By Shira Kramer, Managing Editor
Students on Yeshiva University’s Beren campus have started a petition in response to the current Hebrew language curriculum, pleading for different types of class offerings. Chloe Baker (SCW ‘26), the author of this petition, who is also the Senior Opinions Editor for the YU Observer, spearheaded it because she feels that the Hebrew classes are affecting students’ grade point averages and quality of learning; the 66 women who signed this petition concur.
“I write this letter not as a complaint but as an expression of my love and respect for Stern College and my hope to leave it an even better place than when I arrived,” Baker said in an email to Rebecca Cypess, Dean of Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women, with the petition attached. “A good institution listens to its students and evolves to meet their needs, and I am confident that YU is such a place.”
According to the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies, Beren students are assigned to Hebrew level classes based on a placement test taken prior to entering the university. Students are then required to take up to three classes, depending on their language proficiency.
“The Hebrew program, as it currently stands, has not been an enriching or stimulating experience for many students,” the petition said. “The online format, while convenient, often feels tedious and uninspiring, leaving students feeling disengaged and, at times, very frustrated.”
Students who place into Hebrew 1010 (the lowest Hebrew class) are required to take three Hebrew classes, students who place into Hebrew 1020 (the middle level class) have to take two Hebrew classes, and students who place into Hebrew 1030 or higher only have to take one class. Additionally, Hebrew classes count as Judaic studies courses, and therefore, are taken in place of other Judaic course offerings.
Eliana Hanstater (SCW ‘26) was placed in Hebrew 1010 based on the placement test and therefore had to take three Hebrew classes before graduating. “I feel it is extremely unfair because it all depends on if you had a strong background in Hebrew from high school,” Hanstater told the YU Observer. “It has taken away from my other [Judaic] subjects.”
In order to take Hebrew 1010, students must have more than basic Hebrew knowledge, Dori Berman (SCW ‘26) told the YU Observer. “When I first came here there was no class for people who don’t even know the alef bet,” Berman said. “Luckily they started teaching that but that still leaves the issue that there are people who are in between, people who know the alef bet but are not advanced enough for the Hebrew 1 course.”
Hebrew classes 1010-1030 are also offered asynchronously online, leaving students with little interaction in a course based on conversation . While the Hebrew courses have real professors who grade the work, they rarely engage with students otherwise.
“No matter how much I’ve tried to engage with the ‘professor’ on the other end of the online platform, I have gotten no help [and] no direction,” Yaira Katz (SCW ‘26) told the YU Observer.
As an education major, Katz believes that the Hebrew curriculum does everything she is taught not to do in her classes. “I’m studying to be a teacher, every single thing I’ve learned not to do is exactly what Stern’s Hebrew program online does,” Katz said.
Baker’s solution to the Hebrew department’s problems is to offer in person courses that teach Israeli history and pop culture. She believes that this would engage students and create a more comfortable learning environment.
“I do think that people here are interested in learning Hebrew,” Baker told the YU Observer. “So many people here want to make aliyah… having these ‘out of the box’ classes could make [learning Hebrew] more enjoyable.”
While the administration has heard complaints about the Hebrew language department before, there has been no movement on the requirements or course offerings. Dean Cypess, who started her role at YU this year, has expressed interest in hearing all student feedback in hopes to make students feel more comfortable in their own school.
“At the start of the fall 2024 semester, I assembled a faculty committee to discuss the Hebrew curriculum as part of our regular assessment activities,” Cypess told the YU Observer. “I appreciate and value our students’ constructive suggestions for the Hebrew curriculum, and I shared those suggestions with the faculty committee.”
While the student body has not yet been notified of what goes on in those meetings, Cypess promises that “once the committee’s work is complete, [they] will apprise the undergraduate community of the outcome,” she said.
The Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies declined to respond at this time to the YU Observer’s request for comment on this matter.
Photo Caption: The YU Beren campus
Photo Credit: Emily Goldberg / the YU Observer