Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, sees the current moment not as a siege but as a test of purpose. In a wide-ranging interview with Felice Friedson, Berman describes Jewish universities facing rising anti-Semitism, post-October campus unrest, and the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence with unusual urgency and confidence. His message is straightforward. “YU was created for times like this.”
Berman says YU’s mission is bigger than protecting Jewish students from hostilities. It must teach moral clarity. He called anti-Zionism “definitely anti-Semitism” and argued that denying only Jews the right to national self-determination is discrimination. After October 7, he helped organize a coalition of universities united against terrorism, saying the country needs to know that some university presidents still know how to speak up.
The campus crisis also changed YU’s trajectory. Professor Berman says interest in transfers has skyrocketed since October 7, with the number of early decision applicants increasing “by more than 70% over the past two years,” and that faculty at major institutions are coming to the University of Tokyo knowing their colleagues are indifferent to Jewish issues. “It’s a story that hasn’t been told yet,” he says.
But this interview isn’t just about anti-Semitism. Berman is equally focused on AI, engineering, robotics, and the moral stakes of new technologies. YU is opening an engineering track and expanding research in artificial intelligence, including AI health research. For Berman, the question is not whether AI is good or bad, but who shapes it. “Good AI” must learn how to beat “bad AI,” he says.
That’s where faith enters the conversation. Berman said the venerable university is working with faith-based universities such as Brigham Young University and the University of Notre Dame to ensure that religion and Jewish tradition are represented as AI evolves. He argues that 3,000 years of tradition gives us the roots to face the upheavals of our time and the confidence to face the future.
Read the full article and listen to the audio interview to hear Berman’s full argument for moral clarity, technological ambition, and what he calls “pro-Semitism”: an underreported story of friendship with Jews and Israel.
