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Yid Vid: Rappelling Y.U.

Don’t jump! Not even if you have a rope. That’s the message Yeshiva University sent to its students after some daredevils posted a video to YouTube of them rappelling from the Modern Orthodox university’s tallest buildings.

The Florida Jewish News has the full story. The video is below:

According to the paper, Yeshiva’s dean of students sent the following e-mail to the student body:

Many (if not most) of you are aware that a video was recently posted on YouTube that purported to show students rappelling down the sides of several of our buildings. We want to remind all of you in the most clear, simple and direct terms that any behavior or activity that can lead to anyone’s health or safety being jeopardized is absolutely unacceptable. As a matter of halacha (see Devarim 4:15), good citizenship and basic common sense, it is impermissible to put yourself or anyone else in a dangerous situation.

The rappellers, who apparently were Y.U. students, wore masks in the video. They covertly trained on campus late at night, temporarily disarming building alarms as needed.

For their next adventure, the students, who remain anonymous, say they want to sail to Australia, broadcasting video of their journey to Jewish schools across the country.

“The purpose of this expedition and the videos is to drive home the same point made with the rappelling videos, that being adventurous and being a [religious] Jew are not mutually exclusive,” one of the students wrote to the Florida Jewish News.

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