Skip to main content Skip to search

YU News

YU News

Yeshiva University’s 95th Annual Hanukkah Dinner

Howard Jonas, founder and chairman of IDT Corporation, Genie Energy and IDW Media, to Receive Honorary Doctorate; Azrieli family to receive the University’s inaugural Legacy Award; and the Yeshiva University Women’s Organization to be Recognized for Decades of Philanthropy at December 8, 2019, event Logo of the 95th Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation Yeshiva University will hold its 95th Annual Hanukkah Dinner on Sunday, December 8, 2019. The black-tie gala will be held at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York City beginning at 5 p.m. Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University, will confer an honorary degree upon Howard Jonas, founder and chairman of IDT Corporation, Genie Energy and IDW Media. He is also chairman of the board at Rafael Pharmaceuticals. Jonas and his wife, Debbie, support a variety of causes in the Jewish community. Their family foundation supports health and hospitals, education, poverty relief, addiction treatment, religious outreach and the disabled primarily in Israel and the United States. The Azrieli family will receive the University’s inaugural Legacy Award, which celebrates 36 years of transformative partnership with Yeshiva University and honors the Azrieli Foundation’s 30 years of impact philanthropy. Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration was established in 1983 by a major gift by the Montreal architect-builder and communal leader David J. Azrieli and his family, generous philanthropists and longtime supporters of the University. Also during the Dinner, Yeshiva University will recognize the Yeshiva University Women’s Organization, which provides scholarships to students in need, sponsors educational Shabbat programs and funds chesed [charity] programs in addition to offering stipends for undergraduate students with financial needs not covered by scholarships, such as food, clothing, textbooks and healthcare. The Hanukkah Dinner draws hundreds of the country’s leading Jewish philanthropists and community leaders. Past speakers and honorees have included President George W. Bush, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Vice President Al Gore, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Senator John McCain.