Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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M A S M I D Board of Editors Reading left to right Bernard Greenberg, Abraham S. Gutterman, Hyman Muss, Charles Hirshfeld Herbert Greenberg, editor-in-chief, Ralph M- Weisberger, Israel Upbin

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M A S M I D Executive Council Reading left to right Hyman Muss, Ralph M. Weisberger, Julius Washer, President, Heiberc Greenberg, Hyman Israel

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M A S M I D EDITORIAL DOLDRUMS Upon looking through other college pub- lications whose predominant tone is good cheer and jolly wit a definite uneasiness stirs through us. If a college publication repre- sents the frame of mind of the student body, our temperament has surely not been a deni- zen of the more sporty spheres. We have had a serious dearth of articles of the jollier sort. Our articles seem to be the weighty articulation of sighing Hamlets — heavy- hearted with soliloquies and ponderous medi- tation. Yet we feel the source of expressiveness in us is the same as in our more jovial compeers. We know we can learn to respond just as warmly to good-chser and jolly wit — for we feel a ripening congeniality in us. Yet our laughter has been like the arrested smile of the Mona Lisa — like the slow thawing of ice-peaks. We know of a place where there was no laughter — but it was the habitat of Gulliver ' s senile Surbrugs. College, however, is the habitat of youth — and youth without jollity is a lesser form of spiritual impotence or torpor. Must this emotional jading come with in- tellectual consecration? Then is not all knowledge an insipid thing if it brings with it an incapacity for joy in life? Perhaps we need not go so far in denunciation. We feel this half-baked lethargy cannot truly be traced to devotion to books but rather to a misdirected zeal and to an uncalled for clois- tered isolation. We have denied ourselves wholesome so- cial lives that could include the virtues of intellectuality without the vice of excessive virtue. It is to this denial of a wealth of extra-curricular experiences that our social torpor can be traced. Where is a spokes- man to represent us in oratory, in debates, in dramatics ? Our athlete is a sulking Achilles — and we ' ve a crying need for him. We have been standing upon a fertile soil: and a wholesome social tree should have long ago, from deep-thrust root, have lifted leaves of pleasant association. All we ' ve achieved is a weed here and there. Class room atmo- sphere fades in time: but a walk, confidential exchanges, fraternity, a rousing school song and extra-mural competition — these engen- der sentiments that linger after integrals and ' ' ergil are forgotten. They are the oft-men- tioned ties that bind, infusing vigorous life into colorless creatures of clay. WANDERER O wandering Jew! Soul without peace or rest! Thou hast traversed the seas, the breakers ' foam: Hast wandered far from thy beloved home — That holy land with milk and honey blest. Thou travellest ever o ' er East and West, And art compelled, from land to land, to roam: For branded as the student of one tome. Thou art forever the unwelcome guest. But Jew! Though wanderer, despised, disdained, Thou hast refused to perish or to yield: Thy faith in thy Creator has not waned. Hast been devoted to His Word — thy shield. And, Jew, such hope and trust must be repaid; The Merciful will bless thee with His aid. Joseph Kaminetsky