Yeshiva University Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership

Learn more about this week's Bright Spot: former Impact Scholar Marc Eichenbaum! ✨

Shavua tov!

Please enjoy this week’s newsletter, which delves into the gates found throughout our history and in our own lives. “In life, we walk through many gates to master knowledge, to gain entrance into community, to pray with sincerity, to join with others in justice, and to reach outside our comfort zones to strangers and to adventure.”

Read more here: https://shorturl.at/X5863

Get to know this week's Bright Spot, former Research Scholar Neti Penstein! ✨

Shavua tov! This week’s newsletter explores the spirit of research, and how it has evolved in recent years.

Mazal tov to all our graduates! We are so proud of all you have accomplished and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Read more here: https://shorturl.at/SdM25

Meet our newest Leadership Scholars! We are so excited to welcome our fifth cohort, who will begin their studies at YU this fall!

Hailing from communities across North America—including Chicago, Silver Spring, Woodmere, Memphis, Toronto, and Teaneck—we look forward to supporting and encouraging these future leaders as they grow, lead, and make a lasting impact on their communities and beyond.

Learn more about Cohort 5 here: bit.ly/4wQjDOD

✨ Get to know this week’s Bright Spot, Writing Workshop participant Yosef Chaim Reiss!

Learn more here:
https://shorturl.at/zMrSx ✨

In honor of Shavuot, please enjoy this Ruth Reader featuring words of Torah from our Rohr Scholars: https://shorturl.at/V4ZGg

Wishing everyone a Chag Sameach!

Thank you to our Bright Spot of the Week, Research Scholar Tziri Lamm! ✨ Swipe to learn more!

As the semester comes to a close, we hosted our final Leadership Scholars event of the 2025–2026 year and shared an emotional farewell with Cohort II, our seniors who will be graduating next week. It was especially meaningful to celebrate alongside many of their parents as well.

Throughout the evening, each member of Cohort II reflected on how the Leadership Scholars program- the lessons they learned and the relationships they built- helped shape the people they are today. As Avi Dadon (SSSB ’26) shared during his final presentation, “I cannot wait for what the future has in store for us. It’s a scary moment, like we said, but let’s stay optimistic. Even as we each move into our own fields, careers, lives, and families, no matter how far apart we may grow, I think we’ll always remain inherently connected.”

Mazal tov to Rachel Amar, Bat-Tzion Atik, Avi Dadon, Rockie (Frankenthal) Kluk, Sierra Goodman, Boaz Kahn, Dani Minkove, Eli Novick, Zehava Shatzkes, and Ari Smith on their upcoming graduation! We are so proud of all you have accomplished and cannot wait to see what comes next.

“The Jewish story ends without an ending. It closes without closure… Jewish time is open time — open to a finale not yet realised, a destination not yet reached. The future can and will be better. The best is yet to come.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Shavua tov! As we approach Shavuot and the giving of the Torah, this week’s newsletter explores the meaning of mountains:

“Mountains are also an important symbol. In the Sinai story, they remind us that we can do hard things. The more something demands of us, the more we value it.”

Read more here: https://shorturl.at/ZFX3j

Artwork by