Stern College for Women - Kochaviah Yearbook (New York, NY)

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ADMINISTRATION FACULTY FRIENDS 13

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REMEMBERING DR. REMES And so life goes on. An expression I ' ve heard innumerable times, it is sometimes an attempt to console and reconcile, sometimes to dismiss with a shrug. In a sense, a gross oversimplification. Now, , it has become an immediate reality for me. Suddenly, I find myself in a situation of living without . I have lost my professor Dr. Nathaniel Remes, A H. A friend of mind aptly described Dr. Remes as my chemistry rebbe. Not, that is, to the exclusion of others: I have had several fine teachers, who have given to me from their knowledge and from themselves, and to whom I feel strongly attached. Yet the title is especially appropriate for Dr. Remes because he was the head of the depart- ment, and because I spent so much time working with him on my independent study project last year. It took me a long time to get used to Dr. Remes. For a couple of years I felt uncomfortable and nervous in his presence. He often came on harshly, and there were times when I truly dis- liked him. But one gets used to people, begins to discover new aspects of them and to see them differently. Much of that discovery was made within the past year, when I spent many hours working with Dr. Remes: in the lab, planning my project, reviewing for the GRE ' s, or talking - about chemistry, Torah, parents and children, the ups and downs of Y.U. I remember being part of more than one discussion in the lab following meetings that had left Dr. Remes angry or upset. And one afternoon last year, he asked me w hy I used to be afraid of him. I could only laugh and say I did not know. Of course I knew, but my nervousness had faded and its reasons had been refuted. Dr. Remes once joked. Come on, you know I don ' t bite you. I only yell at you. True, Dr. Remes made me feel my mistakes sharply. But he also encouraged me with remarks like You see, you do know something, Miss! My chemistry rebbe — no profanation of the term. I take Torah U ' madah seriously (A reaction flask contains five hundred milliliters of maasei HaShem), and Dr. Remes encouraged that belief in both his teaching and his personality. He somehow helped me feel that there was a place for me in chemistry. My chemistry rebbe. Chazel advise, Haamidu taimidim harbei . I once heard this explained as teach them to stand on their own feet . I think Dr. Remes gave me some of that in many ways. And so life goes on — hesitantly, with a gap left in it. But that ongoing need not be a process of shrugging and going about our business. If we want to — and if we are sincere in our desire — that ongoing can be a credit to the man we must live without, because Dr. Remes in some ways taught us how to stand on our feet. L. Rosenstroch 12

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YE5HIVA UNIVERSITY 500 WEST IB5TH STREET NEW YORK, N. Y. 10033 OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT September 27, 1978 Dear Graduates: It is a pleasure for me to greet you, the graduating seniors of Stern College for Women, class of ' 79. You have come to us from diverse backgrounds, and have been molded by your Stern College experience into a group which, if not homogeneous, shares the same transcendent commitment that binds you to the rest of the Yeshiva and to the whole House of Israel. In the Talmud, the study of Torah is considered as achieving a double goal: It is a mitzvah in its own right, and it is propaedeutic to the performance of all other -mitzvot . It is proper to extrapolate from talmud torah to education as a whole: your years at Stern were important in and of themselves, and will undoubtedly occupy an important and warm place in your memory for the rest of your lives. But in addition, it was a preparation for your future. Together with your teachers, I hope that these years of preparation will prove fruitful to you as you assume your rightful roles as creative Jewesses, transmitters of our sacred heritage, wives and mothers, and proud citizens of our country. NORMAN LAMM President NL:gf 14