Your Daily Phil: Ford Foundation president denounces ‘Hamas’ terrorism,’ resurgence of antisemitism
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the president of the Ford Foundation’s statement in solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terror attacks, and feature an opinion piece from Dan Gold about antisemitism on college campuses. Also in this newsletter: Samantha Woll, Abbey Silberman Fagin and Ohad Munder Zichri. We’ll start with the Israel Cancer Research Fund’s gala last week.
“Cancer doesn’t care that there’s a war going on.” That was the sentiment echoed throughout the Israel Cancer Research Fund’s Tower of Hope gala, held Thursday night at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen from the event.
The annual event was scheduled well before Oct. 7 – the day on which the most deadly massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust took place in southern Israel. “We didn’t know what to expect in planning our gala right in the height of all of this going on,” Alan Herman, ICRF national director of advancement, told eJP.
Herman said there were worries that attendees would cancel due to security concerns around staging an event supporting Israel or because a solidarity rally for the hostages kidnapped by Hamas was taking place at the same time blocks away in Times Square. But as it turned out, “we got an even bigger turnout,” Herman said. “People want to do whatever they can to support Israel.” About 200 people attended the gala, raising more than $500,000 for cancer research.
The event’s honoree, professor Avram Hershko, an ICRF-funded scientist who is the first Israeli to receive the Nobel Prize in chemistry, had planned to attend in person but decided that he would remain in Israel with his family during the war. Hershko instead gave remarks in a prerecorded video. A photograph was displayed of professor Ariel Munitz, who less than two weeks ago was researching cancer in his lab at Tel Aviv University. Now, both Munitz and his daughter are serving in the Israel Defense Forces, among the 360,000 reservists that Israel’s military called up to fight Hamas.
The gala also demonstrated the complicated position that organizations whose efforts are not directly involved in war relief efforts find themselves in: remaining dedicated to their cause while also recognizing that there are other more pressing, if not more important, needs at the current moment. “One of the biggest things we are proud of at ICRF is that we undoubtedly want to make sure we continue to sustain our mission,” Herman said. “We also want to be mindful to the overall community and understand our place.”
Cancer research projects often take many years to complete. A disruption in funding can wipe out experiments that have been in the works for five or more years, he said. “We are making sure that no matter what is on the horizon in Israel, that this work can continue. We owe it to the researchers [in the IDF], that they know that when they return from defending Israel, they don’t have to think about leaving Israel because there’s not the proper pipeline for them to do the research there. They are there for us. They need to know that we are there for them.”
FOUNDATIONAL CHANGE
The president of the Ford Foundation, Darren Walker, denounced the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas in a statement of solidarity with the victims of the massacres and of the ongoing war on Sunday, and said he felt obligated to get involved in the responses to the crisis regardless of “the complications or the consequences,” reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Historical corrective: In his post, which was published on the foundation’s website on Sunday, Walker acknowledged the Palestinians who have been killed in the aftermath of the attacks but attributed the current situation to “Hamas’ terrorism” and noted the “vile resurgence of antisemitism” around the world since Oct. 7. The statement appears to be part of Walker’s ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the foundation’s relationship with the Jewish community after years of being accused of funding antisemitic and anti-Israel organizations.
Not keeping silent: A source familiar with the matter told eJP that Walker faced pushback from within the foundation against releasing the statement. Walker appeared to address this, noting that “some have cautioned that I — and the institution I lead — would be well advised to stay silent and stand pat.” (Last week, Walker also released a statement about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which described and lamented Palestinians’ suffering but did not blame Israel for it.)
Philanthropy’s role: “For me, one pressing question is: How can philanthropy make a difference?… [At] the Ford Foundation, we are proud to provide grants to both Jewish- and Palestinian-led efforts—because the long road to relief, to rebuilding, to reconciliation of any kind begins with both peoples,” Walker wrote.
SHOW UP, SPEAK UP
Simchat Torah massacre’s impact on campus: A call (not a statement) to the Jewish world
“Our Hillel at UCLA has been inundated with students and caring individuals reaching out, all asking the same question: How can I make an impact? As news and rumors of anti-Israel activities here spread, the question has evolved to: How can we fight this? The answer is simple, though admittedly anticlimactic: We need to organize,” writes Dan Gold, executive director of the Hillel at UCLA, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Impact of contact: “Tell your story to the person you always sit near in class, the new instructor in your department or the neighbor you’ve never talked to but see every Friday taking out the trash. Share your feelings about this difficult week and your fears. Respond to the dozens of text messages or emails from friends, acknowledging your uncertainty and expressing your desire to talk to them and then share your experiences. Community organizing becomes most powerful when a collective group rallies around a common goal, utilizing individual voices to make the cause personal. While videos, graphics and statistics on social media help disseminate information and create a sense of unity, they cannot replace personal connections and sharing personal narratives.”
Worthy Reads
A Tale as Old as Time: In The New York Times, author Dara Horn explains the feeling that many Jews experienced after the Oct. 7 attacks: that we’ve been here before. “We have returned to the words of our ancestors that have carried us through thousands of years: Be strong and courageous. Choose life. Many of us were physically carrying those words during the weekend of the attack, celebrating Simchat Torah, a joyous holiday when congregations dance with Torah scrolls, read the Torah’s final words and then scroll back to the beginning to start the book again. As a child, I found this baffling. Why read the same story over and over, when we already know what happens?… Right now many of us feel trapped in this old, old story, doom-scrolling through images with terrible outcomes. But in our grief, I remind myself that each year as we finish the reading of the Torah, we immediately, at that very moment — and at the moment of this newest, oldest horror — scroll back to the story of creation and the invention of universal human dignity. We recall, once again, that every human is made in the divine image. The story continues; we begin again.” [NYTimes]
A Peculiar Arithmetic: Felix Salmon, chief financial correspondent for Axios, spotlights what he sees as an emerging prevalent Silicon Valley mindset: billionaires who present that sustaining and expanding their wealth is its own philanthropic act. “Philanthropy has historically been framed as giving back — after making their fortune from and within society, individuals then return the favor. Under the new conception of philanthropy, the act of making the fortune itself is the philanthropic act. There’s no need to give any money away — feel free to go ahead and drop more than $220 million on Malibu property if you’re so inclined. Just by dint of getting rich, your philanthropic work is largely done. … [For example, billionaire venture capitalist Marc] Andreessen is redefining the very concept of philanthropy so that the more money he makes, the more philanthropic he is being, even if he gives no money away at all. ‘Any deceleration of AI will cost lives,’ writes Andreessen in his manifesto. ‘Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder.’ Why it matters: Andreessen’s statement is a prime example of Silicon Valley’s peculiarly bloodless worldview — one where concern for hypothetical future humans regularly outweighs the pressing needs of those alive today.” [Axios]
Homes Aren’t Enough to End Homelessness: In a blog post for Philanthropy Roundtable, Madeline Fry Schultz explores why the “housing first” model for addressing homelessness in the U.S. has not had more success since its launch as a national mandate in 2013, and how holistic approaches can prove more effective. “Even critics of the policy agree that housing options are essential for people experiencing homelessness and some may even benefit from a simple gift of permanent housing. But for most, that can’t be the only solution. ‘The problem is that people become homeless for a variety of reasons, and putting them into an apartment just moves their homelessness inside,’ says Mary Theroux, CEO of the Independent Institute. ‘They’re still culturally homeless, they still have the same issues they had when they were living on the street, except now they’re isolated inside, and they die at higher rates, actually, once they’re housed.’” [PhilanthropyRoundtable]
Around the Web
The Detroit Police are investigating the murder of Samantha Woll, president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, who was found stabbed to death outside her home on Saturday morning. Police say they have not yet found evidence that the murder was motivated by antisemitism…
The New York Times issued an editor’s note apologizing for publishing a headline claiming Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza City, which is now believed to have been hit by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad missile. The newspaper says it relied too heavily on Hamas claims and its editors should have “taken more care”…
Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie, who were taken hostage by Hamas from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, were released by the terror group on Friday night. More than 220 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza…
Abbey Silberman Fagin was hired by the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies as its new chief development officer…
London’s Met Police ordered a Jewish group, the Campaign Against Antisemitism, to shut down its electronic billboards showing the faces of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas in the British capital, which the police said was necessary to prevent a dispute with a nearby pro-Palestinian protest…
Jacob Baime,CEOof the Israel on Campus Coalition, wrote an opinion piece in the Inside Higher Ed calling for university administrators to consider shutting down student groups that glorify Hamas attacks…
Some 2,000 people have volunteered with Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Eretz Hemdah to tie new military-approved tzitzit for the some 60,000 reservists who have requested the fringed garment…
Louisa Solomon, a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, was hired to provide Jewish spiritual guidance to students at The New School. She is the first person to hold the position at the university…
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Israel this weekend in a solidarity mission, meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, as well as victims of the Oct. 7 attacks and their families…
The World Jewish Congress opened a liaison office in Vatican City, making it the first Jewish organization to have a permanent presence in the Holy See…
The New York Times profiled Russian and Ukrainian nationals who immigrated to Israel from their respective countries in order to flee the war only to find themselves in the middle of a new one between Israel and Hamas…
A vacant house next door to the University of Pennsylvania chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti over the weekend in the latest incident of anti-Jewish hate at the institution…
The Jewish Community Center of Mid-Westchester, N.Y., hosted its “Fall Fest” last weekend, seeking to balance annual festivities while recognizing the war in Israel…
Large numbers of American Jews have expressed interest in purchasing guns and taking self-defense classes in light of the rise in antisemitism around the world since Oct. 7…
The Nashville, Tenn., Jewish community welcomed a group of roughly 140 people who flew to the southern city on a sponsored flight from Israel, fleeing the war between Israel and Hamas…
Yakov Yavno, a Russian-Jewish singer, died last week at 76…
Ruth O. Freedlander, who helped lead the Dr. Bernard Heller Foundation, died last month at 93. A memorial service for her will be held at Congregation Emanu-El on Sunday at 1 p.m. in New York City…
Thelma Aaron Deitcher, a longtime donor to Hadassah and Israel Bonds, died on Friday at 103…
Pic of the Day
Ohad Munder Zichri, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, holds up a trophy, in an undated photograph. He turns 9 today.
Munder Zichri’s family asked that his photograph be shared today in honor of his birthday.
Birthdays
Attorney best known for his role as special master for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and for similar roles in a number of mass torts, Kenneth Feinberg…
Chairman emeritus of the shopping mall developer Simon Property Group and the principal owner of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, Herbert “Herb” Simon… Distinguished professor of American and Jewish Studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Gerald Sorin… Israeli journalist who has written for Davar and Yedioth Ahronoth, he won the Israel Prize in 2007, Nahum Barnea… Ophthalmologist, academic, author and researcher, he is vice-chair of ophthalmology at UCLA, Alfredo Arrigo Sadun, M.D.… Screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on “Star Trek,” Ira Steven Behr… Filmmaker, actor and producer famous for creating the cult horror “Evil Dead” series, as well as directing the original “Spider-Man trilogy,” Sam Raimi… Founder and CEO of global outsourcing company TeleTech (now TTEC) with 69,400 employees on six continents, Kenneth D. Tuchman… Founder of the New Democrat Network and the New Policy Institute, Simon Rosenberg… Author of 100 children’s and young adult fiction books that have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide, Gordon Korman… Former editor-in-chief of The New York Observer, Kenneth Kurson… Film director, producer and talent agent, Trevor Engelson… Director of strategic operations at SRE Network, Shaina Wasserman… President of Renco Group, Ari Rennert… Senior advisor to the director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Allison Preiss… Member of France’s National Assembly since 2022, Benjamin Haddad… Cartoonist for The New Yorker, Amy Kurzweil… Director of development at Ein Prat The Midrasha, Ayelet Kahane… Associate in the Washington, DC office of Hogan Lovells, Annika Lichtenbaum… Former speechwriter and special assistant at the U.S. Department of Labor, Rachel Shabad… Senior director of content marketing and strategy at SiriusXM, Allison Rachesky… Richard Rubenstein…
