade soup and baked ziti on a Thursday night, there is a sense that someone cares for you in a deep and personal way. Rabbi Fine makes sure to keep up with student newspapers and to make sure he knows what is happening on campus, even outside of the Torah programming.
Their accessibility and approachability, many interviewees noted, is something that is unparalleled. The Fines can be found from the early mornings in the beit midrash to the late, post-shiur schmoozes. Furthermore, the Fines live on campus, in the 35th Street dorms, allowing one to “cultivate a more personal relationship” as Schandelson explained.
In addition to the amazing programs that the Fines run, interviewees were incredibly emphatic about how they also look up to the Fines’ middot and communal Jewish leadership skills. Adler told The Commentator: “They don’t just teach us about Torah, but they are walking examples of Torah and show us how to bring Torah into our own lives in a very relatable and meaningful way.”
“It’s really clear that there is a lot of mesirat nefesh,” Schandelson said, recognizing that the job is not easy. They should know, she explained, that people recognize how much they do, and specifically the way that they approach their work — “they go above and beyond in every single way.”
Photo Credit: Rabbi Azi and Ellie Fine
Photo Caption: Rabbi Azi and Ellie Fine
