Articles by Chesky Kopel

A World Burning With Divinity: An Interview with Mrs. Sherri Mandell

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
Sherri Mandell is the author of the book The Blessing of a Broken Heart and co-director of the Koby Mandell foundation, which supports families bereaved through terror and other tragedies. She undertook both of these endeavors after the tragic murder of her son Koby and his friend Yosef Ishran ... Read more →

Editors’ Thoughts: A Remarkable Student Body

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
Four years of involvement with Kol Hamevaser, including two years with its editorial board, leave me feeling sentimental. I have tremendous appreciation for the staff writers, the larger community of event participants, and the readers, especially those among them who confront us with their ... Read more →

A Late Twentieth-Century Pogrom, Made in the USA: What We Talk About When We Talk About the Crown Heights Riot

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
The Events On the evening of August 19, 1991, the Lubavitcher Rebbe departed Crown Heights on his weekly visit to the graves of his wife and his father-in-law, the Frierdiker (Previous) Rebbe, in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens. The Rebbe’s motorcade included, at this point in his life, ... Read more →

In Memory of Three Great Jewish Visionaries

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
When the prophet Eliyahu ascended to heaven in a mighty whirlwind, drawn by horses and chariots of fire, his disciple Elisha bore witness to an event at once magnificent and unspeakably traumatic. Elisha remained on earth, bereft of his beloved teacher, and cried out, “Father, father! The ... Read more →

An Interview with Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
Note to readers: Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg has served as the director of the Morris and Gertrude Bienenfeld Department of Jewish Career Development and Placement for Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future since 2005. After serving as associate rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of ... Read more →

Editors’ Thoughts: Kings and Queens of Flesh and Blood

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
An obscure midrash called Aseret Melakhim describes the reigns of ten kings who ruled or will rule over all of humanity, “from one end of the world until the other.” Among the stories and interpretations there appears the following account: “The eighth king is Alexander [the Great] of ... Read more →

Staff Editorial: Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Yeshiva University, and the Jews

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
The creation of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought last year afforded a special opportunity for Yeshiva University. Among the student body and the Modern Orthodox communities who look to YU as a flagship, there was great hope that the Center would serve as a much-needed academic ... Read more →

An Interview with Dr. Micah Goodman

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
Note to readers: Dr. Micah Goodman is Rosh Midrashah of Ein Prat- The Academy for Leadership, lectures on Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, serves as a senior fellow in Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and teaches on numerous Tikvah Fund programs. In recent years, Dr. Goodman has ... Read more →

The Gerizim Address

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
In a time of terrible instability and violence in pre-monarchial Israel, a prominent family is massacred by one of its own. Seventy siblings are slaughtered on one stone by their brother. Only one, the very youngest, survives, for he had gone into hiding when the killing began.[i] His underdog ... Read more →

A Jerusalem of Bizarre Thrills

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
Reviewed Film: Footnote (Hebrew: He’arat Shulayim), Dir. Joseph Cedar, Perf. Shlomo Bar Aba, Lior Ashkenazi, Alisa Rosen (United King Films, 2011). “The reception of my film here in [New York City] is especially crucial for me, second only to its reception in Jerusalem. Not because there ... Read more →

“The Government of Israel Believes in Education”…for Some: Schooling for Israel’s Arab Citizens

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
1 “In order to eliminate and prevent discrimination within the meaning of this Convention, the States Parties thereto undertake… Not to allow, in any form of assistance granted by the public authorities to educational institutions, any restrictions or preference based solely on the ground ... Read more →

Editors’ Thoughts: A Magazine and its Visions

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
Welcome to a new year of Kol Hamevaser, born in an ever-changing Yeshiva University. In our communities, both here in New York and elsewhere, a new year means new opportunities and frustrations, conversations and controversies. Already in the opening weeks of this academic year, we at Yeshiva ... Read more →

David, Son of Jesse

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
“And I will dishonor myself even more, and be low in my own esteem…” (King David) [i] It was a momentous celebration in the City of David. The Ark of God had been rescued from captivity, and throngs of people paraded it through the streets, rejoicing as they had never done before. Young ... Read more →

Now in the Five Towns: Chronicling the Year in Israel

By Chesky Kopel | Comment ()
“The year in Israel is a relatively secretive phenomenon, a closely guarded mystery whose inner workings are known only to the students who have already experienced it.”[1] The year in Israel experience has become a centerpiece of the Torah education process in many of our communities, ... Read more →