Your Daily Phil: ‘No atheists in foxholes’: 2 years of war turning Israelis more religious
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine a new study showing that Israelis, particularly young Jewish ones, are becoming increasingly religious after two years of war, and report on a new study analyzing the next generation of Jewish philanthropists. We feature an opinion piece by Shuki Taylor calling for more thoughtful disagreement after a recent Commentary article lambasted Hillel International and individual Hillel staff. We have another by Deborah Kaplan Polivy with a message for anyone about to fire off another round of boilerplate thank-you notes to donors, and one by Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal reflecting on what was achieved during the recent gathering of the World Zionist Congress. Also in this issue: Ariel Beery, Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz and Jessica Grose.
What We’re Watching
Elluminate kicks off its annual one-day convening this morning in New York City.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting this afternoon with American Jewish Congress President Daniel Rosen and a delegation of mayors from around the world who are in Israel for the organization’s 34th Mayors’ Conference.
President Donald Trump is meeting with recently returned hostages and their families at 2 p.m. today at the White House.
The Youth Renewal Fund is holding its Fall Benefit tonight at Fifty Four NYC, raising money for Israel’s Darca school system.
Also in New York, American Friends of the Open University of Israel is holding its 50th anniversary gala, honoring Pfizer’s Dr. Albert Bourla.
In Washington, the Israeli Embassy is hosting a reception this evening in celebration of today’s holiday of Sigd, which is marked by Ethiopian Jews.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
The aphorism that there “are no atheists in foxholes” appears to be bearing out in Israel after two years of war that — with Iranian ballistic missile attacks, rocket fire from Lebanon and drone strikes from Yemen — effectively turned the entire country into a massive foxhole. A new study released yesterday by the Jerusalem-based Jewish People Policy Institute shows that Jewish Israelis, particularly young Israelis, are increasingly identifying as religious, as well as more politically right wing.
“The data reflects what we sensed on the ground: Many in Israel — especially among the young — feel that the war has connected them more deeply to tradition and to Jewish identity. Not necessarily in a halachic way, but in ways that are more salient in their lives and across the public sphere,” Shuki Friedman, CEO of the Jewish People Policy Institute, writes in the report. “When Sasson Shaulov’s hit song ‘Tamid Ohev Oti’ ([God] Always Loves Me) — a religious song by a rabbi — gets tens of millions of plays on YouTube, it captures the spirit of the moment. Alongside this, Israelis, especially young people, have shifted to the right. Israel after the war is more traditional and more right-leaning. At this stage, it is impossible to know whether this is a passing trend, or a deeper and longer-term change.”
Though the methodologies and questions differ — so the two cannot be neatly compared — the JPPI study appears to show curious cultural differences between the increased religious engagement in Israel and the “Surge” data from the United States. Unlike in the “Surge” in the U.S., which was seen most strongly among the least engaged and most engaged parts of the Jewish community, the Israeli rise in Jewish engagement is seen most significantly among those in the middle, people who identified as “traditional, but not so religious” or “traditional, somewhat religious.” Among secular Jews, there was a decline in both religious observance and belief, according to the JPPI study.
Overall, one-third of respondents under age 25 said that they perform more religious practices than in the past, including going to synagogue, studying Torah, putting on tefillin or lighting Shabbat candles. Among “traditional, but not so religious,” the rise is higher than average, with 37% reporting an increase in religious practices. And among young adults who identified as “traditional, somewhat religious,” 51% said they observed more religious customs as a result of the past two years of war.
This rise in religious observance is not an exclusively Jewish phenomenon. Arab Israelis also reported increased religious observance and belief, with 32% of Arab respondents saying that they prayed more frequently, 12% saying they dressed more modestly and 10% saying they attended mosque or church more regularly. More than a third of Arab Israelis, 37%, said that their faith in God had gotten stronger.
Unique to Jewish Israelis, however, was a rightward political drift in response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks and past two years of war. Among Jewish Israelis, the share self-identifying as “hard right” nearly doubled, from 11% to 19%, and those identifying as “right” rose from 24% to 28%. “This rightward shift is evident among Jewish youth across almost every political identification cohort,” according to JPPI researchers Shmuel Rosner, Noah Slepkov and David Steinberg.
FUTURE FOUNDATION
Slingshot study shows young donors grateful for elders, looking for a seat at the table
A new study of young philanthropists, titled “Portrait of Next-Gen Jewish Giving Today,” was released today by Slingshot, a nonprofit supporting young Jewish philanthropic leaders, portraying them as overwhelmed, yet determined. They pay respect to their elders, but want a more hands-on, collaborative approach to their philanthropic work. “We’re on the brink of the largest wealth transfer in history,” Dena Verhoff, a board member of Slingshot and the UJA-Federation of New York who participated in the study, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher. “We’re facing intractable problems around antisemitism and safety, and this cohort, this generation of people, is deeply invested in addressing these problems while also bringing joy and excitement and enthusiasm.”
Team effort: The study shows a group of passionate young Jewish leaders who view Judaism and philanthropy as an integral aspect of their identity, which was instilled in them from birth, through tzedakah boxes, camps, day schools, bar and bat mitzvah projects and Shabbat table conversations. Members of the younger generation are grateful for what they learned from elders — grit and a dedication to community, Judaism and service — but want to add their spin to their philanthropic work. They aren’t interested in simply throwing money at a cause, they want to volunteer and see tangible results firsthand. They also view philanthropy as a communal cause, not top-down, but with shared decision-making and inclusion of the entire community.
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
Rethinking how we critique Hillel and its educators
“Jewish tradition offers a demanding framework for how we speak to one another when the issues before us are serious and emotionally charged. … The rabbis warn that when rebuke is expressed through embarrassment or exposure — ‘halbanat panim ba-rabbim’ — it no longer strengthens the community. It damages it. … I have held this framework in mind while reading a recent essay in Commentary critiquing Hillel International and, more broadly, the state of Jewish life on campus,” writes Shuki Taylor, founder and CEO of M2, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Conduct questions: “The critiques raised in the Commentary essay are real and important. I share many of them. Hillel needs to continue strengthening its Jewish content, sharpening its educational goals and ensuring that being welcoming does not overshadow substance. The moment demands institutions that can speak with clarity about Jewish identity and purpose. But how we conduct that conversation matters. Rebuke offered from within relationship strengthens community; critique delivered as exposure can weaken it.”
PERSONAL TOUCH
Template thank-you notes undermine donor retention
“A little more than 10 years ago, I published an article in eJP titled ‘Three thank-you templates and you’re OUT!’ The sad thing is that it appears that not much has changed,” writes Deborah Kaplan Polivy, author of Donor Cultivation and the Donor Lifecycle Map: A New Framework for Fundraising, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Time well-spent: “The plan for acknowledging end-of-year gifts is just as important as the design of a strategy for end-of-year fundraising, which Avrum Lapin so well described in his Oct. 26 opinion piece (“Results by the numbers: An imperative for end-of-year fundraising”). As Lapin stated, ‘Year-end campaigns must not only focus on short-term dollars. They must be seen and embraced as a springboard for long-term relationships.’ The first step in building the latter is a well-thought-out donor thank-you. It could be a letter, an email, a telephone call or whatever, but I find that donor acknowledgements are frequently template letters that are cold and impersonal. Nonprofit organizations need to recognize that the thank-you is a key component of the development process.”
FEELING OPTIMISTIC
Moderate consensus won at the WZC. Now Diaspora Jews must follow through
As a representative from the Conservative/Masorati movement’s MERCAZ Olami delegation at the recent World Zionist Congress, “I found a level of optimism about the future of Israel and the Jewish people that I haven’t felt in a long time,” writes Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly and of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Over several days, potential allies from both the right and the left — often unexpectedly — reached across ideological lines to find common ground with us.”
Sign of the times: “This World Zionist Congress was a powerful check-in on world Jewry’s conscience. Among other issues, the resolutions that were approved insisted on the draft of Haredim into the IDF or other forms of National Service, the establishment of an October 7 State Commission of Inquiry, equal status for the egalitarian Kotel, a rejection of sovereignty over the Temple Mount and opposition to settlement in Gaza. And despite the fact that the official delegations were almost evenly divided between left and right, these resolutions didn’t just squeak by. They passed with wide majorities. They were approved by representatives who hold definite political views but also yearn for a ‘moderate consensus,’ one that sees the extremism of the current Israeli government as a threat not only to the relationship between Israel and Diaspora communities but to Israel itself.”
Worthy Reads
Prepare to Lead Again: In The Times of Israel, Ariel Beery looks to Israeli civil society to set the agenda that will guide the government’s response to whatever threat rises against Israel next. “Just as we of civil society couldn’t leave the fate of Israelis in the hands of the failed government that presided over October 7, we cannot afford to leave our country’s fate in the hands of the current crop of politicians. Our civil society has proven itself to be a shining light, a global success story. Despite the desire to take a breath now that the fire in Gaza has ceased, I believe we cannot afford to rest: another war is coming, and unless we in civil society act now to prepare for victory, we will find ourselves mired in defeat.” [TOI]
Who Will Lead Us?: The Jewish Journal shares Richard Sandler’s address from the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for the Rodan Family Academic Center at the Milken Community School’s east campus in Los Angeles (Sandler is chair of Milken’s board of trustees). “When I look around at gatherings of various Jewish organizations here in the United States and in Israel, I ask myself, Who will be the leaders of these important organizations 30 years from now? We are far more assimilated into American culture today than we were in 1931 or 1964. Despite the recent increases in antisemitism, it had been very comfortable for Jews to live in this country in a way that concerned my grandfather when he referred to the difficulty of being an observant Jew in what he referred to as ‘this modern world.’ The answer to my question as to who our leaders will be has become obvious. It will be those who care about Torah, who care about Jewish continuity — it will be those who have been taught Torah and learn who they are, where they come from and why it is important — and I mean important to them.” [JewishJournal]
Word on the Street
Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz’s Open Philanthropy is rebranding as Coefficient Giving and will offer free advice on charitable giving to funders who donate above a certain threshold…
Former Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa Dalal, who was released last month after more than two years, detailed the sexual assaults he endured while in Hamas captivity in Gaza…
During a Knesset hearing on a bill to restrict foreign funding for Israeli nonprofits, the Justice Ministry warned that the legislation would “infringe on fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of association, access to courts for Israeli citizens, and the activities of third-sector NGOs that use legal resources to advance their objectives”…
In an apparent end to a decades-long, at-times violent feud between two factions within the vaunted Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel, an independent arbitrator ruled in favor of the so-called Sonim (haters) and ordered the other side, the Mehablim (terrorists), to vacate the yeshiva’s campus by this summer and barred it from using the Ponovezh name when it establishes its own institution…
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said she would stay on in the role when Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor…
The City College of New York is facing scrutiny after a Muslim spiritual leader delivered an antisemitic tirade against a CUNY Hillel director and called for all Muslim students to walk out during a university-sponsored interfaith dialogue program last week, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, emphasized the importance of education as the critical tool to combat antisemitism during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
In a New York Times opinion piece, Jessica Grose spotlights the obstacles facing children from rural communities in the United States, which have been gutted by generational poverty and drug use…
A group of more than 30 House Democrats wrote to leaders at the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday criticizing their management of the 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, saying that a lack of information provided by DHS is severely hampering applications to and implementation of the critical program, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
The Washington Post spotlights Israeli basketball player Yarden Garzon, the co-captain of the University of Maryland women’s basketball team…
Actress Shira Haas was tapped to star in Peter Morgan’s upcoming limited Netflix series “The Boys from Brazil,” based on real-life efforts to track down Nazi officials who fled to South America following World War II…
A Bristol, U.K., music venue said that its cancellation of an Oi Va Voi show earlier this year was a “mistake” that was “not in line” with the venue’s values and came as a result of pressure from what the venue described as “activist groups” targeting the London-based klezmer band “because they are a Jewish band performing with an Israeli singer”…
Former Harvard President Larry Summers is taking leave from teaching at Harvard and from his position as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School following the release of Summers’ emails with Jeffrey Epstein that continued until the day before Epstein’s 2019 arrest…
Correction: Yesterday’s edition of Your Daily Phil included a headline that incorrectly stated that a poll found that the majority of Jewish federation professionals believed that the two-state solution was not realistic; the poll surveyed all attendees at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, which included not only federation professionals but also lay leaders, nonprofit officials, students and others.
Major Gifts
The Academic Engagement Network is issuing a $25,000 grant to the Jewish Faculty Resilience Group at UCLA; the funds will go to new hires, educational programming and efforts to combat antisemitism in the UC system…
Jewish Story Partners announced six recipients for its Reprise Grant Program, totaling $175,000, which helps fund documentary film projects; the grantees are: “The Animated Mind of Oliver Sacks,” “The Archives,” “The Day After,” “Father Figures,” “The Greatest and the Loudest” and “Hitler’s Eye”…
The J.M. Kaplan Fund is awarding three-year $150,000 grants, along with an additional $25,000 in technical assistance, to 10 early-stage projects in the fields of social justice, the environment and heritage conservation as part of its J.M.K. Innovation Prize…
The Levitt Foundation is awarding multiyear grants of up to $120,000 each to support free outdoor concerts in 66 communities across the United States…
Pic of the Day
Radio personality Sid Rosenberg emcees the One Israel Fund’s annual gala on Tuesday night at Chelsea Piers in New York. The event, which raises money for West Bank settlements, was attended by more than 1,000 people.
Birthdays
Hedge fund manager and founder of Greenlight Capital, David Einhorn turns 57…
Art dealer and former owner of MLB’s Miami Marlins, Jeffrey Loria turns 85… Professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Southern California, he won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Arieh Warshel turns 85… Former president of the United States, Joe Biden turns 83… Singer and songwriter best known for writing and performing the song “Spirit in the Sky,” Norman Greenbaum turns 83… Short story writer and actress, she was a professor of writing at Columbia University and was a winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship, Deborah Eisenberg turns 80… Former national security advisor and U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John R. Bolton turns 77… Character actor who has appeared in more than 80 films, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild, Richard Masur turns 77… Major-general (reserves) in the IDF, he is a former combat pilot and head of Aman (the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate), Amos Yadlin turns 74… Longtime spokesman (now emeritus) to the foreign press at the Jewish Agency for Israel, Michael Jankelowitz turns 73… Pulitzer Prize-winning national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal during the 1990s, he is the author of six well-regarded books, Ronald Steven “Ron” Suskind turns 66… Partner at Kirkland & Ellis, Jay P. Lefkowitz turns 63… Pianist, composer and author, Robin Spielberg turns 63… Vice chair of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and a trustee of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Heidi Monkarsh… Deputy assistant director at the National Science Foundation, Graciela Narcho… American-born former member of Knesset for the Likud party, Yehudah Glick turns 60… Rapper and founding member of the hip hop group the Beastie Boys, he is known as “Mike D,” Michael Louis Diamond turns 60… Boston-based real estate attorney at Goulston & Storrs, Zev D. Gewurz… Anchor for Yahoo Finance, Julie Hyman… Opposition research specialist and founder of Beehive Research, Devorah Adler… Executive director at Aish HaTorah, Rabbi Benjamin Gonsher… Outfielder for four MLB teams over eight years, he played for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he was the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Sam Fuld turns 44… Director for North America at the Saban Family Foundation and the Cheryl Saban Self-Worth Foundation for Women & Girls, Jesse Bronner… Actress and writer, her decision to convert to Judaism was the subject of a 2006 article in The Sunday Times of London, Margo Stilley turns 43… Actress and playwright, Halley Feiffer turns 41… Senior White House editor for Politico, Dan Goldberg… Alexis Weiss…
