{"id":798506,"date":"2026-05-15T15:53:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798506\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:53:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:53:24","slug":"herzog-scraps-appearance-at-jts-after-objection-from-pro-palestinian-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798506\/","title":{"rendered":"Herzog scraps appearance at JTS after objection from pro-Palestinian students"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Isaac Herzog has canceled an in-person commencement speech at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, the chancellor of the flagship Conservative institution said, after some students and alumni accused Herzog of having incited violence against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

In a May 12 letter shared Thursday by JTS, Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Herzog said he could not attend the May 19 ceremony because of unspecified \u201ccircumstances that prevent my travel to New York at this time,\u201d the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rubin Schwartz said Herzog, who was set to receive an honorary degree at the ceremony, would address the gathering virtually and would be awarded the degree in person at a later date.<\/p>\n

Writing in the Forward<\/a>, Rubin Schwartz also decried what she described as the \u201cpublic media spectacle\u201d that ensued after six members of the graduating class privately wrote to top JTS officials to object to Herzog\u2019s selection last month as commencement speaker. The letter<\/a> received the support of several other JTS students and alumni, including four rabbinical students, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs too often happens in such circumstances, the letter was shared more widely, without the students\u2019 prior knowledge or consent,\u201d Rubin Schwartz said. \u201cThis was dismaying to several of the students, who had intended to hand-deliver it to me to spark conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe authors were publicly criticized, misidentified as rabbinical students and labeled \u2018anti-Zionist,\u2019 including by some parties who purport to care deeply about JTS,\u201d said Rubin Schwartz. \u201cCalls were made for their expulsion, and unfounded accusations were directed at their characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tChancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz speaks at the institution\u2019s 131st commencement ceremony, May 22, 2025. (Ellen Rubin Photography via JTA)<\/p>\n

The six authors, whom Rubin Schwartz identified as students in undergraduate JTS dual-degree programs with Barnard and Columbia, said that \u201cas scholars of ethics, text, history and rabbinics,\u201d they were compelled to express their concern about \u201cthe invitation of a speaker at our graduation celebration who condones the suffering of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors claimed Herzog had \u201cincited violence\u201d by inscribing a message on an artillery shell that was fired into Gaza, denying that there was a famine in the Strip and declaring \u201can entire nation\u201d responsible for the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war there.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo choose an individual to speak with whom many students and community members so vehemently disagree invites controversy, tension and an air of unease into what is supposed to be a beautiful ceremony,\u201d the six authors said.<\/p>\n

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\u05d4\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0 \u05d9\u05e6\u05d7\u05e7 \u05d4\u05e8\u05e6\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d7\u05d5\u05ea\u05dd \u05d1\u05db\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5\u05d1 \u05f4\u05e1\u05d5\u05de\u05db\u05d9\u05dd \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05db\u05dd\u05f4 \u05e2\u05dc \u05e4\u05d2\u05d6 \u05d1\u05d3\u05e8\u05da \u05dc\u05e2\u05d6\u05d4, \u05d1\u05d1\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d1\u05d2\u05d3\u05d5\u05d3 \u05ea\u05d5\u05ea\u05d7\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05de\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05d0\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05e6\u05e4\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05e8\u05e6\u05d5\u05e2\u05d4. pic.twitter.com\/UPN7wsSQmI<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Or Heller \u05d0\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d4\u05dc\u05e8 (@OrHeller) December 25, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In response, 24 members of the graduating class wrote a letter expressing their support for Herzog, according to the Columbia Spectator<\/a>, a student newspaper.\n<\/p>\n

Rubin Schwartz weighed in on the controversy in a May 7 statement<\/a> that defended Herzog\u2019s invitation, citing JTS\u2019s long-standing support for Israel \u2014 due to \u201cthe fact that more than 7 million of our fellow Jews\u201d live there \u2014 and Herzog\u2019s own record of advocacy for \u201cthe democratic character of Israel\u201d and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n


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