Your parents can take a course this fall that was recently offered to SCW students.
The occasion is a new semester of the Community Beit Medrash Program, which brings YU learning opportunities to the broader YU community. YU Alumni, donors, board members, and parents are among those who have taken advantage of the program in the past. This semester’s program, which begins at the end of October, will feature Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, and Dr. Jacob Wisse, Director of Yeshiva University Museum and Associate Professor of Art History at Stern College.
The topic of the program—“The Image and The Idea: An Interdisciplinary Seminar on Art History and Jewish Thought”—will sound familiar to students who took a course by the same name at Stern last year. Similarly, that class was co-taught by Wisse and Soloveichik.
The Community Beit Medrash program began at the request of several community leaders who attended YU’s Championsgate Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida a few years ago and wanted an opportunity for continued intellectual Jewish education with a “YU feel.” The first semester of the program featured Rabbi JJ Schacter and Rabbi Hayyim Angel, and the program has enjoyed much success since its inception.
According to Julie Schreier, director of institutional advancement, the goals of the Community Beit Medrash Program are to provide the Jewish community with access to learned YU speakers and to allow participants to reconnect with YU, talk to students and faculty, and enjoy the campus atmosphere. The program has led to many participants becoming more involved with the YU community, whether through philanthropy, helping current students find jobs and internships, or hosting events in their own communities.
The program accepts sponsorships for the weekly learning from members of the community celebrating various occasions. This semester’s program has been sponsored in honor of Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik by members of his synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel.
The Community Beit Medrash Program will be running for six weeks starting on October 29. Class will take place at the Yeshiva University Museum.