10:23 AM
Gil Student
Menachem Butler is running a contest for those who can answer the following question:
Why should a course in American Jewish History be offered to undergraduates at Yeshiva College?The following was my answer, which won me a G-mail account. To be fair, it was inspired by an excellent speech I heard earlier this month by Richard Joel.
YC graduates have been and will continue to be the men who shape the American Jewish community. They are the rabbis, administrators, politicians, lobbyists, opinion makers and lay leaders who define the direction of Jewish society. How can they do that without the tools to fully understand the background and nuances of the different segments and institutions of American Jewry? How can they continue a legacy that they do not fully understand? And how can they learn from the mistakes of history without ever studying it?
