Touro University's Lander College for Men Featured on JM in the AM

Nah, seagull JM in the AM. We're at Turo University's Lander College for Men and with us is Dr. Henry Abramson who's the dean of Turo's Lander College. He is an expert in Jewish history who was recently recognized with a YouTube silver creator award for his online lectures which have been viewed over 12 million times. His current projects include the Jewish history and daffyomi podcast for the all DAFF app of the Orthodox Union and a three volume mag history of the Jewish people for co-en publishers in addition to all of his duties as dean of Turo's Lander College for men. Dr. Abramson, a pleasure to be here and to say hello to you, sir. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Seagull. It's a big honor and a privilege to be speaking with you. I'm glad to count that among my many duties here on Lander College. >> I appreciate that. So, um, uh, this is now year two as dean. >> This is year two, right? And I am deliriously happy. I'm enjoying myself here so much. Fantastic students, tremendous missiondriven staff. The rebum are amazing. It's it's an incredible experience to be here. >> Lander's been around for a while. >> Uh, yes. Uh the university as a whole, we just celebrated our 50th anniversary a little while ago. Lander College is about half that age, but in many ways we reach all the way back in the misora to the origins of the Jewish people because we're doing our best to give our students what they need to succeed in life. And based on your reaction to the dean question, having now gotten into your second year, it sounds like you've uh uh in that that you may have been h you may have had to manage expectations, but it sounds like everything here has exceeded your expectations. >> Absolutely. 100% 110% exceeded my percentage goals. Yeah, definitely. One would one would wonder with the with the bio and with the the tidbits from your career that I mentioned how you juggle all of this and how one can make being dean a priority. How do you manage all of it? >> That's a great question. I deal with it daily. You know they say that time is the only nonrenewable resource. And um you know speaking I I was thinking about this the other day actually. I basically set up a series of micro rewards for myself every day. >> Wow. >> So that from the moment I wake up I think to myself okay what do I got to do first? Oh yes I like that task. And so throughout the day I have small rewards I give myself and that that keeps me propelled. But the big reward is you know the students here are so fantastic. I feel so fulfilled to be able to help them reach their potential. >> Uh it must be something to actually hang out in a uh in a on a campus with all this youthful enthusiasm. You've now mentioned the students more than once and the experience of dealing with them and helping them along that there's got to be something to that energy uh that they as you know me members of the youthful generation bring to the table. >> 100%. There's a fantastic Gara in Tinus that talks about how, you know, the way you create a blaze is you put kindling on top of a log. The log is capable of burning at a very high heat for a very long time, but it takes a lot of work to get it going. So, you have to like light a few pieces of straw, maybe a pieces of newspaper, and that gets the log burning. So, at my age, I think I'm it's fair to call me a log. And but those students they burn so quickly so hot that you know altogether we have a conflration going on here >> and and these days they're on fire >> and these days it seems that that generation has such a capability for retaining information and dealing with things and so many multitasking as we always you know call it but in our generation multitasking was something different it seems like it's going at rapid speed these days >> you know I agree with the second part of your statement the prime the first part though I I think actually we're moving in the opposite direction and and it's a serious thing. I mean actually research has shown that physiologically >> the introduction of the internet the uh advances that we've had technologically with um for example smartphones and now with artificial intelligence students actually have a measurably lower attention rate. Um they have uh an incapability of the kind of deep thought that was associated with if you forgive me our generation >> just reading a book from beginning to end requires a different kind of mental discipline that does not come easily to this generation. >> Yeah. Understood. But their access to information is to be envied. >> It's it's overwhelming. It's too much. It's a fire hose. Right. So, you know, I used to spend a lot of time talking with my students about the difference between knowledge and wisdom because now they have an incomparable amount of knowledge at their fingertips. >> But wisdom is a hardearned coin that requires filtering that knowledge, >> right? But nowadays with AI, they suddenly have access to something that in many ways seems like it has wisdom, but it's deceptive. And so I'm spending a lot of energy in that. >> Well, common sense, I guess, is closer to wisdom than to knowledge. And that whole piece, as you said, you know, maybe uh maybe fooling some people into thinking they have it, that they have that common sense or wisdom. Uh we're here with Dr. Henry Abramson. He's dean of Turo's Lander College for Men. We're literally sitting in the Turo building on the campus in Queens. Um, so you know, we talk about academic offerings and we are going to speak about the essentials course and things that are h happening here at Turo. Is there anything missing? Can I It seems to me with all the conversations I've had over the years with your staff members, the people who serve as faculty that really any track that a post high school certainly postIsrael student wants in addition to the Judeaic peace or the Judeaic piece, I should say, in addition to that, it seems everything's available to them. >> I think that's a fair statement. Uh but we're always looking around the corner to say, "Okay, we're making everything available, but what is going to be available that we should get ahead of and make sure that we have it for them when they're ready to uh to study." And and so many fields are changing dramatically with this increase in technology that we definitely have to be on our agame every day. >> And you've paid great attention to the AI piece. >> Definitely. >> Right. to make sure that those who want to pursue that line of work will have the training to be able to do so. >> Well, that line of work is every line of work except maybe if you want to be a yoga instructor because right now >> so there's no department that AI doesn't touch at this point. >> Absolutely not. >> And you'd include the Jewish piece in that? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. A student this morning asked me uh after Davening, you know, Dr. Abramson, do you think that with the development of AI, uh, it's more important to be an ochre now rather than a scenai? This goes back to a very old debate in the Talmud. I'm sure you're familiar with it, whether, >> you know, it it's valuable to have a breadth of information memorized and at your fingertips, which is, you would think, less important now that we have such immediate access to the entirety of the rabbitic tradition. or an ochreorim, someone who uproots mountains, someone who is able to like dive in deep and make analysis and and like get to the fundamental principles but not necessarily have that breadth of knowledge. So you know I my response to him was well definitely there you know because of the lowered threshold of being a scenai now ochre has a lot more value for us because a lot of people can be sort of like a scenai but at the same time I said you know when you invest the physical time and energy in learning the text without a computer or keyboard anywhere where that changes your brain that changes you physiologically literally physiologically and so the exercise of forcing yourself to actually learn rather than saying oh I know I can just look it up that's something very valuable that we are not stepping away from one centimeter >> how does one train a student to pursue that avenue and and not rely on the fact that I could always look it up six days a week >> well that we that's what we spend most of our day And the Gumarra studies here are really intense, very traditional. We have an incredible Rashiva, Rabbi Saxs, who brings with him in his personality and his methodology all the best traditions of Lithuania to our campus. Although we have 30% of our students are of Sphartic origins and we have a separate Sphartic minion and so on. Uh they come in with that kind of determination. I mean this campus is the Navy skills of Jewish education. the students who come here are serious, motivated, rigorous, and they're ready to put in the sweat and tears to learn it, right? >> You know, it's funny. We always said um that here you'll get uh real classes, real courses, real degrees. And that was always a, you know, a play off of what so many students, unfortunately, at least I think it's unfortunate, are doing by going online and thinking that they're getting that campus and academic experience that, you know, that they're really not getting. And and again in some cases it might work and that's fine but in in many cases they are missing something from that whole process. And here as you just said you're sitting with with giants in many areas you mentioned by Sachs and with other people who are leading you know great departments here both in the Jewish and secular departments who are you know able to guide students and give them that experience of real class real course and real degrees. >> Yeah I I'm glad you put it that way. I will also say though that no serious educator will ever say honestly that an online experience is as good as an in-person experience. >> But the convenience of online education is pretty significant and in some cases what you sacrifice from a classroom experience is acceptable if the convenience is there. So we actually have a significant number of online classes, some really high quality classes run by my colleague Dr. Marian Stolloy in particular. >> I mean you have students around the world who take advantage of that. Right. >> Yeah. >> Right. So it's it's a trade-off. Some things we're just not doing online. We're studying Gamara in person in the base major with the noise and the cacophony and everything. But you know other subjects at different times and places the online makes a lot of sense. So we're doing everything. >> So you have to be great at both. >> Exactly. Full our cylinders are pumping full throttle all the way. >> Right. Cuz I think some of the pioneers in the online space gave the online space a bad reputation because they weren't fully pursuing it and doing it the way it should be done. You have an obligation to our community and really to all students of all backgrounds to do both of them as well as possible. >> 100%. Gosh is going to ask us, you know, why didn't you do online properly? So, >> and you need to answer that. Dr. Henry Abram, >> not right away, but >> yes, I get it. I'm with you on that. Dr. Henry Abramson is dean of Turos Lantern College of Men, we said we'd talk about the new essentials course, and you said to me off the air that it's essential. What is it and why? >> I'm so glad you asked. This is something uh it's a major project for us. Last year, in my first year, we did a really significant survey of what students valued most about their education. And we interviewed and and we had a survey. It was a really in current students. We interviewed current students. We interviewed alumni. We interviewed the faculty. We interviewed student services. We interviewed everyone who was part of our campus community to ask them what did you value including alumni you know 10 years out saying looking back on my years here what was the most important thing they learned. And we're focused obviously not on the Gamarra side of what they learned but on like the college side of it. And based on that research and with a lot of you know uh incredible input from the faculty we created this three credit course which is required now for all incoming freshmen. We call it the essentials at LCM. Listen to what it includes. One of our most popular classes is a communications workshop, which is basically a speaking skills class. How to take an interview, um how to um introduce yourself, how to interact with people who may not be from your little Tahara bubble. You know, it's basically an interpersonal communications class taught very successfully by Mrs. Jodie Smolen who leads our career services department. So, that's part of it. The second part is we have two skill sets and two knowledge bases. The skill sets are this is fantastic. I think managing your money. >> Oh boy. >> Yeah. It's it's a six weeks intensive course for students. It's it's basic stuff that we assumed you would have learned in high school but so few of our students could say a life changer for so many of them. >> How to now people don't use checkbooks anymore. >> How to balance your checkbook. how to how to evaluate credit card offers. You know, a lot of schools, they have predatory companies come in and try to sell credit cards to to students and they say, "Oh, wow. $300 free credit." They don't realize what's going on with this. So, this is a course taught not by a standard faculty member. It's taught by one of our showim. It's taught by Rabbi Elazar Feder. I chose him because first of all he's a brilliant individual and secondly he's a little bit on the younger side so he's closer to the students in terms of knowing he's like a few steps ahead of them in terms of he's already got married has a family bought a house >> has good money management skills >> excellent money management skills and that's what it's all about >> and I wanted someone to teach this who would be close enough to where they were that he could say hey listen these are the challenges you're going to face what is health insurance who ever thinks of buying health insurance or life insurance, right? >> That's a rough IRA. >> So, exactly. These are the kind of things I'm sure that, you know, one of the things I I sometimes joke uh our most important uh degree is son-in-law. Like we're training the next generation of sons-in-law. And I'm speaking out there to all my fellow shares. This is the school you want to send. >> You want to create good husbands and good fathers, >> right? They should know how to manage money. So, that's that's one of the skill sets. The other skill set I'm proud to say I teach myself which is a primer on artificial intelligence. >> How it works, what are its dangers, what are its potentials, working through the challenge. >> How fast it's growing. >> Yes. Exactly. So I'm going to have to change this course every time I teach it. >> For sure. >> So um those are two skill sets and then two knowledge bases. We identified things that they really had to know no matter their majors in order to survive in society to be a a literate and cont and a contributing member of our society specifically America. Um basic economics like enough so that if they read a news article they'll know what it means if we have a trade def deficit if we have a national debt GDP you know those kinds of things. And the other thing is uh a basic introduction to American politics who should know the value of citizenship. What it means to participate in our democracy, what it means to you know uh to pass a law to participate in in local government, you know, basically menlick things so that when they come out of this class and especially when they graduate, you know, they're well-rounded individuals and people can look at them and say, "Oh my gosh, what a mench. This must be a Lander College for men graduate. >> Amazing. And that's the essentials department. That's brand new. >> Yeah, Essentials class. Just one class. You're right. That's >> Thank you. >> You're offering five different things. It sounds like a department. Frankly, >> nobody can can see you smile online, but I got I'm going to tell the audience right now that you're you've got a huge smile and I it's I'm reacting to it because I feel very good about this. I'm also jealous of some of these students because I uh went through my own college experience without going through any of these things and they all would have been very helpful skills and knowledgebased things to have pursued. Um we should mention the pathways program. This is something we concentrate on every time one of your faculty members is with us and that is that uh you're not simply trying to give students here an undergrad degree. You're trying to figure out with them then what the next step is. And for some of course they go straight to the workforce but others graduate school is really essential and important to them. So in every department you're you're evaluating where the students are going once they have that BA. >> Yeah. Absolutely. Or BS you know which we also offer. >> And these pathy programs are really great because one of the things that Turo University can leverage is our tremendous breadth and depth as well especially in the medical fields. A lot of offerings. >> Absolutely. We also have law schools and you know graduate school to business and things like that. We have lots of different possibilities. Social work. Exactly. >> So we can help our students because the the value of an undergraduate degree has lost some of its luster in maybe the last decade or so >> and and graduate studies are really what's required to advance in your career. So that's great. you know, really building on the vision of Dr. Lander as expressed through Dr. Kadesh, we're trying to provide a full runway for students from the entry all the way through their graduate school and then into their careers. We're especially strong in the the medical fields as I mentioned, you know, with our six medical schools including New York Medical College and that's where our medical honors pathway shines. We have a very very strong and deep base of highly accomplished students who are competing for a small number of slots in our medical honors pathway where if we accept them and they maintain their basic GPA then they are able to be guaranteed an interview for New York medical which is a highly prized thing. Um and we do that also in our dental schools where you know we have a tremendous number of dentists who are coming through our doors. We're very proud of these honors pathways programs. And you know, I mentioned earlier the uh the comparison to the Navy Seals. So, uh if all of our students are Navy Seals, the uh MHP and DHP students, they're like our uh Shayeta Chloes, you know, they're like the Super Navy Seals, very highly qualified. Um finally, extracurricular activities. With everything we've mentioned, with all the academics and all the studying and all the double program, etc., etc., There is still time for extracurricular activities for a student here. >> 100%. And I think that one of our most popular extracurricular activities involves food. And sometimes I think that >> we're actually a massive food service industry with a small college attached to it because food is constantly flowing through this building with a tremendous amount of activities, sports activities and uh you know uh tours and uh special groups dedicated to studying special subjects. More lighthearted things like uh we have you know a game room that the students take advantage of. Last um last semester we actually brought in one of those artificial uh rocking bowls that you can sit on with >> mechanical bull. >> Yeah, I was trying to figure out exactly how that fit into the academic curriculum. >> Certainly a challenge. >> I have a fantastic dean of students, Rabbi Ariel Capitnikov, who dreams up some amazing things that our students really love. So yeah, it's it's we're not a party school, but they have a tremendous amount of fun on campus. Finally, Dean Abramson, can you join me in wishing a masletov to Dr. David Katz? >> Oh, >> the big event, the gayla is coming up. I believe it's the 22nd of February, if I'm not mistaken. >> Yes, that's fantastic. >> And you're somebody who appreciates the work that he's done here and obviously leads an incredible part of Turo University. >> Oh, that's it's a tremendous privilege to work with so many really highly qualified and motivated um professionals in their fields. Dr. cats is you know exemplary in many many ways and so mazo to him definitely >> thanks so much for joining us uh Dr. Henry Abramson is uh the dean of the Turo University Lander College for men and you have quite an impressive campus here and it's been a pleasure speaking with you and continued success during this amazing school year. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate that. >> A pleasure. More coming up. It's JM in the AM. JM in the AM as we visit Turo University's Lander College for men. And look at this. is we've run into two amazing students who are here at Lander who are going to share with us uh uh what they're doing here in terms of their career and how Lander is uh enhancing all of their academic experience. Ya Buadana is here. Ya, a pleasure to welcome you to JM in the AM. >> Thank you for having me. >> Originally from Montreal, Canada. >> Yeah. >> And somehow found your way to New York City and to Lander College for men. We'll talk about that. and Zeke Baitner is with us who is a uh predental student from Miami, Florida, Hollywood, Florida, whatever you want to say. Welcome to you sir. >> Thank you so much. >> You also somehow found New York City and land to college. Well, tell me about your journey first. Uh how did you uh decide to come here? Well, when I I went from high school in Montreal, I went to Yeshua. And then, you know, naturally speaking, as I learned more Torah and I became, you know, more religious and more involved in Torah mitzvot, um, I realized that I wanted to learn more instead of going to secular college. So, I I Lander was on my radar uh ever since maybe halfway in Shan Alf and I decided to come to Lander in order to learn and to learn and also grow in in college. >> All right. Do they accommodate out oftowners here? Like >> they do. They have international visas, you know, so that's good. >> That's that's helpful. >> Um, and yeah, it's a it's a it's a good time in general. Uh, there's a lot of, you know, free food here, so so I don't I don't have to miss my mom's cooking a little too much. Um, >> so that's the secret to keeping the attitude of students. Make sure there's good free food, >> I guess. So, yeah. Um, and yeah, >> so there's plenty of students who dorm in this area. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah. >> Interesting. Uh, and uh, Zeke, tell me about your journey similar to this one or not? >> It's definitely similar to Years. I was in Aish for a year and a half and I'd never really applied anywhere for college and then I had uh, Ruff Manheim. I think he's the director of admissions. He came over to Aish started telling us about all the great things in Landers and that was it. I thought the uh, the pricing for me was big. It's affordable here. >> That's interesting. >> Uh, the credits from from Israel, that was big. And then I guess the third one for me was the ability to keep learning in a similar way that I was in Israel. >> Why dentistry? >> Um few few reasons. One, my mom is a pediatric dentist. >> Oh wow. You grew up with it, huh? >> Grew up with that. So that's probably the main one. And then also I wanted to be I guess hands-on and seeing people face to face and not behind a screen. >> And what is the And now you're in your second year here. >> I'm in my third semester now. Yeah. >> Third semester. So what is the progression? Like you actually get to dental school at what point? Um, I've still got at least another year, year and a half here and then hopefully apply to dental school after that and then it's four years of dental school. >> Right. And Turo's got a pretty good dental school. >> They have a pretty popular dental school. I think it's in Westchester, >> right? It's got a it's got an unbelievable reputation. >> Yes, it does. >> So, you're hoping to just stay on that path. >> It's definitely an option. It's great. just knowing that from here in Land Earth that I have an option of continuing with Turo if needed. >> Right. And are you enjoying the uh the Jewish part of Turo as well? Not just the secular academic track, but the Jewish track as well. >> I'm I'm loving it. The uh my Reb is incredible here. He's awesome. Marcus, he lives he lives in the area also. >> Sure. Uh Young is Queens Valley. >> Yes. So he's awesome right here. He's awesome. >> Uh a bunch of the other Rebe I'm with my night rebby also. Dupus there on Cohen was close by too. >> Wow. >> German Saxs. >> That's one of the things we really don't because we do a lot of Turo interviews and and talk about the campus and the and the academics here, but we don't emphasize the fact that it's in an unbelievable neighborhood. There a lot of Jewish people around here. And it's not only that you have Rabbam who live nearby. You also feel the community, right? Aren't there a lot of community members who actually do it in Turo and you know and and are seen in the base measures, you know, quite often? There's definitely people who live here who are here mo seems like most nights they're here for nights for Marv I guess when they when they finish work right around the corner there's one block I think that has five shels on it >> and then there's plenty of restaurants and grocery stores right around the corner. >> Yeah, Queens is known for that. Zeke Baitner is who we're speaking to. Yay Buadana is here. Uh so why medical school or why this premed track? So I was always interested in the way that the human body worked and you know the problems that could come with it and how you can fix those problems and personally in my family there was there was a few people who had a lot of health problems and I saw how much being a doctor and actually taking care of people in that way >> means those people. >> Yeah. >> And now what is your progression similar to Zeke where you're in year number two or >> I mean yeah I'm in year two very similar to Zeke. Yeah. >> And medical school a couple of years away and then I don't know how many years now. >> I know in my day medical school was a really long time. I don't know what it's like now. I >> think it's four years. >> That's it. Four years and then you start working in hospitals and >> and then I start residency. So still, you know, still not following the doctor. >> So So it's it's a uh it's a journey. Um but it seems like uh so many people have taken the journey with Turo. Like there's plenty of guys who you know who um precede the two of you who've done this and have really been effective and I think Turo's pretty proud of the careers that they've established themselves in medicine. >> Yeah, I'm sure they are. Also, there's also the Turo Turo medical the medical school. So helps out a lot. >> Um could you describe your day? I'm assuming that with the shurim the night sader and all the studies in between you are doing serious studies dentistry and medicine that it's an 18 hour day like it's non-stop I would guess. No >> it's pretty long day shakus I start in the morning 7:45. >> Um is >> and non-stop till when? Um >> till after night sader >> close to I have some breaks once in a while. Um I guess we have morning seder and learning from 9:30 till 12:15 lunch and then sheer for an hour after that. So I guess our our morning with learning is done at about 2:30 and then it's class time after that. >> How come in my day was like two and a half hours of shear? How come it's only an hour here? I need to know. I think it's by the way I think it's a good idea these days. You know, a one-hour comprehensive shear is, you know, could be much more valuable than than trying to keep everybody motivated for two and a half hours. Agreed or not? >> Agreed. Not sure not sure I could handle a two and a half hour share, >> right? Exactly. But in the old days, there were people doing just that. And how do you find the schedule? I mean, uh, you know, yer was rigorous is the word, huh? >> I mean, I have like we learn during the day, we study at night. It's like you you got to be a night owl if you want to be able to succeed here because you got to study like until like 12 1 in the morning, 2 in the morning, things like that. >> All right. How often are you able to get back to Canada or you don't? Uh >> not that often. >> Is that a problem or >> It's not a problem. It's I can get get back pretty easily. There's ground, there's planes, there's people driving back and forth, >> right? >> But you know, whatever. It's the It's a schle, >> right? And once you're entrenched in in your pursuit of what you want to do, >> right? >> You'd rather just keep going forward. Same with you. Or you make it to Florida once in a while. >> I make it home once in a while. Happens to me. I'm going home tomorrow. Family from coming out of the country. >> Usually it's once every couple of months. >> Yeah. And so is there time for, you know, when we spoke to the dean, he said there is such a thing as extracurricular activities here. Is there time to, you know, to do something more fun or, you know, take your mind off of the academic pursuits? >> There definitely is. I'm happy to be president of the the soccer group here. >> There's an actual soccer team. not a soccer team, but it's uh there's a bunch of us who we try and play whenever we can at indoor facilities. So, we'll go together. I usually usually play once once a week at night. >> And there's a place large enough indoors to actually do that. >> Play like five versus five. >> We can play. That's my extra activities, my exercise. >> I mean, in my day, indoor soccer was actually a major league sport. >> You know, I don't know if that still exists or not. And you find time to to to relax a little bit or not. >> Yeah. Lander itself has a lot of events, has a lot of programmings with the student government. So like put it to the day, put it into the year, we also have a lot of extracurricular events. >> All right. Um are you guys the most obscure uh places that students come from? Canada, Florida, or have you met fellow students from places that would shock me? Middle America, Europe. I mean, what where where have you met guys from? >> I met this one here right now from Panama. >> Really? >> Guy from Panama. >> Full-time student. >> That's pretty cool. It's very cool. Little French guy >> from actual France. >> From France. Yeah. >> All right. I guess it's attracting students from uh from far and wide everywhere and anywhere. Uh Yer Bodonna Zeke Baitner. They are respectively uh premed and predental students here at Tur University's Lander College. I thank both of you for joining me today. >> Thank you for having us. >> A pleasure. More coming up. If you're listening to JM in the AM