Your Daily Phil: Field of (new) dreams: Agriculture rebounds in southern Israel
Good Friday morning.
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: After scaling back, BBYO returns to original universal vision, focusing on reaching teens ‘wherever they are’; COP leader Daroff: ‘Legacy organizations should and will adapt, and if they don’t, they will die’; and Formed in 2020 and now with a $42M budget, education-focused Yael Foundation looks to balance rapid growth with quality. Print the latest edition here.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the reactions to the discovery that Shiri Bibas’ body remains in captivity in Gaza and on World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder’s recent Middle East peace push. We visit Kibbutz Nir Oz to hear about the efforts to restore agriculture in the southern Israeli communities that were targeted in the Oct. 7 attacks. Before we mark three years on Monday since Russia invaded Ukraine, we feature an opinion piece by Hannah Miranda Miller highlighting the work of Jewish volunteers supporting Ukraine through Jewish Federations of North America. We also feature an opinion piece by Amram Altzman drawing attention to the experiences and needs of Jewish LGBTQ+ youth as their support services and protections are being dismantled. Also in this newsletter: Henrietta Szold, Hillel Fuld and Shari Arison.
Shabbat shalom!
What We’re Watching
Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, Pa., is celebrating its 100th anniversary this Shabbat. Rabbi David Wolpe and his three brothers are slated to speak in memory of their father, Rabbi Gerald Wolpe, who led the congregation for 30 years.
The Los Angeles-based Builders of Jewish Education nonprofit is hosting its annual gala on Sunday night at L.A.’s Sinai Temple, honoring its executive director, Gil Graff, who will retire this summer.
The Paramus, N.J.-based chain of special education Sinai Schools is holding its annual dinner on Sunday at the Marriott Glenpointe Hotel in Teaneck, N.J.
The Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchos conference continues through the weekend in Brooklyn, with its annual gala banquet to be held Sunday evening in New Jersey.
Germans will vote on Sunday in the country’s parliamentary elections. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrat party is behind in the polls, with Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democratic Union party leading with roughly 30% support. The far-right Alternative for Germany party, led by Alice Weidel, is polling at 20%, behind Merz’s party but ahead of Scholz’s.
What You Should Know
After the national anguish of witnessing four coffins being handed over to Israel from Hamas, ostensibly carrying the remains of four hostages, Israelis awoke this morning to the devastating news that coffin meant to be holding Shiri Bibas was, instead, carrying the remains of an unidentified Gazan woman, based on DNA testing performed by Israeli authorities, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. They also learned from Israeli pathologists that Bibas’ two sons, 4-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir, had not been killed accidentally in an Israeli airstrike, as Hamas has claimed for over a year, but had been “brutally murdered by terrorists while in captivity in November 2023.” The fourth hostage, Oded Lifshitz, was also found to have been killed while in captivity. Shiri’s status remains unknown.
The outrage at Hamas’ deception, which the group claimed was an accident, came swiftly.
“It is impossible to describe the overwhelming grief, anger and relief that comes with these murdered hostages finally returning home to their loved ones and the shock of learning that Shiri Bibas is still not home,” American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. “Our hearts are with all those who loved Ariel, Kfir, and Oded and all those they loved. We are thinking especially of [Shiri’s husband,] Yarden Bibas, who was just released from Gaza only to sit shiva for his children as he waits in agony for terrorists to release his wife.”
The Jewish Federations of North America said in a statement that it was “appalled, outraged, and disgusted by Hamas’s cruel and deceitful psychological warfare against the Bibas family, the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
This development presents a major quandary for Israel, which has vowed to retaliate for this “severe violation” of the cease-fire agreement by Hamas, with the knowledge that an immediate response will likely prevent the release of the six living hostages — Omer Shem-Tov, Tal Shoham, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — who are due to be freed tomorrow.
Kibbutz Nir Oz, where the Bibas family lived and has served as its spokesperson, called for Shiri’s immediate release from captivity and said the Israeli government should refrain from any retaliatory actions that would endanger the hostage-release deal.
“We awoke to a brutal morning. At the same time, we stand by our values and the clear demands of the Bibas family: Freedom, not revenge. The state must bring Shiri back through any and all means and in a way that will not stop the rest of the deal and the release of all hostages immediately,” the kibbutz said in a statement. “Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization that does not refrain from murdering infants and toddlers. We only have expectations of the government of Israel, which must act immediately to release all of the 70 hostages from the hands of murderers and to end this ongoing catastrophe.”
In a separate statement, the kibbutz stressed the happy memories of Ariel and Kfir. “We will remember Ariel by his rolling laugh and Kfir by his innocent smile. Ariel, who was kidnapped at age four, was born and raised on Nir Oz. A smiley, rambunctious child — a true redhead who loved superheroes, tractors and cars, and who never stopped jumping and climbing. Kfir, who was kidnapped when he was nine months old, was a calm, smiley baby, with red hair and a heart-melting laugh. Wherever he went, he smiled at everyone who waved. May their memories be for a blessing.”
SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY
In days of speeches, meetings with Arab leaders, philanthropist Ronald Lauder pushes for Middle East peace
While most international focus has been placed recently on the cease-fire and hostage-release agreement in Gaza, over the past week, philanthropist and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder has been looking more broadly, at the wider Middle East, speaking on the subject at last weekend’s Munich Security Conference and meeting with Arab leaders, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. After speaking in Germany on Saturday, Lauder, a former American diplomat, traveled to Cairo where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the following day. From there, he traveled to Amman, meeting with both Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. According to the WJC spokesperson, the meetings focused on “[bringing] about a resolution to the ongoing conflict.”
Still committed: At the conference, Lauder called for a “Marshall Plan” for the region, led by the United States, as a bulwark against further extremism and a driver of economic growth, as well as the creation of a NATO of the Middle East that would combat Iran and its allies. He also stressed the need for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, which he said was a sine qua non for Middle East peace — a break from not only right-wing voices in Israel (Lauder long aligned himself with Israel’s conservative Likud party) but even from more centrist and center-left politicians, who following the Oct. 7 attacks and past 16 months of war describe a two-state solution as at most an increasingly distant goal. “Not only do I believe in a two-state solution, I believe more than I’ve ever believed in a two-state solution because I believe there can be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution. And I believe it can happen,” Lauder said.
LABOR ZIONISM
In southern Israel, U.S. Jewish leaders hear about the agricultural toll of the Oct. 7 attacks
A carpet of green spreads outside the fence of Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel as the wheat and potato fields that were trampled by terrorists as they entered the kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023, and left bare through more than a year of war, have since been replanted and are growing anew in Israel’s rainy winter, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky. “It took us a lot of time to go back to work in these fields,” kibbutz member Nir Metzger told a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization that visited the kibbutz this week during its annual mission to Israel. “The war was going on… then we weren’t allowed to enter these fields. But the minute that they had enough security here, we were already inside, and they allowed us to go into the fields bit by bit. You can see for yourselves all the fields are planted.”
The heart of Zionism: “When Hamas came, they actually had two goals. One was to commit the atrocities that we know, and the other was to destroy the agriculture. They targeted foreign farm workers, torturing them and killing them. They targeted animals… This was intentional, it was strategic,” Danielle Abraham, co-founder and executive director of the Israel-based Volcani International Partnerships and director of its Re-Grow project, which is helping rebuild Israel’s destroyed farms. “Hamas understood, perhaps better than any of us on Oct. 7 what Zionism really means. Zionism isn’t just about a homeland for the Jewish people. It’s about a connection to the land, and it’s a physical connection. It’s about working the land and making it productive. They understood that agriculture is the foundation of the economy of this region,” she said.
CURRICULUM CONTROVERSY
Santa Ana School District stops teaching ethnic studies due to antisemitic content
California’s Santa Ana Unified School District cited antisemitism as its reason to stop teaching ethnic studies after settling a lawsuit on Thursday that claimed course material used by the district was rooted in antisemitic rhetoric. The lawsuit — filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee — alleged that the courses “Ethnic Studies World Geography,” “Ethnic Studies World Histories” and “Ethnic Studies: Perspectives, Identities, and Social Justice” contained false and damaging narratives about Israel and Jews. Under the settlement, the school district agreed to redesign those courses and provide opportunity for public input in accordance with California’s open meeting laws, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Wider issue: The involvement of several major Jewish groups in the lawsuit speaks to the “fact that this is not just a problem locally in Santa Ana but it’s a problem nationally and it’s something that we can’t allow to continue,” Marci Miller, Brandeis Center’s director of legal investigations, told JI. The lawsuit, which was filed one year ago, alleged that Ethnic Studies Steering Committee officials considered holding meetings to approve courses on Jewish holidays to make it difficult or impossible for Jews to attend. The pejorative term “Jewish Question” appeared on a committee agenda.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
HERE TO HELP
Three years later, JFNA’s volunteers remain loyal to Ukraine
With the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaching on Monday and no end in sight to the fighting, “I’m saddened that many have already lost interest in the war,” writes Hannah Miranda Miller, program director for Jewish Federations of North America’s Global Volunteer Hub, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “As a Jewish professional with deep ties to Ukraine, I certainly haven’t; thankfully, neither have JFNA.”
A robust network: “In fact, the desire to support Ukrainians, in person or virtually, remains strong. We recently surpassed the 1,000-volunteer mark, with volunteers providing logistical assistance, medical translation, psychosocial support and professional development for local staff. Others served as camp counselors, art therapists and language instructors. Our continued efforts also include a partnership that allows JFNA’s virtual volunteering initiative, ‘Connect for Good: Chat with Ukraine,’ to recruit and match English speakers with Ukrainians for weekly English conversation practice and cross-cultural exchange. Many who volunteered abroad in 2022 remain so committed that they’ve since volunteered again — 41% of volunteers have returned more than three times. They offer not only language skills and professional experience but compassion and connection to the beneficiaries and the local staff supporting them.”
YOUR BROTHER’S KEEPER
With supports for Jewish LGBTQ+ teens disappearing, Jewish organizations need to fill the gaps
“The LGBTQ+ youth I know are funny, strong and deeply resilient. And they are scared right now,” writes Amram Altzman, associate director of youth programs for Keshet, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Don’t abandon them: “Since 2021, we have seen a surge of legislation and policies targeting the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ people in [the United States], with many specifically targeting transgender and nonbinary youth… Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, additional attacks are on the rise at a national scale… Restricting LGBTQ+ rights flies in the face of work within the Jewish community to advance civil rights, as well as our belief that each human being is created in the Divine image… At a time when other religious organizations might see the continued attack on our rights as permission to turn their backs on LGBTQ+ youth, we can and we should chart a different path and publicly affirm our commitment to LGBTQ+ youth, many of whom are now hurting and fear for their lives and their futures… While studies have shown that affiliation with a religious community generally protects youth against adverse mental health outcomes, particularly suicide, this is not always the case for LGBTQ+ youth in religious communities, who can experience stigmatization and alienation from their communities of faith. These young people especially need to reap the positive benefits that come from being a part of a supportive religious community. It is our job — our responsibility — as Jewish organizations to ensure that they can.”
Worthy Reads
A Trailblazer, Reconsidered: In The New York Review of Books, Nicholas Lemann considers Henrietta Szold and what she represents to liberal American Jews today. “Though she is not widely remembered today, in her lifetime Szold was, perhaps along with Louis Brandeis, the most famous American Zionist… She disliked the Reform movement’s watering down of traditional Jewish observance and identified strongly with the Eastern European Jews who had begun to arrive in the United States and whose presence made many assimilated, affluent German Jews uncomfortable. She embraced ‘Zionism’ as a kind of code word for an all-encompassing Jewish identity — a sense of solidarity and shared peoplehood with all Jews no matter where they lived or what they were like — and for a commitment to traditional Jewish observance… This version of Jewishness, to Szold, was inseparable from a deep sense of attachment to the Holy Land… In 1889 Szold started a night school in Baltimore for Eastern European Jewish immigrants, where she helped them adjust to American life. The activities of Hadassah, which she founded in 1912… were undertaken in the same spirit, but in Palestine… Hadassah became the leading Jewish women’s organization in the United States. From the start, it called itself Zionist. By the time Szold died, it was the largest Zionist organization in the world.” [NYReviewofBooks]
Small Business Groans: In an opinion piece in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Joyce Klein and Amy Hereford argue that philanthropists should support nonprofit lenders in the wake of disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires, which wreak havoc on small local businesses. “More than 70 percent of small businesses shut down within two years of events such as last month’s Los Angeles-area wildfires… The high rate of closure makes sense given the realities facing small businesses. Most lack locations outside the disaster area where they can continue generating revenue. They have less money in the bank and less access to loans and credit lines than large businesses… Nonprofit community lenders increasingly step into the breach to get funds quickly to small businesses… Given the limitations of current federal relief programs… more philanthropic support is needed to expand the efforts of community lenders following natural disasters. Philanthropy can have an immediate impact by donating directly to community lenders engaged in disaster relief. In our experience, the most effective approach is to fund collaborative efforts between larger nonprofit lenders with established systems for deploying disaster aid dollars and local nonprofits that can raise awareness of the grant programs and help small businesses through the application process.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Terrible and Beautiful: In the Israeli news site Ynet, Hillel Fuld describes the heartbreak of seeing his brother’s murderer be released as part of the current cease-fire deal. “Six years ago, I was entered into a club no one wants to be a part of — the club of families who lost a loved one to terror. My older brother, Ari Fuld, was tragically murdered while shopping for his family just 10 minutes outside Jerusalem… Ari heroically chased him down despite being fatally stabbed, got into a shooting position, and neutralized the terrorist just inches from his next victim. Ari then collapsed and died. Since then, Ari has been named a national hero of Israel, and his terrorist was sentenced to life in prison. Or so we thought. The monster who changed our family forever is now on the list of terrorists set to be freed as part of the upcoming hostage deal… As I often say, despite what keyboard warriors might argue online, this deal is both terrible strategically and beautiful personally. No one wants to see thousands of monsters walking freely, but anyone who watched the hostages reunite with their families couldn’t stay indifferent… His loss was a tremendous tragedy for our family, but his life is a tremendous source of pride. He saved lives when he lived. He saved lives when he died. And now, as these poor hostages come home, he continues to save lives long after he’s gone.” [Ynet]
Word on the Street
Hasidah, the Bay Area Jewish nonprofit that subsidized fertility treatments, is closing down after more than a decade of operation…
Among those named to City & State NY’s New York City Power Broker 100 list: Met Council CEO David Greenfield, JCRC-NY CEO Mark Treyger, Jewish Voters Action Network founder Maury Litwack; and UJA-Federation of New York’s Eric Goldstein and Hindy Poupko…
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency examines how Washington University in St. Louis has been accepting Jewish students fleeing other campuses because of antisemitism…
The U.K.’s culture minister is looking into how the BBC aired a documentary about Gaza whose young protagonist is the son of a senior Hamas official; the BBC took the documentary, titled “Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone,” off the air while it conducts “further due diligence with the production company that made the film”…
Columbia University removed diversity, equity and inclusion language from its website following last month’s executive orders banning DEI policies at educational institutions…
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic foundation started by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, has shuttered its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and its work on immigration reform as part of a broader reduction in the social advocacy field…
Pic of the Day
American-born Israeli businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison and her son, Jason Arison, lay mortar on Monday on the cornerstone of the Arison Pediatric Emergency Medicine Center, which will be built at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel, south of Tel Aviv.
The new pediatric emergency medicine center, which is expected to open next year, is being funded by the Ted Arison Family Foundation, in collaboration with the nonprofit Save a Child’s Heart.
“The Ted Arison Family Foundation considers the establishment of the Arison Pediatric Emergency Medicine Center to be of great importance, as it will serve a large population of children in the region. As part of our foundation’s vision to drive positive change in Israel and worldwide, we place the highest priority on improving the quality of life for broad communities while listening to the needs of the local population,” Jason Arison, the foundation’s chairman, said at the ceremony.
Birthdays
Chairman of Agudath Israel of America and CEO of the OuterStuff sportswear line, Sol Werdiger, celebrates his birthday on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Holocaust survivor and author of a book on systemic hate, he was the developer of the L’Ermitage Beverly Hills in 1976, Severyn Ashkenazy… Co-founder of Dreamworks and noted collector of American artists’ work, his name is on the Lincoln Center complex in NYC, David Geffen… Monica Oakes Agor… Vice-chairman of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, Arn Herschel Tellem… Winner of two Pulitzer Prizes during his 30 years reporting career, he is the director of a fiscal and monetary policy group at the Brookings Institution, David Meyer Wessel… Chairman of the KABR Group, a New Jersey-based real estate investment firm, Kenneth D. Pasternak… President of Yale University from 2013 until 2024, Peter Salovey (family name was Soloveitchik)… Fitness personality, he develops businesses through the “Body by Jake” brand, Jake Steinfeld… Owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns until 2012, he also owned Aston Villa F.C. of the English Premier League until 2016, Randolph David “Randy” Lerner… Former member of the Knesset for the Kadima and Hatnuah parties, Orit Zuaretz… Executive director of Mike Pence’s advocacy organization, Advancing American Freedom, Paul Teller… Reality television star, Jonathan Cheban… New York Times best-selling novelist (two of which have been made into movies), writer-in-residence in the graduate creative writing program at NYU, Jonathan Safran Foer… Former Chicago Cubs player, Adam Greenberg… Emergency medical physician at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Dr. Miriam Fischer Wachter… Former member of the Florida House of Representatives for six years, now in private law practice, Katie Edwards-Walpole .. French actress and film director, Mélanie Laurent… Director of strategic philanthropy for the northeast region of American Friends of Magen David Adom, Samuel Zeev Konig… Rochester, N.Y., resident, Joshua Futerman… Pitcher for the Israeli team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier, he is now a sales associate at Stryker, Brad Goldberg… Israeli judoka, she won a team bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Shira Rishony… Director of campus support and action implementation at Hillel International, Reuben Berman… Rhythmic gymnast who competed in the 2012 Olympics in London as a member of the Israeli team, Polina Zakaluzny… Monsey, N.Y., resident, Efrayim Katz… Former professional tennis player, Noah Rubin… Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Jay S. Schaefer…
SATURDAY: Retired justice and deputy president of the Supreme Court of Israel, Shlomo Levin… Child survivor of Bergen-Belsen, in 2024 she donated $55 million to the University of Haifa, Herta Amir… Music journalist and former board member for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Rona Elliot… Former co-chair of Wisconsin Jewish Democrats and author of three ‘Jewish Miss Marple’ books, Linda Frank… Dutch singer-songwriter especially popular in France, she converted to Judaism and her children live in Israel, Helena “Lenny” Kuhr… White House counsel to President Obama, now a professor at NYU School of Law, Robert (Bob) Bauer… Marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles and founder of the Israel Institute for Diplomacy and Technology Advancements, Daryl Temkin Ph.D.… Chief strategist for both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, now a CNN commentator, David Axelrod… President of the New York Yankees baseball club since 2000, executive producer for the YES Network, Randy Levine… Winner of five major golf championships and 24 other LPGA Tour events, she is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, now a golf course architect, Amy Alcott… Former member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home–Tkuma party, Mordechai “Moti” Yogev… Former director of administration and special projects at Cincinnati’s Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, Lisa Shusterman… Writer, editor and publisher best known for his dark fiction, as well as his publishing imprint Aardwolf Publishing, Clifford Lawrence Meth… Senior rabbi at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation in Mercer Island, Wash., Rabbi Jacob Herber… Actress, comedian and cast member of “Saturday Night Live” for seven years, Rachel Dratch… Past leader of the Israeli Labor Party, he is now the CEO of Partner Communications (formerly known as Orange Israel), Avraham “Avi” Gabbay… Emmy Award-winning television producer, he served as showrunner for four seasons of NBC’s sitcom “The Office,” Paul Lieberstein… Actor, author and academic, Ari Hoptman… Former soccer player on the Israeli national team and on teams in both Spain and Turkey, Haim Michael Revivo… British stand-up comedian and former columnist for the Jewish Chronicle, Josh Howie… Winner of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” in 2008, she has released six stand-up specials on Netflix, Iliza Shlesinger… Partner in the appellate practice of Norton Rose Fulbright, Peter B. Siegal… VP at Oddity and SpoiledChild, Miranda R. May… Former chair of the D.C. chapter of the Israel Policy Forum Atid, Danielle Bella Ellison…
SUNDAY: Retired senior counsel in the Baltimore office of DLA Piper, he served as president of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Shale D. Stiller… Executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union and editor-in-chief of the Koren Talmud Bavli, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb… Bethesda, Md., resident, Lois Copeland… Dean of a yeshiva high school in Israel, in 1967 he co-founded a popular band called The Rabbis’ Sons, Rabbi Baruch “Burry” Chait… Philosopher, novelist and public intellectual, she was a winner of a MacArthur Genius Fellowship in 1996, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein… Film director, writer and producer, he is the president emeritus of the Producers Guild of America, Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz… Investor, holder of both Kazakh and Israeli citizenship, he served as president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (a regional branch of the WJC), Alexander Mashkevitch… 25-year veteran of USAID’s Foreign Service, she was the mission director for USAID in the West Bank and Gaza, Monica Stein-Olson… Strategic communications consultant, Joe Berkofsky… Political consultant and pollster, he is the founder of Luntz Global, Frank Luntz… Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, Michael Dell… Best-selling author of young adult novels, Nova Ren Suma… Grammy Award-winning actor, comedian and singer, Josh Gad… CEO of film production firm Benaroya Pictures, Michael Benaroya… Founder of Tahrir Scarf, Johnathan Morpurgo… Chief operating officer and director of research at The Lawfare Project, Benjamin Ryberg… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Dan Illouz… Chief of staff at USAID until DOGE, Rebecca Chalif… Reporter at Bloomberg, Jennifer Epstein… Founder of an eponymous real estate brokerage in Tel Aviv, Barak Daon… Engineering manager at Business Insider, Reuben A. Ingber… Strategy and impact officer at Walton Enterprises, Mary Ann Weiss… National politics breaking news reporter at The Washington Post, Patrick Svitek… Director of policy and business development at Polymateria, Gidon Feen…
