Early this morning, former Yeshiva College dean Dr. Norman Adler passed away in Yerushalayim. My experiences with him were examples of the ideals this group so often discusses and debates. Dean Adler's impact on me, as well as all the students at Yeshiva during his tenure as dean, remain a powerful component of my perspective and especially my teaching philosophy.
I won't attempt to describe his academic or scholarly career see: [
en.wikipedia.org] for details), because it was outside of those roles that he had the greatest impact on my life and the lives of my fellow students. Nowhere else on the YC campus was there a more tireless advocate for student rights, student advancement, and student achievement. If there was an initiative that encouraged creativity, activism, or ingenuity (especially in the areas of the arts or technology), you can be sure Dean Adler was there. While perhaps the real-life paradigm of the absent-minded professor, Dean Adler nevertheless recalled every conversation and tidbit and cared for the development and progress of every student, even those long graduated.
But the most important aspect of Dean Adler's personality for the purposes of this group was his view of Torah U'Madda. That phrase wasn't in much use on the YC campus when I was a student, as few knew what to make of it or how it could inform our education. It was Dean Adler who relished what he called the "healthy tension" brought on by philosophical and even halachic conflicts between Torah and the many secular pursuits studied at Yeshiva. He was ecstatic that students struggled with explicit content in art classes or racist composers in music classes. The conflicts, he believed, inspired the students to think more seriously, to make moral choices for themselves that a sheltered intellectual existence prevents. The true meaning of Torah U'Madda, to his thinking, was in the conflict, not in the elimination of the conflict. Every confrontation brought one's observance closer to the fullness of God's Creation.
Dean Adler's academic and religious life were a whirlwind of accomplishment and challenge, as he reached the heights of scholarly achievement, then turned his life upside down to become a fully committed, religious Jew - and an example to anyone who thought such things were impossible. May his memory be a blessing to every teacher of any subject who forces hard questions on students, who pushes for complexity and deep thought, and who is never satisfied with the easy answer.
