Nir Barkat
Nir BarkatIsrael news photo: Flash 90

In honor of the jubilee celebrations for Jerusalem's reunification, the largest Jewish university in New York, Yeshiva University (YU), announced that it would award an honorary doctorate to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat at the forthcoming Hannukah university convocation.

Barkat joins a long and distinguished list of people who received honorary doctorates from the university including former US President George Bush, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and other notables.

Barkat will be the keynote speaker at the annual convocation which will take place Hannukah at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

University president Richard Joel explained the reasons for choosing Barkat and stated that "We are honored to award the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat with the highest degree conferred by our University. The passion and excitement evident in Barkat's work epitomize the values on which our university is established and which it transmits to all of its students and alumni. This year we are especially excited with the arrival of Mr. Barkat in our community and wish to demonstrate our gratitude to him for his service and contribution to the city of Jerusalem, the home and capital of the Jewish nation. Barkat's vision regarding Jerusalem corresponds to our commitment to the future and vitality of the State of Israel."

Mayor Barkat thanked the heads of Yeshiva University for the honor and said that "I merited to be the mayor of Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel and the true home of all Jews worldwide. Every Jew wherever he is has a part in Jerusalem which connects all of us together. Jerusalem is renovating, developing and growing into a modern city which maintains its past and its heritage. Thank you in my name and in the name of all Jerusalem's residents for the honor and commitment to the future and development of the capital of Israel."

Yeshiva University is a private Jewish university containing a yeshiva established in 1886 in New York. Its Beit Midrash or Talmudic Seminary (RIETS) is named for Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor of Kovno and was headed by the late luminary Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik for many years. YU has branches in Jerusalem and Los Angeles as well as tens of thousands of alumni. Its annual Hannukah convocation attracts hundreds of philanthropists, public policy leaders and heads of Jewish communities around the USA. The rank of doctor is the highest degree conferred by the university.