Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a rousing address to board members, honorary degree recipients and an audience of over a thousand at Yeshiva's 77th annual Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on December 2nd. Netanyahu's convocation address was the highlight of an event that also honored retiring Yeshiva President Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm for his 25 years of service to the University, and recognized the nationally publicized shmira performed by three Stern College for Women students on the victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.

Netanyahu, whose message centered on the recent terror attacks in Jerusalem, made a comparison between the United States' policy towards the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Israel's attitude toward Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat. "The message to Arafat is clear," stated Netanyahu. "Surrender terror or surrender power."

Netanyahu also argued that hope, and not despair and poverty, fueled the Palestinian terrorism. "The root cause is not despair," he asserted, "it is a totalitarian mindset: they believe they are above moral law, and their actions show this. It is hope, the hope of furthering their totalitarian agenda, that fuels terror."

He pointed out that Israel's only option lay in undermining the society that breeds the terrorists. "If you can't find a needle in the haystack, you must remove the haystack," he suggested to thunderous applause. "Just as President Bush made no distinction between harborers of terror and terrorists themselves in Afghanistan, Israel too must use this policy. The American people understand that we are fighting a just cause," he asserted.

"Just as in real estate, there are three things, and I'm sure everyone in the room knows this," he concluded with a nod at the many board members whose fortunes are mainly based in property, "in war there are three things: win, win, win. We must win."

Netanyahu's hawkish position clearly met with approval from the assembled Yeshiva glitterati, whose political opinions often tend toward the right. Commentator sources reveal that religious Israeli Labor Party politicians such as Knesset Speaker Avrum Burg and Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior were suggested by dinner organizers as potential speakers, but were turned down as too dovish for Yeshiva. Furthermore, sources reveal that New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani was offered the opportunity to keynote the dinner. He refused the invitation, however, and until weeks before the event, Rabbi Lamm's was the only slated address.

Speaking at the dinner itself, Rabbi Lamm summed up his conception of the Torah U'Madda doctrine by noting that it "reveals the imponderable depths of both great and vibrant cultures which can reinforce each other." Conducting a thought experiment, he continued: "Imagine if the Muslim world had done what we are doing on a large scale in their community. If at least some significant number of imams and mullahs of the millions of Muslims in the world would have condemned Bin Laden, and said that all terrorism, all violence without discrimination is despicable…Maybe if they had the equivalent of Torah U'Madda, Islamic-style, their young people would be like the young ladies…whom you have seen just a short while ago, who stand guard over the remains of victims of all religions," he remarked, referring to the Stern women publicly honored earlier in the evening.

Rabbi Lamm's message ultimately incorporated Torah U'Madda into his farewell vision for Yeshiva. "What Yeshiva has joined, let no man tear asunder," he cried, charging University leadership to maintain the course he had set while in office.

Ending on a personal note, Rabbi Lamm asserted that he intended to make the most of his newfound free time. "Allow me to explain what I do not plan to do, by way of a great vort, a bon mot, by the Kotzker Rebbe, who said 'I have met many people who were long dead and did not realize it,'" he joked. "So long as the Good Lord gives me life and the ability to use my head, I do not plan to die before I die."

Despite setting a host of personal and intellectual goals for himself, Rabbi Lamm assured the crowd that he fully intended to involve himself in guiding Yeshiva following his accession to University Chancellor. "I hope to march with you as Chancellor, together with our new President, and I pray that all of you will march with us to a brilliant sun-drenched destiny that beckons," he exhorted.

Though the evening focused mainly on Rabbi Lamm, Netanyahu, and the honorary degree recipients, immediately preceding Rabbi Lamm's address, Stern College Students Jessica Moore, Jessica Russak and Judith Kaplan were publicly recognized for their weekly shmira over the victims of September 11th. The students, whose story has been featured in newspapers across the country, ascended the stage and received a round of applause for their efforts.

"I'm honored that Rabbi Lamm and Yeshiva recognized our efforts, and I hope that publicity attracts more people to help perform this important mitzvah," said Moore.

The evening also witnessed the conferral of honorary degrees on long-time Yeshiva supporters. Honorees included Ferkauf benefactor Harvey Beker, Honorary Chairperson of the Stern board Lea Eisenberg, Syms board member Warren Eisenberg, RIETS supporter Benjamin Heller, and Syms Board Chairman Bernard Madoff.