Your Daily Phil: What’s on tap for JPro25
Good Friday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we interview Gali Cooks, CEO of Leading Edge, about the upcoming JPro conference and spotlight a new philanthropy-funded television series hosted by actor Josh Radnor focused on Jewish literature. We feature an opinion piece by Katherine A. Sarlson on legacy giving and one by Rabbi Denise L. Eger about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues and candidates in the World Zionist Congress elections. Also in this newsletter: Yaacov Yadgar, Rabbi Deborah Waxman and Gil Student.
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: This year’s Maccabiah to launch on 7/10 — a nod to the Oct. 7 attacks, which they will commemorate; ‘The Surge’ continues: JFNA survey finds a third of Jews more engaged now than pre-Oct. 7; and Witkoff’s zeal for deals faces geopolitical reality. Print the latest edition here.
Shabbat shalom!
What We’re Watching
The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition National Conference begins on Sunday in Washington.
The Jewish Agency for Israel will host a gala on Sunday in Baltimore presenting the second-annual Max Fisher Award to philanthropist Richard “Richie” Pearlstone for his decades-long support for the organization.
The Milken Institute Global Conference kicks off on Sunday in Los Angeles. Speakers include: released Israeli hostage Noa Argamani; Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman; Rabbi Sharon Brous; Eugene Kandel, chairman of the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange; and philanthropist Daniel Rubenstein.
Voting ends in the World Zionist Congress elections in the United States on Sunday.
The JPro25 conference kicks off on Monday morning in Baltimore. Read more about it below.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
Some 1,300 Jewish professionals will gather in Baltimore on Monday morning for JPro25, a three-day conference hosted by Leading Edge — which acquired JPro earlier this year — and the Jewish Federations of North America. Taking place shortly after a JFNA survey found that “the Surge” in Jewish engagement after the Oct. 7 terror attacks has persisted, JPro’s third conference is expected to have its highest attendance yet.
Ahead of the conference, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim spoke with Gali Cooks, founding president and CEO of Leading Edge, about the gathering and challenges Jewish professionals are facing as “the Surge” surges on.
ND: Can you tell me about what the landscape looks like for Jewish professionals now?
GC: There’s a push-pull. Let’s put it that way. What we see in the field is that Jewish professionals are still very much passionate and engaged and committed to working and toiling in a way that our community needs. On the other hand, it’s incessant. We’ve had about 18 months of crisis mode, which is very, very difficult… That’s been challenging. We can only sprint a marathon for so long, and it has really felt that way for some. We have seen some turnover, some burnout, some ways in which there have been negative headwinds and tailwinds honestly.
With that comes some positives, like “the Surge.” We are seeing a lot of folks who haven’t connected with the Jewish community, whether professionally or as a volunteer or just as a member of the community, wanting to engage in ways that “the Surge” has reported on, and that that very much maps onto the professional picture.
ND: How has the conference itself changed at all in light of those new needs of Jewish professionals?
GC: The value of bringing folks together has definitely grown since we re-emerged from COVID-19. People are wanting to come together [physically]… There’s definitely been hunger for that. Where I think the JPro conference has been really quite unique is that it really is a cross-section of all different types of professionals and really a microcosm of the sector writ large. You get to see folks that maybe have been former coworkers, or that you’ve only seen on Zoom. That’s been, in some way, a constant and really has developed even more.
This conference in particular is the first JPro conference since Oct. 7, and that has made it seem much more critical in terms of professionals wanting to recharge, to talk a little bit more in a more collegial way about some of the ways that it’s become a lot more complicated and harder to work and lead and serve in the Jewish community. So we’ve really fashioned a lot of opportunities for folks to connect. We have a 22,000-square-foot tent that is going to be up near the stadium, so folks can just gather inside, outside, in different places and spaces throughout. And then there are opportunities for professionals to really level up their skills. It could be on an individual level — we are having opportunities for folks to get new headshots or to have an expert look at their LinkedIn profile and say, how are you really broadcasting your skills and your experience in ways that are helpful. And then also concrete skills, like how do you address antisemitism right now? What is some of the history of the current problems and opportunities?
ND: You mentioned that this is the first conference since Oct. 7. How does that factor in?
GC: So we’re trying to be very responsive to what we see as some of the needs in the field — some of the questions and the areas of opportunity that we see professionals asking about. We have Jewish learning opportunities that we’ve woven throughout the conference in ways that are really exciting. We do have specific workshops that are meant to tackle the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as some of the ways in which we can address antisemitism and Jew-hatred more broadly. So that’s been different.
BOOK BOOST
How I met your author: Josh Radnor to host new TV show on Jewish literature
The literary world has been tumultuous for Jewish writers over the past 18 months. Book stores and festivals have canceled Jewish authors’ appearances. Thousands of writers pledged to boycott Israeli publishers, festivals, and agencies. Journals removed essays that showed nuance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And according to one literary agent, in Britain, half of publishers “won’t take books by Jewish authors.” These are times many of us never imagined we’d live through, Rabbi Mark Blazer, president of The Jewish Life Foundation, told Jay Deitcher for eJewishPhilanthropy. His foundation is producing The People of the Book, a 12-episode TV series and podcast hosted by How I Met Your Mother’s Josh Radnor, spotlighting Jewish writers at a time when others boycott them.
Star power: “It’s not a celebrity show,” journalist and producer Amy Klein told eJP, “but we do want a lot of people to know about this show and watch the show, and so we know that getting some celebrities in the mix will promote it.” She expects that “social media is going to be the biggest driver.” Radnor himself has 1.1 million Instagram followers, and a guest like Josh Gad can bring over a million more. “Every single home has JLTV… So now the question is, if we have this platform, why are we not making sure that every home — not just Jewish, every home — has a chance to see what’s going on right now. I know we have more allies out there than we think.”
SECURE THE FUTURE
Invest in endowment giving — even when it’s hard
“Jewish organizations are no strangers to doing more with less. Whether it’s a synagogue led by dedicated volunteers, a day school juggling tuition assistance and rising costs or a JCC anchoring a community through changing times, we’ve all learned to stretch our resources with creativity, commitment and grit,” writes Katherine A. Sarlson, national director of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life & Legacy program, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
An impactful legacy: “Over the past 12 years, Jewish communities across North America have taken steps to leverage these resources into the transformational power of endowment giving. Time and again, communities have watched legacy commitments turn hope into sustainability, and good intentions into long-term impact… The ripple effects of legacy giving go far beyond the financial. At the individual level, donors feel the deep satisfaction of making a lasting impact. Legacy giving becomes a personal expression of Jewish identity, values and hope; it’s an act of generosity that continues, long after a person is gone, to help ensure there is a Jewish future. At the institutional level, organizations get to shift from surviving to planning. Institutions often face recurring budget stress, but legacy giving changes that narrative.”
ZIONIST AND PROUD
Voting for our place in the Zionist future
| “Queer Jews are facing a moment of increasing challenges — experiencing both antisemitism and LGBTQ+ hate, disillusioned by crises in Israel and the U.S. and lacking seats at the table for our voices to be heard,” writes Rabbi Denise L. Eger, interim executive director of A Wider Bridge, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “One concrete way that we as a community can support LGBTQ+ Jews is by engaging in the 2025 World Zionist Congress (WZC) election, which A Wider Bridge has partnered with to intentionally support having more queer Jews on slates than ever before.” A model of inclusion: “The LGBTQ+ inclusion in this year’s election is revolutionary. There are openly gay individuals on over half of the slates — an unprecedented number of LGBTQ+ people running, and on slates across the ideological and political spectrum. There are also a record number of transgender and nonbinary individuals running, as well as Jews of color… LGBTQ+ issues are not wedge issues. They are a core part of our future, and this election is just one example of how Jewish members can show up for their LGBTQ+ neighbors, friends and family. But our work doesn’t end there. We must continue to create spaces where LGBTQ+ Jews are not only welcome, but are seen and heard. We must cultivate spaces where all Jews can feel safe enough to access, observe and embrace all parts of their identities and show up as their full selves. At a time when LGBTQ+ Jews increasingly feel isolated in queer spaces, this support is more critical than ever.” Read the full piece here. |
Worthy Reads
Zionist Visions: To mark Israel’s Independence Day, Rich Tenorio interviews Oxford University professor Yaacov Yadgar about his 2024 book To Be a Jewish State: Zionism as the New Judaism. “Although the book advances arguments that might strike many as new, it also delves into more familiar aspects of Zionist history from its founding era in late 19th-century Europe, including how Zionism was influenced by the rise of European nation-states, and the debate between [Theodore] Herzl and [Ahad] Ha’Am over which course it would take. In Ha’Am’s vision, Yadgar said, ‘Jewish politics had to be in some sort of dialogue with Jewish tradition.’ By contrast, ‘Herzl said Jewish politics are whatever Jews do — that is Jewish politics.’ These differing views represented ‘two contested visions of what Israel as a Jewish state should and could be,’ Yadgar said.” [TOI]
Taking a Gamble: In Vanity Fair, Noah Shachtman examines how Dr. Miriam Adelson has fared over the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s term in office. “One hundred days ago, Miriam Adelson was on top of the world. The billionaire and far-right mega-donor was in the Capitol Rotunda… watching her chosen candidate, the man she had spent more than $100 million on, be sworn in as president. Her basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks, was fresh off of a run to the NBA finals, thanks to Luka Don?i?, the league’s most talented young superstar. Las Vegas Sands… was making slow progress toward its long-term goal of building a casino about 20 minutes’ drive from the squad’s home court. Perhaps most exciting, at least from a pure profit perspective, was the firm’s potential to land a license to operate a casino on Long Island, just outside of New York City, widely believed to be the one of the most lucrative untapped gambling markets on the planet… In the three months or so since, Trump’s approval rating has tanked as he declared a trade war on the entire world — even on Israel, where Adelson was born, and where she remains an influential figure. Under the leadership of Adelson’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks gave away their superstar in what was instantly panned as the worst trade in NBA history. The Adelsons’ family-controlled company, Las Vegas Sands, dropped its plans to build the Dallas-area gambling house for now…On Wednesday, Sands president Dumont announced to investors that the Adeslon family was ending its East Coast pursuit, after more than a decade of trying. Miriam’s winning streak was over.” [VanityFair]
Word on the Street
The governing body of the World Zionist Congress barred PR executive and Betar USA founder Ronn Torossian from running as a delegate on the ZOA Coalition slate over his attacks on Columbia professor and Israeli activist Shai Davidai. Davidai, who is not a candidate, was also banned from campaigning for the Kol Israel slate…
Rabbi Deborah Waxman, head of the Reconstructionist movement, announced she will retire in summer 2026, amid internal tensions over rising anti-Zionism within her movement…
U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that he recently learned that fewer than 24 hostages are still alive in Gaza out of 59, echoing earlier comments by Sara Netanyahu that angered families who had not been briefed beforehand. He added that the condition of U.S. citizen Edan Alexander remains unknown…
Speaking at the Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Independence Day reception for foreign diplomats in Israel on Thursday, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, urged foreign diplomats to use their influence to help free the remaining hostages in Gaza, telling them “it may be the singular most godly thing you do in your lives”…
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on Trump to reverse his removal of Biden-appointed members from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in a letter first obtained by eJP’s sister publication Jewish Insider, calling it a partisan move that disrespects the apolitical mission of Holocaust remembrance.
The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York hired Sandra Fox as its Rifkind chair in Jewish history…
The Canadian Jewish News interviews two members of the Canadian-Filipino community about the support they are receiving from the Jewish community following a car ramming attack last week at the Lapu Lapu Filipino cultural festival in Vancouver that killed 11 people…
Argentina released nearly 1,850 newly declassified documents on Monday detailing how Nazi fugitives fled to the country after World War II, following a request by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The group praised President Javier Milei’s decision, made after a recent meeting with its leaders…
Jewish Family Service LA has launched CareFamily, a new private home care model that lets families directly hire caregivers, which it says potentially saves them up to $100,000 annually…
The organization will partner with FEMA over the next two years to support Los Angeles wildfire survivors with disaster case management services…
Gil Student returns to the Orthodox Union as its director of Jewish media publications and editorial editorial communications…
Tablet spotlights ATA, a clothing company that provided workwear for recently arrived immigrants to pre-state Israel that has been revived in the last decade…
NPR interviews New York Times reporter Teddy Schleifer about how private philanthropy can step in to fill the gaps in higher education amid looming federal funding cuts…
The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans is expanding its reach with the new $1.25 million Chapman Family Research Center, funded by Dave and Amy Chapman Fulton…
Dan Rickman, CEO of ORT UK, will be stepping down from his position…
Yad Vashem USA Foundation has received a $300,000 pledge from the Laterman Family Foundation’s AddressHate Initiative to support Digital Echoes, a new effort using digital tools and social media to share Holocaust history and survivor stories with younger audiences…
The Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission is launching its first statewide campaign to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month this May, featuring online storytelling, media outreach, and community events…
Pic of the Day
At a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on Wednesday titled, “Never Again: Addressing the rise of Antisemitism and supporting older Americans,” testimony is heard from Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Miami-Dade county sheriff; David Schaecter, president of the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA; Rabbi Mark Rosenberg, chaplain of the Florida Highway Patrol and the North Miami Beach Police Department; Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; and Rebecca Federman, senior director of CSI Intelligence Desk.
“It’s not normal that every Jewish institution in America, every single one, worries about the physical safety of the people who come through their doors — kids, seniors, people coming to synagogue to pray. That isn’t normal,” Deutch said during the hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. “We all have an obligation to call it out just as we would against any other kind of hatred because antisemitism never stops with the Jews, not in America, not in any country throughout history. It’s just the beginning. It’s an attack against other people. It’s just pure hatred.”
Birthdays
Running back recently signed by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, A.J. Dillon, celebrates his birthday on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Former chairman and CEO of American International Group, once the largest insurance company in history, then chairman and CEO of the Starr Companies, Maurice Raymond “Hank” Greenberg… Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, he financed the visitors center at the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., John Langeloth Loeb… Former lord chief justice and president of the Courts of England and Wales, Baron Harry Kenneth Woolf… Retired professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, journalist, international negotiator and private consultant, Alon Ben-Meir… Author of 23 books and conservative political activist, Alan Merril Gottlieb… U.S. senator (D-VT) since 2023, Peter Welch… Former member of the Texas Senate, she was born in NYC to Holocaust survivor parents, Florence Shapiro… Former USAID contractor imprisoned by Cuba from 2009 to 2014, Alan Phillip Gross… Co-founder and president of private equity firm NCH Capital, he has funded the establishment of hundreds of Chabad Houses at universities throughout the world, George Rohr… Former under secretary of state for public diplomacy in the Obama administration, following a stint as managing editor of Time magazine, Richard Allen “Rick” Stengel… Member of the New York State Assembly since 2010, he was previously a member of the NYC Council and former deputy superintendent of the NYS Banking Commission, David Weprin… Former U.S. secretary of commerce in the Obama administration, she is on the board of Microsoft, Penny Sue Pritzker… Partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, she is active on many non-profit boards including Penn Law School and the Jewish Federations of North America, Jodi J. Schwartz… Television writer and reality television personality known for his high IQ test scores, Richard G. Rosner… Admiral in the IDF (res.), he served as the commander of the Israeli Navy, Ram Rothberg… Director of the Chabad Center in Bratislava, Slovakia, Rabbi Baruch Myers… Founder and CEO of Shutterstock, Jonathan E. Oringer… Israeli writer known for his novels, essays and philosophical work, Yaniv Iczkovits… Senior vice president of Drumfire Public Affairs following four years as deputy chief of staff to then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Stephen Schatz… Founder of MamaDen, a platform that connects and empowers mothers, Julianna Goldman… Podcast host and founder and president of ETS Advisory, Emily Tisch Sussman… Attorney in the office of New York State’s attorney general, Gabe Cahn… Chief development officer at Cornell Hillel, Susanna K. Cohen…
SATURDAY: Southern California-area writer and activist promoting wellness, she still works three days per week, Deborah Shainman Szekely… Senior research scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University, Ely Karmon, Ph.D…. Television journalist, David Marash… U.S. senator (R-ID), Jim Risch… Venture capitalist and economist, his original family name was Jacobstein, William H. Janeway… Francine Holtzman… U.S. senator (D-OR), his original family name was Weidenreich, Ron Wyden… Six-time Tony Award winning Broadway producer, Stewart F. Lane… Retired attorney, he represented political parties, campaigns, candidates, governors and members of Congress on election law matters, Benjamin Langer Ginsberg… Retired in 2017 as chair and CEO of Mondelez International, a multinational food and beverage company (including Oreo, Nabisco and Cadbury), Irene Rosenfeld… Retired partner from the Chicago office of DLA Piper, now a consultant at Washburn Advisors, Mark D. Yura… Political reporter and columnist for The Richmond Times-Dispatch, he has covered Virginia elections and the state Capitol for more than 30 years, Jeff E. Schapiro… Retired senior advisor at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Susan Steinmetz… Executive vice president at NBCUniversal News Group, he is on the Board of Visitors at Duke Law Schol, Stephen Labaton… Former owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center, Mikhail Prokhorov… Lobbyist since 2010, he was previously deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in the Bush 43 administration, Scott A. Kamins… Veteran of 13 NHL seasons, in 2005 he sat out a hockey game to observe Yom Kippur, he is now an assistant coach for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, Jeff Halpern… Israeli singer and actress, winner of multiple Israeli Female Singer of the Year awards, Miri Mesika… Reporter for Politico New Jersey and author of New Jersey’s Playbook, Matthew R. Friedman… Educated at the Hebrew Academy of San Francisco, he was a defensive lineman in the NFL from 2004 until 2011 (Chargers, Cowboys and Dolphins), Igor Olshansky… Managing director and co-head of executive communications of SKDKnickerbocker, he is a graduate of CESJDS and was previously a speechwriter for President Obama, Stephen Andrew Krupin… President of Flaxman Strategies, Seth Flaxman… Israeli minister for social equality and women’s advancement, she is a member of the Knesset for the Likud party, May Golan… Benjamin S. Davis… NBA All Star for the Sacramento Kings, he is studying to convert to Judaism, Domantas Sabonis… Director of the Judaism and State Policy Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel, Tani Frank… Foreign correspondent for NBC and a former Middle East correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, Raf Sanchez…
SUNDAY: Executive director of the Texas A&M Hillel for 30 years, now a security consultant for the tourism industry, Peter E. Tarlow… U.S. special envoy for climate change in the Obama administration, now a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Todd D. Stern… Board chair of the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, Lee Sherman… Partner at NYC-based Mintz & Gold, he was executive vice president and general counsel for both the Las Vegas Sands and News Corporation, Lawrence “Lon” A. Jacobs… Northern Virginia-based portrait artist, Ilisa G. Calderon… CEO at Gigawatt Global, Yosef Israel Abramowitz… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Vermont-1), Rebecca A. “Becca” Balint… Triathlete, she earned a Ph.D. in 2001 from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is a winner of international ironman competitions, Joanna Sue Zeiger… Director of congregational education at NYC’s Park Avenue Synagogue, Bradley Solmsen… State attorney for Palm Beach County, Fla., from 2013 until earlier this year, Dave Aronberg… Chair and director at NYC’s department of city planning, Daniel Garodnick… Mechal Wakslak… President of national expansion at Veterans Community Project, he served as the secretary of state of Missouri, Jason Kander… Chief impact officer at RSL Management, Jessica Chait… Tech entrepreneur, best known as a co-founder of both Vine and HQ Trivia, Rus Yusupov… Senior vice president at BerlinRosen, Allison Fran Bormel… Director of development at Americans for Ben-Gurion University, following ten years at AIPAC, Rebecca Leibowitz Wasserstrom… Writer, production coordinator and assistant to the executive producer of ABC’s “General Hospital,” Steven A. Rosenberg… Adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, Shana Mansbach… Manager of public policy and external affairs at Meta/Facebook, Sasha Altschuler… Actor best known for voicing the title character of the animated film “Finding Nemo,” Alexander Gould… Partner in the client services group at Signum Global Advisors, Elliot Miller… Medalist in the women’s halfpipe event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Arielle Townsend Gold… Senior business analyst at Shopify, Olivia Breuer…
