Your Daily Phil: Israeli civil society confronts Iranian barrages
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we reflect on the Israelis who are not able to reach bomb shelters during Iranian missile attacks and examine Jewish philanthropy’s and Israeli civil society’s responses to the developing Israel-Iran war. We report on the death of arts patron and cosmetics executive Leonard Lauder, and look at how Persian Jews in the United States are reacting to the conflict. We feature an opinion piece by Sonia Marie Leikam spotlighting a collaborative fundraising and community-building model at work in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Also in this issue: Daniel Kehlmann, Aviv Atzili and Jordanna Gessler.
What We’re Watching
We’re continuing to follow and report on the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran.
The Nova Music Festival Exhibition, which opened in Washington’s Gallery Place this weekend, will host freed hostages and family members of victims of the Oct. 7 attacks this week. Today, Sigal Manzuri, the mother of Roya and Norelle Manzuri, who were both murdered at the festival, will speak at the exhibition.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
Each time I carry our nearly-11-month-old baby while I also grip the hands of her two “older” siblings (both under the age of 5) as we walk down the stairs to our bomb shelter, I am washed in a rush of initial panic, followed by a feeling of relief that we made it to the closest thing we have to safety. And then, all I can think about is Yosef.
Yosef, whose last name I am withholding, is one of the people to whom I deliver “Meals on Wheels” once a week. He has one leg and lives on the top floor of an old four-story apartment building that has a tin roof and no elevator. He is the highlight of my weekly Meals on Wheels deliveries. Because of his building’s lack of elevator, he doesn’t get out much (though his family does visit often), so he’s eager to kibitz, and he always offers me a cold drink and, normally, a Medjool date.
When there are sirens, Yosef has nowhere safe to go. His apartment does not have a fortified room, known by its Hebrew acronym mamad, as it was built before legislation went into effect requiring them. He has no way to get down the stairs to the shelter in the basement of the building, and his stairwell — the location people normally go if they don’t have a bomb shelter — might as well be open to the sky with its thin tin roof.
And Yosef is far from alone. A December 2023 study by disability nonprofit Access Israel found that 42% of people with disabilities in Israel — hundreds of thousands of people — do not have access to bomb shelters or fortified rooms.
This situation has already been deadly: Many of the at least 24 people who have been killed in Iranian missile strikes were found to have been unable to reach fortified areas, often because of physical access issues.
While Yosef and others are unable to reach nearby bomb shelters because of their physical disabilities, there are also entire communities in Israel — particularly those in the country’s geographic and socioeconomic periphery — who have no fortified areas whatsoever. While some of those situations could also be solved relatively simply, many of them are more complicated — some Druze and Arab towns were built densely, not leaving ample room to build new bomb shelters or add fortified rooms to existing buildings; the lack of infrastructure in unrecognized Bedouin villages offers its own challenges.
Those issues should be addressed as well — and indeed there are organizations working to do so — but I think about Yosef, someone with such a far simpler, well-defined problem that we, as a country and as a Jewish People, could easily solve, but which we ultimately have not.
Speaking to Yosef today, I told him to take care of himself. “I’m trying,” he replied, “despite the circumstances.”
While millions of Israelis at this point have experienced the panic of having to run to a bomb shelter — including many, like me, who are doing it alone as their partner or spouse is stranded abroad — tens of thousands more have felt the far deeper terror of not being able to.
However this war ends, when this war ends, we need to do better for people like Yosef.
RAINY DAY ARRIVES
With experience from 20 months of war, Israeli civil society reacts to Iranian barrages
Twenty months ago, the State of Israel and Israeli civil society were caught off guard and unprepared by the surprise Hamas invasion of Oct. 7 in the Gaza-border areas. Now, as Iranian missiles strike Israeli cities in the center of the country, local authorities, nonprofits and philanthropic organizations are far more capable, having already put systems into place to confront such emergencies. The “rainy-day scenario” they had envisioned was now here. “The systems are pretty prepared, and also, I think, in terms of the resilience of the community as a whole, we’re just more prepared. We’re not freaking out from every alarm,” Sigal Yaniv Feller, executive director of the Israel office of the Jewish Funders Network, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky.
Working together: Becky Caspi, director of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Israel office, told eJP that her grantmaking organization has focused recently on ensuring the overall health of the Israeli nonprofit sector. Since Oct. 7, 2023, JFNA has raised $873.4 million and allocated $742.9 million, according to its latest report. “A very significant goal of ours since Oct. 7 is to coordinate, to be flexible. If there’s another philanthropy that has an expertise or a very strong focus in an area, we want to see that area and those needs get covered and are happy to either partner or move on to another area,” Caspi said. “Many of our prior investments are bearing fruit right now,” she added, noting the cooperation with organizations such as the Jewish Agency and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. “They have a very strong presence, very strong ties with the government and programming already underway that they can, as they have throughout the 619 days of this war, pivot to meet new and emerging needs.”
BARUCH DAYAN EMET
Leonard Lauder, arts patron and cosmetics executive, dies at 92
Leonard Lauder, arts patron and billionaire heir of Estée Lauder Companies, died on Saturday at 92, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
‘A towering figure’: Alongside his parents, Lauder helped scale the company from making under $1 million in sales annually to a multibillion-dollar prestige brand. He went on to become a giant in American philanthropy — gifting over $2 billion throughout his lifetime — particularly focused on science, education and the arts. In 2023, Leonard and his brother, Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and longtime donor to Jewish causes — and their children — pledged $200 million to the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) to bolster scientific research for treatment and prevention of the disease. “The World Jewish Congress mourns the loss of Leonard A. Lauder, a towering figure in American philanthropy, business, and the arts. A steadfast supporter of Jewish life and global humanitarian causes, Mr. Lauder led with quiet strength, vision, and unwavering generosity,” the group’s executive vice president, Maram Stern, said in a statement.
HOPE PREVAILS
Persian Jews in the U.S. watch Israeli strikes on Iran and dare to hope
As grainy videos of Israel’s strikes on Iran spread in WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels used by the Iranian diaspora, Persian Jews in the U.S. are viewing this moment with a mix of trepidation and excitement — the first time in decades, some say, that the Iranian regime truly appears vulnerable. That has prompted cautious optimism about a future in which Iranians might live free from the oppression of the Ayatollah, several activists in the Persian Jewish community told Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider on Friday, and where they might be able to bring their children to visit their native land. But the escalation has also brought fear about what comes next, and that even an Israeli military success might not effect change on the ground for Iranians.
Mixed emotions: Sharon Nazarian, a philanthropist and Jewish communal leader in Los Angeles who left Tehran with her family in 1978, said she has felt “two striking, opposing feelings” since Israel’s attacks began. “One of utter hope and the possibility that maybe one day we can go back to our country of birth to bring our children,” Nazarian said. “We are [also] very fearful that this regime, although it’s at its weakest point it’s been since 1979, it will survive, and it will, yet again, find a mechanism both to manipulate and to force its way into maintaining the stranglehold it has on the Iranian people and the country of Iran.”
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
A COLLABORATIVE MODEL
It’s time to rethink how we fund change
“The competition for limited donor dollars. The duplication of efforts. The silos. The emphasis on individual organizational branding over collective outcomes. These are not just inefficiencies — they’re barriers to progress,” writes Sonia Marie Leikam, vice president of outreach at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation and a fellow in the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership’s Executive Leadership program, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A different dynamic: “When [donors] see nonprofits working together rather than competing, it builds trust. It signals humility, a commitment to collaboration and a prioritization of impact over ego. It also reduces the noise and fatigue that so often lead to donor disengagement. But the benefits go deeper. Cross-sector collaboration enables nonprofits to tap into each other’s networks and donor bases. A supporter passionate about housing may become equally invested in job training or behavioral health when they see the links between those causes. This cross-pollination doesn’t dilute impact — it multiplies it.”
Worthy Reads
A Bigger Picture: In Politico, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner writes that the clash between Israel and Iran is about more than just Israel and Iran — and people should take note. “When a society can no longer distinguish between good and evil, between victim and perpetrator, it gives up. This dynamic is one of the great constants of human history. It is a lesson people in free societies — and people in totalitarian societies who yearn to be free — should keep in mind during the climactic showdown underway in the Middle East. Israel has struck a blow to prevent Iran from developing nuclear bombs — weapons that it might credibly use toward its stated goal of removing Israel from the planet. Make no mistake: This is not simply a matter of regional security. Nor should it be a proxy for whether one supports or opposes the current Israeli government’s policy on Gaza or other subjects. This conflict is a central front in a global contest in which the forces of tyranny and violence in recent years have been gaining ground against the forces of freedom, which too often are demoralized and divided.” [Politico]
Ethics of the Fathers: In The Atlantic, Daniel Kehlmann marks Father’s Day by reflecting on his grandfather’s efforts to keep his family safe during World War II. “[W]hen Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. Austria still had a few years of freedom left, and my grandfather used them well: Because an archive had burned down, several of his family documents had to be reissued. Through skillful manipulation, he managed to turn himself from a Jew into what the Nazis would later classify as a ‘half Jew.’ And as Germany’s annexation of Austria became inevitable, he came up with an especially daring idea: In a court proceeding, he had his wife, my grandmother, declared the illegitimate daughter of the janitor in her parents’ building. He bribed witnesses who testified that her mother had had an affair with that janitor. It worked: My grandmother was officially declared the daughter of an Aryan. And as a result, my family survived. … My grandfather understood the psychology of fanaticism very early; my father understood the stupidity and mediocrity of the people whom the dictatorship empowered, without mistaking them for harmless clowns. … Memory is not a picture book; it’s a tool. And fatherhood, especially in times like these, is not just about protection. It is about preparation.’ [TheAtlantic]
Promise Deferred: In Nonprofit Quarterly, university instructor Nicole Walker offers a window into the disruption, disappointment and lost opportunities caused by the abrupt termination of federal grants earlier this year. “Around this time last year, a few of us professors at Northern Arizona University (NAU) had welcomed seven students into the PROCESS program as part of a Hispanic Serving Institution National Science Foundation Grant. The program brought scientists, writers, artists, and STEM students together to discuss how taking creative writing (which I teach) and art classes would encourage creativity in their research projects, help them hone communication skills, secure their interest in science across disciplines, and encourage these young people underrepresented in the sciences to identify as scientists. … The whole point of our grant was to leap between disciplines, to leap between ideas. … I think of the gulf between the spring and fall semesters when we will no longer offer a springboard for our students to help them to the other side. I think of all the skills and potential that will fall into that ravine. But I have hope that with enough pushback, some of these grants will be reinstated. The promise of these future scientists and artists must be allowed to flourish.” [NonprofitQuarterly]
Word on the Street
With Israel’s airspace closed, authorities say that it may take weeks to bring home the estimated 150,000 Israelis stranded abroad. Israeli officials are also warning against citizens returning through land crossings in Egypt or Jordan due to safety concerns…
The Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, sustained heavy damage in an Iranian missile attack over the weekend, with entire laboratories destroyed in the blast…
The New York Times’ editorial board addresses the dramatic increase in antisemitism in the United States, critiquing a culture of “whataboutism” when it comes to Jews and attempts to mask antisemitism as a political stance…
Aviv Atzili, who was killed in the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Kibbutz Nir Oz and whose body was taken captive into Gaza, was identified as the person whose remains were retrieved in a military operation last week along with those of Yair Yaakov…
Days after endorsing him, Michael Bloomberg donated $5 million on Friday to a super PAC supporting former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s bid for New York City mayor…
Police are investigating after a brick with “Free Palestine” painted on it was thrown through the window of the kosher supermarket The Butcherie in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Mass….
Lubavitch of Cambridge, Mass., has gained approval from the city’s zoning board for the construction of the Harvard Chabad Center for Jewish Life after filing a federal lawsuit in response to initial rejection of its expansion plans…
Axios Boston spotlights Robert Kraft‘s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s work to increase antisemitism awareness amid an increase in antisemitic incidents in Boston and around the world…
Jewish Story Partners announced $545,000 in grants to 26 independent films rooted in Jewish storytelling and culture in response to growing U.S. antisemitism and a lack of public funding for the arts…
Anne Wojcicki’s nonprofit TTAM Research Institute won a bid to purchase 23andMe, which Wojcicki had co-founded and led until earlier this year, when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Wojcicki tendered her resignation…
Former Hillary Clinton political aide Huma Abedin and Alex Soros were married at Soros’ Water Mill, N.Y., estate on Saturday…
Amid claims of bias, a Canadian court has ordered the release of federal records tied to last year’s audit of the Jewish National Fund-Canada, which resulted in the revocation of the organization’s tax-exempt status…
The Frederick News-Post profiles the Jewish family behind the first kosher winery in the state of Maryland…
Dozens of graves were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in Kishinev, Moldova, amid an ongoing wave of antisemitic incidents across Europe…
France and Germany are both increasing security at Jewish and Israeli sites to counter the risk of potential terror attacks as the conflict between Jerusalem and Tehran heats up…
Florida’s House and Senate have earmarked a total of $10 million for Jewish school security in the upcoming fiscal year…
King Charles included several prominent members of the British Jewish community in his “Birthday Honours List” for their contributions to British society, including Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, media personality Claudia Winkleman, actress Tracy-Ann Oberman and Dave Rich, the head of policy for the British Jewish Community Security Trust…
The Christian Science Monitor profiles Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has been highlighting his own family’s history of fleeing persecution as he fights the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns…
Haaretz examines the activities of the Central Israel Fund, which provides funding from anonymous donors to many right-wing Israeli causes, with an annually increasing multimillion-dollar budget…
Marthe Cohn, a Jewish nurse who worked with the French resistance as a spy in Germany, died on May 20 at 105…
Major Gifts
Daniel Och and his wife, Jane, announced a $50 million gift to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where Och is a trustee, to “advance patient care and research”…
Transitions
Jordanna Gessler, the chief impact officer at the Holocaust Museum LA, has been named chairwoman of the board of the Council of American Jewish Museums…
Pic of the Day
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Security, conservation and logistics teams at the National Library of Israel collect and move manuscripts, rare books, musical scores, archives and other “treasures” from their displays to underground, climate-controlled vaults in the early hours of Friday morning after the Israel Defense Forces launched its preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
These teams, led by the library’s CEO Oren Weinberg and Board Chair Sallai Meridor, have previously moved these objects to safety ahead of prior Iranian attacks on April 13 and Oct. 1, 2024, as well as on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023.
Birthdays
Former dean of Yeshiva College, U.S. ambassador to Egypt for President Bill Clinton, and U.S. ambassador to Israel for President George W. Bush, Daniel C. Kurtzer…
Professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University, Leonard Susskind… Brigadier-general (ret.) in the Israel Defense Forces, then a member of Knesset, then chairman of Ha’aguda Lema’an Hachayal, a nonprofit IDF veterans group, Avigdor Kahalani… Professor at Nanjing University and China’s leading professor of Jewish studies, Xu Xin… Rickey Wolosky Palkovitz… Investigative reporter who worked for Newsweek, NBC News and then Yahoo News, Michael Isikoff… UC Berkeley professor and WSJ columnist, Alison Gopnik… Professor of Jewish studies at the University of Freiburg (Germany), Gabrielle Oberhänsli-Widmer… Distinguished fellow in Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, in three weeks he will start as a tenured professor at Harvard Divinity School, Shaul Magid… Southern California resident, Roberta Trachten-Zeve… Senior project executive at Kansas-based Stuart & Associates Commercial Flooring, Matthew Rafael Elyachar… Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter and bestselling author, he is a past president of Washington Hebrew Congregation, David A. Vise… Former chair of the Broward County, Florida JCRC, he is the co-founder of The Alliance of Blacks & Jews, Keith Wasserstrom… Actor, screenwriter, producer and director, Daniel Zelman… Senior correspondent for military and intelligence affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth and contributor to The New York Times, Ronen Bergman Ph.D…. Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Julie Rikelman… CEO and founder of New York City-based Marathon Strategies, Philip Keith (“Phil”) Singer… Israeli photographer, digital artist and artificial intelligence researcher, Dina Bova… Geographer and writer, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro… Singer and songwriter, Benjamin Lev Kweller… Comedian, actor and YouTuber with almost 100 million views, Adam Ray… Portfolio manager on the Jewish life and Israel grantmaking team at One8 Foundation, Alyssa Bogdanow Arens… Head video producer at Ocean One Media, Perry Chencin… Pitcher for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he is now in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Zachary D. “Zack” Weiss … Catcher on Israel’s National Baseball Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, now a business transformation consultant for EY, Tal Erel… Israeli artistic gymnast who won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Artem Dolgopyat…
