Annual YU Hanukkah Dinner Raises $4.3 Million, Marks a 10% Increase From Last Year

The 93rd annual Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner on December 3 raised over $4.3 million, marking an increase of 10% over last year’s event and constituting the largest sum in at least five years. The dinner is the university’s main yearly fundraising event.

In his address, President Berman called the event “one of the most successful dinners in its 93-year history.” In 2012, the dinner raised $3.8 million before dipping to $3.5 million the next year. Since 2014, the dinner has averaged $4 million. This marks the first dinner after the new Vice President of Institutional Advancement Alyssa Herman, as well as President Berman, took office.

It was revealed in a report last year by The Commentator that former Vice President of Institutional Advancement Seth Moskowitz resigned from his position the morning after last year’s dinner. The dinner had brought in “close to $4 million,” according to the YU News Blog.

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens served as the keynote speaker for the dinner, receiving an honorary degree alongside Chair of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Board of Overseers David Samson. YU Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Meir Goldwicht received the Presidential Medallion. Past honorees of the dinner include President George W. Bush, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat.

*Approximations reported by YU News Blog