Your Daily Phil: $15M to Foundation for Jewish Camp for expansions, upgrades
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the Hadassah Foundation’s 25th anniversary gala, on how Ukrainian JCCs have been handling the past nearly three years of war and on a $15 million donation to the Foundation for Jewish Camp. We feature an opinion piece by Judith Rosenbaum about the specific tropes and threats embedded in antisemitism targeting women and why they matter. Also in this newsletter: Sen. James Lankford, Igor Alterman and Ron Kampeas.
What We’re Watching
The American Friends of Magen David Adom will host its Miami Gala at the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort tonight. The event will feature a presentation by actor Liev Schreiber and will honor actor Patricia Heaton for her advocacy for the Jewish people.
What You Should Know
The Gottesman Fund donated $15 million to the Foundation for Jewish Camp to help the more than 300 Jewish summer camps in the organization’s network expand their capacity and modernize their facilities, report Jay Deitcher and Judah Ari Gross for eJewishPhilanthropy.
The grant — the largest that the organization has ever received — was announced at the Jewish Camp Summit in Chicago, which is being hosted this week jointly by FJC and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s JCamp 180.
“It happens to be the largest single commitment that we’ve ever received. We’ve received big grants historically: $12 million from [The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation], $10 million here, but this $15 million is bigger than any one-time grant we’ve ever received,” Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO of FJC, told eJP.
According to FJC, this money will allow it to provide grants to camps of up to $750,000 to cover up to 50% of the total cost of an infrastructure project. Approximately $5 million will be allocated for projects related to staff and family housing, $7 million will go to program spaces to modernize them and improve their “climate resilience,” and approximately $3 million will go to constructing camper housing to increase capacity.
The $15 million donation from Ruth and David Gottesman’s family foundation comes amid a rise in interest in Jewish summer camps, following a substantial dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We finally got back to pre-pandemic levels; we can start dreaming again,” Fingerman said.
WOMEN’S WORK
The Hadassah Foundation marks a quarter century of feminist philanthropy at NYC gala
The Hadassah Foundation hailed a quarter century of activity on Monday night, drawing hundreds of supporters and grantees to the Center for Jewish History on the edge of Manhattan’s “Ladies’ Mile” Historic District (so called for not particularly feminist reasons, namely that it was an area designated for shopping), reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim from the event. Established in 1998 as a subsidiary of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, the foundation seeks to use philanthropic dollars to further gender equity. “In the 25 years since, we have doubled down on our commitment to the importance of working with women and girls around issues of equity and leadership,” Audrey Weiner, board chair of the Hadassah Foundation, told eJP.
More to come: Now the largest Jewish women’s foundation in the United States in terms of assets, the Hadassah Foundation has provided close to $12 million in grants to 110 organizations — 68 in Israel and 42 in North America. “Lots of organizations aren’t around for 25 years. And they’re certainly not around stronger and giving out more funds,” Weiner told eJP.
COMMUNITIES AT WAR
Ukrainian JCC leaders find kinship, practical assistance with Israeli, U.S., European colleagues
For the delegates from Jewish Community Centers in Ukraine, interacting with peers from JCCs in Israel, North America and Europe at the four-day JCC Global conference in Budapest, Hungary, offers them not just hope and a sense of community but also practical help in terms of experience, vision and exchanges of ideas, several of them told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky at the gathering. “If we can communicate, if we can do something together around the world, this means that our community is still alive. This means that we can save our positive thinking, and we still have a future, a future with the light,” said Marina London, head of Jewish programs of the Beit Grand JCC in Odesa, whose smartwatch buzzed a few minutes into the interview with a warning about an imminent Russian bombardment on her home region.
Body and soul: “We continue our life, we have programs for the children, for teenagers, for mothers, for [families]. We [observe] all Jewish holidays online, offline, we try to work with our community, to be inside our community. We think the main task of the Jewish Community Center is to show that we are not alone, all people are not alone and our community is an island of life and stability,” said Inessa Nosenko, director of the JCC Mazal Tov in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. “I think I have two main tasks: to save the body of the people in this war and to save their mental health in this war.”
READER RESPONDS
Why gendered antisemitism matters
“As eJewishPhilanthropy reported in yesterday’s ‘Your Daily Phil,’ Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, recently conducted a survey of American Jewish women to document the impact of antisemitism on their lives in the past year. Their sobering report details widespread experiences of isolation, fear and harassment,” writes Judith Rosenbaum, CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive, in an opinion piece for eJP. “What the report does not detail is how expressions of antisemitism are entangled with misogyny and sexism. In other words, how does the antisemitism that Jewish women experience differ from that experienced by others? How does the gender of its targets shape the pathways and kinds of antisemitism directed at women?”
What we’re seeing: “As an organization with a large social media presence and the words ‘Jewish’ and ‘women’ in our very name, we have experienced an overwhelming and alarming surge in antisemitic comments and messages since Oct. 7. While much of it is generic, it is often framed in specific gendered terms: attacking us as women, targeting our bodies and threatening rape… There is a long history of ‘the Jewess’ as a suspect and shadowy creature, dangerous and reviled… Like all antisemitism, these misogynistic permutations are designed to humiliate, threaten and silence Jews… If the sexual violence of Oct. 7 and the indifferent response of the global feminist community can teach us anything, it is the urgent need for more attention to the nature and repercussions of gendered antisemitism.”
Worthy Reads
Investing in Mental Health: In a blog post for Philanthropy Roundtable, David Bass and Esther Larson explore why funders are choosing to invest in innovative programs to address mental health needs in their communities. “American social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt’s research and work has ignited important conversations about how mental health impacts societal flourishing. As he told the Roundtable in an interview, ‘If we don’t address the mental health challenges plaguing American communities today, this will be the destruction of America’s human capital. Without a creative, vibrant, mentally stable workforce, America’s global economic competitive advantage is in peril.’ Haidt views private philanthropy as essential to confronting our nation’s mental health crisis – it’s flexible and nimble, allowing the most effective, unique approaches to emerge. Even if they aren’t the most popular or mainstream solutions… Philanthropy Roundtable is releasing a new Mental Health Playbook which showcases 15 high-impact organizations addressing the most urgent mental health needs across America. It’s a vital resource for donors seeking to make a lasting change in society by investing in values-aligned organizations with timely and innovative solutions to our nation’s greatest mental health challenges.” [PhilanthropyRoundtable]
Threats and an Opportunity: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Ben Gose looks at the efforts of Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) to encourage small donors to contribute to nonprofits by expanding the charitable tax deduction amid otherwise bleak prospects for much of the nonprofit world. “The 2025 legislative session is filled with peril for the nonprofit world — including threats to foundations, big endowments, donor-advised funds, and charities with close counterparts in the for-profit sector, such as hospitals. One bright spot is the increasing support in Congress for a new tax incentive aimed at encouraging all Americans to give… Today, only about one in 10 taxpayers have enough itemized deductions, including charitable deductions, to exceed the standard deduction… Even as lawmakers look for areas to trim spending to help pay for the expected extension of the 2017 tax cuts, Lankford believes they’ll be willing to absorb the cost of an expanded charitable deduction to help get people back in the habit of giving… ‘A lot of folks who didn’t work in the nonprofit sector don’t understand the impact of small-dollar donations to nonprofits,’ Lankford says. ‘It’s not just the dollars they bring, but also the volunteer connections.’” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Word on the Street
Helen and Sam Zell, through their family foundation, donated $50 million to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association yesterday, which they said would go toward ensuring the long-term financial health of the orchestra…
A new report by the ClimateWorks Foundation found that donations toward efforts to combat climate change rose by 20% in 2023, double the overall level of worldwide charitable giving…
The Times of Israel spotlights a new pluralistic offering from the Israeli Scouts’ Garin Tzabar program, which provides a framework for so-called “lone soldiers” in the Israel Defense Forces. Until now, the program has placed participants on either Orthodox or secular kibbutzim with adoptive families and housing; the new initiative will place them on Kibbutz Hannaton, a pluralistic community that was originally founded by the Conservative movement…
The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Fla., hired Igor Alterman to serve as its next president and CEO, beginning on Feb. 1, 2025…
A new study from the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project found that the religious identity of Jewish characters in TV is downplayed, with just 18% of Jewish characters referencing their faith; the study also found that roughly half of the Jewish characters observed over 15 scripted shows are played by non-Jewish actors…
Vandals attacked a Jewish neighborhood in Sydney, Australia, setting fire to a car and scrawling antisemitic words on walls, less than a week after Canberra announced the creation of an antisemitism task force following an arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue…
Friends and colleagues of Milwaukee Alderman Jonathan Brostoff told The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle that they believe that bullying and ostracizing that he suffered because of his Jewish identity and support for Israel may have contributed to his death by suicide last month…
Real estate developer Michael Greenebaum was named the next chair of the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s board of visitors…
Cornell University’s Grinspoon Hillel has signed an agreement with the university to advance the construction of a stand-alone building after raising $35 million of its $54 million fundraising goal; Hillel expects the project to be completed in 2027…
In the “Combating Antisemitism” special issue of the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Magazine, Bobbi M. Bittker describes how LGBTQ Jews have been “doubly marginalized” in the past year as many LGBTQ groups have adopted anti-Israel and antisemitic positions…
The Chronicle of Philanthropy examines the Baltimore Banner news outlet, which was launched as a nonprofit in 2022, and which CEO Bob Cohn says is trying to pivot away from philanthropic funding…
Sam and Terry Roth donated $500,000 to the Hillel at Ohio University in Athens…
The Free Press hired former Wall Street Journal editor Dennis Berman as its first publisher and president, amid a broader company expansion…
Friends and fans of Ron Kampeas, retiring D.C. bureau chief for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, gathered yesterday in Washington to toast his two decades in the role. Those celebrating included fellow journalists, government officials and Jewish communal leaders…
Rosalie Stein will serve as the interim executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, beginning at the end of this month, as the organization searches for a full-time replacement for Rabbi Scott Shafrin, who is stepping down from the role…
The Associated Press interviews top officials at George Soros’ Open Society Foundation about the organization’s focus for the future in light of a recent restructuring, in which it reduced the number of employees from 800 in 2021 to 600…
Donald Carr, an attorney who served on the boards of many Canadian Jewish institutions, died on Nov. 18 at 96…
Pic of the Day
American-Israeli hostage Judith Raanan speaks with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday at Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens’ annual golf classic at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FLA.
This was Trump’s first meeting with a freed hostage or a hostage family member after the election, and since he met Ronen and Orna Neutra at the Republican National Convention in July, reports Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
“We’re working very hard to get the hostages back,” Trump said.
Birthdays
Israeli poet and founder of the cultural group Ars Poetica, Adi Keissar…
Lumber and wood products executive in Bethany, Conn., Stuart Paley… University professor of Jewish history and Jewish thought at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter… Digital media expert and entrepreneur, Michael E. Kassan… Professor of international economics at Princeton University, Gene Grossman… Senior attorney in the environmental and natural resources division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Perry Rosen… Speech language pathologist in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Joanne Ring… Best-selling author, she has published eleven novels including seven books in The Mommy-Track Mysteries series, Ayelet Waldman… Beverly Hills-based cosmetic surgeon for many celebrities, Dr. Simon Ourian… Partner in Pomerantz LLP where he leads the corporate governance litigation practice, he serves as a trustee of Manhattan’s Beit Rabban Day School, Gustavo F. Bruckner… Former member of the Knesset for the Labor party and then the Independence party, Einat Wilf… Senior director of policy research at the Israel Policy Forum, Shira Efron… Hasidic rapper from Boston, known as Nosson, Nathan Isaac Zand… Israeli actor, director, playwright, rapper and singer, known by his stage name Pedro Grass, Amit Ulman… Director of public affairs and marketing at Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center, Michael Chananie… CEO at D.C.-based Brown Strategy Group, Josh Brown… Former sports editor for Apple News, Kelly Cohen… National political reporter at the Washington Post, Marianne LeVine… Managing director of alternative investments at CAIS, Judah Schulman… Senior editor at Apple News, Gideon Resnick… Actress and singer, Hailee Steinfeld…
