8 April 23, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Yeshiva University Chancellor Dr. Samue Belkin Dies
NEW YORK, (JTA) —
Dr. Samuel Belkin, chancel-
lor of Yeshiva University,
distinguished authority on
Jewish law and Hellenistic
literature, died April 18 at
age 64.
Elected president of the
institution in 1943 when he
was 31, he transformed a
small college into one of the
nation's major universities,
f
O
JERUSALE
THE MOST UNUSUAL TOUR OF
THE CITY IN 40 CENTURIES.
For details
call your Travel Agent,
or El Al Israel Airlines.
24100 Southfield Rd.
Suite 315
(313) 557-5737
EL
AL
ON ANY TOUR YOU CAN SEE JERUSALEM
. . . ON THIS ONE YOU'LL BECOME PART
OF IT!!
• OTHER TOURS INTRODUCE YOU TO LANDMARKS, THIS
TOUR INTRODUCES YOU TO PEOPLE.
• YOU'LL COME AWAY WITH MORE THAN SNAPSHOTS AND
SOUVENIRS . . . YOU'LL COME AWAY WITH INSIGHTS.
the first in America under
Jewish auspices. During his
pioneering administration,
university status was at-
tained, the only liberal arts
college for women under
Jewish sponsorship was es-
tablished, and graduate
schools in medicine, social
work, -law, science and the
humanities and social
sciences came into being.
Under Dr. Belkin's lead-
ership, enrollment grew
from 850 to 7,000; the full-
time faculty from 94 to 1,-
500; the number of schools
and affiliates from four to
15; the annual operating
budget from $444,000 to
more than $100,000,000; re-
search grants totaling some
$25,000,000; degree recipi-
ents from a few hundred to
more than 16,000; and phys-
ical facilities from one
building in Manhattan's
Washington Heights to four
major campuses in Manhat-
tan and the Bronx valued at
more than $100,000,000.
Born in Swislicz, Po-
land, Dr. Belkin studied at
the yeshivot of Mir and
Radun and was ordained a
rabbi at Radun when he
was 17 years old. Arriving
in the U.S. in 1929 when he
was 18, he could speak
Polish, Yiddish and He-
brew — but no English.
Determined, however, to
continue his studies, he
mastered English, and in
1934 enrolled at Harvard. A
year later he was awarded
an honorary fellowship to
Brown where in 1935 he
earned a PhD degree and
was elected to Phi Beta
Kappa.
In the fall of that year he
was appointed an instructor
in Greek at Yeshiva College
(the men's undergraduate
college of liberal arts and
sciences of Yeshiva Univer-
sity). The next year he also
DR. SAMUEL BELKIN
became an instructor in Tal-
mud at the Rabbi Isaac El-
chanan Theological Semi-
nary, an affiliate of the
university.
Rising swiftly through
the academic ranks, he was
named secretary of the fac-
ulty at the newly organized
Graduate School (now Ber-
nard Revel Graduate
School) in 1937.
In 1939, Dr. Belkin was
appointed a member of the
executive committee of
Yeshiva College. He was
named a full professor in
1940. With the death that
year of Dr. Bernard Revel,
founder and first president
of Yeshiva College and head
of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary, Dr.
Belkin was named dean of
the seminary.
On May 25, 1943, Dr.
Belkin was elected presi-
dent. He immediately be-
gan a broad academic and
physical expansion pro-
gram whose first result
was the granting of uni-
versity status to Yeshiva
by the New York State
Board of Regents in No-
vember, 1945.
Last year Dr. Belkin was
named chancellor of Yesh-
iva University, retiring after
Don't be left out!
Join our completely new Franklin Racquet Club now.
20 indoor tennis courts
20 racquetball courts
5 outdoor clay courts
All new facilities — with health club and restaurant.
Good court times are going fast for the Fall season.
Call now for membership information:
352-8000
Y
•
32 years as president of the
institution, believed to be
the longest continuous term
of office among major uni-
versity presidents in the
nation.
A prolific writer, his
works included, "Philo and
Oral Law," "Essays in Tra-
ditional Jewish Thought,"
"The Alexandrian Halakha
in Apologetic Literature,"
"The Midrash Tadshe and
its Hellenistic Sources," and
"Questions and Answers in
Genesis and Exodus."
Dr. Belkin was a mem-
ber of numerous civic, edu-
cational, scholarly and
communal organizatir
including the World
demy in Jerusalem. Amer-
ican Friends of Hebrew
University, American
Academy for Jewish Re-
search, National Jewish
Welfare Board, American
Association for Jewish
Education, American Jew-
ish Historical Society,
Union of Orthodox Rabbis
of the United States and
Canada, Rabbinical Coun-
cil of America and the
Religious Zionists of
America.
He was also accorded
many honors and tributes
and was singled out on
many occasions by groups
representing all denomina-
tions for his outstanding
contributions to American
life.
BB Sees Need
for Basic Changes
in Jewish Life
PRINCETON, N.J. (JTA)
— New approaches to key
elements of American Jew-
ish life — from the role of
the synagogue and the fi-
nancing of education to
means of seeking a consen-
sus on political issues — are
required by ethnicity-
spurred major changes in
the nation's social, economic
and political patterns.
This was the dominant
conclusion emerging from a
conference of scholars and
laymen at a three-day Bnai
Brith conference on the
"unfinished agenda" of the
Jewish community. They
agreed that Jewish life has
lo cope with a new reality in
cultural pluralism.
Prof. Seymour Lipset of
Stanford suggested that a
stagnant American econ-
omy could lead to social ten-
sions, pitting blacks and
Jews "at war with each
other," as black leader Ba-
yard Rustin phrased it. Dr.
Leon Jick of Brandeis or--
tended public education
no longer "the glovviiig
ideal" for American Jews.
Prof. Henry L. Feingold
Baruch College said the
Jewish political voice lacked
"focus and coherence."
Philip M. Klutznick, a for-
mer Bnai Brith president,
proposed that the Jewish
community structure itself
to find a political consensus.
Lip of Truth
the NEW Franklin Racquet Club
1 ti
:It
6
Northwesterri Highway & Franklin Road — Southfield
The lip of truth shall be
established for ever; but a
lying tongue is but for a mo-
ment.
--L-Provetbs