PRESIDENT:

Jon Berliner

The great Hillel political theorist, Ari Gontownik, once said that there are two types of presidents: leaders and managers. A leader is someone who has a vision, sets high goals, and assesses the expectations of his or her organization. A manager is someone who is able to drive his or her peers, achieve results, perform consistently, and take responsibility. The ideal candidate for Yavneh president commands these two roles simultaneously with professionalism and consistency. The leader must represent his or her organization and hear the concerns of his or her constituents, while the manager must transform the leader’s ideas into realities. I am ready to integrate these two roles.

Since I have matriculated at Columbia, Yavneh has grown tremendously. The past administration set high goals, and fulfilled them. They called for more interdenominational programming, a warmer atmosphere, and creative programming. We need to continue meeting these goals with better programming that reaches farther audiences. As the largest student organization within Hillel with hundreds of members, we must guarantee that all of these students will find an adequate level of programming that suits their social and educational needs. Otherwise, we have failed our constituents as a Yavneh board.

One of the major enhancements to programming that I would introduce would be more regular programming that students will regularly utilize, otherwise known as the Sebrow Pool Table Model. Dov Sebrow, Yavneh President 5765-5766, proved that what creates cohesiveness in an organization are the routine, fixed things, like pool tables, in addition to annual events. Therefore, under my administration, Yavneh would add some fixed programs. Here are a few: Among them, a system to provide notes for classes from one year to the next (which I have experience in managing), a monthly Yavneh-wide Yom Iyun led by a graduate student or alumnus, and other, similar, programs. Perhaps the most important program in this area is a Yavneh peer counseling program, which would enable students to confidentially inquire of their peers those topics most on their minds, whether it is of religious or social concern. We can organize a weekly cooking chug, where students can share the finest of their culinary delights. This is all obviously in addition to more interesting and exciting social events and programming.

An important mission for Yavneh is also how its image will be exported to others both within our organization and beyond. We must address the needs of our graduate students by creating either a committee or a separate VP to integrate them into our programs. Graduate students can be a crucial resource in any peer advising or career counseling program as well. I would also challenge Yavneh with community-wide projects that we can be proud of, including publishing a semiannual Torah journal, a cookbook, and finally, perhaps the most important, a comprehensive guide for living on campus for religious Jewish students, which can be written in conjunction with other universities and members of the OCC as well.

Omar Siddiqi, current president of MSA, has sworn by regular communal meals to unite Columbia’s Muslims. Along these lines, we must reinvigorate the OCC and strive to have at least one intercollegiate shabbaton per semester, where we can share ideas and tighten our relationships with Jewish students at other universities. We must also strengthen our bonds with alumni by inviting them to campus for one Shabbat per semester. We can also have a community-wide dinner in Rennert on Simchat Torah, or a Shabbat dinner at the Jewish Home for the Aged nearby or other local institutions.

My experience has also demonstrated that I am more than capable of reaching these goals and fulfilling these visions. I am especially known for my creative ideas and task performance strategies. Some of my experience includes my position as a member of the National Board of Bnei Akiva of North America, a position I have held for two years. As part of this position, I am responsible for programming for university age students around the New York area. I have also written and conducted programming for two YUSSR trips (third in progress). In Hillel, I have been active in generating ideas for Yavneh programs for its various committees, served on the Seudah Shlisheet Committee, presented shiurim, and sold T-Shirts for Kesher. With this perspective on leadership and responsibility, I hope that you will share my vision and confidence in Yavneh’s future.

Ariela Rosenberg

My name is Ariela Rosenberg, I am a sophomore in Columbia College, and I am a candidate for Yavneh president. My involvement in Yavneh began almost immediately in my first year at Columbia, and I have since served on the Chesed, Shabbat and Chagim, and Education Committees. In addition to my involvement with Yavneh and other Hillel programming, I have prior leadership and communal experience from founding and running a non-profit organization in high school that has, at present, raised over $100,000 for victims of terrorism in Israel.

Beyond leadership experience I feel what qualifies me to serve as Yavneh president is my dedication to the Yavneh community and how important I believe it is. I am running for Yavneh president not only because I want to give back to the community, but also because I recognize the potential of our community. It is the ability of each individual Yavneh member to contribute so much to our community that makes it so great. I believe that Yavneh’s role, in addition to its basic function in providing for the religious needs of the orthodox community, is to create an environment and structure that allows for contribution and expression by all its members.

I view Yavneh as a community with many layers of interaction, the intra-communal, Hillel, Columbia, the New York orthodox community, and the community of orthodox campuses (OCC), and I believe that Yavneh should be engaged at each level. It is important that Yavneh members are able to participate at whatever level they feel is important and that, in general, all members feel comfortable participating in Yavneh.

Programming at each level might include: organized prospective student programming especially for Shabbat, pre-first year (before they even arrive on campus!) and first-year events, renewed Yavneh Think Tank, more Shabbat social activities, communication and coordinated programming with the larger Hillel, involvement in broader Columbia chesed opportunities, a continued relationship with the Muslim Student Association, more interaction and coordination with NYU (basketball anyone?), and renewed OCC activity.

I am very excited about the opportunity to serve the Yavneh community. From past experience, I am aware of the amount of energy and dedication it takes to run an effective organization, and I am prepared to make this commitment to ensure that Yavneh serves you well. I look forward to an exciting semester!

Zack Rosenberg

Yavneh is wonderful! Over the past year and a half, I have had the chance to take advantage of all that the Yavneh community has had to offer, with a wide range of people with many different interests and religious backgrounds. It has been a great experience. As your president, I would work to maintain the strong community that we have built through the years and ensure that all of our members have events that interest them. I am very happy to be a part of the Yavneh community and look forward to working with everyone.

As your president, I would also like to expand the opportunities available to us, both inside and outside of our community. One prospect to explore is New York City’s larger Jewish community. Last year, for example, different Jewish organizations came to Kraft, setting up a fair in order to present activities that are available to students. As your president, I would host that event again and expand it. Another area I propose checking out is the program offerings at the Jewish Museum, Israeli Film Festivals, and other Jewish venues that happen so often throughout the city. To add to this, I would also bring in interesting speakers from both the campus and metropolitan community and the ever-enlarging pool of overseas visitors.

During this past year, I have served as co-chair of the Seudat Shilishit Committee, helped organize the new 9 AM minyan, led services and leyned, and ran various tisches. And to TOP it all off (my HAT to you!), I learned to make a mean cholent! I would love to use my skills, experience, and imagination as your best president in history.

VP SOCIAL:

Debbie Goldschmiedt

I’ve been hearing rumors recently that people are considering making Butler their permanent home. I won’t deny that the thought has crossed my mind, but then I realized I was too stressed to fill out the “change of address” paperwork.

We are always studying hard and are constantly stressed out about our work. All of us, at one point or another, have had to decide between going out and having fun, or staying in and doing work. My goal as social chair would be to make “staying in” fun – to make social activities easily accessible and equally appealing in addition to organizing all the great off campus activities such ice skating and a Yankees game.

I have the experience to make this happen; for the past year and a half, I have served on the Yavneh social committee. I have helped put together Yavneh dinner decorations, participated in the Yavneh skit, and helped organize color war. I also initiated the Make Your Own Sushi Night in Kraft, which is a great example of the type of event I would like to see more of. The activity is close by and fun, and people can come and go whenever they want – if someone is stressed out about work, they can take a break to see their friends but return to Butler soon after.

Having been active in the community, I have really gotten a sense of what people in the community consider fun and enjoyable. I am enthusiastic about using my creativity, organizational skills, and hard work to continue fostering the social atmosphere at Yavneh. College is about working hard, but it is also about having fun. We all need time to socialize or just chill out, and I want to create opportunities for everyone to see old friends, meet new ones, or just take a break from class and the library.

Dena Nachman

Hi everyone! My name is Dena Nachman, and I am a sophomore at Barnard. Last year, when I first came to Yavneh, it seemed as if everyone already had their circle of friends from high school or Israel. I came here straight from high school, did random roommate selection, and did not know anyone in Rennert on my first Friday night. Needless to say, I felt slightly left out. Since then, I’ve made a few friends, both in the Jewish community and not. I essentially met people by walking up to them and introducing myself.

This year, I decided to get more involved. I joined the Yavneh social committee. Now, I’ve decided to run for VP Social. We need to have more events, events that will help everyone meet each other.

I am a member of Shalhevet, the Israeli dance troupe. Through dancing, I’ve met many people from outside our community. I’ve attended Yavneh, Koach, and Kesher social events, and have many friends in other Hillel groups. I feel that we could have wonderful social programs with other groups.

I love to organize social events. A prime example would be my last New Year’s party. I organized a five-course sit down semi-formal dinner party for my friends. I also cooked all the food for it.

One of my main goals, as the VP Social, would be to have more informal events where people could meet each other. I would re-work the big brother/big sister program, and create a housing system to set up potential suitemates. I would organize study breaks with cookie decorating, arts and crafts, and tee shirt tie dye/decorating. I would try to have a trip to the ballet, opera, or a Broadway show. If there was enough interest, I would create a book club.

Yael Steiner

The first time I visited the Columbia-Barnard community for Shabbat, I was amazed to find that student leaders were able to sustain such a large and dynamic group. I was particularly drawn to the social atmosphere of Yavneh and found myself marveling at the sight of hordes of people morphing into a fog of chatter with the removal of the mechitza after Friday night services. Then a senior in high school, I could not wait to become a part of this vivacious community and, ultimately, a leader who would ensure Yavneh’s continued success.

As a member of Yavneh’s Social Committee, I have been involved with the planning and execution of several fantastic Yavneh events. Early in my freshman year, I proposed the new idea of Yavneh Color War and worked diligently to make it happen. Not only did it happen, but it was an incredible success. The night featured dodgeball games (for the first time in Kraft!), an Apache Relay that had the players running all over campus, skits, songs, and a crazy simcha-dancing contest. It provided an opportunity for Yavneh’s diverse membership to have fun while working together in a team setting that did not involve presentations or lab reports. Nothing says togetherness (and messiness) like allowing someone else to feed you chocolate pudding while blindfolded.

I am committed to planning events that will inject lots of fun into what can easily become a stressful college lifestyle. This community is filled with over-achievers. But even the most dedicated student occasionally needs a break. I envision Football and Fondue in the fall semester. Mmmm…Tom Brady and chocolate covered strawberries…yummy. I have already enquired about reduced price events at paint-your-own ceramics studios. And good weather will undoubtedly bring great barbeques. My hope is that these events, relaxed in nature, will provide a forum for the wide spectrum of Yavneh members to interact and enjoy each other’s company.

I am open to new ideas and encourage all those who have an interest in the Social committee to get involved. I look forward to working with people within and outside of our community. I am seriously interested in expanding Yavneh Color War into a Yavneh-NYU Shalhevet Color War featuring an academic decathlon. It would be a superb way to foster school spirit and to assert Yavneh’s dominance as the pre-eminent Orthodox Jewish college community in the United States.

I love Yavneh. I am proud to be a part of this community. It would be my honor to serve as a student leader and improve what is already a wonderful place.

VP Shabbat/Chag:

Becky Abrams

Inspirational words about Shabbos:

He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life.

Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel (“The Sabbath”)

Practical suggestions about Shabbos and Chag at Yavneh:

Suite meals for freshmen

More tisches

More Carlebach-style davenings

Kiddush discussions, panels

Games at Kiddush

Expanded Rosh Chodesh breakfasts—donuts??

Mad fun chagigas

Why I’m running:

Because my mom always says: “Do what you love.” I love Yavneh and I love Shabbos. As Yavneh VP of Shabbos and Chag I would get to help organize the Friday night Dvar Torah, cholent competitions, and Shabbatons…what could be more fun than that??

Navah Kogen

Joe Yavneh’s Schedule - Friday 2/9/07 (Parshat Yitro. Candlelighting 5:05 p.m.)

7:30 Alarm goes off (first time). Hit Snooze.

7:53 Jump out of bed. Freak out. Get dressed.

8:00-2:00 Minyan/Work/Random Errands

2:30 Shower

3:00 Last minute Morton run

3:23 Look for squash kugel recipe.

3:34 Still looking...

3:47 Where is the recipe?!

4:15 Oh. In the recipe box. Right.

5:03 Get to Rennert.

5:05 Shabbat is here. Ahh...

We spend the week running to our 7,000 commitments, barely taking the time to wave at our friends as they pass. Thankfully, Shabbat is different. Suddenly, we have 25 consecutive hours to gather, relax, and get to know each other a little better. But even on Shabbos, time flies until the moment Havdalah ends, when we hurtle out of Kraft to get back to work (Let’s be honest: it’s not a melave malka if Orgo notes are involved. It’s not a party either.).

It’s time to revitalize our celebration of Shabbatot and Chagim. The rest of the week, we try to provide for all the many facets of Yavneh – learners, eaters, singers, and sleepers. What about Shabbat? It’s time for more tisches, and learners’ tisches to share unfamiliar zmirot. Remember the proposed Yavneh Cookbook? Next semester it will be on the website...Joe Yavneh could’ve used that at back at 3:34. We’ll have creative chagigas for Purim and Yom Ha’atzmaut, and evening Rosh Chodesh events for women (Don’t worry, guys will have bonding time too - led by the more mikvaically inclined).

Over the past two years I’ve had the privilege of serving on the Shabbat and Social committees, and running WNLP. I’ve seen firsthand how incredible our diverse Yavneh community really is, and I look forward to providing programs that appeal to everyone.

Exciting, unique, and fun Shabbatot and Chagim are right around the corner. Shabbatot and Chagim at school are already fantastic – now let’s make them even better!

Yael Weisfogel

I don’t know about all of you but I love chulent and I believe that shabbos at Yavneh should be like a good chulent. Chulent is like the perfect food. You can vary the ingredients- depending on what you like and it always tastes great. The key is putting it together. One might not eat barley on its own but the chulent wouldn’t be as good without it. So too Yavneh shabbos should reflect the individual ideas and preferences of those who attend. We may all come from different backgrounds but Yavneh shabbos is a time when we all come and blend together to make something awesome.

This is the essence of my platform- to create a shabbos that brings together all the uniqueness of each of its participants in an environment that can be enjoyed by all.

If elected for vp shabbos/chag my top priority would be getting input from as many people as possible to make Yavneh our own..

Some of my ideas are

- pot luck Kiddush- a cheaper Hot Kiddush option

- shabbos around campus- To increase variety amongst those that give d’var torahs each week a dvar torah will be given by someone from a different location. For example one week it could be given by someone from Carmen, the next week plimpton, the next e.c. etc .

- tish tournament- a fusion of the traditional tisch with games

- Choose your own shiur – a choice option to get more input from the community on what you want to hear about during shiur by your peers.

- More publicity for rosh chodesh breakfasts

So whether you are a pastrami chulent type of guy or a traditional chulent kind of girl vote for me and I will try and make Yavneh shabbos more like the chulent you love

VP Education/Initiatives:

Ayelet Boussi

Who I am:

1) I’m Ayelet Boussi (sometimes just Ayelet, and sometimes just Boussi)

2) I’m a sophomore at Barnard studying psychology and political science

3) I’m running for VP Education of Yavneh board

Things that I like:

1) Torah (occasionally with tea)

2) Israel, and all activities related to it (i.e., going to it, talking about it, hanging out with people from it… etc.)

3) Centrist Orthodoxy

4) This community (maybe that’s why I won’t go to any other school for Shabbos)

Why I want to be Education VP (a.k.a. “The Vision”):

1) Yavneh, as I understand it, is a community of Columbia students who value the place of Judaism and Halacha in their lives. Education, as I understand it, is a crucial part of the Jewish experience. They go hand in hand, and it’s a beautiful thing, and I want to be a part of it.

2) Columbia education on one side, Torah learning on the other, and Yavneh Education as the sort of keystone. It’s important to supplement the Columbia course load with learning that hits closer to home. The vision that I have for Yavneh Education is that it become a structure with the potential to provide Yavneh members with holistic and comprehensive learning experiences.

Why you can trust me:

1) I reeeally like this community. A lot.

2) I have been a member of the Columbia Beit Midrash Committee for the last two semesters, during which I was systematically schooled in all things logistical regarding Hillel. I was involved in arrangement and coordination of dozens of events over the last year, and I feel capable and competent for the responsibilities involved in this job

3) I was already on a Yavneh board (8th grade student council @ Yavneh Academy)

Things I want to do:

1) Inter-communal events; working together with other campus groups. We have a lot to teach other people, and we have a lot to learn as well.

2) Lectures by choice Columbia professors on topics pertinent (and maybe not so pertinent) to our community

3) Letting the greater Jewish community know what a tremendous resource we are; creating some sort of forum by which organizations and programs can find us

4) Revitalizing the Orthodox Campus Coalition and picking up inter-campus collaboration and dialogue

5) I plan on staying connected with the Beit Midrash Committee as well, and this of course means lots more Torah!

VP Chessed:

Shari Lichter

Throughout my time on the Columbia/Barnard campus, Yavneh has been a central component of my life. I have been especially drawn to the Chessed Committee and have been involved in much of the programming over the past year. As part of the Chessed Committee, I worked on the fundraising campaign for the family in Israel who recently lost their father during the war, helped with the Shana Tova cards, and last year’s Yachad Shabbaton. All initiatives been a great success, and I definitely plan to continue the Chessed Committee’s excellent programming, such as, the Yachad Shabbaton, fundraising for Israel, Relay for Life, pre-Pesach food drive, and Dorot. Additionally, I would like to implement a Yavneh Mitzvah Day, involving various Chessed opportunities for students to choose from, and collaborating with the Education Committee to bring in speakers to present on current social justice issues and then providing immediate opportunities for ways to actively help the situation (i.e. Darfur, the New Orleans Jewish community, recovery in the north of Israel). Of course, as VP Chessed, I would make it a priority to raise awareness to the Yavneh community about the importance of Chessed and strive to foster activism and involvement in every student.