In a post Oct. 7 world plagued by virulent antisemitism at some of the leading universities, Yeshiva University has become a physical and educational safe haven for its students and faculty members. At this past week’s graduation ceremony, Yeshiva University and its president, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, awarded the Presidential Global Leadership Award to United States Rep. Elise Stefanik. Such a commendation was not only appropriate but it truly made me a proud alumnus of Yeshiva College (1992) and Cardozo School of Law (1995).
Kudos to Yeshiva University and Rabbi Dr. Berman for recognizing such a staunch ally who has played a leading role in attempting to eradicate antisemitism from universities including Harvard, U of P, and MIT. Rep. Stefanik received a prolonged standing ovation at graduation, which was well deserved both for the congresswoman and for YU.
However, I was shocked and dismayed to see a diatribe from over 80 members of the YU faculty that was an obvious attempt to publicly embarrass YU for conferring this award on Rep. Stefanik. In fact, some of these faculty members signing the letter were professors that I had, both in Yeshiva College and in Cardozo School of Law. I respected these professors, until now. In their complaint, these faculty members quote emet or truth as a sacred Jewish principle, cite the Talmud, and then have the audacity of accusing YU of engaging in dishonesty for awarding Rep. Stefanik the Presidential Medallion. They further complain that Y.U. has made graduation a political issue among families celebrating the accomplishments of their loved ones.
Yeshiva University has not responded as of yet to the letter of these faculty members and I completely understand why. Therefore, as the second generation of a three-generation YU family, let me humbly attempt to do so.
It is these very professors who undermine and distort the truth. Just last year, Yeshiva University issued this very award to United States Sen. John Fetterman. Not only did the more conservative members of the YU administration and faculty not object but some of YU’s most prominent rabbis danced with Sen. Fetterman at the graduation. No doubt, the rabbis understood and acknowledged that Sen. Fetterman is a friend of the Jewish community and well deserving of our gratitude.
Rep. Stefanik was likewise recognized by YU as a leader in combating antisemitism on campus. That has absolutely nothing to do with whether she is liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican. It is a basic Jewish ideal that YU embraces — hakarat hatov. For certain members of the Yeshiva University faculty to fail to recognize hakarat hatov and instead criticize YU for honoring Rep. Stefanik for other reasons, makes it very clear that, in fact, it is these faculty members who have taken the precious moment of families celebrating the accomplishments of their loved ones and have tried to politicize it.
In their statement, these faculty members claim that they deeply cherish the privilege of teaching their students. What they ignore is that they are teaching students of Yeshiva University, where Yeshiva comes before University and where the ideal is Torah U’Mada — Torah first and then Mada. By penning this public protest, these faculty members completely miss the core Torah values of Yeshiva University, especially that of hakarat hatov. Faculty members of Yeshiva University are duty bound to uphold the core Torah values to the upcoming generation of students. Their letter makes it very clear to me that they are failing in this sacred obligation.
Students remember the faculty members who have made a great impact on them, both years and even decades later. I will therefore close by quoting one of mine that no doubt some of the signatories to this abhorrent letter would remember, and that is Rabbi Dr. Maurice Wohlgelernter, also known as “The Reb.” In the 1991-1992 school year, the YU Commentator published a large article which had the title “U’biarta Ha’Ra Mikirbecha,” translated as “you shall eradicate the evil in your midst.” That article pertained to removing someone from the YU beit midrash who was causing trouble to several YU rabbis through his hateful language. The Reb cited those words all year long regarding the need to absolutely uphold the core Torah values of Yeshiva University while getting rid of those who attempted to compromise them. These words truly come full circle, 33 years later.
