A conversation with Margot Reinstein
“Student Leaders Speak” will feature interviews with SCW and YC student leaders about their initiatives to improve the Yeshiva University community. In this edition, The Observer speaks with Margot Reinstein about the new initiative, spearheaded by Nechama Yagod, to create a women’s Beit Midrash on the Wilf Campus.
Margot Reinstein begins her argument about the necessity of a women’s Beit Midrash on the Wilf campus with a very simple statement: “We’re always there. Let’s expand the Torah learning.”
It is a theme that remains constant throughout our conversation. Margot, the president of the Torah Activities Council at Stern College, is adamant that she is not campaigning for a women’s Beit Midrash uptown for political reasons, nor is she trying to make some sort of statement. She, like many other women at Stern College, simply wants to create a space where women can “go and learn.”
Women are constantly around the Wilf campus with spare time in between events and classes, Margot argues. “Some women are there for events, some for Revel classes, some are traveling home and some actually live there,” she states. “Why should the only place where we can go be the Heights lounge or the library, with all of the stigmas attached? It’s uncomfortable. Unless you have a boyfriend, brother, or someone else to see, there’s often nothing for women to do in the Heights. Give us something to do, give us a place to learn, I have no doubt we’ll use it. ”
Margot envisions the Beit Midrash as an all women’s space where all Yeshiva University women will feel comfortable learning. “Honestly, we’re not looking for a co-ed learning environment,” she emphasized. We’re not asking for this to be next to Gluck. It can be in Furst or a different building nowhere near where the men learn. We’re looking for a room where women can go on their own and learn.” Fervently, Margot adds “We’re coming from a genuine place.”
When asked what she imagines a typical night in the Beit Midrash will look like, she emphasizes that it is not meant to replace the Stern College Beit Midrash, but simply to serve as a supplement.
“It’s a go-to place for women when they have fifteen minutes before an event or twenty minutes before the bus leaves back to the Beren Campus. It’s a place where Revel students can have a chavrutah and a place where married women can learn when their husbands are out or at night seder. We’re not looking for events to happen there, we have our own Beit Midrash for that.”
She readily admits that the Stern Beit Midrash itself could use some revitalization, and adds that TAC is looking for ways to improve the atmosphere there. Regarding the Stern Beit Midrash, she says “The Beit Medrash Committee, headed this year by Penina Cohen and Penina Wein, is constantly working towards creating a more buzzing environment. I don’t believe people will start going uptown specifically to learn there. These initiatives aren’t a conflict of interests, it’s only a way to allow even more students to learn.”
Ultimately, these two ambitions are part of a larger goal: to further the Torah study of Yeshiva University women, no matter which campus they are on. As Margot concluded, “This initiative won’t detract from any Torah learning, it will only allow us to grow and learn more.”