News

The annual Model Beis Din competition, hosted by Touro’s Lander College for Men, has been a highlight of the year for high school students from Atlanta to Boston. This one-of-a kind tournament offers Orthodox high school students a chance to match wits and wisdom on complex halachic dilemmas. When the pandemic made in-person events impossible, Lander faculty decided it was too valuable to lose. So, they redesigned the competition to be virtual. For the first time it is open to student teams everywhere.

Ezra Koppel earned his degree in computer science last May and knew it wouldn’t be easy to enter his chosen field when so much of the economy was stalled due to the global pandemic. With persistence, a positive attitude and help from the Lander College for Men (LCM) Career Services staff and alumni network, he landed a job as a software developer at Northwell Health. Here, he reflects on his new role, skills for success in his field and advice he has for new grads.

Dr. Leib Litman, associate professor of psychology at Touro’s Lander College for Men (LCM), has conducted research on the role of conscious and unconscious thought in complex decision-making and has studied thought, personality and social psychology. Here, he answers questions about the research he conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jonathan Robinson, associate professor of computer science at LCM, on face mask-wearing and the impact of “shy voters” who don’t reveal their true intentions to pollsters.

Rabbi Barry Nathan, long-time Director of Admissions at Lander College for Men (LCM), passed away the first week in September. Rabbi Nathan succumbed to cancer after a battle of over two years, during which he courageously continued helping students almost until the end of his life. He was beloved by all with whom he came into contact, and his wisdom, wit and yiras shamayim guided many talmidim through the challenging journey from yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael to Lander College for Men/Beis Medrash L’Talmud in the U.S. Many Lander students recall the interactions they had with him, in yeshiva in Israel or in the U.S., and how much he endeavored to help each of them. 

Whatever happens throughout the year, in actuality, took place on Rosh HaShanah, according to the Baalei Mussar. Looking back at this difficult year, we now know how much is at stake on Rosh Hashana. Rabbi Moshe Bamberger, mashgiach at Lander College for Men/Beis Medrash L’Talmud, shares his thoughts and insights on how we should prepare for Yom Hadin.

Sholom Abrahams, a computer science major at Lander College for Men (LCM), made the most of his summer with a virtual internship at Harbor Labs, a health care cybersecurity firm in Baltimore. Working remotely from his home in Baltimore, he spent his days doing full-stack web development alongside cyber-scientists from Johns Hopkins University. Through video calls and texts, he worked closely with and learned from Harbor Labs senior staff. It was an opportunity to explore the practical side of computer programming after focusing on many theoretical aspects in school.

Jonathan Castiel, of Montreal, CA, is the valedictorian of the Lander College for Men (LCM) day program.

The last few weeks have been chaotic for everyone. When we first heard about coronavirus, the students at Lander didn’t know if it was another flu that would blow over or something to be taken seriously. As the days went by, we all realized it was a legitimate health concern, our parents were summoning us home, but we had so many questions and concerns. Do we pack up for a week? A month? The rest of the year? Will we finish the semester and earn credit for all our classes?  

The close-knit community at Touro’s Lander College For Men (LCM) was on full display during Career Week as dedicated alumni came back to Lander to share their professional experiences with current students. Over the course of a week, students were able to attend dinners with accomplished LCM alumni from various fields, including medicine, law, accounting, dentistry, finance and engineering.