5th President of YU, advancing Torah values, academic excellence, and impactful leadership.
New York, NY
Joined May 2017
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Join the people and the conversation setting the course for the future of America at the Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner on December 13 in downtown NYC.
See link in bio to reserve your seat at YU.edu/HanukkahDinner
Congratulations to the inaugural class of the Yeshiva University College of Dental Medicine on your White Coat Ceremony.
This tradition signifies more than professionalism; it embodies a promise to serve. As you don the white coat, may you carry forward the values of compassion, integrity, and service, bringing not only excellent care to your patients, but also confidence and dignity to the communities you serve.
Wishing you every success as you begin this meaningful journey.
A deeply moving October 7th memorial service at the State Department, hosted by Secretary of State @marcorubio and led by Secretary @howardlutnick
Secretary Rubio spoke powerfully about America’s unwavering commitment to confronting terrorism, standing with Israel, and never forgetting the victims of October 7th.
Secretary Lutnick spoke from the heart, drawing on his own profound loss on September 11th, when he lost his brother Gary and so many dear friends and colleagues. His words brought a deeply personal understanding of grief, remembrance, and resilience to the families gathered.
The most powerful moment came as American families who lost loved ones on October 7th stood together to recite Kaddish.
The ancient Jewish prayer of mourning, spoken by those who have endured unimaginable loss, was a reminder that while terrorism can take lives, it cannot extinguish memory, faith, or the enduring spirit of the Jewish people.
We remember. We stand together. And we carry their light forward.
Three years after he was taken hostage at the Nova Music Festival, @OmerShem stood before our students at Yeshiva University and shared the light he carried through 505 days of captivity.
We cried with him, rejoiced with him, and left with his song in our hearts.
Omer’s faith and extraordinary spirit taught our students something they will carry for a lifetime: even from the deepest darkness, a soul can emerge that illuminates the world.
עם ישראל חי
For 505 days, we prayed for Omer Shem Tov’s safe return home from captivity. Tonight, on the 3rd anniversary of October 7, we had the honor of hearing Omer’s story at Yeshiva University and watching him sing with @zushamusic.
As we remember the tragedy of October 7, Omer’s joy and positivity is an inspiration to us all.
Only Mayor Mamdani could turn the anniversary of a historic assault on the Jewish people into an assault on the Jewish people.
This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.
The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.
Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment.
To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.
Sometimes God works through pilots. Other times through plumbers.
Always through people.
And on this night, through song.
An unforgettable Concert in Jerusalem with Ishay Ribo and the Yeshiva University family.
🇮🇱 עם ישראל חי
Today, the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish community outside of Israel announced a plan he said is intended to combat rising antisemitism and make New York safer for Jews.
While the plan includes some positive steps, it amounts to simply window dressing a larger issue: One cannot combat antisemitism while simultaneously advancing an anti-Zionist agenda that denies Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish homeland, falsely accuses it of genocide and feeds the very antisemitism he claims to decry.
Mamdani is an arsonist posing as a firefighter.
As president of Yeshiva University, I call on the mayor to acknowledge the damage his rhetoric has done and stop making the inflammatory statements he has made about Israel in the past.
Today on FOX News, I shared my message to Mayor Mamdani: You tried to silence the PM of the world’s only Jewish state, but the Jewish people will not be silenced.
In the sukkah, we are reminded of the strength we find in faith, community, and purpose. May we carry that strength forward with courage and gratitude. Chag Sameach!
As we enter Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, may we find the courage to reflect, the strength to forgive, and the faith to begin again.
May we all be sealed in the Book of Life for a year of peace, strength and blessing.
G’mar Chatimah Tovah.
Leadership is not only about calling out hate.
It is about giving people the language to recognize it, the courage to confront it, and the example of how to live differently.
Robert Kraft has done exactly that. In a moment when moral clarity is urgently needed, he continues to stand up, speak clearly, and lead with his values.
A hero of our time.
Twenty-five years ago, just days before Rosh Hashanah, a young girl walked into my office asking to hang a flier on our bulletin board: “Can you please help me find my Mommy? One World Trade Center, 96th Floor.”
That image and the unbearable grief of that day, will never leave us. But neither will the extraordinary unity that followed. Hours after the towers fell, without any official call, hundreds gathered at our synagogue to lean on one another.
As we mark 25 years since 9/11 and approach Rosh Hashanah, that lesson remains: life is best lived when it is shared. May this new year find us more present, more generous in spirit, and more committed to one another.
After meeting with his American counterpart, @FBIDirectorKash, Shin Bet chief David Zini visited Yeshiva University and met with our students.
What stayed with me most was his confidence in the next generation, and their ability to lead with faith, character, and purpose.
This Rosh Hashanah, we will sound the shofar only on the second day.
I have been thinking about our YU student and lone soldier, Will Shakin z”l, who faced his own struggle with PTSD by working to help others carry theirs.
May the shofar we sound, and the one we do not, teach us to hear even the tears that are never voiced.
May his memory be for a blessing, and may we listen more closely, care more deeply, and be more present for one another.
Over the course of our conversations, @charliekirk11 expressed to me how much he appreciated Yeshiva and what we stand for. Once, while speaking with my sons, he repeated one of his famous line, but with an important addendum: “College is a scam……..except Yeshiva.”
In recent years, university presidents have faced complex challenges on campus. However, the greatest crisis facing American higher education today is one of purpose, the type of educational communities we are trying to build.
As I write in @USATODAY, @usedgov’s recent call to action provides universities an opportunity to rediscover their purpose and embark on an academic year of profound meaning.
Read full article : usatoday.com/story/opinion/2…
