2008 Woodie Awards
Years of Study, Years of Growth
Earl Klein
Issue date: 3/29/05 Section: YUdaica
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My four years at Yeshiva College 1943-1947 were a defining period in my life. During those years I gathered the resources and established a course of action that directed my life. I wanted to attend Yeshiva because I wanted to function and be educated in a more Orthodox atmosphere, and I wanted to continue my Talmudic studies. I came to Yeshiva from Los Angeles, where the Orthodox young people were few. All of us who were observant and of high school age knew each other. I had attended Hollywood High School where more non-Jews were absent on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of studio work than Jews who were observing the holy days. In those days many Jews would not acknowledge their Jewishness.
When I arrived at Yeshiva, it was a school in transition and poised for growth. The institution had earlier lost two prominent leaders, Dr. Bernard Revel, president, master builder and founder of Yeshiva College; and R. Moshe Soloveichik, rosh yeshiva at RIETS and father of the illustrious R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Dr. Samuel Belkin was chosen as president in 1943 to fill Revel's post, and R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik took his father's shiur. Dr. Belkin had previously been a rosh yeshiva at RIETS, taught Greek in Yeshiva College and was an outstanding scholar. He made it his business to know every student in the school. I recall that when I was a senior, he called in every graduate and took an interest in each one's plans for the future. He had often said he wanted the school to produce the "Yeshiva Man," a special kind of personality, who would be recognizable as a product of Yeshiva College.
California had furnished only a few students up to that point. It was in those days a three-day trip to New York by train. I was not entirely prepared to compete especially with the New Yorkers, who had passed Regents Exams. Yeshiva requirements were demanding, and I am grateful for that. I was not sure what studies I wished to pursue. One early subject that fascinated me was a "Survey of English Literature," taught by a new professor, Dr. David Fleisher. I enjoyed his classes to the extent that I decided to major in English Literature. I took his classes in the Romantic poets, Victorian poets, and Milton's Paradise Lost.
When I arrived at Yeshiva, it was a school in transition and poised for growth. The institution had earlier lost two prominent leaders, Dr. Bernard Revel, president, master builder and founder of Yeshiva College; and R. Moshe Soloveichik, rosh yeshiva at RIETS and father of the illustrious R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Dr. Samuel Belkin was chosen as president in 1943 to fill Revel's post, and R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik took his father's shiur. Dr. Belkin had previously been a rosh yeshiva at RIETS, taught Greek in Yeshiva College and was an outstanding scholar. He made it his business to know every student in the school. I recall that when I was a senior, he called in every graduate and took an interest in each one's plans for the future. He had often said he wanted the school to produce the "Yeshiva Man," a special kind of personality, who would be recognizable as a product of Yeshiva College.
California had furnished only a few students up to that point. It was in those days a three-day trip to New York by train. I was not entirely prepared to compete especially with the New Yorkers, who had passed Regents Exams. Yeshiva requirements were demanding, and I am grateful for that. I was not sure what studies I wished to pursue. One early subject that fascinated me was a "Survey of English Literature," taught by a new professor, Dr. David Fleisher. I enjoyed his classes to the extent that I decided to major in English Literature. I took his classes in the Romantic poets, Victorian poets, and Milton's Paradise Lost.