NYC Gazette

In the fall 2024 semester, the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought is offering numerous courses for Straus Scholars and Yeshiva University students to study the great texts and traditions of Judaism and the West.

Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Director of the Straus Center, is co-teaching with Dr. David Johnson a new course titled “C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Theology,” which examines the views of these authors on various philosophical subjects, comparing them with texts of Jewish thought. Rabbi Soloveichik is also teaching courses on the medieval Jewish philosopher Judah Halevi (Kuzari), as well as a survey of Jewish and Western classical political theory.

Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, Deputy Director of the Straus Center, is leading a seminar at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education & Administration called “Teaching Tanach’s Impact on America.” This seminar explores how the Torah has influenced America's founding principles, its development of equality for all citizens, and how it has been used by those in power to advocate, inspire, unite, and fight.

Clinical Assistant Professor Rabbi Dr. Dov Lerner is teaching a course on Maimonides and Genesis. Resident Scholar Dr. Shaina Trapedo is offering “The Values of Verse: Sacred and Secular Perspectives,” which delves into how poetry yields sacred insight and secular wisdom. Senior Scholar Dr. Tevi Troy is co-teaching a course on the American presidency with Dr. Joseph Luders. Dr. Yisroel Ben-Porat, Program Officer and Lecturer at the Straus Center, is teaching “The Emergence of Europe,” covering Western Civilization from ancient Greece to post-Renaissance Europe. Other courses include “Kant & Halakhah” by Rabbi Dr. Itamar Rosensweig and “The Thought of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik” by Rabbi Shalom Carmy.

In addition to its course offerings, the Straus Center is convening weekly extracurricular reading groups that cover significant Jewish and Western texts. Rabbi Soloveichik leads a series focusing on theological and political writings about antisemitism's nature and their contemporary relevance. Rabbi Lerner conducts a public speaking workshop on delivering a dvar Torah; Dr. Trapedo’s group focuses on Dostoyevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment; while Dr. Troy covers modern Jewish essays.