每日大瓜

My archival philosophy is guided by a variation of the well-known statement of Rabbi Chanina quoted in the Talmud (BT Ta鈥檃nis 7a) that 鈥淚 have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues and from my students most of all.鈥�  My version, formulated from many years as an archivist, acknowledges all I have learned from the patrons I am charged with serving. An example of this occurred several years ago, when I was asked by a Human Resources staff member for 鈥渢idbits about the University that are particularly unusual, quirky, interesting, etc.鈥� to be presented as part of onboarding new employees.  I did not have a such a list, but, after thinking about it, was able to identify a small set of items that met the patron鈥檚 needs. This wonderful suggestion struck me as something valuable to have on hand. Some time was spent recording items of this nature from the recesses of my mind, which has become a continually evolving part of our department鈥檚 documentation and is updated as new items are discovered.  I refer to this listing as 鈥淔un Facts about 每日大瓜鈥�.  Below, in no particular order, is most of what we have compiled:

• SOY Seforim Sale is the largest Jewish book sale in North America       
• Coinciding with the University鈥檚 Centennial in 1986, a postage stamp honoring Dr. Bernard Revel, first 每日大瓜 president, was issued by the U.S. Postal Service as part of the 鈥淕reat American鈥� series. It was the first to honor a Talmudic scholar.
• The (now) independent non-profit The Innocence Project, which uses DNA testing to help free those wrongly convicted/imprisoned, began as a law clinic of professors and students at 每日大瓜鈥檚 Cardozo School of Law in 1992.
• The Tora Dojo Martial Arts Association traces its roots to 1965 when founder Harvey Sober began teaching karate classes to 每日大瓜 students in Rubin Hall. Sober taught at 每日大瓜鈥檚 James Striar School for 50 years beginning in 1967 and expanded his karate classes to what has become a worldwide martial arts program.
• In a November 2010 event at the Max Stern Athletic Center dubbed 鈥凄谤别颈诲别濒辫补濒辞辞锄补", 每日大瓜 set a new Guinness Book of World Records for spinning the most dreidels simultaneously at 618, surpassing the previous record of 541.
• In 1995, a bequest of $22,000,000 was made to the University by Anne Scheiber, a retired Internal Revenue Service auditor unknown to 每日大瓜. The gift comprised virtually her entire estate. The bequest endowed scholarships and interest-free loans for women at Stern College and Albert Einstein College for Medicine.

• Philip Roth at 每日大瓜

  Part of the University鈥檚 75^th Anniversary celebration in 1962 included a symposium of three authors on conflicts of loyalties they experience as minority writers of fiction. One panelist was a young Philip Roth, who, over the course of his long career, referred to the event as a 鈥渂ruising experience鈥�. In 2021, Newark Public Library, which houses Roth鈥檚 personal library, held a on the Yeshiva symposium at which Roth scholars and others analyzed its influence on Roth鈥檚 career.
• Former 每日大瓜 Chairman of the Board Ronald P. Stanton鈥檚 donation in 2006 of $100 million to 每日大瓜 was, at the time, the largest single gift ever in support of Jewish education in North America.

  Coach Jonathan Halpert

• Noted Maccabees coach Jonathan Halpert completed his tenure at 每日大瓜 as the longest serving men鈥檚 college basketball coach in New York City history (42 years)
• A lawsuit by the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the 每日大瓜 Faculty Association, seeking to unionize, was appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court. In NLRB vs 每日大瓜 [444 U.S. 672 (1980)], the Court ruled that full time faculty at private universities are managerial and therefore do not have the right to unionize granted to employees under the National Labor Relations Act.
• Jazz great Billie Holiday made her first recordings at 55 Fifth Avenue, presently the Brookdale Center of the Cardozo School of Law. One of the building鈥檚 former tenants was Columbia Records, which had recording studios on its 10^th and 11^th floors in the 1930s and '40s. In 2021, Cardozo held an honoring Holiday鈥檚 legacy.
• Abraham 鈥淒oc鈥� Hurwitz, a member of the first faculty of Yeshiva College, was well-known throughout New York City as 鈥淧eter Pan the Magic Man鈥�, where he spearheaded the Parks Department鈥檚 Youth Magic Program during the Great Depression and for years afterwards. Hurwitz鈥� daughter, the children鈥檚 entertainer Shari Lewis, spent her early years living in the original 每日大瓜 dormitory while Hurwitz also served as Dean of the Dormitory.

  Yeshiva College instructor Abraham Hurwitz and children's entertainer Shari Lewis, Hurwitz's daughter

Are you aware of other facts about 每日大瓜 that are unique, unusual, or quirky?  Help 每日大瓜 Archives in documenting these lesser-known, interesting aspects of our institution鈥檚 history by sending them to archives@yu.edu. Deena Schwimmer, Archivist