Few better exemplified the principle of showing appreciation and gratitude than Rabbi Hyman Arbesfeld, who passed away on April 1 as a result of complications due to COVID-19.

As a youngster, he attended Talmudical Academy, the previous iteration of the Yeshiva University High School for Boys, and Yeshiva College in Washington Heights.

After graduating summa cum laude, Arbesfeld, known to be Gregarious and personable, turned down scholarship opportunities to go to Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Issac Elchanan Theological Seminary to earn his rabbinical ordination from the revered Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

In his professional life, he was a hotelier—the president of his San Carlos and Bedford hotels—while serving as an executive committee member of the Hotel Association of New York City.

But his heart was firmly with his alma mater.

Arbesfeld sat on the RIETS Board of Trustees for more than three decades, while his wife, Ann, served as national president of the Yeshiva University Women’s Organization for 10 years and is currently a member of its executive council.

Among their many charitable donations to the storied academy (from which all their children also graduated), the Arbesfelds dedicated learning series and programs, capped off by a famous $1 million endowment to establish the Abraham Arbesfeld Scholarship Fund in memory of Hyman’s late father.

He is survived by his wife and four children. And he will be remembered by the institution he supported for so many years.

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