Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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M A S M I I ) I hirlcen To the First Graduating Class oJ Yeshiva College From Dh. Bi.knard Rkvel Conceived in the spirit of Israel ' s stead fastnes- to the spiritual certainties and supreme moral ideals of Judaism, which, in a world of shirting stand- ards and changing values, in ages of transition, stand torch-like, immutable and eternal, Yeshiva College was founded, the only college of liberal arts and sciences under Jewish auspices in this land, yet a link in the long and glorious chain of lighthouses of learning, uniting mankind in com- mon undestanding and spiritual striving. Yeshiva College is, by design, a small college. It has set itself the task of training a select group of young men, who combine zeal for knowledge with a large ability for learning, to attain intellec- tual and spiritual integrity ; it endeavors to recog- nize the aptitude of its individual students and to help create the conditions for their growth and development. It is the conviction of Yeshiva College that Jewish studies, in the widest connotations, are an integral phase of the humanistic disciplines, that the cultural resources, traditions and heritage of Judaism, in its millennial history, and its inter- history, are essential for the full understanding of the unfoldment of mankind and of man ' s history. eshiva College is dedicated to the transforma- tion of these aspects and values of Judaism, its teachings concerning God, man and nature, fused and harmoniously blent with the scholarship of the ages, with the other currents of creative cul- ture and the humanizing forces of the age, into living and creative reality in the hearts and minds of its children, for the enrichment of the life of the Jewish community and the advancement of our beloved country. Moreover, Jewish learning has been studied until now as an isolated field, a sort of Jewish antiquities , almost .1 ., (orrn.-r culture; in Ye- shiva College, the aspects of Jewish culture and the Jewish contribution to the life and thought of the ages assume a living shape and a continuous significance. Jewish contributions to math- 1 for example, are no longer ignored or studied as a special, abstruse subject, but become part of the study of the history and development of that science. The influence of the Bible upon Eng- lish literature and the English language, its dic- tion, its images, its subjects, becomes an integral part of the College work in English. The Greek of the Septuagint is a phase in the field of Greek studies. The judgments and misjudgments, the understandings and misunderstandings, the general interaction of Hellenistic and Jewish thought and history are to be surveyed as a part of Jewish and classical culture, so that the whole becomes, beyond mere archeological interest, subject for the Yeshiva College student with significance ap- plicable to life and thought today — so that in time Jewish studies will come to be, not the isolated survey of statistically presented activities and atti- tudes, but the consideration of a spirit and a point of view in the various fields of human understand- ing. eshiva College hopes to bring into Ameri- can cultural life the best of the Jewish spirit, of its cultural ideals, as its contribution to the best in the spirit of our country. The College recog- nizes the difficulties in its way and the limitations at present imposed upon it. The full realization of its vision is still in the distant future, but we have the present opportunity for growth along the hoped for line. No understanding friend of the true and abid- ing values of humanity could view with anything but great apprehension the possibility of the sub-

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Twelve MASMID JULIUS WASHER Los Angeles, Cal. ' 31 , if you please . . California, here I come ISRAEL UPBIN Bronx, N. Y. that a Phi Beta Kappa key? Oh, I beg your pardon!

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Fourteen MAS M I D merging of the spiritual Jewish life in this land and the loss of those qualities that have charac- terized Israel through the ages: steadfastness and devotion to his ideals, and readiness to sacrifice for the things he considered holy. Unendingly the emphasis in true Jewish life has been upon the ethical significances, upon the abiding values of the s pirit. And in this age, when the materialistic conceptions of pseudo-science and partial knowl- elge still flaunt their half formed theories as fun- damental laws of universal scope, science itself is tending to reassert those abiding values beyond the physical and temporal. Science and her hand- maid philosophy are moving again toward the realm of the spirit. The increased knowledge of the cosmos in the wide reaches of space and time and in the infinitesimal field of the electron and the quantum constitutes a turning point in man ' s understanding of the universe, causing a shifting in world-attitude back toward the emphasis on spirit- ual values, to the great truths of Judaism. The understanding is growing that science not only is to be applied to industry, but is mainly to serve humanity in its social, its spiritual aspects and ideals. By its contribution to this point of view, among its students and, through them, ultimately in the Jewish communities of the land, Yeshiva College hopes to play a part in the movement back toward the spirit, as well as in the discovery and interpretation of knowledge, and help toward an increasing understanding of and living in ac- cord with the high and eternal ideals, Israel ' s stead- fastness and spirituality. With the help of Him, Who is, the sublime source of all truth and blessing, this sanctuary of the spirit shall become the altar of which the Bible ;ays: It shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God. Out of its portals shall come a Jewish leadership — lay and spiritual — high in mind and spirit, conscious of its unique herit- age, striving to develop in this land a Jewish life spiritually satisfying and culturally creative, based upon the eternal foundations of the Torah, upon Israel ' s steadfastness and spiritually leading, to the service of God and our fellowmen. You, my dear young friends, have been taught the signi- ficance of values not to be measured in terms of practicability and gainful success, but rather in terms of human happiness, of intellectual and spiritual aspirations and fulfilment. Follow your convictions rooted in the Torah of truth and th? truth of the Torah, fearing neither struggle nor sacrifice. Acknowledge the sovereignty of God and your conscience and be the glad servant of your ideals. Hold fast to them, for in them h the fulness of your lives and the hope of mankind. The ultimate forces of life, which decide the course of human progress, are the spiritual forces. I end with the fervent prayer of our people: The Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers.