Your Daily Phil: A year of unity, disunity, ‘Surge’ and revolt comes to a close
Good Friday morning.
Ed. note: This will be the last edition of Your Daily Phil for 2024. We will see you again in 2025. Shabbat shalom, Hanukkah sameach and happy New Year!
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider stories, including: New study sheds light on Jewish poverty, finding general disconnect from fellow Jews, communal organizations; Campuses on track to see similarly high rates of antisemitic incidents as last year, Hillel finds; and How the Antisemitism Awareness Act fell apart. Print the latest edition here.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we look at the past year in the Jewish philanthropic world, report on the One Israel Fund’s gala last night in New York City and spotlight the Arava Institute’s humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip. We feature an opinion piece by Herut Nimrodi about how to help her son, Tamir, and the other hostages still being held captive in Gaza; and one by Rachel Sumekh about crafting a holiday experience that embraces shared elements of Jewish and Iranian heritage. Also in this newsletter: Irit Gross, Laura Lauder and MacKenzie Scott.
What We’re Watching
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Broward County, Fla., and Alcee L. Hastings Broward Black-Jewish Alliance is holding its fourth annual “Shine a Light on Broward County” event today recognizing those combating antisemitism and hate.
What You Should Know
The Jewish people rang in 2024 at a high point of Jewish unity. Still reeling from the brutality of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel and the accompanying rise in antisemitic incidents around the world, Jews and the institutions representing them overwhelmingly banded together in displays of common purpose that had not been seen in decades. As we go into 2025, that unity has been pushed to the limit, with the war and the captivity of the hostages in Gaza grinding on, the fighting in Lebanon only just ended and after a divisive presidential election in the U.S., writes eJewishPhilanthropy Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross.
Consider the November 2023 “March for Israel” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which drew a record crowd of some 300,000 people in support of the Jewish state, including progressive groups that are ordinarily critical of the Israeli government. Compare that to the November 2024 “Stand Together” event at Nationals Park, which was attended by just a small fraction of that, with many progressive groups publicly opting out.
But the struggle to keep together the politically, spiritually and geographically diverse Jewish people is just one of the defining aspects of 2024. The past year has also been marked by “The Surge” in Jewish engagement, which has been reported both anecdotally and statistically, alongside “The Core” of the Jewish community also looking to deepen connections. In addition to the widely cited Jewish Federations of North America survey showing that some 40% of Jews who were less engaged prior to Oct. 7 started “showing up in larger numbers in Jewish life,” the consulting firm CCS Fundraising found that 37% of Jewish nonprofits had attracted new donors following the attacks.
There are some signs that this may be abating, however. A survey of Jewish college students by Tufts University political scientist Eitan Hersh, in partnership with survey research company College Pulse and funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation, found that after a jump in reported connection to the Jewish community in the final weeks of 2023, by the spring of 2024, the numbers had reverted back to 2022 levels. This is, of course, only one study and only looks at one particular demographic group. JFNA has told eJP that it is following up on its “Surge” study, which it plans to release in the coming months.
Though welcome, this “Surge,” along with the greater emotional toll that the past year has taken, has raised concerns of burnout among Jewish communal workers, many of whom were still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read Jim Joseph Foundation President and CEO Barry Finestone’s opinion piece on the subject in eJP here, as well as a response piece by a group of Jewish communal professionals here.) Though a survey by Leading Edge released in August did not find a drop in “employee engagement” that would indicate a major burnout issue, the topic was still discussed widely at the JFNA General Assembly last month, indicating it is still an area of concern.
In Israel, the past year has seen a shift as well, both in terms of the return of the deep political divisions that were put on hiatus in the months after the Oct. 7 attacks, as well as a change in the philanthropic needs in the country. The crisis funding immediately after the massacres has shifted to a focus on reconstruction and improvement as the some 200,000 people who were displaced by the fighting have started returning to their homes, and as the 300,000 reservists who were initially called up to the military have also begun going back to their normal lives.
Though it started in the end of 2023, the past year has seen the emergence of the so-called “donor revolt,” as the funders of nonprofits and institutions — primarily but not exclusively universities — have expressed their dissatisfaction with their fundees’ stances on antisemitism, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion practices, by withholding their donations. Many universities have responded with new “institutional neutrality” policies and harsher punishments for the kinds of anti-Israel protests that cropped up this spring.
Outside of universities, this “donor revolt” is also having an effect and likely will continue to do so as President-elect Donald Trump enters office next month. Whereas many Jewish funders supported a large swath of progressive causes and organizations during Trump’s first administration — related to immigration, reproductive rights, racial justice and climate change — this time around they may be warier as many of the groups that they funded expressed positions on Israel and Jews that funders find unacceptable. (See: The creation of the Red Tent Fund in response to the founder’s experiences of antisemitism at the DC Abortion Fund.)
As we go into 2025, eJP will be tracking all of this — and whatever else lies in store.
ON THE SCENE
Huckabee addresses settlement-focused One Israel Fund as ‘quirky right-wing’ cause goes ‘mainstream’
Israel’s war with Hamas and rising antisemitism in the U.S. are a “battle between good and evil,” Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, declared last night at the One Israel Fund 30th anniversary gala at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City, reports Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy. “The greatest friends that the Jewish people and Israelis have are often those of us who are Evangelical Christians,” said Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a Christian Zionist who has long been vocal about his support for Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a territory he refers to as Judea and Samaria, the biblical name for the region.
Going mainstream: Scott Feldman, executive vice president of the Long Island-based One Israel Fund, acknowledged in a speech that leading mainstream American Jewish groups don’t necessarily promote Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but rather it is sometimes seen as a “quirky right-wing appeal.” According to Feldman, this is no longer the case. “Tonight I look at this room,” he said, “[and] tonight Judea and Samaria goes mainstream. It’s okay to come out and say, ‘I support the heartland of Israel and it should remain the land of the Jewish people.’”
CLIMATE CHANGE
Arava Institute looks to ‘Jumpstart Hope in Gaza’ with solar-powered, off-grid shelters for refugees
With the support of international organizations and approval from Israel, the Israel-based Arava Institute and the Palestinian nonprofit Damour for Community Development launched the “Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza” project earlier this year with the goal of establishing self-sustaining facilities that are meant to provide shelter for some 20,000 people in Gaza, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky. While several are up and running, the plan is for these off-grid, but high-tech shelters to use solar energy to produce electricity, desalinate water and treat wastewater, but the organization has run into difficulties getting the necessary permission from the Israeli military to bring in the equipment.
Hope for the future: “Our Gaza partners are ready. They even had people dig wells,” he said. “And there is water in the wells, but they can’t drink it because it is saline. They are waiting for these desalination technologies,” the Arava Institute’s executive director, Tareq Abu Hamed, told eJP. He added that the success in these efforts is not just is not just that they send in the aid and technologies, he said, but that they as an Israeli organization have been able to maintain the channel of communication open with their Palestinian partners. “The Gazans live under horrible conditions, but yet they still want to talk to the Israelis. They see death every day, but they still want to work with the Israelis. And that is because of the trust [that we have built with our partners],” he said.
A MOTHER’S PRAYER
On this festival of lights, bring them out of the dark
“My son Tamir loves the tradition and togetherness of Jewish holidays, and Hannukah is his favorite… Tamir was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023… We have not had a sign of life since,” writes Herut Nimrodi, mother of Israeli hostage Tamir Nimrodi, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Next week, if a deal isn’t reached for the hostages to come home, Tamir will celebrate his second Hanukkah in captivity, deep in the dark tunnels of Gaza.”
How can I help?: “Most importantly, we can’t let the world forget about the 100 souls who have been torn from their families. There are many ways to do this. Contact your elected representatives and demand they prioritize the immediate release of all hostages. Join or organize rallies or events in your community to keep their stories in the public eye. Share the hostages’ faces, names and stories on social media with the hashtag #BringThemHomeNow. Write to your local newspapers and media outlets asking them to continue covering the hostages’ plight. You can support the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and other organizations that are working tirelessly for their release through donating or volunteering. Every voice raised brings us closer to bringing them home.”
BRIDGING IDENTITIES
An Iranian Jewish Hanukkah, made in America
“As a member of two diasporas — Iranian and Jewish — I live with a romanticized nostalgia for the past and a desperate desire to know what my future holds,” writes Rachel Sumekh, founder of RNS Impact and project executive for the Jewish Funders Network’s Poverty Affinity Group, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Iranian Jews lived in Iran for nearly 2,700 years, our traditions blending and evolving within the country’s rich cultural fabric. Now, almost 50 years into our American experiment forced on us by the Islamic Revolution, what happens next in our story?”
Crafting new traditions: “[M]y friend, food writer Tannaz Sassooni, and I pitched Reboot Studios (the production arm of Reboot, the Jewish arts and culture organization founded by Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw’s Righteous Persons Foundation and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies) on a new idea called Erev Yalda. The project fuses Hanukkah with Shab-e Yalda, the Iranian winter solstice tradition that predates even Judaism. With Reboot’s support, we began weaving the two together and bridging a gap I’ve felt for years… Erev Yalda reminded me that every generation of immigrants grapples with how to honor their roots while building something new. It’s not just about preserving our inheritance, but about reimagining traditions in ways that help us navigate the challenges of an ever-changing world.”
Worthy Reads
Food in Search of a Home: In The Washington Post, Karla Marie Sanford reports on grocery stores specifically created to give away food for free, presently operating in communities across America. “Traditionally, food pantries have been the primary intervention for those experiencing food insecurity, said Jessica Francis, executive director of Open Cupboard. But food pantries have strict rules, with individuals subject to invasive paperwork before receiving prepackaged boxes of nonperishables, said Francis. The paperwork bred shame and stigma, she said; limited operating hours, in part because the nonperishable goods didn’t demand a faster turnover rate, meant families often went without food in the exact moments they needed it. As the sector evolved, Francis said there was growing awareness around providing healthy foods and what families actually needed — perishable goods. Enter free grocery stores. Most free grocery stores operate with the support of funding from government agencies and corporate sponsors, and source food from manufacturers, grocery stores and food banks. The stores mimic actual grocery stores, with customers receiving baskets as they enter. Demographic information, in contrast to food pantries, is collected at the checkout line, so customers can shop like normal, without stigma, Francis said. The stores also combat exorbitant food waste… ‘It’s not that you’re coming here because you need food, although that is often very much the case,’ Francis said. ‘The messaging is “this food needs you.” This is perishable food. It needs to find a home.’” [WashingtonPost]
Word on the Street
Irit Gross has been appointed interim CEO of OneTable, effective Jan. 2, as the organization’s founding CEO Aliza Kline steps down at the end of this month…
San Francisco’s Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund has announced a new 15-member board of directors beginning its term on Jan. 15, with Laura Lauder as the chair and Dan Safier as vice chair…
United Hatzalah reportedly raised over $10 million at its annual gala in Miami last night, which was attended by Dr. Miriam Adelson, Jay Schottenstein, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Floyd Mayweather, among others…
The responsibility for establishing a memorial for the victims of the Oct. 7 terror attacks has been transferred from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office to the World Zionist Organization…
Jewish Insider looks into why the Antisemitism Awareness Act is unlikely to pass in the current Congress…
New data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Report found that donors gave slightly more in the third quarter of the year — a roughly 1% increase — while the total number of donors has declined by 5.3% compared to the same period last year, continuing the trend of charities raising more dollars from a smaller number of sources…
The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest is closing off its centennial year with a campaign aimed at raising $250 million…
MacKenzie Scott reported $2 billion in gifts for 2024, donating to 199 organizations. In a shift from her previous giving patterns, she is now aligning her financial investments more closely with her social-impact goals…
The New York City Council is set to pass a bill that will provide millions of dollars to nearly 400 small religious and private schools across the city to hire security guards as the city faces a rise in hate-related threats…
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency published a list of 18 notable Jews who died in 2024, including philanthropist Bernie Marcus, former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Israeli Black Panther co-founder Charlie Biton, and sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer…
Pic of the Day
Dr. Mudaniso Kumani Ziwa from Zambia’s National Heart Hospital and Dr. Godwin Godfrey from Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute perform life-saving surgery on a Zambian child, as their mentor, Dr. Lior Sasson (center), the head of pediatric cardiac surgery at Wolfson Medical Center in central Israel, oversees the procedure, which was performed at Wolfson.
The surgery was coordinated through the Israeli nonprofit Save a Child’s Heart (where Sasson is lead surgeon), which brings foreign children to Israel for heart surgery and also helps train foreign doctors in cardiac surgery.
“These two extraordinary doctors exemplified how the ripple effects of training and compassion can save lives across continents. This moment symbolizes not just the success of the program but the boundless potential of investing in human capacity for a healthier, brighter future for children everywhere,” Save a Child’s Heart’s executive director, Simon Fisher, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “And it’s happening against all odds while Israel is at war. We remain committed to our core Jewish values, especially tikkun olam.”
Birthdays
Serial social activist and former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party, Rachel Azaria, celebrates her birthday on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Founder of an on-line children’s bookstore featuring titles in a variety of languages, Yona Eckstein… Former chair of the executive committee of the Jewish Federations of North America, Michael Gelman… Television producer, he is the creator of the “Law & Order,” “Chicago” and “FBI” franchises, Richard Anthony (Dick) Wolf… Southern California resident, Carol Gene Berk… Owner of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, Binyamin “Beny” Alagem… President of the University of Miami from 2015 until 2024, on New Years Day he will become the provost of UCLA, Julio Frenk… Flushing, N.Y., resident, Bob Lindenbaum… Educational advocate and strategist at the Melmed Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., until this past summer, Ricki Light… Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale since 2014, she is a professor of both philosophy and psychology, Tamar Szabó Gendler… Author of the 2019 book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, she writes the “Dear Therapist” column for The Atlantic, Lori Gottlieb… Retired IDF general and commander of the Israeli Air Force until 2022, Amikam Norkin… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, Jeremy Burton… Swiss-born British philosopher and author, Alain de Botton… Former tight end for the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, now a senior sales rep for Medtronic, Scott Lawrence Slutzker… Israeli-American television and film writer and producer, Ron Leshem… Actor, producer, screenwriter and comedian, known by his first and middle names, Jonah Hill Feldstein… Director of development for Hadassah Metro (NY, NJ, CT), Adam Wolfthal… Program and special initiatives director at Kirsh Philanthropies, Megan Nathan… Humor and fashion writer best known as Man Repeller, Leandra Medine Cohen… Israeli singer who performs Hebrew, English, Arabic and Spanish songs and covers, Ofir Ben Shitrit… Pitcher in the Houston Astros organization, he pitched for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Colton Gordon…
SATURDAY: Former chair of the NY Fed and a partner at Goldman Sachs, Stephen Friedman… Producer of over 90 plays on and off Broadway for which she has won seven Pulitzer Prizes and ten Tony Awards, Daryl Roth… Born in Auschwitz five weeks before liberation, she is one of only two babies born there known to have survived, Angela Orosz-Richt… Artistic director laureate of the New World Symphony, conductor, pianist and composer, Michael Tilson Thomas (family name was Thomashefsky)… Member of Knesset since 1999 for the Likud party, now serving as Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz… Director of the LA Initiative at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, he was a member of the LA County Board of Supervisors for 20 years following 20 years on the LA City Council, Zev Yaroslavsky… Film, television and voice actor, Barry Gordon… CEO of WndrCo and former CEO of DreamWorks Animation and chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg… Former member of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria, where she became the first female Jewish minister in Australia, Marsha Rose Thomson… Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney, he is a behind-the-scenes fixture in the world of rap musicians, Drew O. Findling… Retired four-star general who served as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, David L. Goldfein… U.S. secretary of the Treasury during almost all of the Trump 45 administration, Steven Mnuchin… Senior NFL insider for ESPN, Adam Schefter… Owner of Liberty Consultants in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, Cherie Velez… President of France since 2017, Emmanuel Macron… Principal of Kona Media and Message, he is also the founder of Scriber, Brian Goldsmith… State scheduler for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Laura Benbow… Israeli actor and fashion model, Michael Mario Lewis… Chief creative officer of Five Seasons Media, Josh Scheinblum… EVP in the financial services practice at Weber Shandwick, Julia Bloch Mellon… Assistant metro editor for the Boston Globe, Joshua Miller…
SUNDAY: Retired New York Supreme Court judge, Arthur J. Cooperman… Former president of the World Bank, U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. deputy secretary of defense and dean of JHU’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Paul Wolfowitz… New York City-based political consultant since 1969, ordained as a rabbi by Chabad in 2011, his early career included stints as a policeman, taxi driver and bounty hunter, Henry “Hank” Sheinkopf… Retired assistant principal from the Philadelphia school district, Elissa Siegel… Associate at Mersky, Jaffe & Associates, he was previously executive director of Big Tent Judaism and VP of the Wexner Heritage Foundation, Rabbi Kerry Olitzky… Rosh yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Michael Rosensweig… Retired Israeli brigadier general who then served as the national CEO of the Friends of the IDF, Yehiel Gozal… Senior managing director in the D.C. office of Newmark where she is responsible for investment sales and commercial leasing transactions, Lisa Benjamin… Former CFO of Enron Corporation, Andrew Fastow… Rabbi at Temple Sinai of Palm Desert, Calif., David Novak… Filmmaker, novelist, video game writer and comic book writer, David Samuel Goyer… NPR correspondent covering the State Department and Washington’s diplomatic corps, Michele Kelemen… Film and television actress, Dina Meyer… CEO of Next Titan Capital until four months ago, Michael Huttner… U.S. senator (R-TX), Ted Cruz… CEO of American Council of Young Political Leaders, Libby Rosenbaum… Contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and author of a best-selling book, James Kirchick… Writer and editor from New York City, Sofia Ergas Groopman… Business development representative at HiBob, Carly Korman Schlakman… Head of philanthropy and impact investment for EJF Philanthropies, Simone Friedman… New York Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza and former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent, Aaron Boxerman… Liberty Consultants’ Lisa Brazie…
