YU Hosts 101st Annual Chanukah Dinner; Completes 613 Million Dollar RiseUp Campaign
Yeshiva University announced the completion of its 613 million dollar RiseUp fundraising campaign at its 101st annual Chanukah Dinner on Dec. 7. The campaign reached its goal two years ahead of schedule thanks to a 5 million dollar gift from longtime benefactor Robert Kraft.
The “Second Century Dinner,” which cost a minimum donation of $2,500 to attend (up from $1,800 last year) and was held at Cipriani Wall Street, drew more than 700 guests, including university leaders, donors and public figures. Israeli President Isaac Herzog was awarded an honorary doctorate and delivered the keynote address. His father, President Chaim Herzog, also received an honorary degree from YU in 1976.
“We gather tonight at a pivotal time in our history,” Herzog told attendees. “Recently, we have found the very legitimacy of Zionism has been called into question. So tonight, I am proud to say that Yeshiva University, the nation’s flagship Jewish university, [is] drawing its nourishment from our Torah, standing for academic excellence [and] serving as a cultural repository of the great books of the Western tradition and the foundational values of America”
Philanthropist Wendy Fisher, president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, advisory board chair of the Kirsh Foundation and a former YU student, received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the dinner. Fisher and her family recently endowed a Chair in Jewish Studies at YU focused on engaging unaffiliated Jews. Also honored with the Second Century Medallion were longtime YU benefactors, the Katz family, who founded the Katz School of Science and Health.
YU announced various programs and contributions at the event. Among them was a 13 million dollar donation from Alex and Diana Tsigutkin to establish a new engineering program, allowing students to pursue engineering degrees at YU without enrolling in a dual-degree program with Columbia University as was previously necessary.
“YU deserves a first-rate engineering program,” Vice Provost Selma Botman told The Commentator about the new program. “Like many people at YU, we look forward to the program coming to fruition.”
“Thus far, a great deal of thought has gone into conceptualizing the program and the work continues,” she said. “We will update as the schedule becomes clearer.”
The Katz family, it was announced, donated an additional 50 million dollars to the Katz School of Science and Health, which they founded in 2016. The school will now be renamed Katz College.
“The name change signifies the breadth of offerings, the growth of Katz in terms of size and scope,” Botman told The Commentator. “It is in recognition of the prestige associated with Katz’s academic programs.” Katz has expanded tremendously in the past few years, growing from 155 students in the fall of 2018 to 1,425 students in 2025. By contrast, Cardozo School of Law — YU’s second-largest graduate school — has remained steady at approximately 1,000 students over the same period.
Additional gifts announced at the dinner included a 36 million dollar scholarship donation from the Wilf family, a 10 million dollar contribution from Ann and Jeremy Pava to establish the Pava Center for Women’s Torah Scholarship and a 37 million dollar gift from Ethel and Ronald Gruen for Day School scholarships.
YU also announced plans to establish a new Middle Eastern Studies Department, though details remain limited. “We are in the embryonic stages of this project,” Botman told The Commentator. “We will share more information once plans are further developed.”
Morris Bailey and Joseph Jerome donated 15 million dollars to YU’s new Health Campus at the Herald Center in Midtown Manhattan. The 160,000 square feet facility, announced last year, will house much of Katz College. Graduate students from the Katz program have been attending classes and using spaces on Beren for several years, which drew significant frustration from undergraduate students who said they had not been informed that their all-female campus would become coeducational. Though Katz vacated the 245 Lexington Ave building this fall, some courses are still held at 215 Lexington Ave.
The dinner drew a number of prominent guests, including Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of fallen American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra. Several major philanthropists were also in attendance, including Israel “Izzy” Englander, founder of Millennium Management, whose name appears on YU’s Glueck Donor Wall, and Dan Loeb, founder and chief executive of the hedge fund Third Point. Miriam Adelson, a major Republican donor and philanthropist and the widow of Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, also attended.
“I remember when they first announced the 613 RiseUp campaign and it seemed like a very ambitious goal,” Noam Schechter (YC ‘27) told The Commentator. “I can’t believe they’ve actually completed it.”
“Reaching this huge milestone is incredibly exciting,” he added. “It’s been a long time in the making and I’m excited to see all the incredible ways YU will continue to grow.”
Photo Caption: President Berman handing an honorary degree to Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the 101st YU Chanukah dinner
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University
