2008 Woodie Awards
Cardinals Visit Again Amid Student Pressure Against
Compromise Keeps Delegation Clear of Beit Midrash
Ari Fridman
Issue date: 3/8/05 Section: News
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Apprehensive over the lingering effects of last year's visit by Roman Catholic cardinals to Zysman Hall's Main Beit Midrash, Yeshiva administrators asked the latest group of cardinals visiting the Wilf Campus on Tuesday, March 1 not to wear their religious vestments, including crosses, or enter the Beit Midrash, a stop that had generated rabbinic unrest a year ago. The delegation agreed to the request without any reservations.
The cardinals were ushered around campus by senior students of Yeshiva's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In addition to meeting with RIETS officials Tuesday morning, the delegation, largely from Africa and Asia, included prime candidates for the papacy, also stopped at the SOY Seforim Sale. Their final stop consisted of a meeting with Yeshiva officials, including Chancellor Norman Lamm and two distinguished Roshei Yeshiva, where common hot-button issues like Islamic Fundamentalism and the confrontation with secularism were raised.
The delegation's visit punctuated a controversial week that began when an undergraduate student circulated a petition among his peers, opposing the group's planned visit to the center of Torah learning on campus, the Main Beit Midrash. A much less successful counter-petition circulated on the internet the week of the visit, garnering only 19 signatures as of press time. The Beit Midrash is seen as a landmark for the visiting cardinals, who have repeatedly expressed interest to Yeshiva leaders about witnessing havruta [Torah study in pairs] textual study. Last year's visit to the Beit Midrash left some students frustrated with what they considered to be a disruption of their learning.
The student circulating the petition insisted that he had initiated the petition on his own, and denied allegations that it was the product of a Rosh Yeshiva acting behind the scenes. The petition asked potential signatories to sign "if you oppose this visit or find it contrary to your beliefs as a Jew and/or as a YU student."
The cardinals were ushered around campus by senior students of Yeshiva's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In addition to meeting with RIETS officials Tuesday morning, the delegation, largely from Africa and Asia, included prime candidates for the papacy, also stopped at the SOY Seforim Sale. Their final stop consisted of a meeting with Yeshiva officials, including Chancellor Norman Lamm and two distinguished Roshei Yeshiva, where common hot-button issues like Islamic Fundamentalism and the confrontation with secularism were raised.
The delegation's visit punctuated a controversial week that began when an undergraduate student circulated a petition among his peers, opposing the group's planned visit to the center of Torah learning on campus, the Main Beit Midrash. A much less successful counter-petition circulated on the internet the week of the visit, garnering only 19 signatures as of press time. The Beit Midrash is seen as a landmark for the visiting cardinals, who have repeatedly expressed interest to Yeshiva leaders about witnessing havruta [Torah study in pairs] textual study. Last year's visit to the Beit Midrash left some students frustrated with what they considered to be a disruption of their learning.
The student circulating the petition insisted that he had initiated the petition on his own, and denied allegations that it was the product of a Rosh Yeshiva acting behind the scenes. The petition asked potential signatories to sign "if you oppose this visit or find it contrary to your beliefs as a Jew and/or as a YU student."