17 Jun
Uncategorized

Shuttering Yale's Center on Anti-Semitism

By Symi Rom-Rymer Yale University announced yesterday that it is closing its Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism (YIISA). According to Thomas Mattia, an official from the university’s Public Affairs office, the center is being closed down because it “was found in its routine faculty review to not have met its academic expectations.” Faster than you can say ‘anti-Semite,’ Yale’s decision has launched a contentious debate.  Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called it “particularly unfortunate and dismaying” and a victory for anti-Jewish groups.  David Harris of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said it would “create a very regrettable void” in anti-Semitism scholarship. The trouble seems to stem from a 2010 YIISA conference entitled ‘Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity’ which focused on anti-Semitism in the Muslim world.  According to the Jerusalem Post and other Jewish...

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17 Jun
Uncategorized

Shuttering Yale’s Center on Anti-Semitism

By Symi Rom-Rymer Yale University announced yesterday that it is closing its Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism (YIISA). According to Thomas Mattia, an official from the university’s Public Affairs office, the center is being closed down because it “was found in its routine faculty review to not have met its academic expectations.” Faster than you can say ‘anti-Semite,’ Yale’s decision has launched a contentious debate.  Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called it “particularly unfortunate and dismaying” and a victory for anti-Jewish groups.  David Harris of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said it would “create a very regrettable void” in anti-Semitism scholarship. The trouble seems to stem from a 2010 YIISA conference entitled ‘Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity’ which focused on anti-Semitism in the Muslim world.  According to the Jerusalem Post and other Jewish...

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04 Apr
Culture, History

Skulls, Bones and Jews at Yale

by Amanda Walgrove On March 28, TIME published an article "outing" Yale's Eliezer Society, entitled, Yale's Secret Society That's Hiding in Plain Sight. Truly a baby in terms of Yale’s history, Eliezer’s 1996 conception was the brainchild of three Jews and a Baptist—Rabbi Shmully Hecht, Ben Karp, Michael Alexander, and Corey Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey—who formed an underground community that encouraged Jewish leadership and intelligent religious discussion. Far from actually being "secret," the society is known for its invitation only membership and self-selecting channels of private networking. Approximately ten students are nominated and tapped annually by members and founders. Yale University, founded in 1701, has produced its fair share of infamous secret societies, most notably, Skull and Bones, whose creation dates back to 1832. Dominated by Christian males for decades, Skull and Bones alumni...

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