2008 Woodie Awards
Revel's Harmony: Both "The Yeshiva" and "Yeshiva College"
Will Lee
Issue date: 4/18/05 Section: YUdaica
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A pivotal figure in the preservation and growth of "Torah-true" Judaism in America and arguably the most significant educational leader of what would later be called "Modern Orthodoxy," Dr. Bernard Revel, founded the first yeshiva high school, advocated the major yeshiva day school movement which flowered long after he died, founded a small graduate school of Jewish Studies which later expanded and now bears his name, and founded Yeshiva College, the first college in America under Jewish auspices. Throughout his career he envisioned, preached, and actively furthered the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of Eastern European Judaism. He argued for adapting it to the new world without compromising traditional values based on halakha. The quest to understand the vision and motivations behind Revel's founding of three crucial educational institutions has led me to search through Yeshiva's archives for evidence in his writings, addresses, drafts, typescripts, and correspondence. In delving into these primary sources I am pursuing my long-standing interest in and hoping to deepen my understanding of the blending of Jewish and secular education for which Revel was originally responsible. On the basis of my research, I have come to see Revel as a both/and thinker who genuinely believed in the harmony of religious and secular wisdom.
Repeatedly in this essay I emphasize Revel's choices of words, metaphors, and formulations because they reflect his thinking. In this age of press releases and PR, it's important to emphasize that Revel carefully wrote and revised all his own articles and speeches, starting with a draft manuscript, which was then typed up. He would add hand-written revisions which would then be incorporated in a revised typescript, which he would then further revise until the process produced a clean final version. A remarkably consistent thinker and leader, Revel was nonetheless constantly striving to improve his positions, his strategies, and his choices of words.
Repeatedly in this essay I emphasize Revel's choices of words, metaphors, and formulations because they reflect his thinking. In this age of press releases and PR, it's important to emphasize that Revel carefully wrote and revised all his own articles and speeches, starting with a draft manuscript, which was then typed up. He would add hand-written revisions which would then be incorporated in a revised typescript, which he would then further revise until the process produced a clean final version. A remarkably consistent thinker and leader, Revel was nonetheless constantly striving to improve his positions, his strategies, and his choices of words.