Your Daily Phil: Election season arrives as polls open for World Zionist Congress
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the opening of the polls for the 39th World Zionist Congress and on the Jewish community’s response to deadly flooding in Argentina. In the latest installment of “The 501(C) Suite,” eJewishPhilanthropy’s exclusive opinion column featuring insights from leading foundation executives, Lisa Eisen shares recommendations on ways to empower and tap into the Jewish community’s pool of female leadership talent. We also feature an opinion piece by Louis Treiger and Melissa Rivkin about the methodology behind the JZ Greenberg Foundation’s mission and approach as a funder. Also in this newsletter: Yuval Raphael, Patrick Dumont and Jeff Finkelstein.
What We’re Watching
The 39th World Zionist Congress elections kicked off today and will continue through May 4. More on this below.
The White House has cut some $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University over its response to campus antisemitism, and federal agents detained a non-citizen anti-Israel activist who recently graduated from the school.
The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s inauguration of a new memorial forest outside Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel in honor of the victims and fallen soldiers from the Oct. 7 terror attacks and resulting war has again been postponed due to security concerns. A new date has not yet been scheduled.
What You Should Know
Election season is upon us as the polls open today for the 39th World Zionist Congress and remain open for the next eight weeks, closing — aptly enough — on May 4, shortly after Israeli Independence Day, writes eJewishPhilanthropy Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross.
For months, even years in some cases, the slates running in this year’s elections have been preparing for this moment, hiring staff, recruiting candidates and volunteers, organizing events. Read more about this below.
Over the next 56 days, they will have to make their case to the voters — adult Jews permanently residing in the United States who accept the World Zionist Organization’s “Jerusalem Program,” did not vote in the most recent Israeli elections and paid the $5 fee — not only that their slate is the one to choose but that it is worthwhile to vote at all.
“It’s a challenge for people to understand how it works and what it is and why it’s important for them to take these couple minutes and actually vote. And that’s something that’s shared across the entire spectrum of all the organizations running,” Rabbi Josh Weinberg, who is leading the Reform movement’s campaign, told eJP before polls opened.
“We’ve done a lot [to prepare]. I can’t discuss our entire campaign plan in public,” Weinberg joked. “But we feel good about where we are.”
Even before polls opened, there were already some rumblings and grumblings between the parties. Last month, the centrist Kol Israel party lodged a formal complaint to the Area Election Committee, which oversees the elections, against the ZOA Coalition after one of its partner groups, the hawkish Betar USA, repeatedly criticized and insinuated threats of violence against Columbia University professor Shai Davidai, who was at the time (but is no longer) a Kol Israel candidate.
As the elections get underway — with more social media activists involved than ever before — this type of public bickering is expected to continue, alongside efforts to create and expand coalitions between like-minded parties.
And eJewishPhilanthropy will be following it all.
ELECTION SEASON
More slates, more voters, more at stake as polls open for 39th World Zionist Congress
Will “The Surge” in Jewish engagement post-Oct. 7 lead to greater participation of American Jews in the World Zionist Congress elections? Will the major growth in the number of slates — from 15 five years ago to 21 now — favor one ideology over another? Will the results reflect the views of most American Jews or will they reflect which slate is more able to get out the vote? Those are some of the questions emerging as voting begins on Monday for the American seats in the 39th World Zionist Congress, as various parties, denominations and ideologies vie for control of a budget of more than $1 billion a year, for official positions in the “National Institutions” and for the authority and standing that come with them, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
More than ever: According to Hebert Block, executive director of the American Zionist Movement, which is administering the elections, this year is on track to see the largest number of voters since the process moved to being an open election some 35 years ago. “There’s 21 slates running now, which is significantly more than the 15 slates that ran last time. There are 2,900 candidates among those slates. Last time, overall they were about 1,800,” Block told eJP. “In terms of the number of people who are pre-registered [to vote] because they were running as a candidate or signing a petition, we have about 11,000 now and were at about 4,000 or 5,000 at this point before the election opened last time.” Block said he expects to see this translate into a larger number of total voters as well. “Voting had gone down to 57,000 in 2015 and went up to almost 124,000 in 2020. So many [of us] expect to [have] hopefully a higher number,” he said, which would expand the influence of American Jewry in the Congress.
WAKE OF THE FLOOD
Jewish organizations mobilize after flooding hit Argentina’s Bahia Blanca
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, AMIA, the Tzedakah Fund and Chabad are responding to provide relief to the Jewish community of Bahia Blanca, Argentina, after over a foot of water — more rainfall than the city expected in all of March — fell within the span of a few hours over the weekend, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
A total collapse: “People are losing everything. This was a total collapse of the city, an absolute collapse,” Sergio Widder, JDC’s regional director for Latin America, told eJewishPhilanthropy. Jewish organizations banded together within the first few hours of the crisis to provide support to the community, including medicine, housing, food, personal hygiene and cleaning supplies. According to Daniel Pomerantz, the CEO of AMIA, the organization quickly started a matching fund so that members of the Buenos Aires Jewish community — which houses 85% of the country’s Jewry — can provide financial support to those impacted. “If it’s not enough, we will provide the money that they need,” Pomerantz told eJP.
THE 501(C) SUITE
Reaching our true potential: 7 ideas for investing in all of our talent
“March is Women’s History Month, and these days celebration must come in the form of action,” writes Lisa Eisen, co-president of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, in the latest installment of eJewishPhilanthropy’s exclusive opinion column “The 501(C) Suite.” “Despite undeniable progress, women remain underrepresented in leadership, leaving much of our talent and potential on the sidelines. With so much at stake in our community and in our country, all of us can do more to invest in women’s leadership and gender equality — not just because it is the right thing to do but because it is essential for building the strong, vibrant future we seek.”
Steps to take: “Supporting women and fighting on behalf of the vulnerable is an expression of our Jewish values. As women’s rights and well-being continue to face existential threats, it’s imperative that Jewish funders stand firm and step up. And the research is on our side: Investing in women strengthens families, communities, organizations, economies and democracies, creating the kind of rising tide our society so deeply needs right now. It is vital that we commit to ensuring women have the power to lead, to contribute fully to our Jewish community and to help shape a better future for us all. What can this look like? To fuel our thinking, I turned to six experts who lead grantee organizations in our portfolio for recommendations on what funders can do to tap into our community’s full talent pool.”
LEGACY PLANNING
A blueprint for purposeful giving in Jewish education
“When philanthropists think about legacy giving, they often imagine foundations with broad missions that adapt over time. When planning his own legacy, Jack Greenberg, who left his entire over $15 million estate to the cause of Jewish day school education, chose a different path,” write JZ Greenberg Foundation trustees Louis Treiger and Melissa Rivkin in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “He did this intending to address a challenge he saw in legacy giving: mission creep over time.”
Tight focus coupled with flexibility: “Jack saw Jewish day schools as the cornerstone of the Jewish future in the Diaspora. He believed day schools uniquely nurture Jewish fluency, Jewish identity and a passion for the State of Israel and the Jewish People. He also championed equal access to Jewish education for both boys and girls, believing that a rigorous dual curriculum in a coeducational setting was the best structure for Jewish day schools. To realize this vision, he narrowed his foundation’s focus solely to two traditional Seattle-area Jewish day schools that he personally selected as aligned with his vision and priorities. While prescriptive in choosing schools, he trusted them with broad discretion to apply foundation distributions to the specific priorities determined by each school.”
Worthy Reads
How We Can Lead: In Alliance Magazine, Amy McGoldrick shares insights from three funders — a foundation director, a founder and a trustee — who participated in a recent panel discussion titled “Leadership of Philanthropy, Leadership by Philanthropy.” “Philanthropy is grappling with the role it must play in responding to what is called the polycrisis — climate and environmental crises, entrenched economic inequalities, and social injustices. The material role that philanthropy can play — the provision of resources, the creation of legislation, etc. — is obviously limited, but does it have a leadership role to play? There are broadly three aspects to leadership in philanthropy: one is leadership within individual philanthropic organisations; the second is leadership within the sector; and the third — the most ambitious — is leadership in society, setting examples of creative responses to problems and patterning behaviour. For all these three, it is vital that philanthropic leaders are provided with space and support to reflect on the ways in which they can rise to these challenges.” [Alliance]
Teamwork Can Make the Dream Work: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Alison Powell, Chris Addy and Gayle Martin share lessons from a decade of collaborative philanthropy. “Collaborative giving has surged over the past 10 years. Indeed, nearly half of the 300-plus collaborative funds — entities that pool or channel resources from multiple donors to nonprofits — that responded to Bridgespan’s annual survey of collaboratives were founded in the last decade. There’s a good reason for this increase: Executed well, philanthropic collaboratives offer donors the chance to multiply the impact of their giving. Collaboratives are often guided by leaders with strong knowledge of the topic at hand, and are structured in a way that effectively and efficiently channels resources. Many donors we talk to and work with are bullish on the impact potential of collaboratives, which vary widely in their aims… But these same donors also have hesitations. They seek tighter strategic alignment with their own goals and greater clarity about how best to evaluate a collaborative’s impact. In fact, because interest in forming collaboratives is high and barriers to starting them are low, some donors and fund leaders wonder if their supply exceeds demand. Such a bubble could duplicate existing social change efforts and reduce their overall impact… Based on Bridgespan research, and our experience supporting dozens of collaboratives through launch and growth, we’ve identified several ways fund leaders and donors can work to help ensure that their collaboratives achieve the impact they seek.” [SSIR]
Eye on AI: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Alethea Hannemann and Chantal Forster recommend steps funders can take to support effective and ethical AI use among grantees as well as their own staff. “A recent survey by the Technology Association of Grantmakers, known as TAG, found that while 81% of foundations are experimenting with A.I., just 30% have an A.I. policy in place, and only 9% have an advisory group focused on both the technology and policy. Foundations are also unsure of A.I.’s role in their work with grantees. According to a study released last year by Candid, only 10 percent of funders accept grant applications with A.I.-generated content. And while the technology is popular among grantees, the TAG survey found that just 5% of grant makers fund A.I. tools and 3% offer A.I. training and resources. The data overwhelmingly point to a disconnect, with foundations increasingly willing to experiment with A.I. for their own operations but reluctant to invest in or support its use for grantees eager to explore these tools. This disconnect exists because funders tend to support what they know and are often risk averse when it comes to seeing the potential of new technologies. However, by stepping too slowly into an A.I. future, they are leaving nonprofits unsupported and risk losing the ability to harness A.I.’s potential to address some of humanity’s greatest challenges.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Word on the Street
Singer Yuval Raphael, Israel’s performer in this year’s Eurovision and a survivor of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova music festival, released the music video for “New Day Will Rise,” Israel’s entry to the annual song competition…
Patrick Dumont is poised to become the next CEO of Las Vegas Sands, the casino development firm founded by his late father-in-law, Sheldon Adelson, after the company announced that the current CEO, Robert Goldstein, was stepping down and transitioning to the role of senior advisor…
Adidas sold off the last of its shoes designed by Kanye West and has donated or earmarked some $270 million of the proceeds from the sales to charity…
An anti-Israel referendum will not move forward in Pittsburgh’s upcoming elections after the measure’s organizers failed to secure enough signatures to appear on the ballot, ending weeks of legal tumult following pushback from the city’s Jewish community and city controller, who opposed the referendum…
Pittsburgh’s local TV station WTAE interviewed Jeff Finkelstein, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, about his 20 years with the organization…
A group of Syrian American Jews met with White House officials last week to push for the lifting of sanctions on Syria that they said was affecting efforts to restore the country’s historic Jewish sites…
The Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom spotlights University of Michigan basketball player Danny Wolf, as the Wolverines enjoy a 22-8 run in the lead-up to the NCAA’s March Madness…
IDF Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin will succeed Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari as the army’s spokesman…
Recently released Israeli hostage Agam Berger, a musician, was gifted a violin whose original owner was a Czech Jewish man who was killed in the Holocaust…
Children’s book author Uri Shulevitz, who incorporated his experiences surviving the Holocaust as a child into his works, died on Feb. 15 at 89…
Pic of the Day
Participants attend a conference on Friday on the mental health of Jewish teens and soon-to-be teens hosted by The Jewish Education Project and the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in New York.
“Young people face unprecedented challenges today,” Rabbi Dena Klein, chief Jewish education officer at The Jewish Education Project, said at the conference. “We want to help them not just navigate these challenges, but to thrive.”
Birthdays
Playwright and former executive director of the America Israel Friendship League, Wayne L. Firestone…
Member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he played for the San Diego Chargers of the AFL and then for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, Ron Mix… Long Beach, Calif., general surgeon, Leonard M. Lovitch, MD… Author and publisher of the Phoenix Scottsdale Jewish Friendship Trail Guidebook, Michael Alan Ross… Senior cryogenics engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, he is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona, Lawrence Sobel… Founder and CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Pegasystems, Alan N. Trefler… CEO at two Israeli companies, Strategy3i Ltd. and Fluenzy, Jeffrey Kahn… Winner of four gymnastics medals (including one gold and one silver) in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, now in the reverse mortgage business in Sarasota, Fla., Mitch Gaylord… Record producer, former co-president of Columbia Records and a co-founder of Def Jam Records, Frederick Jay (“Rick”) Rubin… Peabody Award-winning financial journalist and market news analyst for CNBC and one of the co-hosts of its morning show “Squawk on the Street,” David Faber… Stage, screen and television actor, he is the son of novelist Norman Mailer, Stephen Mailer… Investigative reporter for The New York Times since 2000, Danny Hakim… Former White House official in the Clinton administration, she is now the first lady of Pennsylvania, Lori Shapiro… Co-founder of Twitter, and then Jelly which he headed from 2014 until its acquisition by Pinterest in 2017, Christopher Isaac “Biz” Stone… Real estate agent on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, Josh Altman… Former IDF officer, then a financial executive, Aliza Landes… Former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. State Department, now executive director at The Vandenberg Coalition, Carrie Filipetti… Actor and director, Sawyer Avery Spielberg… Editor-at-large of Mishpacha Magazine, Binyamin Rose…
