Yeshiva U students could be fined $150 for skipping Shabbat prayers
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Yeshiva U students could be fined $150 for skipping Shabbat prayers

College makes all programming mandatory at coed weekend retreats, to ensure 'opportunities for healthy interaction'

By JTA 10 November 2017, 12:34 am 2 Edit
Yeshiva University's Department of Communications and Public Affairs, New York (Scaligera/Wikimedia Commons)
Yeshiva University's Department of Communications and Public Affairs, New York (Scaligera/Wikimedia Commons)

Male students who violate the rules of coed Shabbat retreat at Yeshiva University will now be fined $150.

Students can be fined for not attending all prayer services, meals and “all scheduled programs” during the Shabbat events, according to the student newspaper.

Male students sign an agreement before the start of the retreat, or shabbaton, the YU Commentator, reported Tuesday. The Office of Student Life at the flagship institution of Modern Orthodoxy instituted the fine for violations of the rules.

Shabbatons, often held on the Beren campus of YU’s affiliated Stern College for Women, include religious services, Torah lessons and meals over the 25 hours of Shabbat.

Rabbi Josh Weisberg, the senior director of the Office of Student Life, told the Commentator that the fine was designed to “reimburse the university for monies spent” on the student attending the shabbaton that is “highly subsidized” by his office.

“The goal of these coed shabbatonim is to enhance the Shabbat experience at the Beren campus and to provide healthy opportunities for social interaction,” Weisberg said.

The Beren campus is located on Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

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