Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University in New York, will deliver the benediction at the inauguration of Donald Trump next week, officials announced Tuesday.
Berman “will call for the nation to rise to this historic moment and unite around America’s foundational values as a source for realizing our shared dreams of a prosperous, compassionate country led by faith and trust in God,” according to a university news release.
Berman has led Yeshiva University, a modern Orthodox Jewish institution, since 2017. As president, he has overseen both successes and controversies. The institution recently reported its highest number of undergraduate applications in its history and has increased the number of transfer students, which it attributed in part to contentious pro-Palestinian protests elsewhere.
But Yeshiva administrators also clashed with an LGBTQ student group, which it refused to recognize, prompting a lawsuit. In fall 2022, the university suspended all student groups in an effort to avoid recognizing the LGBTQ club after Yeshiva was dealt a legal setback.
In the university news release, Berman said he was deeply honored to deliver the benediction.
“As I prepare my remarks, I am inspired by the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who thousands of years ago walked through the roads of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, and proclaimed ‘Blessed is the one who trusts in God.’ I pray that we are all united around the core values of life and liberty, of service and sacrifice, and especially of faith and morality, which George Washington called the ‘indispensable supports’ of American prosperity,” Berman said.
