President Herzog’s Address at Yeshiva University in New York

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to join you, at the 101^st annual Hanukkah dinner, and I thank you, the men and women of Yeshiva University for presenting me with this honorary doctorate.

It is a pleasure to share the spotlight with Dr. Wendy Fisher, and with the Katz family- mazal tov, dear friends.

The list of honorees that preceded us is quite humbling. Eleanor Roosevelt and Elie Wiesel, Albert Einstein, and – a modern day hero—Rachel Goldberg- Polin.

You may recall, 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.

Well, ladies and gentleman, I did accept the position of Israel’s President… and I am pleased to also accept this honor here this evening!

My “fellow president” Rabbi Ari Berman— your leadership, your eloquence, your understanding heart,are a gift to the Jewish people. You are the right man at the right time. ישר כוח . Bless you.

I must also recognize Senator John Fetterman, a great friend of the Jewish community and the State of Israel. What a hero!

Friends, for over a century, Yeshiva University has been a bastion of Jewish leadership, Jewish thought, and Jewish pride.

The light emanating from YU’s teachers and graduates, is unique in scope, in reputation, in multi-generational impact.

The  תורה ומדע- Torah and science, that were generated within Yeshiva’s library and בית מדרש, have enhanced not only the Jewish collective. They have enriched modern civilization.

This prominence of YU within American Jewry, and in fact world Jewry, was actually the basis for a meeting I convened in Jerusalem 25 years ago.

At the time, I was Government Secretary dealing with the issue of egalitarian prayers at the Kotel, when I introduced Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm זצ”ל then Yeshiva’s President, to רב עובדיה יוסף זצ”ל, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, and a monumental spiritual authority in Israeli Orthodoxy.

I watched the two great רבנים sit down in Harav Ovadia’s study, and converse in Hebrew, as the formal discussion evolved into a fascinating חברותא. It was a meeting of the minds and the hearts, between a renowned leader of the American Jewish community and an admired leader of Sephardic and Israeli Jewry.

As Rabbi Lamm and Rav Ovadia spoke of the impressive trajectory of American Jews, and of the dialogue that takes place within the streams of Judaism in America— I watched another bridge between Israel and world Jewry take shape before my eyes.

Friends, you are the embodiment of this bridge in our times. YU is a מקדש מעט, a sanctuary, of traditional halachic training, and advanced academic achievements.

In my eyes, YU is for American Jewry what Israel is for world Jewry: It is home base!

As Yeshiva’s second president, Rabbi Samuel Belkin, noted: you have built a little Israel here. Both YU and Israel are safe havens, in which to grow and flourish. 

YU is, and will always remain, the university and the yeshiva. Just as Israel is, and will always remain, Jewish and democratic!

The story of YU, and of American Jewry is one of cultural wealth, social mobility, and prosperity. Our ancestors could not have imagined their descendants would gather in NY, to celebrate the flagship of Jewish American education, and the modern-day miracle of the State of Israel, on the 250^th year of American independence!

Yet, I know that here in New York, and all across America, the turbulence is un-nerving, and the challenges facing our people, the Jewish people, are growing. Institutional anti-Semitism, Holocaust inversion, conspiracies left and right, Jew- hatred platformed on social media, and moral bankruptcy masquerading as social justice- have all disturbingly increased!

Where Jews were once “Yids” in America, Zionists are now called “Zios”. Each of us here understands that Jews are always the first, but never the last, to be demonized, targeted, “other-ised”. We all recognize the increase of volume of hatred, and the magnified sounds of silence from people once considered our friends.

Recent developments in New York City have raised a red flag. Here, we see the rise of a new mayor- elect who makes no effort to conceal his contempt for the Jewish Democratic State of Israel, the only nation state of the Jewish people.

Just two weeks ago, we saw attendees of an Aliyah event in a prominent Manhattan synagogue, being hounded and harassed. The incoming mayor’s response, was to suggest that Jews who consider fulfilling the ultimate Zionist dream of making Aliyah, are violating international law and the sanctity of the synagogue!

This rhetoric is outrageous! Returning to Zion and connecting to Israel have been cornerstones of Jewish faith and Jewish tradition for thousands of years!

Delegitimizing the Jewish people’s right to their ancient homeland, and their age-old dream of Jerusalem, legitimizes violence and undermines freedom of religion!

This is both anti-Jewish and anti- American!

Friends- In the face of such hatred and manipulation we must fight back fiercely and fearlessly! We must use any legal means at our disposal, advocacy, education, leadership, civic engagement, media, social networks, to combat this surge of hate and anti-Semitism.

To the haters and bashers, the vile influencers and violent protesters I say: you will never succeed! 50 years ago, my late father Chaim Herzog, then Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, stood before the family of nations, and denounced the infamous resolution equating Zionism with Racism.

In his historic speech at the UN, my father said: “I see the oppressors of our people over the ages, as they pass one after another in evil procession, into oblivion.”

And I humbly say to you, this evening: Our people have been to hell and back, and yet-  הננו!We are here and we shall overcome!

Two years after the Simchat Torah massacre of October 7^th, 80 years after the Nazis and their cruel collaborators tried to rid the world of Jews— הננו!  We are here! We are proud!

Jews are an eternal people, therefore we know that this too shall pass, and that there will always be hope for our future!

As for Israel, dear friends, as we speak, Israeli society is in the process of emerging from pain and trauma. Now, that all but one of our hostages are home- and we demand, and cry out, for the immediate release of our remaining hostage, our brother, the courageous policeman Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili— Now, that many IDF reservists – miluimnikim have come home after months back and forth from Gaza- with the hope that the ceasefire in Gaza will endure, and that we can move to the next phase— …now we can begin to survey the emotional, social, spiritual, and physical toll the past two years have taken on our nation.

At last we can hope to find the words with which to process our collective trauma.

We have reached this point thanks to hundreds of thousands of heroes who willingly ran towards the fire, instantaneously, to protect the people of Israel and the State of Israel.

Some were heroes from previous wars, like the 96 year old volunteer reservist, who had already seen the horrors of war time and again, since 1948.

Many were young heroes, fresh out of high-school, who dropped everything to rescue their fellow Israelis, most of them perfect strangers; Some were lone soldiers who came from all corners of the world to serve in the IDF.

Friends— Never did I imagine how many heroes lived among us. Never have Michal and I wept over so many people, so many angels we never knew.

Throughout the war Michal and I paid over fifteen hundred bereavement visits and shiva calls. We meet them daily. We met with thousands of Israelis immersed in grief, agony and uncertainty.

We visited innumerable civilians and soldiers, in Israel’s excellent hospitals and rehab facilities.

We witnessed our nation- the nation of Israel, עם ישראל, in all its glory.

We heard first-hand accounts of infinite faith, courage and survival. We saw people choosing life, showing up and declaring הנני— and we met people who were alive because of the sacrifices of others!

And now, the dramatic shifts reverberating throughout the Middle East, are nothing short of historic.

From the very first hours of October 7^th, America stood firmly by Israel’s side, demonstrating great friendship and moral clarity.

Since assuming office, President Donald J. Trump’s personal involvement propelled the return from captivity of all of our precious sisters and brothers, and we are awaiting the last one: Ran.

One of them is Captain Omer Neutra, who came to Israel as a lone soldier to serve in the IDF, and was killed on October 7^th during a heroic battle near Kibbutz Nir Oz.

His body was taken hostage and returned to Israel just one month ago.

It is so moving to see Omer’s parents, Orna and Ronen Neutra, here with us tonight. This is a family of heroes!

I take this opportunity to thank our friend Dr. Miriam Adelson, whose role in the return of our hostages cannot be overstated!

President Trump outlined his plan for the “Day After the War”, demonstrating immense diplomatic craftsmanship, both his own and that of his advisors Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The President’s plan includes uprooting Hamas militants from Gaza and deterring our enemies, forming a basis for renewed dialogue across the Middle East – including with Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, and outlining a tangible, concrete path towards partnership, collaboration, and future peace throughout the region.

I thank President Trump deeply for his leadership, for his courage, for his steadfast support of Israel and its wellbeing.

I pray that he will succeed in realizing his vision for a new horizon in the Middle East.

Rabbi Berman, distinguished guests and friends— As I conclude my remarks, I must acknowledge that I am the third generation of Herzogs honored by YU, joining my father and my father’s father.

I am reminded that when my grandfather HaRav Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog, the first Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, was honored by Yeshiva in 1948— just a few years after he was considered a candidate for YU’s president— our young nation-state was already embroiled in our War of Independence.

I am reminded that in my teens, when I escorted my father Chaim Herzog, then Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, to the ceremony in which he received an Honorary Degree at the inaugural convocation of YU’s Cardozo School of Law back in 1976— the Yom Kippur War of 1973 was still fresh in our minds, and Israeli society was approaching a dramatic political turning point.

I am reminded that when YU once again honored my father, by then the Sixth President of the State of Israel, in 1992— the Iron Curtain had fallen, and Soviet Jewry was changing the Israeli landscape and world Jewry.

And today, 26 months since Israel experienced our day of horror that will forever live in infamy, I look at the many friends here tonight, I look back at the path of my family, the path of our Israel, and I see how the values on which I was raised, carried me every step of the way— only to present me with the holy task of showing up for my people.

Each and every one of us in this hall, has an obligation, and a privilege to show up for עם ישראל, the people of Israel and the State of Israel.

You may know that in March 1960, Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion came to YU and delivered a historic speech to thousands of people— it was the largest crowd he ever addressed in Hebrew outside of Israel.

Fast forward 65 years later, just a few days ago Michal and I visited the hut in which Ben Gurion lived,in Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev Dessert, in Southern Israel.

On his desk, at the top of a pile of books which remains untouched, my eyes caught sight of a book titled”the Story of Yeshiva University”, written by Gilbert Klaperman. Clearly, David Ben Gurion valued his visit to YU, and carried YU’s story within him until his final days.

To me, this is powerful proof that we are carrying our shared story, Israel’s story, In Israel, here at Yeshiva University and elsewhere, from generation to generation.

As we will recite on Hannukah, a week from now- בימים ההם, בזמן הזה. In each generation, we must spread the light, so that we can all go from strength to strength.

לכו מחיל אל חיל, הפיצו אור לעם ישראל ולעולם כולו.  

תודה רבה. Thank you.