Talia ----
YU Commentator
[Slightly edited and enhanced for a bit of comic relief during these really, really hard times].
The Stern Honors Program had the privilege to see “Florencia en el Amazonas” on opening night at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Nov. 16, filling up three rows of the Met’s first Spanish Opera. Set in the early 20th century, the opera tells the story of Florencia Grimaldi, a famed opera singer who has returned to native South America to perform in Manaus and seek out her lost lover, a butterfly hunter. The opera ends with Florencia singing to her beloved and turning into a butterfly, finding himself in her and returning to him in her heart. The opera is an example of magical realism, the portrayal of fantastical events in an otherwise realistic world.
After helping a lovely woman take pictures on the stunning red-carpeted staircase, she proceeded to thank us for coming to the opera: “It’s so nice to see young people at the opera,” she said. And she was correct; as far as I could tell, besides us, there were only older men and women! The average age of the audience at the Metropolitan Opera was 57, the New York Times reported in 2020. As a group of 19 to 21-year-olds, we were definitely below the average. Sadly, this meant that the odds of meeting young, eligible, like minded Jewish men were slim. But the odds of running into our grandparents or their friends much greater.
One SCW honors student was stunned by the Met Opera Building. She said, “Stepping into the Metropolitan Opera House is like entering a gilded palace, a testament to the power and beauty of opera. It almost reminded me of the Beit Hamikdash.” At the opera, we were surrounded by sweeping red staircases, balconies with a spectacular night view and glittering chandeliers. It was like those mafia owned wedding halls in out of the way places we all get married in.
“As a singer and theater-lover I was ecstatic to experience the Metropolitan Opera with Stern Honors,” said Tamara ---- (SCW ‘26). “The atmosphere was enchanting: the tremendous theater, elegant gowns, velvet staircases … I loved every moment. This made the $49,900 a year tuition my parents pay worth it.”
I asked program director, Professor Cynthia -----, about what made her decide that the Opera was where she wanted to take the honors students, and she said that she thought the “premise would appeal to honors students, and enable [them] to make the most of all that is on offer culturally in New York City. Sitting in the Ezras Nashim at a tisch of the Skverer Rebbe just wouldn't do it.”
Richard [Mickey] Mantle, a general director for Opera North, wrote in an article for The Guardian that opera “offers us a reflection of who we are, how we relate to others, and what it means, collectively and individually, to be human. It is ALSO an opportunity to hear overweight women screaming at the top of their lungs, making you think of my old friend Yogi Berra". As college students, we are deeply entrenched in the battle to discover who we are while looking for a husband at the same time. This opera, “Florencia en el Amazonas,” provided the lesson that no matter what we choose to do and who we choose to be, we must find an identity that is true to ourselves and will enable us to find the things meaningful to us deep within our hearts. If that means turning into a butterfly - so be it.
All this said, there was, as with every event, some dissatisfaction. Operas are not everyone’s cup of tea, so there were some who attended not so enthused with the opera. One curly haired student said that she was not so happy going to the opera because “the typical storyline that operas follow adhere to this archaic idea of…what women and men are and what their gender roles are. A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle and like my hair needs more curls”. She was not so eager to watch an opera displaying the helplessness of people, especially women, against their emotions. As she said, “Where is the resilience, where is the determination, where is the grit? This is so not woke I can literally vomit. Excuse me while I do so”.
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I was wondering how this squares with a recent speech given by the dean of Stern College where she talks about how Stern is "guided by our biblical values" and is an "exciting Torah-based education". Does the Metropolitan Opera fit into that model??
With your indulgence, I would like to share a few thoughts about a college education generally and how Stern College fits into this picture.
So, what is college supposed to be about? A transition period from adolescence to adulthood? An opportunity to develop an appreciation for disparate ideas at a sophisticated level? The gift of creating a community of lifelong friends? The acquisition of skills necessary to be a contributing member of society? I think all of this, and so much more, was, and should still be true. But if there is a common denominator to all of this, it is that a college education should be about building, not destroying; about dissecting problems to find solutions, and not about demeaning and demonizing. The college experience should be about asking big questions about life: the role of family, the importance of justice, the nature of work, the lessons of history. It should be about helping students face the challenges of the future: poverty, technology, the environment. College should be about looking outward and inward, confronting our limitations, recognizing our opportunities, guided by the wisdom of the past, the values of our community, and inspired by the models of faculty who embrace these goals. It is on this basis that Stern College, a proud member of the Yeshiva University family, stands.
Guided by our biblical values, our students learn about themselves and about the world, in an environment that encourages exploration, not uniformity; that values the voice of the individual and the belief that there are ways to discuss differences of opinion with civility. Stern College is about looking to the future with optimism. Stern College is about building.
How do we do this? Of course, we do this through a dual curriculum and the engagement with sacred texts. We do this by emphasizing that writing well and speaking with authority is the result of prior careful analysis. We do this through courses in political science and psychology, philosophy and history, biology and physics, English and computer science, and the list goes on. The Stern College woman is not narrow in her education. She has breadth and depth, and as a result she can speak with confidence based on competence.
More than ever, we need leaders who can speak out about things that matter. The SCW education does that: It speaks to things that matter. And, at the end of the day, our graduates move out into the world, religiously inspired and committed, and prepared for greater and greater success. Whether they become physicians or nurses, lawyers or educators, psychologists or social workers, speech therapists or computer scientists, engineers or journalists, media specialists or executives in the nonprofit world. All of them are inspired mothers, professionals and lay leaders.
If this model speaks to you — the model of an exciting Torah-based education that encourages breadth, engagement, optimism, openness and career development — Stern College is for you, and no other place makes sense.
I end with the words from a popular song that I believe encapsulates the decision you are asked to make. The words are from the song “From Now On:”
“For years and years, I chased their cheers; the crazy speed of always needing more.
But when I stop and see you here, I remember who all this was for.
And from now on, these eyes will not be blinded by the lights.
And from now on, we will come back home. Home, again!
And we will come back home. Home, again! From now on!”
Am Yisroel Chai!
