Mar 2, 2021 By: lberlinger
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, students attending the weekly Honors Luncheon of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College discussed how to apply for graduate fellowships and scholarships with Dr. Shalom Holtz, associate dean of Yeshiva College, and Dr. Betty Sugarman, coordinator for external affairs and pre-law. They were joined by special guest Rabbi Chaim Strauchler ’99YC, ’04BR, ’05R, senior rabbi at Shaarei Shomayim, a synagogue in Toronto, Canada.
Rabbi Strauchler received the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship after his studies at Yeshiva College and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary to study at the University of Oxford, and he related stories of his experiences there in order to impress upon the students the benefits of pursuing such graduate fellowships.
“Rabbi Strauchler encouraged our students to bring what makes them special, as highly-educated American Jews, into a broader, international intellectual conversation,” said Dr. Holtz, adding that “Rabbi Strauchler is a living, breathing example both of what a Yeshiva University alumnus can gain from a fellowship and what the fellowship community might gain from a YU alum.”
As Dr. Sugarman noted, “Just going through the application process for an external fellowship teaches you how to think better, write better and present yourself more successfully.”
After listening to the presentations, Nir Solooki ’24YC commented, “Rabbi Strauchler opened my eyes to what graduate school was actually like and expressed the difficulties and differences between undergraduate and graduate school. He explained the potential value it may hold and was overall very insightful.”
Dr. Eliezer Schnall, director of the Honors Program, noted that this was one in a series of informative honors luncheons designed specifically to help students further their academic and professional goals.