Yeshiva University Students To Be Fined $150 For Skipping Prayers

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Male students who violate the rules of a coed shabbaton at Yeshiva University will now be fined $150.
The Office of Student Life at the flagship institution of Modern Orthodoxy instituted the fine for violations of the rules that the male students sign in an agreement before the start of the shabbaton, a student newspaper, the YU Commentator, reported Tuesday.
Among the rules are attending all prayer services, meals and “all scheduled programs,” according to the student newspaper.
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 co-ed shabbatonim is to enhance the Shabbat experience at the Beren campus and to provide healthy opportunities for social interaction,” Weisberg said.
The Beren campus, located on Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, is the home of the Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University.
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