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Monday, January 20, 2025
Head of Yeshiva University prays for hostages, Mideast peace at Trump inauguration
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The president of New York City’s Yeshiva University, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, prays for the Israeli hostages, for peace in Middle East, and for calm on college campuses during US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Hailing a “moment of historic opportunity,” Berman prays for Trump and Vice President JD Vance “to choose the right and the good, unite us around our foundational biblical values of life and liberty, service and sacrifice, and especially of faith and morality.”
“Guide our schools and and campuses which have been experiencing such unrest to inspire the next generation,” says Berman during the inauguration’s benediction.
“Hear the cry of the hostages, both American and Israeli, whose pain our president so acutely feels. We are so thankful for the three young women who yesterday returned home,” he says, wearing a yellow ribbon symbolizing the plight of the captives.
“Pray that the next four years brings peace to Israel and throughout the Middle East,” he says.
Berman, the university president since 2017, is the first American-Israeli to speak at a presidential inauguration, and the only university president to deliver remarks at Trump’s inauguration. He is the 10th rabbi to participate in a presidential inauguration, and the third to deliver a benediction.
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