Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, who replaced Yeshiva University President Richard M. Joel after his 14-year tenure, officially started his new position on June 5. As the fifth-ever YU president, Rabbi Berman said he is excited to return to his alma mater and add to its Torah Umadda (Torah combined with secular knowledge) philosophy. “As I craft a new institutional mission and vision for Yeshiva University, I know our future will be brightest when we work together with a sense of common purpose,” the four-time YU alumnus said. “We will build upon our past and prepare responsibly for tomorrow.”

Originally from Queens, Rabbi Berman was the head of Hechal Shlomo—Center of Jewish Heritage in Jerusalem, a lecturer of rabbinic literature in Herzog College’s Jewish Studies Department and a member of its Executive Leadership Council. In 2000, Rabbi Berman also served as rabbi of The Jewish Center in New York City after being their rabbinic intern, assistant rabbi and associate rabbi. He was concurrently an instructor of Talmud in the Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program at Yeshiva College. In 2008 Rabbi Berman made aliyah and graduated from Hebrew University with a doctorate in Jewish law and thought during the High Middle Ages.

Rabbi Berman graduated with honors from Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys, the Yeshiva College, and earned a master’s degree in medieval Jewish philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. In addition, he was acknowledged by the YU-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) for his written scholarship and was selected as a fellow in the Kollel Elyon, the three-year post-ordination study program for RIETS. The Yeshiva will celebrate Rabbi Dr. Berman’s official investiture on September 10.