As barrages of rockets rain down on Israeli cities, Rabbi Ari Berman, the president of Yeshiva University, told JNS on Friday that the school’s student community will gather just before Shabbat to offer prayers, including Psalm 20, for Israel’s safety.
One of the lines in the biblical text, “there are those that fight with chariots and horses, but we know that ultimately it is God that will bring our deliverance,” has given strength to those who were held hostage in Gaza, Berman told JNS.
“We are profoundly connected to everything that happens in Israel,” he said. “Yeshiva University and Israel are like one. This is who we are, and it’s the core of our identity.”
Many of the students who attend the school, whose main campuses are in Midtown Manhattan and in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, are currently in Israel, according to Berman.
“Over 80% of our students study in Israel for at least a year, and with our campus there more popular than ever, student engagement in Israel has only increased during this time of war,” he said.
“We have student groups, trips and students working as counselors in camps across Israel,” he said. “Many are involved in startups, innovation and internships. Even in the summer, our students are there, and this has only grown stronger.”
“We are locked in, and if anything, because of the urgency, we are more present,” he said.
Yeshiva is taking every measure to ensure the safety and support of its students in Israel, according to Berman.
“We’re following the orders from the Home Front Command and staying closely in tune with what is happening,” he said. “We want to make sure that our students are safe while continuing to be engaged.”
The university is supporting students academically and emotionally, according to Berman.
“We want our students to have the opportunity to come together as a community, even during the summer recess, to show our support for Israel,” he said.
Berman told JNS that the Jewish state needed to launch a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear sites on Friday morning. He added that the school is “thankful for the United States and its partnership with Israel.”
“Our community is very active politically, and we stand in support of all the leadership in this country who are voicing their solidarity with Israel at this crucial time,” he said.
Yeshiva has hundreds of international students, many of whom are non-Jewish and who study in graduate programs in science, health and law. Ultimately, many develop strong support for Israel, according to Berman.
“We just had a South Korean cohort visit our campus, and when they left, they wrote me a note saying, ‘Dear President Berman, We love Yeshiva University. We stand with Israel,’” he said. “We never told them to do that. It’s just osmosis because of our school culture.”
The Yeshiva student body has developed a strong resilience in response to the upheaval that followed Oct. 7, according to Berman. “Our students have a great resolve, and everyone understands that this is a moment of history,” he said
“We stand strong and we stand together,” he added.