Your Daily Phil: Capping recent visit, Bill Ackman says he’s ‘bullish’ on Israel
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we catch up with investor Bill Ackman as he and his wife, Neri Oxman, receive honorary degrees from the University of Haifa. We cover a celebratory event marking Shmuel and Anat Harlap’s recent $180 million donation to Rabin Medical Center outside Tel Aviv and report from last night’s Capital Jewish Museum gala in Washington. In the latest installment of eJP’s exclusive opinion column “The 501(C) Suite,” Lisa Eisen highlights diverse ways that organizations can work to improve the campus experience of Jewish students, supporters of Israel and students interested in Israel studies; and Yisroel Benporat encourages campus educators to raise awareness of the positive outcomes of the Abraham Accords (today is the fifth anniversary of the agreement between Israel and multiple Arab states). Also in this issue: Tali Yariv Masha, Larry Ellison and Tad Taube.
What We’re Watching
The Climate Solutions Prize Tour, which is being held in partnership with the Jewish Climate Trust, arrived in Israel yesterday and continues through this week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend the inauguration of the Pilgrim’s Road in the City of David in Jerusalem this evening after meeting earlier today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Also in Israel is a delegation of nearly 250 state lawmakers from around the U.S., organized by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Eradicate Hate Global Summit begins in Pittsburgh today.
The Academic Engagement Network is hosting a three-day symposium for college administrators for the launch of its fifth annual Signature Seminar Series. The gathering, taking place in Washington, will focus on how administrations can meaningfully address antisemitism on college campuses.
Also in Washington, the Jewish Grad Organization summit, which kicked off yesterday, continues today.
Maimonides Fund’s Sapir journal is hosting a virtual conversation at noon ET, featuring Rabbi Adam Mintz and Rabbi Noa Kushner about the concept of chosenness, which will be moderated by Rabbi David Wolpe.
What You Should Know
Pershing Square Holding’s Bill Ackman declared himself “very bullish” on Israel on Sunday after spending roughly a week in the country in what he described as his first business trip, which included meetings with top Israeli business and political leaders, opening the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which he owns a nearly 5% stake in, and participation in the Jefferies TechTrek conference in Tel Aviv, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
“I met many important members of the business community, many heads of banks, insurance companies, institutions, and then many venture capitalists… And I had the opportunity to meet with the leadership of the country,” Ackman said during a “master class” held at the University of Haifa on Monday morning before receiving an honorary doctorate from the institution that evening. “It leaves me with enormous confidence in the future of this country.”
Ackman, who has long maintained ties to the Jewish community — including a stint as chair of the Jerusalem Foundation — has deepened his connections to Israel in recent years after marrying Neri Oxman, a Haifa-born multidisciplinary material scientist and technologist, who also received an honorary doctorate from the university.
On Sunday morning, both Oxman and Ackman delivered “master class” lectures — hers on material ecology and computational design and his on leading with purpose in a changing world — and in the evening the university held its degree conferment ceremony, with a reception and an intimate, elegant dinner on the 30th floor of the university’s main tower, featuring slow-roasted beef, seared duck breast, fried fish and local Israeli wines.
In his master class, Ackman described the progression of his philanthropic beliefs, from initially striving to make “a pile of money” in order to “allocate it in the way that I thought made the most sense and do a lot of good” to his current trust in capitalism and markets to do the most good for the world, with philanthropy filling in the remaining gaps.
Speaking to eJP after receiving his honorary degree, Ackman said that during his trip, he had identified areas in Israel for his philanthropic foundation to play a role, particularly education and science. “We’re very interested in education. We had some interesting meetings with a number of people and institutions,” Ackman told eJP.
‘MENDING THE STRETCHER’
Celebrating $180M gift, Harlaps hope Rabin Medical tower will unite a divided Israel
Israel’s top medical figures gathered on Sunday night under purple lights illuminating the nearly completed 15-story Tower of Hope at Rabin Medical Center outside Tel Aviv to celebrate the $180 million donation from Anat and Shmuel Harlap that is making the building possible— the largest gift ever made to Israel’s health-care system, reports Rachel Gutman for eJewishPhilanthropy from the event. “It’s not an accident that an octogenarian should donate money to a medical center,” the 80-year-old Harlap joked before outlining the serious health-care challenges facing Israel, with hospital bed capacity declining, leaving the country behind other OECD nations.
Pulling their weight: In his speech at the event, Harlap highlighted the deeper, societal need for a stronger medical system. “Many people are losing hope today in Israel. Close to 100,000 people, including high-tech workers, academics and physicians, have left Israel in the past year,” he said. “The Israeli stretcher is broken.” The “stretcher” metaphor refers to the Israeli military’s grueling “beret marches” — the final initiation ritual for combat units before they receive their unit’s colored berets, in which recruits must work together to carry heavy loads on stretchers. “The Israeli stretcher has broken under the weight of incitement, divisiveness and hatred, which weakened Israel over the past few years and dragged us to Oct. 7,” Harlap declared to thunderous applause. “Our gift is meant to join the efforts to fix the stretcher and mend its broken pieces.”
IN SHADOW OF VIOLENCE
Two giants of Washington community feted at Capital Jewish Museum gala
When several hundred people gathered on Sunday evening at the French Embassy in Washington for the Capital Jewish Museum’s second annual gala, they did so in service of a simple theme: “preserving history and building bridges.” That message was particularly resonant as the evening’s honorees and organizers paid tribute to a tragic moment in recent history that will be part of the story of Washington’s Jewish community forever: the killing of Israeli Embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the museum in May, reports Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy.
History buffs: The Sunday evening gala honored the investor and philanthropist David Rubenstein and Esther Safran Foer, the former longtime CEO of Sixth & I Synagogue and the Capital Jewish Museum’s founding board president. In an onstage interview, Rubenstein used historical reference points — immigration quotas from 1915 and the doomed voyage of the MS St. Louis, a ship of Jewish refugees that was turned away by the U.S. during World War II — to bemoan antisemitism as “at a level I’ve never seen before in my lifetime.” Foer said she has always had a passion for history. “Pulling together the family history and the context of the history of the times has been kind of a lifelong obsession for me,” said Foer, who was born in Poland in a displaced persons camp soon after World War II ended.
THE 501(C) SUITE
Why we must invest in the campus ecosystem
“We must invest urgently in efforts to safeguard the college campus as an inclusive place for Jews and Israel and an unrivaled home for learning and growth,” writes Lisa Eisen, co-president of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, in the latest installment of eJewishPhilanthropy’s exclusive opinion column, “The 501(C) Suite.” “After all, what happens on campus does not stay on campus. History has shown that bias, misunderstanding and apathy have the power to ripple outward. Fortunately, the same is true for knowledge and connection.”
A multi-pronged strategy: “We [at Schusterman Family Philanthropies] identified years ago there would be no silver bullet when it comes to ensuring a welcoming campus environment for Jews and those who want to study Israel. Instead, we must address the entire campus ecosystem so that every student who is interested can explore Jewish life and learn about Israel according to the highest academic standards and the most meaningful and engaging programming. To this end, we are working with partners old and new to transform the many facets of campus life that need investment.”
AN ABRAHAMIC APPROACH
Abraham Accords offer a model and a means for countering antisemitism on campus
Humanities on Sept. 21, 2023. Courtesy/Yeshiva University
“Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, a landmark peace agreement between Israel and multiple Arab nations. The Accords didn’t just reshape geopolitics — they also opened doors for interfaith dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims, the three Abrahamic faiths,” writes Yisroel Benporat, senior associate for faculty engagement in New York at the Academic Engagement Network, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A revelation for many: “On today’s polarized campuses, teaching about these exciting ecumenical conversations could make a real difference. The Accords show that peaceful coexistence in the Middle East is possible and offer a model for civil dialogue across differences, providing a constructive way to counter antisemitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses. … As several of my colleagues have argued, ‘interfaith activities under the framework of the Abraham Accords demonstrate that hostility is not an inevitable response to Israel’s presence in the region.’”
Worthy Reads
Cure for What Ails You: In The Times of Israel, Tali Yariv Mashal writes that many Jewish philanthropists in the Diaspora are presently torn between their Zionist convictions and liberal universalist values. “Rob Reich, in his book Just Giving, offers an interesting framework for this defining moment. He argues that philanthropy’s dual role in a liberal democracy is to protect pluralism and foster discovery. By protecting pluralism, he suggests, philanthropists enable a diversity of opinions and approaches that help societies overcome the limitations of government orthodoxy: the natural outcome of short-term political power. By fostering discovery, philanthropists secure long-term investments in policy development and innovation that counter short-term political power. Reich argues that it is within this framework that philanthropy can truly promote and secure justice and freedom over time despite political limitations and changes.” [TOI]
Are You There, AI?: In “Believing,” a new newsletter from The New York Times, Lauren Jackson explores the phenomenon of millions of people using chatbots for spiritual succor. “Trained on religious texts, the bots are like on-call priests, imams or rabbis, offering comfort and direction at any time. On some platforms, they even purport to channel God. App founders said they considered the technology to be a digital chaplaincy, a tool that is helping millions of people, both inside and outside of faith, express themselves spiritually. Several religious leaders said they so far supported people using the chatbots, as long as they complement, but do not replace, the work of faith communities… Others aren’t so sure. ‘The curmudgeon in me says there is something good about really, really wrestling through an idea, or wrestling through a problem, by telling it to someone,’ said Fr. Mike Schmitz, a Catholic priest and podcaster. ‘I don’t know if that can be replaced.’” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” a documentary about Oct. 7, won the People’s Choice Award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, after originally being canceled due to the festival’s concern that Hamas footage had not been approved for use…
Antisemitic conspiracy theories proliferated online in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Anti-Defamation League found, with over 10,000 posts on X that include the phrase “Israel killed Charlie Kirk” posted in the two days after his murder…
The Times of Israel reports on Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center’s struggles to rebuild after being struck by an Iranian missile this summer…
OpenAI has reached a new agreement with Microsoft under which the artificial intelligence nonprofit, which controls its business, will be given a $100 billion equity stake in its for-profit corporation…
Maimonides Fund is rebranding its Jewish Writers’ Initiative as the “Jewish Writers Institute,” as it launches new cohorts of Jewish screenwriters and digital storytellers, whose previously staggered programs will now run in parallel to encourage collaboration…
The Wall Street Journal profiles billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as he backs a bid for Paramount, headed by his son David, to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and The Free Press…
The Jewish Future Promise marked its 130,000th signatory: historian and author Jack Wertheimer. Read eJP’s recent interview with Wertheimer here…
The Vuelta a Espana bike race in Madrid was called off during its finale on Sunday after anti-Israel protesters occupied the route and overturned barriers…
Among several actors who used their platform at last night’s Emmy Awards in Los Angeles to criticize Israel, Hannah Einbinder called to “Free Palestine” on stage and Javier Bardem wore a keffiyeh while advocating for a “commercial and diplomatic blockade” on Israel…
Police in London arrested and charged a 37-year-old homeless man with smearing feces on synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the city…
In The Jerusalem Post, Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff decries the growing call to recognize a Palestinian state, saying that it “rewards terrorism, emboldens antisemitism, and makes genuine peace less likely”…
Tad Taube, a Poland-born major donor in the Northern California Jewish community, died on Saturday at 94…
Holocaust survivor Fania Fainer, known for the heart-shaped booklet of birthday wishes she was gifted by fellow prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 — an object she preserved throughout death marches and the war and that went on to become the subject of a film and a book, died last month at 100…
Major Gifts
The London-based Wolfson Foundation announced the creation of a new $5.4 million funding pool to improve accessibility at local museums throughout the United Kingdom…
Pic of the Day
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (left), Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visit the Western Wall yesterday as Rubio kicks off a diplomatic trip to Israel.
Rubio’s visit comes days after Israel’s attempted strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, last week, which the secretary said he was “not happy” about. “Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Birthdays
Managing partner and chief technology officer at Differential Ventures in Philadelphia, he is also the founder of a series of kosher restaurants, David Magerman…
Founder and former CEO of Elektra Records, he is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Jac Holzman turns 94… Professor at the Hebrew University and a leading scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Emanuel Tov turns 84… Chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, known as the “Disco Rabbi,” Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman turns 79… Professor emerita of education at Boston University’s Wheelock College, Diane Elizabeth Levin turns 78… New York City-based composer and multi-instrument musician, Ned Rothenberg turns 69… Television comedy writer, he served as a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons” and co-created the animated series “The Critic,” Michael L. Reiss turns 66… Film executive, she produced “The Hunger Games” film series, Nina Jacobson turns 60… Business litigator in the Miami office of Gunster, Aron U. Raskas… NPR’s media correspondent, David Folkenflik turns 56… Actor, best known for his roles on “Sports Night” and “The Good Wife,” Josh Charles turns 54… Comedian, writer and actress, Kira Soltanovich turns 52… Vice president of leadership at the Anti-Defamation League until earlier this year, Deborah Leipzig… Customer success manager at Screencastify, event organizer and fundraiser, Shayla Rosen… Author and longtime education correspondent at NPR, Anya Kamenetz turns 45… Data scientist, economist and author of the 2017 New York Times bestseller Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz turns 43… Screenwriter, film producer and director, often in collaboration with his childhood friend Seth Rogen, Evan D. Goldberg turns 43… Model and Israeli beauty pageant winner, Yael Markovich turns 41… Partner in CHW Strategic Advisors and CEO of Harmon Face Values, Jonah Raskas… CFO at Israel on Campus Coalition, Tomer Zvi Elias… Chief strategy officer at PW Communications, Amanda Bresler… Reporter at The New York Times, Eliza Shapiro… Singer and actress, she was the 2009 winner of the Israeli version of “A Star is Born,” Roni Dalumi turns 34… Beauty pageant titleholder, she was crowned Miss Israel 2012, Shani Hazan turns 33…
