The Fall semester brought highly engaging programming for students in the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College for Women. Dr. Cynthia Wachtell, director of the Program, selects and organizes events and speakers designed to broaden the Honors students’ horizons in diverse areas and provide insights and skills to take with them in their professional careers and personal lives.

Below is a recap of the events from the fall 2023 semester:

Tour of the YU Museum

In early September, students participated in guided tours of the exhibit, "The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries," at the YU Museum. The exhibit explores Maimonides' life and impact across centuries, continents, and cultures through rare manuscripts and books. Highlights of the tour included seeing manuscripts in Maimonides’ own handwriting, a carved 11th-century door to the Torah ark from Cairo’s Ben Ezra Synagogue and beautifully illuminated medieval manuscripts.

For more information on the exhibit, which has since been expanded to include additional Maimonides texts, visit: https://www.yu.edu/news/rare-manuscripts-handwritten-by-maimonides-on-display-at-yeshiva-university-museum-exhibit

A Conversation with Henry Moss

On Monday, September 11, over a hundred students from the S. Daniel Abraham Program at Stern College for Women were privileged to hear from Henry Moss, a remarkable man whose memories span nearly a century. He shared his recollections of prewar Jewish German life and his family's experiences in the lead up to World War II, as well as other historical events. 

Mr. Moss was born in Berlin, Germany and moved to NYC in 1936 at the age of twelve. He began his talk with a discussion about the end of World War l, Kaiser Wilhelm’s decision to abdicate the German throne at that time, Germany’s surrender in that war as well as its aftermath that led to World War ll.

He then described Hitler’s slow rise to power gathering allies in the 1920s, seizing opportunities in the 1930s and ultimately giving himself emergency authority that allowed him to become a dictator in a country with a democratic government.  Mr. Moss spent those years in Berlin, where he had an “easy childhood,” with summers at the Baltic Sea, but he also experienced antisemitism. He attended public school, but when Hitler passed the Nuremberg Laws, he had to switch to a Jewish one.  And he recounted a pivotal story that affected him greatly.  He, who did not look Jewish, was walking with a friend who did look Jewish, but was not. A young girl passed them and told Mr. Moss that he should be ashamed for being friends with a Jew. The girl then hit his non-Jewish friend and chased the boy away.

The event with Mr. Moss could not have been more timely, as antisemitic attacks are rising in the United States and around the world.

 

Confident Communication Presentation

On October 30, students participated in a workshop focused on confident communication. Following a relaxed group dinner, Dr. J Zoe Rapoport, director and founder of Rapoport Psychological Services, explored methods to better communicate with others in order to effectively feel seen and heard.

She began by explaining that confident communication is a style of speaking in which a person stands up for their needs while keeping the needs of others in mind and is important because relationships are more balanced with clear and honest communication. Among the excellent points she made to the students were: good communication should be clear, simple and minimize assumptions and that assertive communication is not the same as aggressive communication. In aggressive communication, your needs come at the expense of others; in confident communication, both your needs and other’s needs must be considered.

She also introduced the students to daily habits to improve communication, such as saying “no” more often, making eye contact, actively listening, taking time to respond, and taking a breath before responding.

Time Management

On Oct. 17, students heard from Grace Hochheiser of NYC Career Centers, who focused on strategies for effective time management.  

She began the session by defining time management, which is organizing time and using it effectively and productively, and noting that it is a process, not a quick fix. Ms. Hochheiser then explained its many benefits - increased productivity, better work quality, less stress, and growth opportunities. 

The first step to managing time, she explained, is to track your time: see where the time is getting spent, what you push off, and where your time is used inefficiently. She described the process as follows:  1. State what you want to accomplish with time management, 2. Put your different responsibilities into categories, 3. Log what you spend your hours on, and 4. Analyze the results.

She also described various time management strategies, stressing to the students that they should figure out what works best for them. For example, she explained the 1,3,5 rule: do 1 big task, 3 medium tasks and 5 small tasks a day. 

Broadway Show, Harmony

On October 26, honors students saw the new Broadway musical, Harmony. The show is based on the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a group of six young men in 1920s Germany that “took the world by storm” with their music and comedy routines, until the inclusion of Jewish singers put them in the path of a much bigger storm brewing.

As described by honors student Vered Gottlieb: The play started with an elderly gentleman reflecting on his past. In the 1920s, he was part of a group of men from diverse backgrounds, including some Jewish members, who formed a musical group called “The Comedian Harmonists.” The show presents the experiences of the group, including their success after some false starts, how they travelled the world as a group, and made the fatal decision to reject an offer to remain in America in the early 1930s. Back in Germany, the group eventually was forbidden to perform and then had to separate when the Jewish members were forced to flee.

The play was very emotional, particularly when seen a few weeks after the events of October 7th.  Nearly the entire audience was in tears at the play’s end, as the elderly gentlemen recounted the various fates of the singers, who never saw each other again.

The Opera, Florencia en el Amazonas

On November 16, the students visited NYC's Metropolitan Opera to see Florencia en el Amazonas. This modern opera by Mexican composer Daniel Catán tells the enchanting story of a Brazilian opera diva who returns to her homeland to perform at the legendary opera house located at the heart of the Amazon rainforest and her search for her lost lover who has vanished into the jungle. 

The opera was sung in Spanish with English subtitles.

 

A Conversation With Dr. Brian H. Williams

On November 28, the students were privileged to hear from Dr. Brian H. Williams, a trauma surgeon, professor, Air Force Academy alumnus, former congressional health policy advisor, and current congressional candidate from Dallas, Texas. Dr. Williams spoke about his experiences in the trauma bay and shared his insights on the history and current state of public health in America. He also discussed his new book, The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches from a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal. 

Alumnae Panel

On December 6, in celebration of the 25th year of the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program, students enjoyed hearing from a panel of accomplished Honors Program alumnae, who span a range of professional fields and years of graduation. The panelists discussed their careers and reflected on how they balance personal and professional goals and also offered valuable advice for students to make the most of their time at Stern College. 

The following are brief bios of the three panelists.

Eliana Rotenberg ‘09S - is a senior vice president of client services at Health Science Communications, a medical education agency supporting pharmaceutical companies. After graduating from Stern College with a major in biology and Jewish Studies, she completed a MA at Columbia University in biotechnology.

Davida Kollmar ‘13S - is a Data Scientist at Lakeside Software, a digital experience software company. After graduating Stern as a physics major, she earned a MA from YU’s GPATS program and later earned a MS in Data Science from NYU.

Rachel Rosenfeld ‘15S – is an Associate Client Director at NielsenIQ, where she leads one of the client success teams in the Retail Analytics department.  She majored in economics at Stern College and then earned a MA in economics at the CUNY Graduate Center.

About the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College for Women

With over 750 graduates, the Program was founded in 1999 with the goal of enhancing the college experience of high-achieving students. Students in the Program enroll in honor courses, enjoy faculty mentoring and complete a major research project.

Each semester, the honors program calendar features a rich variety of exciting extracurricular events that includes a speakers series, leadership workshops and an exciting array of outings to operas, plays, museums and other cultural destinations that draw on New York City's vast resources. Past outings include the plays Leopoldstadt and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish on Broadway, performances of La Boheme and Swan Lake at Lincoln Center, viewing the exhibit “Modern Woman” at the Museum of Modern Art,” and walking tours of Grand Central Terminal, Art Deco Manhattan and Central Park.

For more information about the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College for Women, please contact Dr. Cynthia Wachtell at wachtell@yu.edu and see the Program's pages on the YU website, where you can also apply.

Many thanks to Vered Gottlieb ‘26S for her help with the writing of this article.