Dr. Erica Brown

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College hosted a talk by Dr. Erica Brown, Vice Provost for Values and Leadership, Director, Sacks-Herenstein Center of the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Center for Values and Leadership, as part of its ongoing Honors Luncheon speaker series. Dr. Brown led an interactive discussion with the students about the thought of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. She spoke from personal experience, as he was her teacher and mentor. She began by fielding questions from the students about Rabbi Sacks and his legacy and illustrated the power of his leadership abilities by sharing personal stories about how he lived his life. Ezra Seplowitz, '25YC, remarked, "We are all familiar with the writings of Rabbi Sacks, but Dr. Brown was able to share with us insights and vignettes about the driving forces for many of these legendary works." Dr. Brown also discussed the experience of Jews receiving the Torah as a covenant versus a contract, explaining that the relationship is a partnership rather than the pledge of a weak nation to a strong power. She compared it to the consumer vs. stakeholder relationship, discussing how when consumers are dissatisfied, they complain and return what they don’t like. Stakeholders, on the other hand, partner to find a resolution to the problem. Dr. Brown encouraged the students to be stakeholders and become involved members of the Yeshiva University community as well as the wider Jewish community; and to be warm and welcoming to everyone, despite differences in lifestyle or level of observance. She drew from Rabbi Sacks' books, The Dignity of Difference and The Home We Build Together, to highlight the significance of covenant. Rabbi Sacks was concerned that the family was falling apart and relationships had become too transactional.  She then explained how she viewed the Honors students who were present as the leaders of tomorrow and encouraged them to view themselves that way. "The lunch with Dr. Brown was enlightening," Josh Shapiro, '25YC, shared afterwards. "I thoroughly enjoyed talking about infusing our conversations with values and implementing these values on a practical level. This ideology is something that I do my best to live up to and I am appreciative that they are being discussed." Added Dr. Eliezer Schnall, director of the Honors Program. "We all very much enjoyed Dr. Brown’s talk and are so thankful to her for taking the time to speak with our Honors students. We look forward to continued collaboration between the Yeshiva College Honors Program and the Sacks-Herenstein Center in the future."