Your Daily Phil: Israeli psychotrauma experts send help to terror-struck Australia
Add EJP on GoogleGood Tuesday morning and Hanukkah sameach!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on Israeli efforts to bolster mental health support for the Australian Jewish community and on a crowdfunding campaign for Ahmed al-Ahmed, who was shot after disarming one of the gunmen from Sunday’s deadly terror attack in Sydney, Australia. We also speak to family and colleages of attorney and fundraiser Martin Rosen, who died on Sunday at 100. We feature an opinion piece by Sarah Vanunu about when terror struck yards away from her family’s simcha at Bondi Beach, and one by Adam Milstein about the genesis and evolution of the Impact Forum’s model of venture philanthropy. Also in this issue: Rabbi Sharon Brous, Zalman Rothschild and Alan Garber.
What We’re Watching
The Association for Jewish Studies’ annual conference wraps up today in Washington.
Also in the capital, the White House is hosting its annual Hanukkah reception tonight.
In New York, UJA-Federation of New York and Israel’s mission at the U.N. are holding a Hanukkah reception.
Also in New York, the American Friends of Anu – Museum of the Jewish People is hosting its Hanukkah gala, where Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla and Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis are slated to speak.
Boston’s Vilna Shul is hosting a live taping of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s “Identity/Crisis” podcast, with host Yehuda Kurtzer in conversation with Harvard President Alan Garber.
What You Should Know
Within hours of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre on Sunday in Sydney, Australia, Israeli psychologist Amichai Ben Ari was on a Zoom call with Australian Jewish therapists, conducting an emergency webinar and sharing guidelines developed through Israel’s hard-won trauma expertise, reports Rachel Gutman for eJewishPhilanthropy.
“Usually we’re on the receiving end from the Australian community — they’ve supported us since the Oct. 7 attacks,” Ben Ari, a rehabilitation psychologist specializing in acute trauma at Hadassah Medical Center, told eJP. (Indeed, Hadassah’s own Gandel Rehabilitation Center is named for the Australian Jewish couple that donated more than $20 million for its construction.) “I said, ‘Maybe now we can support them.’ It gives such an extra sense of mission that we can now give back.”
The rapid response was enabled by relationships built over time, including sending a networking delegation of trauma experts from Israel to Australia just this past August, Hadassah officials said. “Hadassah Australia has always been a fundraising organization, but we have really been cooperating in recent times in a two-way relationship where we not only fundraise, but bring expertise from Hadassah to Australia as well,” Dr. Mark Suss, chair of Hadassah Australia, told eJP. “For a philanthropic organization like ours, a crisis like this requires us to provide community leadership.”
While Hadassah is working to provide tools and assistance to local therapists, multiple Israeli organizations are working to send teams of therapists to Australia to treat members of the Jewish community, which some in the Israeli trauma community worry may inadvertently pathologize natural resilience. Danny Brom, founding director of Metiv, the Israel Psychotrauma Center at Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem, cautions against giving into what he calls the “rush to help.” He noted that at least three organizations are already flying teams to Australia — “even before they actually know what the situation there is, what people need.” (Disclosure: eJewishPhilanthropy Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross’ wife, Anna Harwood-Gross, is an employee of Metiv.)
“I would not think immediately about trauma treatment because the majority of people do not need treatment; they need support,” Brom told eJP. While he acknowledged and stressed the best intentions of those involved, Brom said that instead of rushing in to provide everyone affected by the attacks with therapy, Israeli experts should emphasize that “there’s a very healthy way of coping with what people go through.”
“I hope that the people who go there now… their message is one of strength and resilience,” Brom said. “And not only of ‘You need me because I’m a therapist.'”
CROWDFUNDING
Thousands from around the world raise $1.5M for man who disarmed Bondi terrorist
Tens of thousands of people from around the world — Jews, Muslims and others — have donated $1.5 million (AUD 2.2 million) to Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-born father of two who was seriously injured after disarming one of the gunmen during Sunday’s deadly terror attack in Sydney, Australia, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Hero’s welcome: As soon as the video footage emerged, al-Ahmed was praised as a hero for his actions. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited al-Ahmed in the hospital and called him a “true Australian hero.” President Donald Trump referred to him as a “very, very brave person.” An Australian car aficionado, Thomas Traynor, quickly launched a crowdfunding campaign for al-Ahmed, kicking it off with his own $33,000 donation. News of the GoFundMe campaign was quickly picked up on social media. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who had written on X that he planned to issue a reward to al-Ahmed, donated $66,000 to the campaign. However, the overwhelming majority of the donations were for relatively small amounts. As of Tuesday, the average donation size stands at $40.
BARUCH DAYAN EMET
Martin Rosen, lawyer, philanthropist and founding trustee of Simon Wiesenthal Center, dies at 100
Martin Rosen, a veteran philanthropist, lay fundraiser and attorney who helped bring Nazi war criminals to justice, died on Saturday at 100, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.
Thinking of others: Over the course of some 70 years, Rosen held numerous leadership roles in UJA-Federation of New York, raising over a billion dollars for the organization and its antecedents, according to Stu Tauber, the Jewish federation’s vice president. In addition to his role as a lay leader, Rosen is remembered as an attorney, a World War II veteran, a former mayor of the Village of Lawrence, N.Y., founding trustee of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and one of the renowned Nazi hunter’s most trusted confidants, who helped push West Germany to abolish the statute of limitations for Nazi war crimes. “Marty was the first call we would make whenever it required a few thoughtful, sincere and conscientious people who were able to see beyond their personal needs and who were able to say, ‘I have to think through what’s best for a larger Jewish community,’” Tauber said.
JEWISH PRIDE
The bar mitzvah next door to the Bondi Beach shooting
“[Sunday] night, we were celebrating the occasion of our second son’s bar mitzvah at an event hall on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, with Israeli music, hora dancing, a blue-and-white flag and 12-year-old children proud of their Jewish identity,” writes Sarah Vanunu, a shlicha (Israeli emissary) for Keren Kayemeth-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) Australia, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “The celebration was meant to be an evening of joy and connection to Judaism, even on the other side of the world. And then we heard the gunshots.”
Dark rite of passage: “Fifty meters. That was the distance between us and the shooting. At first, people thought it was fireworks, but very quickly we saw people running and screaming, terrified. Their faces said it all. Some of the children at the party fled with the crowd; others stayed inside, following our instructions. We locked ourselves in the event hall for nearly two and a half hours. Crying children, panicked parents and absolute chaos met us in a room full of 12-year-olds experiencing, for the first time in their lives, what real existential fear feels like. … About three years ago, our eldest son celebrated his bar mitzvah, and that same night there was a terror attack in Tel Aviv… The irony that at the bar mitzvah of my second son — an event that symbolizes maturity, entry into his Torah journey and into the community — another attack took place, this time right outside our door, is unfathomable.”
ENGINE OF CHANGE
The Impact Forum and the next chapter of Jewish philanthropy
“Ten years ago, I identified a core systemic challenge facing many innovative Jewish nonprofits,” writes strategic venture philanthropist Adam Milstein in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Leaders from small and medium-sized nonprofits visited my office weekly. These were the community’s most innovative organizations, led by passionate people with proven concepts. Yet they were trapped in a cycle, spending 60-70% of their time fundraising instead of executing their critical missions. I watched brilliant leaders become professional fundraisers by necessity, which severely limited their ability to achieve long-term impact.”
A solution emerges: “The Impact Forum began modestly. A small group of philanthropists and I held monthly lunches. Two vetted groups would pitch their mission in a ‘Shark Tank’-style format, and we asked the attendees to fund the work that resonated with them most. … After the COVID-19 pandemic, the Impact Forum evolved from monthly lunches to major quarterly dinners. We also built a strong leadership group that funded operations and guided our strategic direction, strictly maintaining our core principle that all donations went to the organizations in full. The goal was clear: to help philanthropists and nonprofit leaders generate strategic and sustainable impact together. We had built an effective, sustainable model, but we did not know how urgently it would be needed.”
Worthy Reads
Here to Stay: In The Times of Israel, Israeli President Isaac Herzog pens a Hanukkah message to Jews in Australia and around the world. “As we mourn the devastating loss of our 15 dear sisters and brothers and pray for the recovery of the dozens of others who were injured, the ancient story of Hanukkah serves as a source of comfort, inspiration, and direction at this moment of searing pain for Jews around the world. The Hanukkah story tells of a stubborn Jewish minority who stood up to a mighty empire to fight for their freedom. It celebrates the triumph of light over darkness. And it’s a story of survival for the ages. … To our brothers and sisters in Australia and to Jewish communities everywhere facing this hatred: please know that here in Israel, we feel and share your pain. Just as you have stood with us, fought for our hostages, and supported our soldiers, we stand together with you, shoulder-to-shoulder, in the fight against this violent hatred.” [TOI]
Defense Against Despair: In The New York Times, Rabbi Sharon Brous expresses her sadness and frustration with the reality that yet another Jewish holiday will now be associated with a deadly attack on the Jewish People. “I’m tired of looking for the silver lining after such tragedies. I no longer want to hear, after a mass shooting, of the remarkable ways a community came together. I don’t want platitudes and pieties. … I don’t want to celebrate resiliency; I want to see reform. But as a spiritual matter, I urgently need the silver lining. I need the hints of humanity that remind us that what is is not what must be. The quiet insistence that there is more light than darkness in this world, that tenderness and love can prevail over even the most virulent hatred. Give me the counterfactual that makes it impossible to fall into despair, that will keep me from slipping into the self-defeating certainty of our impending doom.” [NYTimes]
Reject False Binaries: In The Atlantic, Zalman Rothschild reflects on the life and spirit of his friend Rabbi Eli Schlanger, killed in the Bondi Beach shooting in the middle of doing the type of Jewish communal work he’d dreamt about when they were teenagers together. “Schlanger was a fierce defender of Israel, yet he devoted his life to building Jewish community wherever Jews choose to live. He believed that Jewishness is not reducible to Zionism, and that Jewish survival requires more than fear-driven politics. It requires confidence: in Judaism itself, in the Jewish community, and in the possibility of living openly and proudly as Jews. Hanukkah means dedication — and not to false binaries. Hanukkah’s lesson is not that anti-Semitic hatred is ineradicable, but that Jewish survival has always involved refusing the terms imposed by others. It challenges Jews to be more Jewish, not less moral; more committed, not more extreme. These, too, are acts of survival.” [TheAtlantic]
Gathering Storm: In The Free Press, Rabbi David Wolpe and former U.S. antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt consider how antisemitic rhetoric and protests are affecting public Jewish life. “These chants, attacks, and endorsements from public personalities are designed to make Jews think twice about gathering with other Jews, going to kosher restaurants, putting a mezuzah on the doorpost of their apartments or dorm rooms, or even wearing a Jewish star around their necks. … We are a people too wise to be hysterical but too experienced to be naive. The greatest enemy we face now is indifference. If the moral people of the world do not stand with us to denounce and expunge this kind of behavior so destructive to the fabric of any healthy society, especially one founded on the promise of freedom and equality, the consequences will not only be dire for the Jewish people — they will be dire for democracies, the rule of law, and the civilization we cherish.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
The Israeli government cut nearly $70 million that was meant for economic development programs for Arab Israelis, allocating it instead for police enforcement in the Arab community…
Federal authorities said that they foiled an alleged terror plot by an anti-Israel, anti-American extremist group, officials announced on Monday. The group — the Turtle Island Liberation Front — appears to also be one of the organizers of an anti-Israel protest that targeted a Los Angeles synagogue this month, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
Police in Redlands, Calif., are investigating as a possible hate crime an incident in which assailants fired 20 shots at a home with Hanukkah decorations…
Dozens of people were arrested at an anti-Israel protest in Amsterdam outside a Hanukkah concert featuring the Israel Defense Forces’ chief cantor…
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen received approval for the construction of his $8 billion Metropolitan Park casino project next to the team’s Citi Field stadium…
Nick Reiner, the son of director Rob Reiner, was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder charges after the bodies of his parents were found at their Los Angeles home on Sunday…
The International Criminal Court rejected an Israeli appeal for the court to end its investigation into Israel’s conduct in Gaza, which Israeli representatives said falls out of the court’s jurisdiction…
Archeologists in Jerusalem discovered a 1,400-year old pendant believed to date to the late Byzantine era; the discovery, made near the Western Wall complex…
Columnist Robert Samuelson, whose work explaining economic policy appeared in Newsweek, The Washington Post and the New York Sun, died at 87…
Transitions
Alyssa Katz, the executive editor of The City, was tapped as the new editor-in-chief of The Forward…
Harvard University’s governing board announced that Alan Garber, who had initially been tapped to lead the school on an interim basis through June 2027, will continue as the school’s president indefinitely…
Pic of the Day
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his wife, Lori, host a candle-lighting ceremony last night in the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa.
“Just as our ancestors did, so too must we show that we will not let darkness extinguish our collective light,” Shapiro wrote after the event.
Birthdays
Mental health activist, writer, farmer and punk rock musician, Sascha Altman DuBrul turns 51…
CBS News journalist who has won 13 Emmy Awards, she has reported for CBS’ “60 Minutes” since 1991, Lesley Stahl turns 84… Numismatist specializing in ancient Jewish and biblical coins and their archaeology, David Bruce Hendin turns 80… British chemist and research professor at the University of Nottingham, Sir Martyn Poliakoff turns 78… Attorney, professor and author, she was the first woman to serve as president of the Harvard Law Review, Susan Estrich turns 73… Litigator in Denver, Craig Alan Silverman… Novelist, journalist and lecturer, Allen Kurzweil turns 65… President and co-founder of The New Agenda, Amy Siskind… First OMB director in the Obama administration, now CEO of Lazard, Peter R. Orszag turns 57… Astrophysicist and professor at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute, he was a winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Adam Guy Riess turns 56… National campaign director in the northeast for the Jewish National Fund, Rabbi Eric Stark… Director of public affairs at Charles Schwab, Adam Bromberg… Mexican singer, she has toured individually and in bands in Central America, the U.S. and Europe, Alix Bauer Tapuach turns 54… Rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Clifton Park, N.Y., Shara Siegfeld… Principal at Elm City Strategies, Melissa Wisner… Former chief of staff for U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Matthew Bennett Klapper turns 43… Middle East analyst at Christians United For Israel, Kasim Hafeez turns 42… Founder of Punchbowl News, Jake Sherman… Actress known for her role on The CW’s teen drama “Gossip Girl” and more recently ABC’s “General Hospital,” Amanda Setton turns 40… Congressional reporter at Bloomberg Tax, Zachary C. Cohen turns 34… Product manager at the Ignyte Group, Drew Liquerman…
