In the video, an enthusiastic Miranda, briefly appearing himself, narrates over footage of YU in action and famous figures associated with the University. He speaks as to what makes the school great, and asks that from noon to noon this week, September 20, to 21, video watchers give money to a matching program that will quadruple each donation. The goal is $5 million.

We have so many questions. Why is Miranda not rapping? Did he write the line about “dreidel spinners?” How long did they have him in the studio? Was this done in one take? Where can we get that t-shirt he’s wearing? And of course, why is he doing this?

There are a few obvious connections. Miranda is, rather famously, from Washington Heights, and he is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate from YU before Hamilton elevated him from theatre great to household name (way to get in on the ground floor there, guys!). Another connection is that Miranda’s mother, Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda is an assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which the University owned until last year; the medical school will stop giving out YU degrees after 2018.

But aside from all of this, it’s a bit bizarre that the superstar is making this plea for the ailing university, speaking to its “unique” values. Maybe he’s just renewing his Philo-Semite cred (you’re doing fine, Lin. You have like, a decade on the clock before you have to replicate anything like your wedding video).

It’s been a busy few years for the officially Jewish university. As Yair Rosenberg wrote for Tablet:

On the one hand, Y.U. is the flagship of Modern Orthodoxy. It is an institution that fuses high-level religious learning with secular instruction and consistently ranks in the top 50 universities named by U.S. News and World Report. On the other hand, the school has been beset by financial difficulties and management failures, and has come under increasing attack from a right that views it as too modern and a left that sees it as too conservative.

Well if anyone can make a miracle, it’s Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Image via YouTube.

The post Lin Manuel-Miranda Makes Yeshiva University Fundraising Video appeared first on Jewcy.

The fifth annual Stern College Senior Art Exhibition, on display at Yeshiva University Museum through July 13, showcases the work of this year’s graduating Studio Art major. The theme, fitting for a student show, is “In Progress,” and it is the process of creation itself that is being celebrated. The senior exhibition is the culmination of the students’ education up to this point—even the design of the display is largely the work of an exhibition design class.

Framed with blue tape to emphasize their ever-developing nature, the pieces that line the walls of the space are as diverse as their creators. Utilizing a range of different media, from painting to sculpture to film, the young artists offer glimpses into their varied sources of inspiration. Jewish identity and connection to Israel is a recurring theme: Emily Wolmark‘s digital prints, for example, put a modern spin on posters created by Israeli tourism agencies in the 1950s and 60s. Victoria Chabot’s Visual Text uses pen and graphite on paper to arrange biblical verse in striking visual patterns that correspond with the theme of the text. Chabot says her piece allows her to combine her two greatest loves, art and the study of Torah: “The Tanakh is filled with such depth and such beauty, and I wanted to relay that in images.”

Some artists have cast a creative eye on their local environs, with paintings of New York City buildings, and photographs of streets and subway stations. Some pieces hark back to the past, others are rooted in the present: from Esther Hersh’s sculptures, which are reminiscent of ancient Greek discus throwers, to a typographic poster series by Adina Eizikovitz Rubin called The Hate List, which lists aggravations such as “When websites don’t tell you if it’s your username or password that’s wrong” and “Please swipe again.”

The Yeshiva University Museum is located at the Center for Jewish History, close to Union Square, which allows the artists to access a wider New York audience who may not be familiar with Stern’s creative output. Says faculty member and curator Traci Tullius, “This group of really deep thinking, creative young women are making art. I think a lot of people don’t even know that Stern has an art department, let alone one that’s as ambitious and contemporary as ours is.” In fact, with 23 graduates this year, the Studio Art program is one of the college’s most popular majors.

Tullius has been with the students since the beginning of their creative process, and she described the delight of witnessing the transformation from “the potential you saw in the student and what they were doing” to “seeing it come out of that messy studio and in the context of a white walled gallery.”

Indeed, the students openly invite us into their messy studios: in a display outside of the exhibition, photographs show the complex works stripped down to their most basic parts. We see the preliminary sketches behind large canvases, as well as diagrams and scribbled notes that would later be turned into intricate multidimensional works. The camera is flipped on completed films; now, the actors and directors stand smiling on set. Looking at these images turns the viewer from a distant observer into a participant in the process of creation. This celebration of the artistic process points to the lovely theme of humility that characterizes the show. The artists don’t minimize the fact that they are students just starting out on their journeys, both artistic and personal. They invite us to share in every step of their growth thus far, but they also remind us that what we see is only the beginning.

Isabel Fattal is a student at Wesleyan College and an intern at Tablet Magazine.

(Image courtesy of Yeshiva University Museum)

The post New Generation of Orthodox Women Artists “In Progress” at Stern College Exhibit appeared first on Jewcy.

OK, here’s something perplexing. And kind of cute? Look, I’m not sure what to think, but this new video brings Zach Braff, Purim, and Yeshiva University (!) together, ergo, it is compelling and essential viewing.

In the 30 second clip, Braff talks about being a doctor and a lawyer and an ordained rabbi. It ends with the hashtag #nowherebuthere (YU’s tagline), which is pretty close to the title of Braff’s new film.

Happy Adar 1, everyone!

The post Zach Braff Promotes Yeshiva University In New Purim Video appeared first on Jewcy.

• Hurricane Sandy’s unlikely effect? A meat market uptown when the Yeshiva University Stern girls were transferred uptown to the boys’ campus. [Jewish Week]

• A new study out of Jerusalem reports that attractive women are more likely to act the way society wants them to. Or something. [Huffington Post]

• Horror writer R.L. Stine’s drink of choice? Ginger Ale. [NY Mag]

• Jake Gyllenhaal, still on Broadway, and probably still kicking himself for not giving Taylor Swift that scarf back before her new album came out. [NY Post]

• Chelsea Handler, off the market. [Huffington Post]

• Where did Clueless creator Amy Heckerling get the inspiration to make a vampire movie? “I’m a night person and I’d like to not get older.” [The Daily]

The post Daily Jewce: Hurricane Sandy the Matchmaker, R.L. Stine Drinks Ginger Ale appeared first on Jewcy.

• Yeshiva University breaks the dreidel spinning record.  All hail the new kings.

• Sarah Lefton of G-dcast is interviewed at the SF Examiner.   Big props to Jews who call Hebrew classes “Sunday school.”

• Yo La Tengo resume their yearly tradition of playing eight nights of Hanukkah shows at Maxwell’s in New Jersey.  Who will they have play with them?  Nobody knows except the indie stalwarts and the special guests.

• It will be a little harder to get drugs in west Jerusalem tonight.

The post Daily Jewce: Dreidel Champs, G-dcast In The Paper, Yo La Tengo Hanukkah Shows and More appeared first on Jewcy.