Yeshiva University High Schools to Honor Community Leaders and Beloved Faculty Members at May 22 Dinner

Yeshiva University High Schools (YUHS) will present their Annual Dinner of Tribute on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at Terrace on the Park, 52-11 111th Street, Flushing Meadows Park, NY. This year’s honorees include Guests of Honor Louis and Naomi Tuchman and faculty honorees, Lynda Smith and Dr. Seth Taylor.

Guests of Honor Louis and Naomi Tuchman

“The Board of Trustees joins the Yeshiva University High School community in paying tribute to two inspiring, beloved and dedicated faculty members,” said Miriam Goldberg, chair of YUHS. “Our guests of honor, Naomi and Louis, are a rare blend of community leaders who graciously give their time from their professional and person lives.” Read the rest of this entry…

Newly Accredited Sy Syms Bestows Inaugural Humanitarian Award on Mortimer Zuckerman at Gala

Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business celebrated its 26th anniversary and the graduating class of 2013 with a Gala Awards Dinner on April 23. The evening honored students and faculty who excelled within their fields and demonstrated exceptional character and included a presentation of the inaugural Sy Syms Humanitarian Award to Mortimer B. Zuckerman.

“We come tonight with a full heart to celebrate the arrival of the Sy Syms School of Business as an institution of the first ranks, newly accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, with the establishment of a new honors program and tremendous success on the parts of the students, deans and faculty,” said YU President Richard M. Joel, listing a few of the school’s most notable recent accomplishments. Read the rest of this entry…

Mort Zuckerman to Receive First-Ever Sy Syms Humanitarian Award at April 23 Gala

The Student Council of the Sy Syms School of Business will be presenting Mortimer B. Zuckerman with the first-ever Sy Syms Humanitarian Award, in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and ethical business practices throughout many years in philanthropy and business. The formal dinner and reception will be held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on April 23 as part of the annual Sy Syms School of Business Gala Awards Dinner. The event is organized and hosted by the Student Council.

“Mr. Zuckerman personifies the principles of leadership and entrepreneurship that are instilled in all of us at Sy Syms and we are honored to have him accept the inaugural Humanitarian Award,” said Jesse Nathanson, president of the Sy Syms School of Business Student Council. Read the rest of this entry…

Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, and Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler to be Honored at May 1 Gala

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), an affiliate of Yeshiva University, will honor dedicated leaders and educators of the Jewish community at its Annual Gala Evening of Tribute on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at The Grand Hyatt in New York City. Honorees include Rabbi Hyman (Hy) and Ann Arbesfeld, Etz Chaim Award; Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Guest of Honor; and Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Distinguished Rabbinic Leadership Award.

“I have always believed that RIETS is the heart and soul of Yeshiva University,” said Joel Schreiber, chairman of the RIETS Board of Trustees. “It is blessed with the finest Roshei Yeshiva that have produced outstanding scholars of Torah and Jewish thought. For over 100 years it has embodied the philosophy of Torah Umadda and has been at the forefront of Modern Orthodoxy in America and beyond. This year, we are privileged to honor leaders in Torah, chesed and service to community.” Read the rest of this entry…

Congressman Patrick Kennedy to Deliver Keynote Address at November 11 Event

Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy will deliver the keynote address at Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology’s 55th Anniversary Gala Celebration. The event will take place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City on Sunday, November 11 at 5 p.m.

Ferkauf will honor Patrick Kennedy on behalf of his advocacy of mental health services and research.

Congressman Kennedy and his father, the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, will be recognized for their work as champions of the Mental Health Parity Bill and their advocacy of mental health services and research. In May 2011, Patrick Kennedy helped launch an initiative called One Mind for Research to improve funding and unify research efforts in brain science.

“I appreciate this honor, especially for my father, and I am glad to be partnering with Ferkauf to advance the cause of mental health services and research,” said Kennedy. Read the rest of this entry…

Athletic Banquet Honors Student-Athletes Across 14 Varsity Sports

The annual Athletic Awards Banquet was held Wednesday evening, May 9, in the Max Stern Athletic Center. More than 250 athletes, administrators and guests were present to celebrate the 14 2011-2012 athletic teams that Yeshiva sponsors. Attendees were treated to a night of special awards for their teammates along with the unveiling of a championship banner for the men’s cross country team, celebrating the school’s first ever back-to-back championship in any sport. Read the rest of this entry…

Mayor Bloomberg Addresses Students and Alumni at Syms Awards Ceremony

On May 3, graduating seniors of Yeshiva University’s Syms School of Business received heartfelt congratulations and career advice from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the 2012 Annual Syms School of Business Gala Awards Dinner.

The event, held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the business school, which now has over 3,000 alumni, and the graduating class of 2012. It also honored students and faculty who excelled within their fields and demonstrated exceptional character. Read the rest of this entry…

Yeshiva University High Schools Present Annual Dinner of Tribute on May 16

Yeshiva University High Schools (YUHS) will hold their Annual Dinner of Tribute on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, NJ. This year’s honorees include Harvey and Deena Wrubel, Rabbi Tanchum Cohen and Rabbi Zvi Lew.

Harvey and Deena Wrubel

Harvey and Deena Wrubel are YU Benefactors and pillars of the Teaneck, N.J community. Strong supporters of a host of worthy organizations in the United States and Israel, the Wrubels are deeply involved in The Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, Yeshivat Sha’alvim and their shul, Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. The YU High Schools are proud to honor the Wrubels by dedicating and naming Yeshiva University High School for Boys’s (YUHSB) Beis Medresh Katan Program in memory of Harvey’s father, Mr. Julius Wrubel z”l. The Wrubels are the proud parents of four children and four grandchildren.

Rabbi Tanchum Cohen

Rabbi Tanchum Cohen, a popular maggid shiur at YUHSB, is the founding rebbe of the Beis Medresh Katan Program. He is a graduate of RIETS and Yeshiva College and was a Wexner Kollel Elyon Fellow for four years. Rabbi Cohen serves as assistant rabbi of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, N.J. and he and his wife, Yaffa, are the proud parents of six children.

Rabbi Zvi Lew

Rabbi Zvi Lew is the Israel guidance adviser at Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG) and wears many hats. He teaches 10th grade chumash and 11th grade kashruth/halakha, advises YUHSG’s champion Torah Bowl team and delivers a regular Friday shiur to returning alumni. A product of Yeshiva College and RIETS, Rabbi Lew resides with his wife, Elana, and their four children in Kew Garden Hills, where he also gives several regular shiurim throughout the community.

For reservations or for more information about the dinner, please contact Rabbi Moshe Kinderlehrer at 212-960-5489 or email mkinder@yu.edu, or visit www.yu.edu/hsdinner.

Senator Gillibrand Keynotes Hanukkah Convocation; Philip Friedman, Ira Mitzner and Stephen Siegel Honored

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand delivered the keynote address at Yeshiva University’s 87th Annual Hanukkah Convocation and Dinner on Sunday, December 11 at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. YU President Richard M. Joel bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Gillibrand, describing her as “a voice for vulnerable citizens” and her career as one in which “fervor for family fuels [her] political passions.” The New York senator is best known for her plans to help struggling working families, rebuilding the economy by creating jobs, championing higher education, strengthening America’s armed services and fighting against childhood obesity.

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“Whatever issue you bring, you bring from principle, not partisanship or ideology,” said President Joel. “You devote your professional career to opening the eyes of so many who don’t want to see.”

In her convocation address, a heartfelt message replete with both personal anecdotes and political aspirations, Gillibrand praised Yeshiva University for ingraining in all its students a defining mantra of giving and leadership, and inspiring students to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others all over the world.

“I am most grateful for the leadership taught here at Yeshiva University… a quality education built on a foundation of faith and values,” said Gillibrand. “When times are dark and unstable, this leadership is seen in its greatest light and we need to share these opportunities for vision and commitment.”

At the convocation, President Joel also conferred honorary degrees upon technology executive Philip Friedman, a member of YU’s Board of Trustees since 2009 and a former board member of YU’s SYMS School of Business; real estate developer Ira Mitzner, a trustee of YU since 2007 who established the David Mitzner Deanship of the CJF; and commercial real estate executive Stephen B. Siegel, a 25-year board member at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

“These recipients of honorary degrees are a shining light on YU and the world, and their lights are life lessons to our students and to all of us,” said President Joel. “Tonight, we celebrate the successes of an amazing, noble enterprise, and resolve to keep it strong and sacred.

“Like the ancient Maccabees, and the YU Maccabeats, we reaffirm our commitment to life and values, to success and purpose, to faith and freedom, to teach and to touch, to rights and responsibilities,” he said. “Yeshiva teaches its students to dream and to achieve. The Jewish people, the United States, Israel, indeed the whole world, needs to reignite the passion of purpose, the belief in ideas, the access to achievement and the possibilities of tomorrow.”

During the dinner portion, President Joel also recognized eight Points of Lights—people who exemplify the mission of Yeshiva University—calling each one up to light a symbolic candle on the menorah. Read more about the Points of Light here.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to Keynote Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation on December 11

U.S. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand will be the keynote speaker at Yeshiva University’s 87th Annual Hanukkah Convocation and Dinner on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at The Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The University will also bestow an honorary doctorate upon Senator Gillibrand, who is best known for her plans to help struggling working families, rebuild the American economy and to strengthen America’s armed services.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will keynote the Dec. 11 YU Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation.

YU President Richard M. Joel will also confer honorary degrees upon technology executive Philip Friedman, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees since 2009 and a former member of the board of YU’s SYMS School of Business; real estate developer Ira Mitzner, a Trustee of YU since 2007; and real estate investment executive Stephen B. Siegel, who is a 25-year member of the board at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

The annual Hanukkah Convocation and Dinner draws nearly one thousand of the country’s leading Jewish philanthropists and community leaders. Past speakers at the black tie gala have included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (then Senator), Senator John McCain, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Vice President Al Gore.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was sworn in as United States Senator from New York in January 2009, filling the seat of current Secretary of State Clinton. Throughout her time in Congress, Gillibrand has been committed to open and honest government and has become known for her transparency, becoming the first member of Congress to post her official public schedule, personal financial disclosure and federal earmark requests online. Gillibrand’s number one priority is to rebuild the American economy by creating jobs, helping small businesses get loans and partnering with the private sector to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

Philip Friedman

Philip Friedman, a resident of Livingston, NJ, is chief executive officer of CGS, which specializes in software, systems integration, business process outsourcing, consulting and training. In 2009, Friedman endowed the Alexander Friedman Scholarship Fund in honor of his father, which awards need-based scholarships and paid summer internship opportunities to YU students. Friedman has also been actively involved in the leadership of the SYMS School of Business. He has been committed to Jewish learning throughout his life. He himself learned Hebrew for his Bar Mitzvah in secret while living in the Soviet Union, where outward expression of Judaism was not only discouraged but potentially dangerous.

Ira Mitzner

Ira Mitzner, of Houston, TX, is founder and president of Rida Development Corp.  In 2006, the Mitzner family established the Ruth Buchbinder Mitzner Chair in Talmud and Jewish Law at YU’s Israel campus. His family also has a special connection to YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), where he established the David Mitzner Presidential Fellowship in honor of his father and the David Mitzner Deanship of CJF, of which Rabbi Kenneth Brander is the inaugural dean. Ira Mitzner’s hotel, ChampionsGate in Orlando, hosts the annual leadership conference sponsored by the CJF.  Mr. Mitzner has been most inspired by his father, who spent eight years in Soviet prison camps and exile in Siberia after his former home (in the heart of the Warsaw Ghetto) was destroyed in the 1940s.

Stephen Siegel

Stephen Siegel, chairman of Global Brokerage, currently an honorary member of the board at Cardozo, has been involved with the law school for 25 years. In commercial real estate circles he is widely regarded as one of the industry’s most talented and prolific professionals. He has recently been honored with Commercial Property News’ Lifetime Achievement Award and named by Crain’s as one of the 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in New York City.

Yeshiva University invites you to attend the December 11 Dinner and Convocation. Contributions support scholarships and can be designated to the University’s school or college of your choice. For more information, reservations and Scroll of Honor opportunities please visit www.yu.edu/hanukkah.