Your Daily Phil: Jewish community set for a pivot as JFNA confab nears
Add EJP on GoogleGood Friday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we preview the upcoming Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly. We spotlight a new, unlikely partnership between the Jewish and Druze communities in Raleigh, N.C., and report on a long-awaited World Zionist Congress power-sharing agreement. We feature an opinion piece by Shira Hutt framing the significance of this year’s General Assembly, and one by Stephen D. Smith about finding our way forward as a people by drawing on our collective past. Also in this issue: Jack Wertheimer, Magda Haroun and Harriet Schleifer.
Shabbat shalom!
What We’re Watching
The Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly kicks off on Sunday in Washington. More on this below.
Moment Magazine will hold its 50th Anniversary Awards Benefit Gala on Sunday night at the National Press Club in Washington. The event, which is co-chaired by Wolf and Lynn Blitzer and Annie Simonian Totah, will honor Marian Ein Lewin, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, David Saperstein, Elisha Wiesel and Judy Woodruff.
Also on Sunday, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is hosting the fourth annual New York Jewish Book Festival.
And on Monday, the National Association for Temple Administration is holding its annual conference for synagogue managers across the United States, Canada, South Africa and Australia.
What You Should Know
Some 2,000 Jewish communal leaders, philanthropists and nonprofit officials from North America, Israel and beyond will gather in Washington on Sunday for the start of the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual General Assembly just as the haze of the last two years of war and rising global antisemitism starts to lift, report eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim and Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch.
The Jewish community has become accustomed to emergency mode, JFNA’s president, Eric Fingerhut, told eJP, but he hopes this GA can be a moment for “reflection,” and a pivot. “This gives us a moment to reflect,” said Fingerhut. “When we reflect, we have to reflect on what clearly we were prepared for, and what we weren’t as prepared for as we should have been, so that we can now bolster those areas and prepare for the future.”
The three-day convening will provide an opportunity for Jewish leaders to reveal how they are thinking about Jewish communal priorities in the aftermath of the longest war in Israel’s history. The event’s organizers are billing this period as the start of a “defining moment in Jewish communal life,” according to the description of the Sunday evening plenary that kicks off the conference.
The GA agenda is so far lacking some of the marquee speakers it boasted in recent years, though that may soon change, according to JFNA’s executive vice president, Shira Hutt. The speakers kicking off the GA include Rahm Emanuel, a longtime Democratic official and possible 2028 presidential candidate; authors Sarah Hurwitz and Micah Goodman; CNN contributor Scott Jennings; and Fox News host Jessica Tarlov. There are currently no Trump administration officials listed on the agenda — a change from last year, when Biden administration Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke. “I think that we are, just like last year, bringing really relevant, high-level conversations to the main stage. In addition to, I think, already high-level speakers, there will be some additional names added soon,” Hutt told eJP.
The conference will also mark a turning point in JFNA’s grantmaking. After raising $908 million through its Israel Emergency Campaign in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, the vast majority of which has already been allocated, the organization will be shifting to a new phase. Aptly named “Rebuild Israel,” the new initiative will focus on the long-term rebuilding and recovery of Israeli society. “Our hope and goal is that we continue to raise money to help in wherever areas Israel feels that we could be helpful in rebuilding communities and Jewish life in Israel,” Gary Torgow, JFNA’s board chair, told eJP.
FAMILY MATTERS
North Carolina Druze tap local Jewish community for help, recognizing its advocacy prowess
Since July, the small Jewish community of Raleigh, N.C., banded together to support the Syrian Druze after Damascus, Syria-born Shawkat “Chuck” Jabr knocked on his Jewish neighbor’s door, desperate for someone to talk to about the massacres his family has been affected by in Sweida, a predominantly Druze community in southern Syria. He specifically reached out to the Jewish community, recognizing how many of the community’s nonprofits have fine-tuned the art of advocacy, hoping to bring lessons to his own community, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.
Skill sharing: The Jewish community does have skills that could help others, Mark Goldhaber, the chair of the Raleigh Jewish Community Relations Council, told eJP. “We have a lot of knowledge. We have to be reaching out much broader to say we want to be a full part of the community.” Since their first meeting, Goldhaber introduced Jabr to Rep. Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC) and is organizing for Jabr to speak for student groups at the University of North Carolina. He is working with the media to get the word out about the Druze struggles, hoping to then share these stories with politicians, especially important at a time when President Donald Trump is working to normalize relations with the new Syrian regime, and as Israel is involved in direct negotiations with Damascus.
NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
After weeks of talks, World Zionist Congress strikes power-sharing deal
After weeks of negotiations, the World Zionist Congress reached a power-sharing agreement on Thursday night that will split control of the National Institutions between the center-left and center-right blocs, though some significant personnel questions remain, sources involved in the talks told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. Under the deal, Yaakov Hagoel, of World Likud, will divide the chairpersonship of the World Zionist Organization with an as-yet-undecided representative of the center-left bloc, each serving half a five-year term. Rabbi Doron Perez, chair of the religious Zionist World Mizrachi party, will serve as president of the WZO — a largely ceremonial role — for the full five-year term.
Unanswered questions: Unresolved in the agreement is the leadership of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund. Under the deal, the center-left bloc will select the first chair of the organization, which controls more than 10% of the land of Israel and has an accordingly large budget and political influence. Initially, this was supposed to go to a representative of the centrist Yesh Atid party, Israel’s largest opposition party. However, last week, Yesh Atid announced that it was withdrawing from the so-called National Institutions, describing them as irrevocably corrupt. This has left the position up for grabs in the center-left bloc. A WZO source told eJP that the lack of clarity regarding the leadership of KKL is primarily a reflection of the coalition agreement process, which first requires the leadership of WZO to be named so that has been the primary focus.
JFNA GA 2025
We gather this year at a moment of return and reckoning
“During his more than two years in Hamas captivity, Elkana Bohbot asked his captors for a needle and thread. Then, using scraps of fabric, he proceeded to meticulously craft a doll for his 5-year-old son, Re’em,” writes Shira Hutt, executive vice president of Jewish Federations of North America, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “He was not alone in this quiet defiance. Agam Goldstein-Almog knitted a small dog for a fellow captive, while others braided bracelets or embroidered messages on cloth. These were not merely hobbies; they were acts of spiritual resistance — declarations of love and an unbreakable will to connect to a world beyond their walls.”
Complex feelings: “When they and all the living hostages came home, we were filled with collective relief and inspired by their perseverance and heroism. At the same time, we carry the weight of all the tragedy of the last two years: The hostages who died in captivity. The soldiers who fell in battle. The families that still wait to bury their loved ones. The untold sacrifices all Israelis have made. These feelings and emotions — the profound gratitude for those saved, the enduring agony of profound loss and the relentless urge to keep building — define our current moment. And as we have done so many times throughout our history, we know that the most important way to meet this moment is for our community to come together.”
A JEWISH PARADOX
The compass, not the crossroads, defines us
“The crossroads is about what road to take into an uncertain future. From our current vantage point, we have no idea what world our grandchildren will inhabit, but we are building it for them now,” writes Stephen D. Smith, executive director emeritus of the USC Shoah Foundation and CEO of Our Jewish Story, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Guiding lights: “A crossroads demands a choice in the short term: left or right, this path or that. But the real question isn’t which direction to turn — it is, what is our North Star? What is the compass that guides us? … Here’s the paradox: Jews move forward by knowing what is behind them. Our continuity comes not from where we are going but from where we have come from. Our North Star isn’t a future destination — it’s the accumulated wisdom, stories, traditions and bonds that have guided every previous generation, who endured far worse and yet ultimately flourished. We each also have our own stories, which when heard together represents the essence of Am Yisrael, the People of Israel. It’s our collective story that grounds us, gives us identity and purpose. … This is the foundation we must invest in, the living, breathing stories that remind us of who we are and where we came from.”
Worthy Reads
It Takes All Kinds: In Sapir, Jack Wertheimer explores trends in both Jewish communal fundraising and Jewish giving. “No doubt the pursuit of big gifts has ensured a healthy bottom line for a great many Jewish institutions and benefited Jews at home and abroad. But the privatization of Jewish giving and the heavy reliance on wealthy contributors coincide with a precipitous decline in the proportion of American Jews who donate to Jewish causes. … Also noteworthy in our hyper-politicized age are the correlations between political identification and Jewish giving. Jews who self-identify as ‘very liberal’ are the least likely to give to Jewish causes, while those who claim to be political liberals and conservatives were much more likely to make contributions. … Left-wing critics of Jewish philanthropy who complain that Jewish communal life is stacked against them should be reminded that progressives have largely removed themselves from the scene by abstaining from Jewish giving.” [Sapir]
Here All Along: In Moment Magazine, Jacob Wirtschafter spotlights the efforts of Magda Haroun, a leader in the Egyptian Jewish community, to document and preserve Jewish sites and artifacts in the country, which has had a Jewish presence for millennia. “In addition to safeguarding Jewish heritage sites, Magda Haroun is spearheading an effort to establish Egypt’s first Jewish museum inside the long-dormant Vitali Madjar Synagogue in Heliopolis. ‘We have an Islamic museum, we have a Coptic museum. But we don’t have the third component,’ she tells me, emphasizing that the planned Jewish museum is meant for Egyptians, not tourists. ‘They need to know that the glory of modern Egypt was its diversity.’ She envisions exhibits featuring her great-grandfather’s engraved crystal glasses, her father’s recreated intellectual property office and reels by the Frenkel Brothers — the creators of Egypt’s first cartoons.” [Moment]
Collegiate Conundrum: In Commentary, Josh Tolle, a former director of education at Ohio State Hillel, criticizes the overall direction of the Hillel movement, which he sees as detached from traditional Judaism. “What keeps me up at night is not the campus hordes. As I have tried to explain, I worry mostly about Hillel’s reaction to them. That is, I worry about the internal slackening of the Jewish attitude toward survival. … What if we looked at the rise of campus anti-Semitism not as a threat but as a measure of internal strength in the fight for human culture? … The equation of Judaism with social justice is a key spiritual failing of Hillel. It has the unforgivable consequence of tying Judaism’s significance to Jews’ adherence to ever-changing moral litmus tests du jour, up to and including hatred of Jews. But Judaism as a civilizational project has survived in large part because of the steadfastness of its moral vision, often despite being in opposition to mainstream cultural mores. Its enduring teachings, including the gifts of hospitality and charity and profound respect for one’s parents, are not modeled after what is normal or popular at any given moment.” [Commentary]
Word on the Street
The body of Meny Godard, who was killed and kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on Oct.7, 2023, was returned to Israel on Thursday night…
The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, a union representing over 3,000 legal workers, has acknowledged “inappropriate” communication around Israel and antisemitism as part of a $315,0000 settlement reached yesterday brought on behalf of three union members, reports Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen…
Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History passed $10 million raised for the $12 million that it needs for three new exhibits to mark America’s 250th anniversary…
Venture capitalist Elad Gil has doubled the target size of his new fund to nearly $3 billion, which, if successful, would be the largest known fund raised by a solo general partner, according to the Information…
The anti-Israel Drop Site News outlet, which describes itself as “reader-supported” and “completely independent,” received $250,000 through George Soros’ Open Society Foundations for its Middle East coverage…
University College London banned a researcher from campus and launched an investigation against her after she taught the “Damascus affair” antisemitic blood libel to members of the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter…
A federal jury recently convicted a neo-Nazi for hate crimes after he mailed antisemitic threats to George state Rep. Esther Panitch, the state’s only Jewish representative, and the Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Temple Beth Israel after both women publicly supported the passage of legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism…
Major Gifts
The Canada-based Krawczyk Family Foundation donated $7.1 million to the Ma’mo’weh Wii’soo’ka’tiwin Foundation in Kenora, Ontario, for indigenous youth and family programs…
Anne Simon, a plant virology professor at the University of Maryland, is donating $15 million to her university to support two endowed professorships and an additional $1 million for a scholarship that will be named for her mother, Sondra Simon…
A group of 30 philanthropic foundations committed $300 million to supporting climate health research at this month’s COP30 gathering in Brazil…Berkshire Hathaway CEO?Warren Buffett announced that he is distributing an estimated $1.3 billion worth of stock to four of his family’s foundations…
Transitions
Harriet Schleifer, former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was elected to the board of directors of Democratic Majority for Israel, the group announced…
The Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem has hired Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Eshel, a former Israeli Air Force commander and director general of the Defense Ministry, to head its newly formed Center for Jewish Resilience. Sharon Pardo, the chair of European studies at Ben-Gurion University, will also help lead the new center…
Pic of the Day
Thousands of Chabad rabbis from around the world visit information booths yesterday as part of the annual International Conference of Chabad Emissaries, generally referred to as the Kinus, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
This year’s gathering, which runs through the weekend, is focused on artificial intelligence. It includes dozens of workshops for Chabad emissaries, more commonly known as shluchim, on topics ranging from trauma research, halacha, navigating local politics and more.
“The shluchim are the Jewish world’s global support system,” Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, the conference’s director, said in a statement. “The Kinus is their nerve center, where strength and vision flow outward to every community, equipping emissaries to meet the moment and fortify Jewish life worldwide.”
Birthdays
Executive vice president at Aish and former executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museums of Tolerance, Rabbi Meyer H. May turns 73 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Cellist, Natalia Gutman turns 83… Former professional bodybuilder who played for two seasons with the New York Jets, Mike Katz turns 81… Los Angeles businessman, community leader and political activist, Stanley Treitel… Retired member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, Baron Jeremy Beecham turns 81… Former British Labour party MP who resigned in 2019 in protest of Jeremy Corbyn, Dame Louise Joyce Ellman turns 80… Television director and producer, her neurotic text messages to her daughter are the subject of the CrazyJewishMom Instagram page, Kim Friedman turns 76… Editor-at-large for Bloomberg View, Jonathan I. Landman turns 73… Former Democratic member of the New York state Assembly from Brooklyn, his 22-year term was completed at the end of 2022, Steven H. Cymbrowitz turns 72… Detroit-based communications consultant, Cynthia Shaw… President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Laurie L. Patton turns 64… Partner at the Santa Monica-based law firm of Murphy Rosen, Edward A. Klein… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and professor of political science at George Washington University, Sarah A. Binder… Vice chairman of The Atlantic and managing director of media at Emerson Collective, Peter T. Lattman… and his twin brother, senior vice president at Forman Mills, Brian Lattman, both turn 55… Businessman with interests in real estate, gambling software, payments processing and digital advertising, Teddy Sagi turns 54… Member of the Colorado House of Representatives until last year when she became a Colorado state senator, Dafna Michaelson Jenet turns 53… Former deputy national security advisor for President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes turns 48… Head of public policy and government affairs for Lime, Joshua Meltzer… Actress and comedian best known for her eight years as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” Vanessa Bayer turns 44… Senior advisor at Clarion Strategies, Jacob Freedman turns 43… Rabbi of the Sha’ar Hashamayim Synagogue in Indonesia, Yaakov Baruch turns 43… Israeli conductor and pianist, he is a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Nimrod David Pfeffer turns 41… Executive director of the One Percent Foundation, Lana Talya Volftsun Fern… Actress and producer, she is a daughter of Bette Midler, Sophie von Haselberg turns 39… First baseman and second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, he played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Spencer Elliott Horwitz turns 28…
SATURDAY: Author of dozens of children’s books and young adult fiction, frequent NPR guest, Daniel Pinkwater turns 84… Pianist and conductor, formerly music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim turns 83… Boca Raton, Fla., resident, Stephen Wolff… Former Chairman and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment, Lawrence (Larry) Lotman… New York City-based consultant for nonprofit organizations, Perry Davis turns 77… Retired immigration and nationality attorney in Southern California, Michael D. Ullman… Past president of Gratz College in Melrose Park, Pa., he is the author or editor of more than 50 books, Paul Finkelman turns 76… Executive producer and director of television programs, including “Friends,” one of the most popular TV programs of all time, Kevin S. Bright turns 71… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Meir Cohen turns 70… Partner in Toronto-based accounting firm Fuller Landau, he is a past president of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT), Jeffrey M. Brown…Senior project manager at T-Mobile, Michael A. Lewine… Member of the Florida House of Representatives, Michael Alan Gottlieb turns 57… Former member of Knesset for the Likud party, Nava Boker turns 55… Founder and chairman of Perilune Capital and co-founder of Harspring Capital Management, Carey Robinson Wolchok… Mortgage executive, Joshua Shein… CEO of the Riverdale Y in the Bronx until 2022, she is now a leadership coach, Deann Forman… As a 12-year-old baseball fan in Yankee Stadium, he interfered with a ball batted by Derek Jeter in the 1996 ALCS that was ruled to be a game-tying home run, Jeffrey Maier turns 42… Professional golfer, he won the gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, Ben Silverman turns 38… Deputy Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press, Zeke Miller… Press secretary for Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Ben Goodman… Talent Acquisition Partner at Engine, Alison Borowsky… Recent graduate at Harvard Law School, now serving as judicial law clerk for a federal judge in California, Micah Rosen… Military legislative assistant in Rep. Wesley Bell’s (D-MO) office, Ethan Sorcher…
SUNDAY: Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada until he retired in 2013, Morris Jacob Fish turns 87… Professor of mathematics and statistics at Concordia University in Montreal, Abraham J. Boyarsky, Ph.D. turns 79… Milwaukee-based founder and co-managing director of A.B. Data, Ltd, he is the past chair of the Pincus Fund for Jewish Education, Bruce A. Arbit turns 71… Director of programs at IKAR, Susan Brooks… Writer and producer for television and film, Jeff Pinkner turns 61… CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Policy Center, Matt Brooks turns 60…TV producer and president of Keshet Studios, Peter Traugott turns 55… Former senior vice president at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, Rabbi Justus Baird turns 53… Israeli singer-songwriter, author and travel documentarian, known professionally as “Passerby,” Gilad Segev turns 51… Author of several novels, he was the science fiction and fantasy book columnist for The Washington Post until 2022, Lavie Tidhar turns 49… Senior vice president at The D. E. Shaw Group, he was previously a special assistant to President Obama for energy and economic policy, Michael A. Levi turns 48… 1994 Olympic gold medalist in figure skating, she first discovered that she was Jewish when she was 25 years old, Oksana Baiul turns 48… Stage, film and television actress, Margalit Ruth “Maggie” Gyllenhaal turns 48… Israeli actress, model, film producer and TV host, Adi Ezroni turns 47… Vice president at Jetro Restaurant Depot, he is a former NFL placekicker and punter, Hayden Scott Epstein turns 45… After 15 seasons in the NBA, he became an owner and player for Hapoel Jerusalem and led the team to an Israeli League championship, Amar’e Yehoshafat Stoudemire turns 43… Snowboarder for the U.S. Olympic team in 2014 and 2022, he competes in the halfpipe, Taylor Gold turns 32… Chief of staff at Lightricks, Aaron Kalman…
