Sheldon Silver was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Silver served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2015. In 1994, he was selected as the Speaker of the Assembly; he held that position for two decades. During this period, Silver was known as one of the most powerful politicians in the state.

Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City. The university's undergraduate schools—Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, Katz School of Science and Health, and Sy Syms School of Business—offer a dual curriculum inspired by Modern–Centrist–Orthodox Judaism's hashkafa (philosophy) of Torah Umadda, combining academic education with the study of the Torah.