Last week, during our last night at the second annual Hillel Institute of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, someone asked me about the seemingly numerousness of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) graduates in Hillel. In truth, in no way were YCT graduates the majority of rabbis there, but it was noticeable. For one thing, when we began the Beit midrash session on Wednesday morning, Rabbi Andy Kastner opened it up while Rabbi Ben Berger framed it for everybody. There were lots of options of 
sessions, although I chose to go to the one led by another two graduates, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Rabbi David Kasher.
I've already listed most of the YCT graduates at the conference, with the other three being Rabbi Seth Winberg, Rabbi Josh Feigelson, and myself. And while we have different positions,* we all are involved in our respective Hillels.
Having enjoyed not only the presence of YCT graduates last year, but also the responses regarding them, I was tremendously looking forward to seeing my fellow YCTers at the conference. I wasn't disappointed. Although the foremost reason for being excited to see them was having been trained in the same, special environment of YCT where there was not only a concerned discourse of general matters, but certainly when it came to Judaism (especially in (North) America), an intensive involvement with texts, and over
all awesomeness. However, what may have contributed not only to seeing each other being special and catching up with each other, but also another matter: while at YCT, there is a feeling (largely unarticulated, but something that I felt nearly every day there) that we had a lot of potential in revitalizing the (North) American Jewish community; at the Hillel Institute, we got to hear and see some of the amazing energy being actualized by our fellow graduates. Not only that, but we got to hear further ideas and be inspired by each other.
By far, my favorite aspect of the conference was the sessions where all of the rabbis got together (which is another discussion altogether); however, again, the YCT graduates stood out, especially since three of them were Senior Jewish Educators at their Hillels. I could see how the person who mentioned to me that YCT guys were all over could get that impression....
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*Aside from me, there was Rabbi Ben Berger ('09), senior Jewish educator (SJE) at the Hillel at The Ohio State University, Rabbi Josh Feigelson ('05), previously campus rabbi at Northwestern Hillel; Rabbi David Kasher ('07), SJE at Berkeley Hillel; Rabbi Andy Kastner ('10), campus rabbi for Washington University; Rabbi Seth Winberg ('11), associate director at U. of Michigan Hillel; Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz ('10), SJE at the Hillel at UCLA.
This week, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is holding its inaugural Hillel Institute, along with a Pre-Hillel Institute for new Hillel hirees that took place prior to the conference, which I am attending. One thing that has struck me is that a few people to whom I've introduced myself have remarked, once I identify wh
ich rabbinical school I attended, "I've not met a YCT guy I didn't like" or something along those lines. Although at first I caught myself wanting to facetiously say "You haven't met many have you?", I realized YCT does graduate good guys (which I like to call a 'kiddush Open Orthodoxy'). But it's not simply that, but also specifically within a Hillel context: that YCT graduates are excellent for enriching the lives of Jewish college students.
Moreover, there has recently been an explosion of YCT rabbis going into the campus rabbinate: there have been more graduates in the last two classes in the field than there were in the previous four. If you want numbers, out of the total 62 guys who have gone through the program and graduated, of the 20 graduates in the last two years, 7.5 of them have gone into the campus rabbinate (one of them is splitting his time between working in a shul and on campus), while six of the first 42 graduates went into it (and four remain in it at present).
And those numbers have been showing a little bit this week: the YCT guys are bringing a robust Judaism to the table. Interestingly, the primary theme for guided discussions this week has been balancing breadth and depth and, although Hillel has been working on the breadth aspect for years, the latter of which is something to where YCT graduates are poised to bring Jewish knowledge, wisdom, and tradition. What's fascinating to me is that, while a YCT student, I thought many times while in the course of discussions being held at school, speakers talking to us, or certain topics being tackled, we were at the forefront of rabbinic education and poised to lead the Jewish world to greater heights - but, at the time, it also seemed like mere pie-in-the-sky musings. However, seeing the YCT graduates here is definitely starting to make it seem a little bit more realistic.
Today, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz came to YCT and spoke about selihos (video). Having never heard him before, I wasn't sure what to expect (yes, he is a prolific author, some of which I've read, but I didn't know about him as a speaker). However, I thought he was great, especially really liking his humbleness and gentleness. Anyways, that is my two cents on that.
Oh, and, by the way, it's my birthday today.
It's been nearly two weeks since I first read a certain article printed in a certain haredi (ultra-Orthodox) paper questioning my school, that had been widely disseminated across the Internet and popping up on various blogs. While I had initially wanted to respond to the article in a thorough way, I was concerned, however, of not being properly able to respond to the concerns and questions brought up by the author of that article. In addition to that, I was also wondering about the time that that would take up. My sense of wanting to properly respond to various concerns were not being helped by reading the proliferation of blogs covering this issue - this topic was waiting to be addressed.
After a week of waiting and thinking it over, reading other blog postings, and reading comments threads, I wanted to put in my two cents' worth on this issue (if this had happened a year ago, I would have responded much earlier - trying to get a lot of readership, but have realized that that's not so important). I think there's a certain value to hearing from one within the institution under discussion, even if it is only from a student. However, fortunately, I held off and there are multiple responses to the issues brought up in the article. Most notably is the recent response composed by one of my rebbeim, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, wherein he deals with several of the issues brought up in the article. For a couple of other responses in the blogosphere, see Jonathan Baker's critique of the article as well as Rabbi Josh Yuter's posting.
Anyways, I think people were waiting to see if I had a response to the article. At this point, it's really not worth the effort as the Yatedniks are probably not going to be convinced, and a lot of Modern Orthodox people, like many I know have just laughed at the article, some saying it was a good promotional tool for YCT. However, I think there are a number of people who sincerely do not know what to make of the attack or of the school (perhaps they don't know much about the school or something) and would stand to benefit from a thought out response. Anyways, I'm satisfied for the time being with Rabbi Helfgot's response and I don't really feel like bothering to respond to the article (lest I legitimate it (hamevin yavin)).
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Postings discussing the recent article:
"YCT: Time To Take A Stand" | "Glass Houses Alert" | "Conflicted about YCT, Yated and R' Harry Maryles" | "Yated's YCT Critique Critiqued" | [untitled] | "Not Taking A Stand" | "The Challenge of Constructive Criticism" | "Yated Ne'eman's Latest Against Chovevei" | "Rabbi Chaim Rapoport -- Open Letter to the Yated Ne'eman" | "In Defense of YCT" | "A Letter from R. Nati Helfgot" | "In Defense of YCT" | "Is YCT Treif or Not?" | "Strange Bedfellows" | "Taking Each Other Down A Peg" | "Paradoxical Faith" | "What Makes A New Movement Acceptable?" | "Yated Exposes YCT as a 'Threat To Halakhic Judaism'" | "How mighty are the righteous...." | "Yated" | "YCT-Yated Ne’eman Dustup" | "The Yated - a Mamzer?"
A few weeks ago, an article came out in the Commentator on YCT (my school) entitled, "Who is YCT? A Look at Upper Manhattan's Other Orthodox Seminary", written by Zev Eleff. I was glad there was something written on it, the last article since Avi Robinson's of four years prior. So it was nice and there were also good little quotes sprinkled throughout. I saw two things in the article that I thought I may correct.
1) The article states, "Second year students study laws of family purity and mourning; the third year students focus on Sabbath and laws and the following year concentrates on kashrut." In truth, years 2-4 study these topics, but do so on a three-year cycle. For instance, I am studying נדה (menstrual impurity) this year, כשרות (kosher food) next year, and שבת (Sabbath) the following [and my last] year. Previously, the menstrual impurity section was done along with mourning, but it has now become part of our lifecycles curriculum.
2) The article states, "Only four students have left the school without graduating since its inaugural year." I do not know at how this figure was arrived. I can immediately think of at least a half-dozen students who have left the school in my two and half years there. Unless the number was arrived at by considering just the rabbinical students and not including the mechina/beit midrash students.
Just thought I'd set a couple of things straight. Shabbat shalom.
Last week, during our last night at the second annual Hillel Institute of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, someone asked me about the seemingly numerousness of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) graduates in Hillel. In truth, in no way were YCT graduates the majority of rabbis there, but it was noticeable. For one thing, when we began the Beit midrash session on Wednesday morning, Rabbi Andy Kastner opened it up while Rabbi Ben Berger framed it for everybody. There were lots of options of 
sessions, although I chose to go to the one led by another two graduates, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Rabbi David Kasher.
all awesomeness. However, what may have contributed not only to seeing each other being special and catching up with each other, but also another matter: while at YCT, there is a feeling (largely unarticulated, but something that I felt nearly every day there) that we had a lot of potential in revitalizing the (North) American Jewish community; at the Hillel Institute, we got to hear and see some of the amazing energy being actualized by our fellow graduates. Not only that, but we got to hear further ideas and be inspired by each other.
