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Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, conferred an honorary doctorate on Isaac Herzog, president of Israel, at the university’s 101st annual Chanukah dinner on Sunday.
The honorary degree recognized Herzog’s “leadership, moral courage and lifelong commitment to the Jewish people,” the university stated. Yeshiva added that the degree conferral was “a profound family legacy,” as his late father Chaim Herzog, a former Israeli president, received an honorary degree from the school in 1976.
Berman said at the black-tie event at the Cipriani Wall Street venue that Isaac Herzog is “a leader, who not only carries the conviction to defend Israel at every turn but has the character to build a state that is a beacon of light to all.”
Herzog is “the very embodiment of what it means to be a Zionist in our times,” he said.
The Yeshiva president announced at the event, which drew several hundred people, that the school had reached its $613 million fundraising goal, after billionaire philanthropist and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who spoke in a prerecorded message, donated the last $5 million.
“Even in the face of hate or division, we can come together with unity and solidarity and lead with spirit and purpose of light,” Kraft said in the message. “That’s what, to me, Yeshiva University does every day.”
Kraft added that his $5 million gift was not just an investment in the school but also an effort to “illuminate minds, strengthen hearts and prepare a new generation to lead with conviction, compassion and courage.”
There were also several institutional announcements at the event, including that Douglas Murray, a conservative British political commentator who is one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in the media, will be a visiting professor at Yeshiva next semester.
Berman announced that Yeshiva will debut a new engineering program and will expand its science and health school significantly, including with new departments and chairs.
The Yeshiva president also said that “distinguished scholars are joining our faculty in pursuit of an institution, whose values they actually trust, and our philanthropic achievements have surpassed every benchmark.”
“Yeshiva University is thriving with clarity and pride and purpose,” he added.
Yeshiva University HerzogIsaac Herzog, president of Israel, receives an honorary doctorate at Yeshiva University’s Chanukah fundraising dinner, Dec. 7, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Yeshiva University.
In his keynote address, Herzog recalled observing a conversation some 25 years ago in Hebrew between Rabbi Norman Lamm, a former Yeshiva president, and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel, in the latter’s office.
“It was a meeting of the minds and hearts, between a renowned leader of the American Jewish community and an admired leader of Sephardic and Israel Jewry,” Herzog said.
As the two “spoke of the impressive trajectory of American Jews, and of the dialogue that must take place within the streams of Jews in America and elsewhere, I watched another bridge between Israel and world Jewry take place before my eyes,” he added.
“Dear friends, you—all of you—are the embodiment of this bridge in our times,” he said.
The Israeli president said the university is “for American Jewry what Israel is for world Jewry.”
“It is home base, and as Yeshiva’s second president Rabbi Samuel Belkin said, ‘You have built a little Israel right here,’” he said.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Murray and billionaire philanthropist Miriam Adelson attended the event, as did the parents of Omer Neutra, who was murdered on Oct. 7 and whose body Israel liberated from Gaza in early November.
Anita Zucker, chair of the dinner and supporter of an eponymous scholarship for Jewish early childhood education at Yeshiva, stated that “this dinner marks not only a celebration of YU’s past but also the beginning of its bold new chapter.”
“The enthusiasm surrounding this event speaks to the unity, devotion and deep commitment that define the Yeshiva University community,” she said.
There were also lighthearted moments at the event, as when Herzog noted that Albert Einstein “famously declined David Ben-Gurion’s offer to become Israel’s second president, and yet he happily accepted an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, I did accept the position of Israel’s president, and I am also pleased to accept this honor here this evening,” he said. JNS
{Matzav.com}
[Video below.] In a moving scene in Moscow, Maxim Harkin — who was freed from Hamas captivity on Hoshana Rabbah after 738 harrowing days — marked a powerful spiritual milestone. Strengthened in his faith during his time in Gaza, he underwent a bris milah.
Presiding over the event was Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Berel Lazar, joined by guest of honor Rav Dovid Yosef, who traveled specially for the occasion. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Harkin received his new Hebrew name: Zalman Zelig.
The celebration continued later that evening at a Yud Tes Kislev seudah, attended by hundreds. There, Zalman Zelig Harkin publicly expressed heartfelt gratitude for the miracles that brought him to freedom, offering words of thanks and inspiration that deeply moved the crowd.
The festive gathering featured singers Yanky Daskal, Moshe Louk, and child soloist Ari Kraus, accompanied by the Malchus Choir and Mendy Brandwein’s orchestra.
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{Matzav.com}
A tense exchange erupted today in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee as the panel discussed whether to count national-civilian service toward the IDF’s draft targets, an issue that has become central in the emerging conscription legislation.
Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel issued a sharply critical legal opinion earlier in the day rejecting the inclusion of national service in the draft quotas. When the matter came up in the committee session, she confronted IDF representative Brig. Gen. Shay Taib over the army’s position.
Taib warned that the proposal, as currently written, would not help the IDF meet its operational needs. “As the law is drafted right now, the people who go to national civilian service do not assist us in any parameter,” he told the committee. “At present, the mechanism written here does not provide the turnover we need. Of the 12,000 soldiers the army requires, at least 6,000 must be combat troops.”
Frenkel challenged him directly. “One thing is difficult to understand in your position,” she said. “On the one hand, the IDF says it is short 12,000 soldiers, some of them combat personnel. You also say that every chareidi man can serve in the IDF. So I don’t understand why you agree to transfer soldiers into a civilian-security service framework.”
Taib pushed back: “I didn’t say I agree.”
Frenkel insisted that the army must present a clear position. “This is not a matter of agreeing or not agreeing—you need to state your stance,” she said. “What I understand from your words is that you do agree. The question is a principled one. It’s not just about manpower management. You cannot say, ‘I need 12,000 combat troops,’ and at the same time support opening national service as an alternative.”
Taib reiterated that the army does not back the proposal: “There is a clause in the bill that is before us. We do not agree with it. Within this clause, I am suggesting not to accept the ages of 19–20 that were written here, but to raise them.”
Frenkel pressed further: “This isn’t only about combat soldiers. It also includes combat-support roles.”
Taib bristled at the line of questioning: “I’m responding to the clause in front of me. Do you want to dictate my position? You’re so focused on arguing that you’re not listening to what I’m saying.”
{Matzav.com}
Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, South Fallsburg rosh yeshiva, has spent recent days holding intensive conversations with Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel regarding the government’s emerging draft-law proposal.
Rav Wachtfogel has been reaching out directly to the senior ranks of the Israeli yeshiva world. In recent days, he held a phone conversation with three of the leading Roshei Yeshiva in Eretz Hakodesh: Rav Dovid Cohen of Yeshivas Chevron, Rav Chaim Feinstein of Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, and Rav Aviezer Piltz of Yeshivas Tifrach.
After hearing each of their perspectives on the draft-law proposal currently advancing in the Knesset, Rav Wachtfogel has begun working to bring these Roshei Yeshiva together for a special gathering. The purpose of the meeting would be to deliberate collectively and to formulate a unified position on what is widely viewed as a critical, defining issue for the Torah community. Their determinations would then be conveyed to the gadol hador, Maran Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, rosh yeshivas Slabodka.
This initiative comes as the chassidishe Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel is also preparing to convene and formally announce its opposition to the draft bill.
{Matzav.com}
