Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 8 text:

A History of Yeshivo With the completion of the 1952-53 academic year, Veshiva College reaches its twenty-fifth birthday. Although young by American college standards, Yeshiva now, more than anything else, represents a glowing tribute to those practical idealists who foresaw the vital role that it would play in the American Jewish community. The editors of The MASMID thought it would be fitting at this time to trace the development of Yeshiva College as part of its parent institution — Yeshiva University, whose growth has paralleled that of many great American academies of learning which also began as theological seminaries. Yeshiva College, with its inception on September 25, 1928, was o natural outgrowth of the Yeshivath Etz Chaim, first founded in 1886. Ten years after the Etz Chaim Yeshiva began to function, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Semi- nary was founded in memory of the revered sage of Kovno, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor, who had re- cently passed on. This was the first advanced yeshiva in North America in which the curriculum was exclu- sively devoted to Talmud and Rabbinic literature. Situ- ated at 156 Henry Street in downtown New York City, the school was supervised by Rabbi Benjamin Arono- witz, its one-man faculty. In 1908, a conference of rabbis, recognizing the students ' growing needs for a more general education, permitted them to also attend secular institutions. It was felt that the future rabbis would thus be better prepared to serve on the American scene. And sig- nificantly enough, it is this idea of service to the com- munity that has been the guiding principle in the development of Yeshiva University. In furtherance of this idea, the Talmudical Academy High School was organized in 1915 as an integral part of the Yeshiva. That year also witnessed the merger of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Semi- nary with the Yeshivath Etz Chaim. The enlarged institution, with Dr. Bernard Revel as Rosh Ha-Yeshiva, moved to more spacious quarters at 9-1 1 Montgomery Street. The first Smicha Convocation was held on March 23, 1919. The Teachers Institute, originally opened by the Mizrachi Organization of America in 1917 for the 301-3 East Broadway Amsterdam Avenue at 186th Street

Page 7 text:

n Dedication to the twenty-five years of Yeshiva College. They hove, indeed, been years of achievement if only because they represent an experiment v hich once again is proving that Judaism is ever a dynamic way of life readily giving of its timeless values and constantly adopting itself to progress. What is most important, Yeshiva College is young and it is its youth which impels it onward to greater things. The future not only ofFers an oppor- tunity to smooth out the rough edges that still may exist; the future represents a fertile field in which Yeshiva will continue to make its contribution to the American Jewish community. The Class of 1953.

Page 9 text:

training of orthodox Hebrew teachers, became part of the Yeshiva in 1921, and once again the Yoshiva moved, this time to 301-3 East Broadway. A charter amendment by the Now York Stale Board of Regents in 1924 granted the institution the right to confer the degree of Doctor of Hebrew Literature. Meanwhile, plans were being formulated for the es- tablishment of Yeshiva College, and at the end of the year, the Yeshiva College Building Fund was launched. On May 1, 1927, the cornerstone was laid for the present main buildings on Amsterdam Avenue and 187th Street. These buildings, erected at a cost of two and one-half million dollars, were dedicated on December 9, 1928. Classes, having begun that Sep- tember at the Jewish Center of New York, were now moved to the new buildings. The College faculty consisted at first of sixteen men. Among them were Dr. Revel, President; Dr. Shelley Ray Saphire, Secretary of the Faculty and Professor of Biology; Dr. Bernard Drachman, Instructor in German; Dr. Jekuthiel Ginsburg, Assistant Professor of Mathe- matics; Mr. Abraham Hurwitz, Instructor in Physical Education; Dr. Moses L. Isaacs, Instructor of Chemistry; Dr. Isaac Husik, Lecturer in Civilization; an d Dr. Nelson P. Meade, Lecturer in History. Tuition was $300.00 per year. No exact figures are available concerning the num- ber of students in the first class, but it is known that nineteen students received the Bachelor of Arts degree at the first commencement which was held on June 16, 1932. By that time the faculty had already doubled, comprising a total of thirty-three members among whom were included Drs. Pinkhos Churgin, Leo Jung, Alexander Litman and Kenneth F. Damon, and Yeshiva had begun the publication of its world- famous mathematics journal, Scripta Mathematica. One year later, the charter was amended to give Yeshiva College the right to award the honorary de- grees of Doctor of Humane Letters and Doctor of Laws. The following year Dr. Alexander Brody began teaching history and Dr. Eli Levine, the first Yeshiva College graduate to join its faculty, was appointed chemistry laboratory assistant. In 1935, the first graduate courses were given at the College and two years later the Graduate Depart- ment was organized as a separate division. Yeshiva now had 174 students and 46 faculty members includ- ing Dr. Samuel Belkin, Instructor in Greek; Mr. Samuel Sar, Instructor in Bible; Dr. Joseph B. Soloveichik, Lec- turer in Jewish Philosophy; and Dr. Jacob Hartstein, Acting Registrar, all of whom had joined the College faculty in 1936 along with Drs. Sidney Hoenig, Ralph First Faculty of Yeshiva College First Graduating Class of Yeshiva College. 1932 Dedication of Main Building, 1928