By YU Observer Editorial Board
Each month, the YU Observer will provide a brief summary of news pertaining to Yeshiva University and the world at large. For the April 2022 edition, the following were deemed among the most paramount. Feel free to explore the links on our website for more information.
YU NEWS
- The YU Observer appoints the first male leadership in the paper’s history: Benjamin Gottesman as Editor in Chief and Aaron (Yitzy) Shaykevich as Managing Editor.
- With the policy suspended since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Yeshiva University reinstalled and outlined a new policy on April 5, 2022 allowing visitors into campus buildings and dormitories.
- Yeshiva University sent 27 students to Vienna, Austria, from March 13 to 20, 2022. These student volunteers aided and celebrated Purim with Ukrainian refugees, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
- Sy Syms students will no longer require its students to take First Year Writing. Instead, students will take a new course focusing on business writing.
- From March 13 to 15, 2022, 300 students gathered in Stamford, Connecticut, for YUNMUN XXXII, an event which took place over Zoom last year due to COVID-19.
- In mid-March 2022, two separate incidents of antisemtic harassment, including one instance of assault occurred in the area surrounding Wilf Campus. The NYPD is currently investigating.
- The President’s office canceled a scheduled Cardozo Law School event featuring noted Anti-Zionist Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi. In response, a petition requesting Rabbi Berman apologize to Abdulhadi was signed by over 100 Cardozo students.
- Open to men and women, the Yeshiva College Drama Society (YCDS) will be performing Lee Blessing’s “Oldtimers Game” with showtimes on April 4, 6, 7, 10, 2022.
WORLD NEWS
- Rav Chaim Kanievsky, one Judaisim’s most revered Rabbi’s, passed away at the age of 94 in Israel on March 18, 2022. Known affectionately as “Sar HaTorah” [Prince of Torah], Rav Chaim was known for finishing kol haTorah kulah [all of the Torah] before Pesach each year as well as his prodigious and encyclopedic knowledge of shas. Yehi Zichrono Bracha.
- The United States Senate held hearings for President Biden’s pick to fill Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson. When confirmed, Justice Jackson would be the first woman of color to hold a seat on the court.
- As Russia continues its violent siege of Ukraine, President Biden calls for more sanctions to be placed on Russia by neighboring European countries. President Biden also declared Russian actions in the city of Bucha “war crimes” after “Russian forces retreating from a Kyiv suburb [Bucha] left behind dead civilians lining the streets.”
- Pakistani Prime Minister, Imram Kahn, dissolved the country’s parliament in an attempt to block a vote of no confidence following months of a dramatic downturn in the economy. Khan accused America for interfering with parliament in order to have him removed from power and called for an election to elect new members of parliament to occur in the next 90 days; the United States denied any wrongdoing.
- Amazon workers at a Staten Island Amazon location successfully voted to unionize. This is the first successful attempt at unionization for Amazon workers after years of attempts.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for individuals who are immune compromised or over the age of 50.
- 6 individuals were killed and 12 injured in a shooting in Sacramento, California on April 3, 2022. The shooting occurred near a nightclub in downtown Sacramento at about 2 am. Police believe the shooting may have been caused due to an argument caught on security cameras but police have yet to confirm a suspect or motive.
- Elon Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder after he purchased 9.2% of the social media app’s stock. In total Musk invested about $2.9 billion. This comes after Musk’s criticism of Twitter’s censoring of political candidates. It is unclear whether Musk will have much decision making power or what changes he would like to see being made at the company.