Mathilde Schechter Residence

Residence hall for Jewish Theological Seminary joint program underclassmen, located mid-block on 120th St. between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. With fewer than 90 residents it is one of the smallest dorms in the entire Columbia/affiliates housing system--for better or for worse, everybody knows everybody else. And, because it is accessible only to the relatively small community of JTS undergraduates, it is notoriously insular--which, again, has its advantages and disadvantages.

MSRH has a newly renovated music room, a long-neglected library with a somewhat idiosyncratic collection of rare and out-of-print Jewish books, and one of the slowest elevators in New York City. Its assembly room was the location of AEPi meetings until that fraternity was given a house in 1994, and its Music Room now hosts the Jewish acapella group Pizmon's weekly concerts. Nightly Ma'ariv services begin in the Music Room at 10:15.