The Commentator

From its beginnings in 1956, Yeshiva University featured one of the finest yeshivot for students with little or no background in Judaic studies - The James Striar School ("JSS") of General Jewish Studies. JSS owed most of its success to R. Moshe Besdin, the long-time director of JSS, one of the finest and, sadly unacknowledged, mechanchim [educators] in the United States. After I graduated from JSS, I learned that R. Besdin had also served as a rabbi in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Washington Heights; and Kew Gardens, Queens as well as a teacher and administrator at Yeshivat Dov Revel in Forest Hills, Queens before becoming the director of JSS. R. Besdin impressed upon my classmates and I the importance of becoming literate in the basic traditional sources of Torah and in showing honor for Talmidei Chachamim. I firmly believe that any proficiency that I gained in Torah sources and a desire to learn was a direct result of my four years in JSS.

In 1971, as part of the admissions process, I first met R. Besdin during my interview. We briefly discussed my level of observance. I felt as if I was in the presence of someone who was both a kindly father figure and a demanding teacher. R. Besdin asked me to read from the Siddur, and inquired as to my textual level. At that point, I was unable to translate a verse in Chumash, read Rashi or understand even the simplest Mishnah or passage of Talmud. I also became acutely aware of a very important factor. I realized that NCSY had provided me with an inspiration to become a Shomer Torah u-Mitzvot, however, I was missing the intellectual basis that would be the building block of a Jew's life - the ability to learn and to appreciate the profound and sweeping nature of Talmud Torah. Thus, in 1972, I entered Yeshiva College and JSS.

I quickly learned that R. Besdin frowned upon the use of any "crutches" in the classroom such as a linear Chumash and Rashi or the Silverman translation. In contrast, R. Besdin encouraged us to buy and use R. Charles B. Chavel's works on Ramban. We learned how to translate a verse in Chumash, and to learn Rashi, Ramban and Ibn Ezra from the text. R. Besdin emphasized that we first had to master "it," meaning textual proficiency before we could talk "about it," in the sense of expounding upon our then meager knowledge of the philosophy of Judaism. As one of my chavrutot once noted in our decision to learn from Hebrew texts, "Kli sheini aino mevashel" [Ed: regarding the laws of shabbat, generally we assume that the kli sheini, the secondary vessel, meaning the container into which hot liquid was poured, will not have the ability to cook]. R. Besdin abhorred learning from any source that was not a sefer.

Under R. Besdin's leadership, JSS was one of the main addresses for Ba'alei Teshuva of all orientations. Our class included many alumni of NCSY, some Chabadniks, and others who sought to gain textual proficiency in Chumash, Mishnah, Talmud and Halakha. R. Besdin also accepted students who had a formal day school education, but who had not been given the proper tools and motivation in "learning how to learn." For those of us who had never formally learned Torah in a classroom, we understood that JSS presented us with an opportunity to literally transform ourselves via "learning how to learn." This process would be accomplished by being exposed to some of the finest minds in the American Orthodox community. The students who arrived with some background realized that they could learn and be inspired to learn as never before in their lives.

R. Besdin treated all of us alike in class and insisted that we prepare and study as if we had never opened a Chumash before we had entered his class. Regardless of our educational level, R. Besdin treated all of us as equals who were expected to approach Chumash, Rashi and Ramban with excitement and on an adult level. Although we read the pesukim together, we were all expected to prepare the pesukim, Rashi, Ramban and any other textually based commentary on our own. We spent many hours preparing so that we would be ready to read and explain the meforshim if R. Besdin called on us to read in shiur.

To this day, whenever I open Chumash Bereishis and go through Rashi and Ramban, I hear R. Besdin and his voice urging a class of "trumpenickers" to work on "it" as opposed to "about it." R. Besdin believed strongly that the exposure of a challenging mind to Torah would serve as the basis for change in hashkafa and attitude, as opposed to the belief that one must adopt a way of dress and then dive into learning. In other words, R. Besdin knew that the process of change for a motivated JSS student was a lifelong process that was always underscored by a commitment to Torah study and observance. In this regard, R. Besdin was unimpressed by students who appeared "yeshivish" but who were unable to grow in their abilities to handle the text. The emphasis on learning "it and not about it" set JSS apart from other yeshivot that attracted Ba'alei Teshuva. This educational philosophy was based on the attitude that one taught a child first to crawl, then walk and run through life. In other words, one first had to become literate in the classic Torah sources before one could expound upon the "philosophy of Judaism" or the "Jewish approach" to any subject.

Although we did not have a dress code, R. Besdin had an ingenious way of detecting whether you wore tzitzes without you being aware of his inspection. If you raised a question that was excellent but tangential in nature, you were a "darshan" [expositor of Torah lessons]. R. Besdin also reviewed the material that would be covered on his tests. When I look back on those test pamphlets and my notes, I am amazed at the commentaries that R. Besdin utilized "outside of the text" such as Medrashim, R. Samson Raphael Hirsch and many other Rishonim and Acharonim. In retrospect, this approach enabled many of us to crawl, walk and then run as we gained more confidence in Chumash with Meforshim, Mishnah, Talmud and Halakha.

If you were in the late morning class, the class ended with Mincha. A crowd of students always escorted R. Besdin back to his office, where he would always be available for discussions on a wide range of issues, even as he discussed Divrei Torah with other JSS and other Judaic studies faculty members. I recall that many Talmidei Chachamim, such as R. Jacob Rabinowitz, R. Louis Bernstein, R. Joseph Wanefsky and R. Norman Lamm, were frequent visitors to the JSS office.

R. Besdin was also a wonderful administrator and faculty talent scout. The JSS faculty had young Talmidei Chachamim, including R. Mordechai Willig and R. Hershel Billet. It was only many years later that I discovered that the JSS shiurim in Mishnayot Berachot served as the foundation for R. Willig's sefer Am Mordechai. When we switched to Perek Hamafkid [the title of 8th chapter of Massechet Bava Metzia], we seemed lost, especially after we "thought" that we had just gained some basic skills in Mishnayot. Part of the problem was that we just did not realize that our rebbe had to water down a very difficult Talmudic portion. We also did not realize that our rebbe also expected us to act, walk, talk and dress as Bnei Torah. One morning, R. Willig devoted an entire shiur to this rapidly growing communication gap between us and discussed these issues. After that morning, we all noticed that we understood our rebbe's "lingo" and the shiur with fewer difficulties.

We were also exposed and treated to R. Benjamin Blech and R. Shlomo Riskin, two of the then younger up and coming stars in the American Orthodox rabbinate. In R. Riskin's shiur, when we learned Massechet Shabbat and Massechet Beitzah, he brought in a frum physics professor from Yeshiva's [now defunct] Belfer Graduate School of Science to discuss the scientific aspects of fire and electricity. However, we covered Perek Klal Gadol [the title of seventh chapter of Massechet Shabbat] and Perek Kirah [the title of 3rd chapter of Massechet Shabbat] in a very traditional way primarily with Rashi, Tosafot, Rambam, Rosh and Rif. My notes from those shiurim include references to the Chiddushei Torah and various views of R. Joseph Baer Soloveitchik, R. Moshe Feinstein and the Eglei Tal.

If you had the temerity to ask a question in a way that showed a lack of respect for a Rishon, R. Riskin would let you know very clearly that you were not fit to shine that Rishon's shoes, let alone ask a question in a presumptuous manner. I distinctly recall that R. Riskin encouraged all of us not to become "Riskiner Chassidim," but to develop as Bnei Torah and to find times to learn Torah, despite our choice of a career. R. Riskin also impressed upon us that the study of every detail in a sugya that dealt with what seemed an obtuse Av or Toldah was a uniquely halakhic way of "sweating the details" because these details defined the essence of Shabbat as refraining from Melacha. R. Blech had a masterful approach to hashkafic issues. In addition, R. Blech also had an amazing and encyclopedic approach to Chumash Shemot. R. Riskin and R. Blech also were available for help in aiding many students in their striving to become fully observant and to deal with their parents in a respectful manner.

Other jewels of the JSS faculty were R. Shaya Siff, R. Pesach Oratz and R. Meir Fulda. R. Siff taught us that we must love the Talmud, even when there were assumptions in the text that ran against our mid 20th century sensitivities. While R. Siff expected high standards of his students, those students who sacrificed their summers to learn in the JSS Kollel saw R. Siff out of the classroom and in a totally different light with his family. Those of us who were in Camp Morasha in the Kollel for the summer of 1973 remember how we all learned with the able assistance of R. Siff, R. Oratz and our two Shoelim Umashivim, R. Hershel Billet and R. David Silber. If you were in the JSS Kollel, you also stood in awe and respect of the MTA Kollel that was led by R. Yitzchak Cohen. As we arrived for shul, R. Cohen and his talmidim already were in the middle of a Mishnah Berurah shiur. R. Oratz took our levels of knowledge of Chumash to a level where we appreciated the nuances in the Chumash, Rashi and Ramban in Sefer Vayikra. To this day, I can hear R. Oratz's gentle style whenever I learn any of the parshiyot from Vayikra through Kedoshim and his soft-spoken disappointment when I did not do as well as he expected on one of his tests. R. Oratz also underscored the importance with which he viewed Torah study. I remember vividly how he would look at you if he entered the classroom and you were reading a newspaper, as opposed to preparing or reviewing for the shiur. Many of us entered RIETS or were given the opportunity to enter RIETS after our junior year.

For those of us who stayed in JSS, we became students of R. Fulda. R. Fulda always would ask us after the LSAT or a similar test how the test went, even if we had missed his shiur. R. Fulda also helped many of us deal with basic questions of emunah and hashkafah as well. In fact, we saw by sheer strength how R. Fulda gave up smoking after a very severe heart attack during our year. An added bonus of R. Fulda's shiur was that if you became close to him, he would serve as the Mesader Kiddushin at your wedding.

We also gained from exposure to the presence of Gedolei Yisrael on our campus. R. Besdin encouraged all of us to hear the public lectures of R. Joseph Baer Soloveitchik, especially the lectures on Ta'anit Esther. I recall sneaking into one of the Yahrtzeit shiurim in the Beit Midrash and hearing R. Soloveitchik give a shiur in his inimitable fashion. I did not follow the lecture, but I could see how the entire audience sat there, entranced by every word. We also always saw R. Soloveitchik scurrying across Amsterdam Avenue escorted by a large contingent of students. If your dorm room was in Morgenstern, no bigger zechut existed than to daven with R. Soloveitchik either in the main minyan or in a minyan in the Morgenstern office adjacent to his apartment in the lobby. These experiences left an indelible impression on all of us.

During our years, we also saw R. Dovid Lifshitz either giving a shiur or walking to the Beit Midrash. R. Lifshitz was very fond of JSS students and frequently asked us what we were learning. R. Lifshitz especially seemed to know that JSS students had a special desire to learn that surpassed that of many students who had been learning for many years and that their presence inspired others to learn more as well. On one of the many Shabbatot that I spent on campus, I davened at a minyan at the apartment of the late R. Michael Bernstein, which was in the same building or one near R. Lifshitz. On the way in for the minyan, I met R. Lifshitz and we spoke about my being in JSS, what we were learning and where I was davening. I will always cherish that seemingly random encounter with a Gadol BaTorah. I also recall that during the study week of our junior year, a number of JSS students decided to prepare for our Talmud final in the main Beit Midrash. While we were studying, R. Lifshitz walked in and started talking in learning with us. This led to a mussar shmuess in beautiful Hebrew that left us all inspired to learn with greater dedication.

Another source of inspiration was the RIETS Kollel. For most of the day, we would pass by the third floor Beit Midrash in Furst Hall. We had no idea of what Gemara was being studied, let alone the names of many of the Talmidei Chachamim in that room. Some of us knew that some of the talmidim in that Beit Midrash valued Talmud Torah so much that they were willing to walk away from Ivy League law school acceptances. I occasionally davened Mincha at that minyan. Although I tried to daven slowly, I still felt that I had finished my Shemoneh Esrei way in advance of everyone else in the room. Somehow, I watched and saw how Gedolim such as R. Hershel Schachter and R. Mordechai Willig understood that one must have an appreciation for the meaning of the Shemoneh Esrei and awareness of standing before God. The Chazarat HaShatz in that Beit Midrash always was a teffilah that seemed to me like Neilah on Yom Kippur.

In retrospect, R. Besdin had an enormous impact on us students both inside and outside of the classroom. Many of us in JSS went on to careers in the rabbinate, Jewish education and other professions. I will always recall my years in JSS as the building blocks of my Jewish education. Those four years gave me a love and appreciation for learning "it," as opposed to "about it." During those years, I developed a fundamental love for Torah and appreciation for Talmidei Chachamim.

I pray and hope that the recently established Mechinah Program succeeds in instilling its students with these attitudes today.

Mr. Steve Brizel, YC '76, JSS '76, Cardozo '79, lives with his family in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens.

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