Tales of heroism and healing related to the attacks on October 7 and the aftermath prevailed at Bar-Ilan University’s 2024 Honorary Doctorate Conferment Ceremony, deeply moving the packed audience in the Dahan Family Unity Park on June 3.
Back L-R: Zohar Yinon, BIU’s CEO; Prof. Arie Zaban, BIU President; Yaniv Leidner; Rabbi Eliyahu Blumenzweig; Haim Jelin, BIU’s Permanent Committee Chairman Shlomo Zohar; and Romie Tager, Chairman of the Board of the British Friends of Bar-Ilan University. Front L-R: Dr. Ilana Dayan; Aviv Geffen; Rosa Feldman; and Haim Cedar
Israeli journalist, Dr. Ilana Dayan, one of the honorary doctorate recipients, dedicated her award to the memory of the late Lt. Yoav Malayev, son of Dr. Maya Cohen-Malayev from Bar-Ilan’s Faculty of Education and Alex Malayev, who fought for the Yiftah outpost and fell on October 7 defending his homeland. Dayan recalled her subsequent conversations with Alex Malayev and the attempt to understand what led Yoav to write in a cryptic note during his final moments, “These were the best 20 minutes of my life.”
Recalling the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri where he resides, former MK and Eshkol Regional Council head, Haim Jelin, tearfully stated, “I am a survivor. I chose life rather than depression.”
Dayan and Jelin were two of the seven honorary doctorates awarded. Bar-Ilan University recognized six individuals and an organization that have positively impacted society, culture, science, education, and philanthropy in Israel and abroad.
“Many things have changed in all of us since that dark Saturday, but one thing has not changed and will never change. In this land, we are all bound together by one destiny,” said Bar-Ilan University President Prof. Arie Zaban. “Tonight, we have chosen to honor those who work to strengthen the spirit of Israeli society and add a glimmer of light and hope. Choosing you, the honorable ones, is proof of the ability of this land to withstand any upheaval.”
Prof. Zaban also referred to the just-announced transformative gift of $260 million to Bar-Ilan University for investment in science, the largest bequest ever to Bar-Ilan, and one of the largest donations ever made to an Israeli university. “This is our answer to those who seek our harm, a mirror image of what is happening on campuses around the world.”
The other recipients were Israel Prize-winning geneticist, Prof. Haim Cedar; Rabbi Eliyahu Blumenzweig, founder and head of Yeshivat HaHesder Yerucham; Yaniv Leidner and Gil Ganonyan, CEO and Chairman respectively of the Brothers for Life Organization, which enables injured soldiers to support their injured comrades; philanthropist Rosa Feldman; and singer-songwriter Aviv Geffen.
The ceremony concluded with a performance by singer Eviatar Banai, who also performed a song with Geffen.
Read about the recipients here.
