President Richard M. Joel

Richard M. Joel was inaugurated as Yeshiva University’s fourth president in 2003. He is renowned as a talented leader and gifted speaker and has traveled the globe giving talks on topics of Jewish leadership and identity at numerous universities and Jewish federations.

Since assuming the presidency, President Joel has provoked an era of growth at Yeshiva University. He has catalyzed a renewed focus on academic excellence, enriched student life and broadened service to the Jewish and wider communities.

Prior to his appointment, he served as the President and International Director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. During his fifteen-year tenure, he was the driving force behind the metamorphosis of the Hillel organization.

Richard M. Joel received his BA and JD from New York University where he was a Root-Tilden law scholar, and has received honorary doctorates from Boston Hebrew College and Gratz College. He was an assistant district attorney in New York, and Deputy Chief of Appeals in Bronx, NY. His career continued as Associate Dean and Professor of Law at YU’s Benjamin's Cardozo School of Law.

President Joel’s family has a deep connection to the Yeshiva University community. He and his wife, Esther, who holds a Ph.D. from YU’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, have six children 

Rabbi Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky

Born in Montréal, Rabbi Dr. Herbert Dobrinsky came to New York City in 1948 to attend the third year of high school at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy-Yeshiva University High School for Boys. He graduated from Yeshiva College in 1954. He was ordained at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in 1957. Dr. Dobrinsky also holds a Masters degree and a Doctoral degree in Education from the University’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology.

Following five years as a Rabbi in Halifax Nova Scotia’s Beth Israel Synagogue he joined Yeshiva University in 1962 as Associate Director of the Community Service Division at RIETS. He was named Vice President for University Affairs of Yeshiva University in 1981, following nineteen years of service to the institution in a number of important positions including Director of Rabbinic Placement for 9 years.

Dr. Dobrinsky’s outstanding achievements as a scholar, educator, administrator, and communal leader include being co-founder with the late Haham, Rabbi Dr. Solomon Gaon of the Sephardic Studies Program and the Sephardic Community Activities Program at the University, aimed at preserving the rich Sephardic Jewish heritage of North America. He was also co-founder of the American Society of Sephardic Studies and served as vice president of programming for the society. He is author of A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs. He also helped establish the University’s Holocaust Studies Program. He has been honored several times within the University and RIETS.

During his years of service to the University, Dr. Dobrinsky has traveled and lectured throughout the United States, Canada, Central America, England, and Israel. He has visited more than a hundred communities to gain first-hand insight into their needs. He also directed the initial stages of the University’s $100-million Century Campaign.

Dr. Dobrinsky and his wife, Dina, live in Riverdale, NY. They have three children, thirteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Most of their children and children-in-law are alumni of Yeshiva University schools.

National Director Mo Lidsky

Mo Lidsky graduated magna cum laude from Yeshiva College and Sy Syms School of Business. He has spent most of his career in executive and senior administrative roles within the non-profit world. He founded The Helping Jew Inc. and L’man Achai, and also held senior staff roles at Aish Hatorah, NCSY, Torah High, Ohel Family and Child Services, and several synagogues in the New York area.

Mo currently serves as the National Director of Canadian Operations for Yeshiva University, provides consultation services to organizations within the public and private sector, and is completing his MBA at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business.

Inspired by the welcome that he received from Yeshiva University shortly after his family’s arrival from the former Soviet Union, Mo has made a commitment to give back to Yeshiva University by building their infrastructure in Canada and giving others the same priceless opportunity of a Yeshiva University education that he received.

Mo lives in Toronto with his wife, Naomi, and daughter, Adira Noa.

Board of Directors
Canadian Friends of Yeshiva University

Eli Rubinstein, National President
Samuel Z. Eltes, National Chairman

Samuel E. Aberman
David J. Azrieli
Moshe Bessin
Donald S. Davis
Isaac J. Gaon
Abraham M. Gurman
Joseph Kerzner
Henry Koschitzky
Martin Lieberman
Alan Litwack
Jeremy Magence
Brain Medjuck
Ralph W. Medjuck
David E. Miller
Dov Meyer
Mark Nusbaum
Salomon Oziel
Kurt Rothschild
Yisroel Schachter
Roslyn Schultz
Joseph Segal
Rabbi Dr. Sidney Shoham
Jeff Silver
Arthur Steckler
Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz
Norman Sternthal
David Ulmer
Rabbi Dr. Mordechai E. Zeitz