YU News

Straus Scholar Jason Friedman (YC ’26) spent his summer interning for Judge Steven Menashi at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and assisting Dr. Tevi Troy, presidential historian and director of the Straus Center’s Impact Office. He gained firsthand insight into the workings of the…

Former Straus Scholar Aharon Soloveichik (YC’25) spent summer 2025 at the Beth Din of America in New York and Shaarei Shamayim in Toronto, where he deepened his skills in halakhic research, communal leadership, and Torah and Western thought in action.

The Straus Center has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support the publication of "Jewish Roots of American Liberty: The Impact of the Hebraic Ideas on the American Story."

Historian and author Andrew Porwancher met with YU students to discuss his new book, "American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt and the Jews."

Straus Center Deputy Director and Senior Advisor to the Provost Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern delivered the Constitution Day Lecture at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, on the topic of King David and the American founding.

This past academic year, Straus Scholar Rebecca Guzman interned with bestselling author Dara Horn at the Tell Institute, which aims to improve Jewish history education in K-12 schools across the nation.

The Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University congratulates Ezra Seplowitz ‘25YC on winning the 2025 Student Library Research Award for Honors Students. Seplowitz, a Straus Scholar alumnus, tied for first place for the award, which recognizes…

At the 19th World Congress of Jewish Studies, held this summer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Clinical Assistant Professor Rabbi Dr. Dov Lerner represented the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought of Yeshiva University on a distinguished panel entitled “Rabbi ...

On Monday, July 21, 2025, Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought staff and faculty participated as panelists at the Conference on the Future of American Jewry, a collaboration between the Rabbi Sacks Legacy and Reut USA. In anticipation of the United States’ 250th ...

Three Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought staff members were published in the July/August issue of Commentary, the storied magazine about American democracy, Western civilization and Jewish culture.