Your Daily Phil: Election interference allegations in World Zionist balloting
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we cover a Birthright Israel event marking its 25th anniversary on the sidelines of the Jewish Funders Network conference and report on a new youth advisory committee being launched by the mental health nonprofit BaMidbar. We examine a dispute in the World Zionist Congress elections over a voter recruitment campaign and the Jewish communal divisions over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee ahead of his confirmation hearing to become U.S. ambassador to Israel. We feature an opinion piece by Darius Jones laying out a vision of strategic alignment between Black America and Israel. As part of Diaspora Week, we are publishing essays from the upcoming edition of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education’s The Peoplehood Papers series, with today’s from Rabbi Sid Schwarz. Also in this newsletter: Keren Fraiman, Dr. Alina Levi and Roselyne “Cissie” Swig.
What We’re Watching
The annual Chabad Young Professionals Gala is taking place tonight in New York City. Joe and Tayler Lonsdale, Shaun and Liona Maguire and Adam Shapiro will be honored at the event.
The Jewish Funders Network Conference continues today in Nashville, Tenn., coming to a close this afternoon.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis is holding its annual conference in Chicago, which continues through tomorrow.
What You Should Know
The Birthright Israel Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary last night on the sidelines of the Jewish Funders Network conference in Nashville, Tenn., hailing 900,000 participants so far for its flagship trip and envisaging even greater interest in its emerging volunteer program, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross from the gathering.
“If we today speak about 900,000 participants on the 10-day trip, I’m sure that we are going to be at the 1 million volunteer number before the next 20 years because it’s something that can unite the whole Jewish people,” Gidi Mark, international CEO of Birthright Israel, told the crowd of backers and well-wishers packed into a conference room at the Nashville JW Marriott.
Mark hailed the program, which was launched in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks to bring young people from abroad to Israel to volunteer on a heavily subsidized trip, as “the most igniting and most inspiring thing” that the organization has launched. Read eJP’s coverage about the program here.
“One day after Oct. 7, [2023,] we realized that we cannot disconnect Israel from the world,” he said. “We decided to bring people immediately. So our regular participants continue to come. But within three weeks, the first volunteer came to Israel, and [as of] today, 10,000 volunteers have come to Israel.”
Last week, Birthright Israel and Jewish Federations of North America announced a new “strategic partnership” to develop and sustain the volunteer program to ensure that at least the same number of volunteers — 10,000 — participate in the program this year as well.
“We were lucky to meet with Eric Fingerhut and Shira Hutt and Jeff Schoenfeld and Eric Goldstein — and they all pushed us. They said, ‘Go ahead, we are your partners,’ and I would like to thank you all for doing it,” Mark said.
Over the drinks and light hors d’oeuvres — hummus and salatim, naturally — Birthright Israel Foundation CEO Elias Saratovsky highlighted a recent study commissioned by the organization that found the effects of the Israel trips extend to participants’ children. He noted that Birthright Israel participants are more likely to invest in their children’s Jewish formal and informal education than their non-participant peers and are more than twice as likely to celebrate their child’s bar or bat mitzvah, which he said showed that the program was not just a builder of Jewish identity but “of Jewish continuity.” Saratovsky added that this was of personal interest to him as a member of the first cohort of Birthright Israel participants and the father of three children.
Mark also noted that Birthright Israel participants in total — 20,000 of them since Oct. 7, 2023 — make up 87% of all the young tourists who have visited Israel since the start of the war with Hamas.
“You just need to come to Israel and see the joy on the faces of people who come and give. They leave their sweat in Israel, they leave their heart in Israel, and they will come back,” he said. “And thank you for the trust, and I’m sure that we can build a much stronger Jewish people in the next 25 years.”
YOUTHFUL REPRESENTATION
BaMidbar brings Jewish Teen and Young Adult Advisory Committee ‘in the room’ to direct services
Although the mental health nonprofit BaMidbar’s programming has always been aimed at teens and young adults, the organization has never had them “literally in the room” directing its services, Whitney Fisch, CEO of BaMidbar, told Jay Deitcher for eJewishPhilanthropy. Three months ago, she joined BaMidbar and realized the organization required a needs assessment. What better way to do one, Fisch thought, than going to the people who are at the “center of what we do.” Aiming to launch in the early summer, the committee will include eight members serving one-year stints who will meet at least six times per year via Zoom.
Finding their voice: More young adults than ever appear to be open to discussing mental health, yet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic there is a mental health provider shortage. A program like this 20 years ago could have set society up better to deal with the increased need by putting youth on a path to become mental health leaders, Gabriela Lupatkin, director of clinical services at BaMidbar, told eJP. “Our hope is that through this work, they can find their voice and feel that they can have an impact, even at a young age,” she said. “Their voice is really important.”
ELECTION SEASON
World Zionist Congress reviewing allegations of rule breaking after slate offers raffle tickets, chicken tenders for recruiting voters
The Am Yisrael Chai slate running in the World Zionist Congress elections is being accused by other slates of buying votes after offering incentives — from kosher chicken tenders to raffle tickets to win a diamond tennis bracelet, a private jet flight or cold hard cash — to people in exchange for recruiting others to cast their ballot for the group, according to screenshots of the promotions obtained by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy. The get-out-the-vote campaign is now being reviewed by the Area Election Committee, which oversees the election, to determine if it violates the election bylaws barring slates from paying the $5 fee required to vote or “from paying voters to vote in the election and/or for their slates.”
Questionable campaigns: Several slates running in the election, which kicked off on March 10, complained about these promotions to the AEC, which then released a memo affirming that while slates can pay people to serve as “ambassadors” or “influencers,” they cannot compensate people based on the number of votes that they bring in “as this can lead to a pyramid scheme and vote buying.” Once the memo was sent out on March 16, Am Yisrael Chai halted the promotions. A spokesperson for the Am Yisrael Chai slate did not respond to a request for comment. The American Zionist Movement did not disclose which slates filed the complaint against Am Yisrael Chai.
CONFIRMATION CLASH
Jewish groups at odds ahead of Huckabee nomination hearing
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s confirmation hearing to be U.S. ambassador to Israel is opening rifts in the Jewish community, with groups representing the Orthodox and Reform movements openly at odds over Huckabee’s background and past views, report Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Opposing views: While not explicitly endorsing Huckabee, the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center argued in a letter to the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Huckabee’s views in opposition to a two-state solution and supporting Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, which Huckabee refers to as Judea and Samaria, are in agreement with those of “many American Jews.” The letter comes in direct response to a letter last month from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, expressing concerns about Huckabee’s nomination and record. Huckabee’s past views, the RAC argued, “[run] counter to U.S. interests in advancing the causes of peace and regional security.”
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
BEYOND SOLIDARITY
Black America and Israel: A strategic realignment of power and purpose
“Black America and Israel, two peoples bound by history, struggle and an indomitable will to survive, are standing at a crossroads,” writes Darius Jones, president of National Black Empowerment Council and National Black Empowerment Action Fund, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Learning from Israel’s example: “I recently led a delegation of 30 influential African American leaders — CEOs, elected officials, educators, law enforcement officials and other civic leaders who are helping to shape the future of Black America — to Israel… What they witnessed was not just a nation, but a masterclass in self-determination… I have long viewed Israel as a model of what Black America must master. In 75 years, it has transformed from a fragile post-colonial state into a global leader in finance, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and defense… These are not just admirable qualities: they are necessary ones — and Black America, if we are serious about power, must absorb these lessons with the precision of a scholar and the urgency of a people who understand what is at stake. This is not about nostalgia. This is not about mere solidarity. This is about strategy.”
THE PEOPLEHOOD PAPERS
World Jewry, Zionism and the State of Israel
“In 1897, Ahad Ha-Am (aka Asher Ginzberg) published an essay titled ‘The Jewish State and the Jewish Problem’ in Ha-Shiloah, the Hebrew monthly he edited from Odessa. In the essay, Ginzberg argued that as important as it is to have people settle in the Yishuv (the term used for pre-state Israel) it would be a mistake for Zionists to write off the millions of Jews who lived in the Diaspora and who would never make aliyah,” writes Rabbi Sid Schwarz in an essay featured in eJewishPhilanthropy from the upcoming volume of The Peoplehood Papers, which will be published next month by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education.
Meetings of the minds: “Unfortunately, the State of Israel has never been able to operationalize an aspirational idea that has been around for more than 100 years: allowing the values of Judaism and the voices of Diaspora Jewry to inform the way the State of Israel is governed and led. Frankly, the fact that Israel has yet to even write and endorse a constitution for the country after 77 years makes it seem next to impossible to conceive of a way to allow Jews who are not citizens of the country to have some say in the affairs of the State of Israel. And yet, a small experiment in which I was involved may point a way forward.”
Worthy Reads
Still a Believer: The Free Press published a heartfelt parting message on Monday from former Utah Republican Rep. Mia Love, which she shared in an open letter earlier this month before her death on Sunday from brain cancer. “Let me tell you about the America I know. My parents immigrated to the United States with $10 in their pocket and a belief that the America they had heard about really did exist as the land of opportunity… I was taught to love this country, warts and all, and understand I had a role to play in our nation’s future. I learned to passionately believe in the possibilities and promise of America… Americans, regardless of financial status, are the most giving people on the planet… The America I know deserves leaders who trust the people and will tell them the hard truth about where we are and what we need to do in order to preserve our future. We need leaders who are prepared to engage in a dialogue about realities, priorities, and solving America’s problems… As my season of life begins to draw to a close, I still passionately believe that we can revive the American story we know and love.” [FreePress]
Systems Down: Without USAID’s food insecurity forecasting and tracking systems, experts are concerned that famines are going to be more deadly because they will have less visibility and organizations will have less data to inform preventative measures beforehand or humanitarian aid after the fact, reports Ayenat Mersie in Devex. “Specifically, USAID’s downfall is crippling the work of the world’s two most critical famine monitoring systems: the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, a USAID-funded tool that could forecast food insecurity six to nine months out; and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, a United Nations-coordinated initiative that provides a common global framework for assessing the severity and scale of food insecurity and acute malnutrition… There may be hope yet for FEWS NET’s future: Earlier this month, Chemonics, USAID’s key contracting partner in operating the program, was told that it could restart some of its work on the program, a source familiar with the matter told Devex. But no work has resumed, and as of earlier this month the U.S. still owed Chemonics more than $100 million for work it performed prior to the aid freeze… ‘Just because we know less doesn’t mean the suffering is less,’ said Nicholas Haan, who helped create the IPC in 2004.” [Devex]
Better Together: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, George Tsiatis proposes that nonprofits should proactively consider mergers and acquisitions as a strategic tool for mission-driven organizations, not solely as a last-ditch effort to stay afloat. “While mergers and acquisitions have long been a significant tool for growth in the private sector, the social sector has been much more hesitant. Some of the reasons might be deeply embedded in our sector’s culture, from a tendency to lionize founders and treat individual visions as sacrosanct to our collective fascination with unicorn stories, the rare organizations that achieve massive scale independently… Substantial resources are often required: as George and Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman note, for example, the Guidestar merger with Foundation Center cost $45 million. Not all mergers require such significant investment, but since nonprofits can’t bank profits for future investment — and social enterprises often struggle to maintain margins that would support rapid growth — this leaves us primarily dependent on fundraising campaigns and specific investable moments as vehicles for scaling. As a result, unless an organization becomes an industry darling, growth typically involves a long and resource-intensive journey. And yet, given the interconnected nature of our sector, it’s increasingly likely that an aligned partner has already built what you need (if in a different geography or with a slightly different approach). While integration will always present challenges, the time saved compared to building something from scratch can be tremendous.” [SSIR]
Word on the Street
The Jewish Funders Network awarded the Ilia Salita Excellence in Applied Research Award to Keren Fraiman, Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership’s dean and chief academic officer, for her research project on Israel education, “Barriers to Entry: Exploring Educator Reticence for Engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”…
The memorial site for the victims of the Nova music festival in a Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund grove outside of Kibbutz Re’im was the organization’s most visited site over the past six months, with roughly 7,000 visitors daily; in light of this, KKL-JNF has allocated $1.1 million to improve the site and make it more accessible…
Washington Monthly spotlights the work of the George Kaiser Family Foundation to revitalize Tulsa, Okla.…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $76 million in nonprofit security grants in the state…
Dr. Alina Levi was elected the next president of the Shalom Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria, representing the Jewish community of the Balkan nation…
The Jewish Federation of St. Louis conducted an in-depth study of the local Jewish community, finding a shrinking community — the population decreased from 61,000 in 2014 to 45,800 last year — but an engaged one…
CBS News profiles 94-year-old San Francisco philanthropist Roselyne “Cissie” Swig, who told the outlet that she’s motivated by “tikkun olam”…
Jonathan Zar was hired to serve as the next regional director of New York for the Orthodox Union’s Yachad program, which works with Jews with disabilities and their families…
The Marian B. and Jacob K. Javits Foundation donated $1 million to Stony Brook University Libraries; the donation will be matched by New York State and the Simons Infinity Investment Match Challenge…
DNA-testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy following a series of financial setbacks; CEO Anne Wojcicki resigned from her position, but will maintain a seat on the board…
Naples, Fla.-based philanthropist Jay Baker donated $5 million to the Humane Society Naples in honor of his wife, Patti…
Rabbi Getzel Davis, who has been with Harvard Hillel since 2012, announced he was resigning yesterday…
Pic of the Day
Students from Paramus, N.J.’s Frisch School compete on Sunday in the Science Olympiad, which brought together Jewish high school students from 11 high schools across metropolitan New York. The annual event was hosted by The Jewish Education Project, in partnership with Touro University’s Lander College for Men.
SAR High School took first place in the competition followed by the Frisch School in second, Yeshiva University Girls in third and SKA Girls High School in fourth place.
Birthdays
YouTube personality, filmmaker, co-founder of the multimedia company Beme and founder of 368 coworking space, Casey Neistat…
Retired film and book critic, Gene Shalit… Pulpit rabbi, rosh yeshiva, historian, author and lecturer, he served as rabbinic administrator of the Orthodox Union’s kashrut division, then made aliyah in 1997, Rabbi Berel Wein… Feminist, journalist and social activist, Gloria Steinem… Mayor of Las Vegas, she was elected in 2011 and reelected in 2015 and 2019, her husband had been mayor from 1999 until 2011, Carolyn Goodman… Actor and director, best known for his role as Det. David Starsky on the 1970’s television series “Starsky & Hutch,” Paul Michael Glaser… Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Aaron David Miller… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party and then Israel’s ambassador to Belarus, Yosef Shagal… Chairman of Eastern Savings Bank in Hunt Valley, Md., and past chair of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Beth H. Goldsmith… Internationally recognized Orthodox rabbinic leader, Rabbi Asher Zelig Weiss… Property manager and CPA in Los Angeles, Glynis Gerber… Founding director of the initiative on communication and sustainability at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, Andrew C. Revkin… Columbus, Ohio-based consultant in the sleep medicine field, Cynthia S. Levy… Executive director at Plum Community Center in Pittsburgh, Karen Hochberg… CEO and co-chief investment officer of Kintegral Asset Management, Mony Mordehai Rueven… Film producer, she served as co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal… Senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, Arthur Allen… Retired IDF major general, from 2014 to 2018 he served as head of COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), Yoav (Poli) Mordechai… Emmy Award-winning actress, producer, and designer, best known for her leading role on the HBO television series “Sex and the City,” reprised in two later films, Sarah Jessica Parker… Founding director of ATID and its WebYeshiva program, he is the editor of the Rabbinical Council’s journal Tradition, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks… Former prime minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett… East Side director and fellowship director at the Manhattan Jewish Experience, Rabbi Avi Heller… Managing director of ARI Investment Partners, Cheston David Mizel… Partner at D.C.-based Mehlman Consulting, focused on health-care policy, Lauren Aronson… VP of public engagement at Oxfam America, Alissa C. Rooney… Actress, comedian and author, Jenny Slate… Deputy Washington bureau chief at The Associated Press, Steven Sloan… Founder and editor of The Free Press and author of How to Fight Anti-Semitism, Bari Weiss… Iraqi-born Chaldean Catholic, her husband is Jewish, President Donald Trump named her interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Monday, Alina Habba… Communications strategist based in Chicago, Meredith Shiner… Chief political officer of Democratic Majority for Israel, Joel Wanger… Legislative director for Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Grant Cameron Dubler… Senior manager of pricing analytics at American Express, Jordan Rossman… Winner of the 2025 Academy Award for Best Actress, known professionally as Mikey Madison, Mikaela Madison Rosberg…
