New York University

Since the beginning of the current spring semester, students at NYU have participated in the L’SHMA Lecture Series, an innovative lecture series that brings leading Orthodox rabbis, academicians, and thinkers to the Bronfman Center every Wednesday night to confront the opportunities and challenges that University life present to students.  Funded in part by JLIC, L’SHMA students have heard topics on such wide ranging topics like “Homosexuality and Orthodoxy” delivered by Orthodox Union Executive Vice President Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Weinreb, “Can Talmud Be Studied in The University” taught be REITS Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Dr. Jeremy Weider, “What Would You Go To Jail For” delivered by Rabbi Avi Weiss, Dean and founder of YCT Rabbinical School, and “Can Mikvah Make Your Marriage Happier” taught by a Dr. Michelle Friedman who chairs the Pastoral Counseling Department at YCT Rabbinical School. 

One of the cornerstones of the L’SHMA lecture series has been to involve the Judaic Studies faculty at NYU in the religious life of the Hillel.  David Avraham, an NYU Junior and one of the forces behind L’SHMA, recalled that “after spending two years in Israel before university, the transition was quite difficult.  In yeshiva, tens of rabbis are available to answer a wide array of questions.  In university, however, with only one or two university rabbis serving a community of over 500 students, we are fortunate to have professors who can be asked important religious questions.  My exposure to such professors through L’SHMA has allowed me to feel much more comfortable in approaching these professors and asking them to address my questions and concerns.”

To accomplish this goal, L’SHMA recruited the Professor Lawrence Schiffman, Chairman of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and an world expert on Jews in antiquity, to deliver a lecture on the topic “Who Was a Jew? Jewish Identity from Antiquity to the Present.” Several weeks later, Professor Micah Gottleib, who specializes in the Modern Jewish Thought spoke on the topic “Is the Torah Historically Accurate and Does it Matter?”, an issue that most Orthodox university students grapple with during their college years. 

L’SHMA has been instrumental in developing a new culture of intellectual engagement and religious intensity on the NYU campus. One student described how his experiences has changed his college experience: “L’SHMA has allowed me to engage my peers in a new way; the weekly lecture often sparks dialogue and debate, whether after daily morning tefillah [prayer], in the Kosher cafeteria, on Shabbat, or even in class.”

Similarly, Jordanna Birnbaum, Education Chair of Shalhevet, the Orthodox group on campus, commented that “L’SHMA lecture series has been an interesting and eye-opening experience for me.  I have met people from different religious backgrounds and I have developed a new sensitivity to controversial issues. L’SHMA has spurred conversations and debate around campus on topics that are intrinsic to our identity as the Jewish people. I feel more connected to the NYU Jewish community as we join together to explore different ideas.”

Henriette Kadosh, an NYU undergraduate student from Englewood, also described how listening to speakers from a variety of viewpoints has deepened her understanding of Orthodoxy: “L’SHMA has been an eye opening series of lectures where I have had the privilege to hear a variety of Modern Orthodox issues from several unique and special speakers.  From conversion to feminism, it was interesting to learn about different approaches to these controversial issues.  Over the course of these lectures, I have gained insight into how to make a “modern orthodox” balance with what could be taken into extreme in our world today.”

Another result of L’SHMA has been to attract new students to the Hillel community.  David Avraham commented that “by covering a diverse and provocative array of topics, L’SHMA has attracted a wide variety of students and community members.  I personally have met many new people through L’SHMA with whom I now have contact regarding the issues that we heard in the lecture.  For example, after a recent lecture by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hirsch Weinreb ("Homosexuality and Orthodoxy: A Conversation"), I have had email contact with one of the community members who heard about the lecture from the Bronfman Center website; we have been back and forth about the issues that were discussed and debated in Rabbi Weinreb’s lecture.  L’SHMA has not been limited, for me, to Wednesday nights, but is an ongoing experience that will continue provoking my interests throughout and beyond the semester.”

Follow-up has been important for sustaining the L’SHMA community.  All the lectures are digitally recorded and are accessible on the NYU Shalhevet website.  Additionally, and more importantly, L’SHMA lecturers make themselves accessible to students.  One student commented that “each lecturer has stayed after his or her lecture to speak one-on-one with students; many students now have relationships w/the lecturers.  I have been in contact with Elana Stein Hain who lectured on “Law, Narrative, or Mythology?  The Essential Characteristics of the Torah” on the topic ever since her lecture, and she has been more than willing to give her time to address my concerns, suggest reading materials, and continue the discussion that was sparked from her lecture.”

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