2008 Woodie Awards
YUIC Shabbaton Draws Over 300 Students
Dennis Prager, Norman Podhoretz, Ruth Wisse Spend Shabbat At Yeshiva
Elyasaf Schwartz
Issue date: 3/29/05 Section: News
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Over 300 students gathered together for the weekend of Shabbat, March 12, to probe issues involving Israel and anti-Semitism. The Shabbaton, sponsored by the Yeshiva University Israel Club (YUIC), featured notable speakers Dennis Prager, a syndicated radio talk show host, Dr. Ruth Wisse, a professor at Harvard University, and Norman Podhoretz, Editor at Large for Commentary Magazine, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rabbi Yehuda Felix, Head of the Jewish Agency's Formal Education Delegation, also spent Shabbat with the students.
Following the Friday night meal, in a speech entitled "Israel and America: Then and Now," Podhoretz surprised the mostly right-wing audience by supporting Israeli PM Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan. Podhoretz, a staunch opponent of the Oslo Accords, hinged his optimism on President Bush's continued pursuit of democracy in the region, and attributed the new circumstances in the Arab world to Bush's efforts.
After the Shabbat morning services, Dennis Prager posed the question, "Are America and Israel alone in the World?" and singled out the sense of chosen-ness they share. He asserted that anti-Semitism takes root in the Jewish belief that they are the Chosen People because people have "a suspicion that it's true." Prager challenged the students, asking them, "What is the Jewish role in America?" The discussion, guided by questions from impassioned students, also covered the friendship evangelicals are offering to Israel. YUIC co-President Dovid Wildman commented "It was gratifying to see students grappling with the issues, challenging the speakers, and discussing the role of Israel and American Jewry amongst themselves."
Later in the day, Dr. Wisse addressed the students with a speech titled "The Great Jewish Political Experiment: Success or Failure?" She spoke about Jewish adaptability to external circumstances and societies throughout history. Wisse claimed that this adaptability explains why Jews are highly overrepresented when tallying civilization's accomplishments, citing nobel prize winners in literature as an example.
Following the Friday night meal, in a speech entitled "Israel and America: Then and Now," Podhoretz surprised the mostly right-wing audience by supporting Israeli PM Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan. Podhoretz, a staunch opponent of the Oslo Accords, hinged his optimism on President Bush's continued pursuit of democracy in the region, and attributed the new circumstances in the Arab world to Bush's efforts.
After the Shabbat morning services, Dennis Prager posed the question, "Are America and Israel alone in the World?" and singled out the sense of chosen-ness they share. He asserted that anti-Semitism takes root in the Jewish belief that they are the Chosen People because people have "a suspicion that it's true." Prager challenged the students, asking them, "What is the Jewish role in America?" The discussion, guided by questions from impassioned students, also covered the friendship evangelicals are offering to Israel. YUIC co-President Dovid Wildman commented "It was gratifying to see students grappling with the issues, challenging the speakers, and discussing the role of Israel and American Jewry amongst themselves."
Later in the day, Dr. Wisse addressed the students with a speech titled "The Great Jewish Political Experiment: Success or Failure?" She spoke about Jewish adaptability to external circumstances and societies throughout history. Wisse claimed that this adaptability explains why Jews are highly overrepresented when tallying civilization's accomplishments, citing nobel prize winners in literature as an example.