Your Daily Phil: Jewish donors react to antisemitism at Columbia University
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on next month’s March of the Living, which will focus on Oct. 7 and the destruction of Hungarian Jewry, and feature an opinion piece by Lily Goodman and Dena Verhoff about how their giving circle is responding to rising antisemitism. Also in this newsletter: Erica Pelman, Henrietta Szold and Hersh Goldberg-Polin. We’ll start with how Jewish donors are responding to antisemitic protests at Columbia University.
Robert Kraft, who has given millions to Columbia University, announced he was halting support for his alma mater over its handling of at-times violent, antisemitic student-led protests on the school’s campus in which some faculty members have taken part. Another major Jewish funder, billionaire investor Leon Cooperman, said he was considering the same, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
While Kraft said in a statement that he was “not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken,” he told CNN that he would continue to make donations to the university’s Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, which was named in his honor after he made a $3 million donation to kick-start its construction in 2000. “That has been a haven of safety,” he said.
Last week, a group of students set up an encampment on the West Lawn of Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, initially to demand that the school sever its financial and academic ties to Israel. However, the protests quickly intensified and grew violent, with both physical assaults and with antisemitic chants, including calls for Jews to “go back to Poland,” and for “10,000 October 7ths.”
Jewish students told eJP’s sister publication Jewish Insider they were frightened to be on the campus in light of the protest.
“[Saturday night] was an absolute breaking point and the first time people were truly afraid,” Eliana Goldin, a third-year political science major, told JI. “My friends and I saw [non-Columbia students] sneak onto campus through a gap in the fence and we were verbally harassed, and some of my friends were physically assaulted. Public safety and NYPD did not help us. We were essentially stalked and followed as we tried to leave the escalating situation.”
The extent of the violence and antisemitic rhetoric prompted two public condemnations from the White House, with White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates releasing a statement criticizing the “physical intimidation” against Jewish students and calling them “blatantly antisemitic” and “echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations.” In his annual Passover greeting to the Jewish community, President Joe Biden alluded to the antisemitism at the university, saying that “even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews.”
The antisemitic protests at Columbia and college campuses across the country have prompted condemnations from across the Jewish world, with nearly every national and local Jewish organization issuing statements or penning opinion pieces decrying them, with some going so far as to compare them to the Nazi student protests against Jews of 1930s Germany.
Writing in CNN, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called for “every single donor who cares about this issue” to not just halt funding for universities but instead to divert that support to nonprofits that work to protect Jewish students.
“Stopping funds will get attention. Diverting funds to support nonprofit organizations like the Community Security Service that train volunteers to protect Jewish students, or to universities specifically to support the security of Jewish students on campus, could be even more effective,” Greenblatt wrote.
Kraft said that the “turning point” in his decision to halt support for Columbia University was the revocation of assistant professor Shai Davidai’s credentials. Davidai, an outspoken critic of the university’s administrators, had attempted to enter the campus as part of a counter-protest against the encampment.
“Columbia is grateful to Mr. Kraft for his years of generosity and service to Columbia,” a spokesperson for Columbia said in response to Kraft’s announcement. “This is a time of crisis for many members of our community and we are focused on providing the support they need while keeping our campus safe.”
In October, Cooperman, who has given more than $25 million to Columbia over the years, said he was considering pulling support for the university. When asked this week if he planned to go through with the threat, Cooperman told CNBC that he had not yet decided regarding the university in general but that he did plan to continue supporting Columbia’s business school. Cooperman put the responsibility for the protests on the students, whom he colorfully said had “shit for brains,” not on the administrators.
“I’m uncomfortable with what’s going on at the school. But you know, I don’t want to hold the administration responsible for demonstrations,” Cooperman continued. “It’s these kids that are out of control.”
Other major funders have refrained from commenting on plans to cut or continue support for the university.
Investor and philanthropist Dan Loeb, another Columbia graduate, told the New York Post that his hedge fund would reconsider hiring graduates of Ivy League universities in light of the protests and antisemitic rhetoric on them.
“We’ve always looked beyond the target schools but we’re doing it even more so now given recent events,” Loeb said.
NEVER AGAIN
Holocaust survivors who also lived through Oct. 7 to help lead next month’s March of the Living
Holocaust survivors who also lived through the Oct. 7 terror attacks in southern Israel or were directly affected by them will be among the 55 survivors from around the world who will lead the 36th International March of the Living in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp next month, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. This year’s March of the Living will have a dual focus: Commemorating the Oct. 7 massacre and its significance on Holocaust Remembrance Day; and marking the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Hungarian Jewry during the Holocaust.
In their footsteps: That march on Holocaust Remembrance Day, will be led by 55 survivors, 21 of them from Hungary and seven who were personally affected by the Oct. 7 attacks. The seven include five who lived in or were visiting communities that came under attack and two grandparents of captives.“I was born in Poland, and I survived the Holocaust. I had promised my grandchild a better world, but I couldn’t fulfill this promise,” one of the survivors, Bella Haim, the grandmother of Yotam Haim, who was murdered in the attack and whose body was taken to Gaza, said in a statement. “I never imagined that I would visit Auschwitz, but since Yotam marched there, I will march in his footsteps.”
‘Profound significance’: “This year’s March of the Living holds profound significance, as the horrors of the past intertwine with the present ongoing nightmare faced by the State of Israel,” Shmuel Rosenman and Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, the chair and president of the International March of the Living, respectively, wrote in a joint statement. “The recent incomprehensible massacre on Oct. 7 serves as a constant reminder of the persistent threat posed by antisemitic hatred. This year, more than ever, we understand why preserving the memory of the Holocaust is still essential.”
GIVING CIRCLES
LeadersHow a group of young Jewish funders chose to combat antisemitismhip isn’t a position — it’s an attitude
“A giving circle is a group of people who come together to pool their charitable dollars and decide how to distribute funds in ways that reflect their communal values, passions and the impact they want to make on the broader community… We chose to participate in a giving circle because we understood that our collective attention as a community of young Jewish funders was as valuable a resource as our dollars,” write Lily Goodman and Dena Verhoff in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Identifying the demand: “In the weeks following Oct. 7, we heard from others in our community that they were seeking a space to deepen their learning and communal relationships at the intersections of philanthropy and Jewish life, and to make a meaningful difference in the American Jewish landscape at a time of tremendous loss, despair, vulnerability and fear. The issue they most wanted to learn about and impact was the rising antisemitism that they were witnessing as college alumni, that they felt in the organizations they lead, and that they heard about in their roles within Jewish communal institutions.”
Taking action: “Through Slingshot, we came together as a group of 14 funders in our 20s, 30s and early 40s to form the Slingshot Giving Circle on Antisemitism. After a collaborative, two-month process, we invested $76,500 in initiatives that are combating antisemitism through bridge-building, allyship, coalition-building or intergroup relational work across North America… We did not arrive at these decisions alone. Instead, we gleaned wisdom from experts in the field who are deeply immersed in the work of fighting antisemitism, racism and building bridges across lines of difference… If we want to live in a world where we’re not afraid to wear a kippah or a Star of David on college campuses or in supermarkets, we’re going to have to keep working together in new ways. At the end of the day, the only way forward is to lean into community, learn together and act — because as young Jewish philanthropists, we do not have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines.”
Worthy Reads
Symbolism in the Salt Water: In a Passover-themed essay in The Times of Israel, Erica Pelman puts the salt water bowl, a Seder accessory generally relegated to a supporting role, in the spotlight. “You’ve sat at every seder table for more than a thousand years without demanding any attention for yourself. You hold the salt water — the tears we taste when we dip our parsley or potato. Never before have I realized how much you have to hold. Even those of us who haven’t lost our best friend or our father to Hamas, those of us whose child has not been taken captive, those of us who didn’t have to recover a baby’s burned body, we still have been tasting many tears since October… Enslaved, not free, Israelites held the first seder. It was the night before the Exodus, and they first dipped their Pesach offering in their maror. God commanded them to remember the story even before they witnessed the ending. We are in the middle of our story and must remember the ending. We are being reborn — a tiny nation, but a giant family. When we tell the story of the Exodus, we use the exact wording (Deuteronomy 26:25) that we used when we brought the first fruits of gratitude offering at the Beit Hamikdash (Temple). We choose gratitude for the end of our story, even when we live in the middle. Because while you initially hold the salty waters, dear bowl, by the end of the story, they will part.” [TOI]
Building Buy-In: Former development professionals Laura Ferretti and Amita Swadhin, founders of consultancy firm ChangeRaisers, are offering new perspectives for organizations seeking to address burnout and turnover among their fundraising staff, reports Dawn Wolfe in Inside Philanthropy. “Those shifts include understanding that fundraising is a form of community organizing, including fundraising staff in overall strategic planning, and getting everyone from the executive director and board members to program leaders involved in raising money. Asking program leaders to get involved in fundraising may seem like a big lift. Nonprofits often experience a schism between those on the program side and those raising money to pay the bills, with fundraising often viewed as a kind of grunt work that happens separately from core advocacy or services. This can lead to resentment and burnout among development professionals, but also weaker fundraising… So during coaching, Swadhin and Ferretti take program people through an exercise of putting a price tag on the things that the program officers wish they could have. ‘You’re not making them do it (fundraising); you’re not imposing it on them,’ Swadhin said. ‘You’re getting their buy-in, because you’re asking them what their vision is: If they had XYZ amount of dollars, what would they do with it?’” [InsidePhilanthropy]
Around the Web
Hamas released a video of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin — the first sign of life since he was taken captive on Oct. 7 after losing most of his left arm in a grenade blast — which appears to have been recently made. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, who have led an international campaign on behalf of him and the other 133 hostages, released a video response in which they said they were “relieved” to see that he was still alive but “concerned about his health and well-being.” They called on all leaders involved in the negotiations to work to secure the release of the hostages…
Jewish Insider interviews John Ondrasik, known by his stage name Five for Fighting, about his recent visit to Tel Aviv and his ballad, “OK,” which he wrote about Israeli resilience after Oct. 7…
President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion aid bill, which includes support for Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies, as well as funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, after it was passed by the Senate on Tuesday…
Yesterday, Biden met with 4-year-old Israeli-American Avigail Idan, who was taken hostage by Hamas after terrorists murdered her parents on Oct. 7 and was released as part of a weeklong truce agreement in late November…
The U.N. World Food Programme agreed to assist in the distribution of aid to Gaza once the U.S. finishes construction of a pier meant to enable more aid to the beleaguered enclave…
Chai Lifeline Canada, which supports children with serious illnesses, raised more than CAD 2 million ($1.46 million) at its “Harmony & Hope” gala earlier this month…
The Wall Street Journal reviews Francine Klagsbrun’s new biography, Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream, about the founder of the Hadassah movement…
Writing in The Jerusalem Post, Efraim Zuroff, the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, argues against recognizing the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as a genocide ahead of an upcoming United Nations General Assembly vote on the subject. Menachem Rosensaft, law professor and general counsel emeritus of the World Jewish Congress, responds to him in The Times of Israel, saying it is “unconscionable and reprehensible” to deny that it was a genocide…
Smithsonian magazine looks at how Jewish Union soldiers celebrated Passover during the American Civil War…
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Israeli anti-miscegenation activist Benzi Gopstein, a key ally of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, effectively blocking Gopstein’s access to the international banking system…
The Times of Israel interviews Gideon Falter, the director of the Campaign Against Antisemitism and vice chair of the Jewish National Fund-UK, who was stopped by a London Metropolitan Police officer as he tried to walk through an anti-Israel protest while wearing a kippah on the grounds that he was overly provocative by being “openly Jewish.” Met Police later apologized for the comment but defended the decision to keep Falter out of the area, saying it was necessary to avoid a violent confrontation…
In an opinion piece for USA Today, Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, argues that Idaho’s near-total abortion ban goes against the Jewish religion ahead of an upcoming Supreme Court hearing on the case…
The Daily Tar Heel reports on the University of North Carolina Hillel’s Israel Day, which was held without incident last week…
The Oklahoman spotlights a Seder for students at University of Oklahoma that was prepared by a local synagogue and Baptist church…
The Forward interviews Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman about the protests on Columbia University and other campuses and the general wave of antisemitism at schools across the country…
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told Politico that it was “absolutely unacceptable” that universities are unable to prevent Jewish college students from being harassed…
In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Columbia University professor John McWhorter writes that the protests at his school are “beyond what any people should be expected to bear”…
Harvard suspended the school’s undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee for the rest of the spring semester, while the University of Pennsylvania banned its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine from holding activities, citing repeated instances of violations of campus policies…
For CNN, Holocaust survivor Susanne DeWitt, who was verbally attacked at a Berkeley City Council meeting last month, raises concerns about escalating antisemitism in the Bay Area…
The annual Jewish pilgrimage for the Lag B’Omer holiday to the Tunisian island of Djerba will be significantly limited this year due to security concerns in light of both the war in Gaza and last year’s terror attack on the island during the festival…
Cheryl Rattner Price, the co-founder and executive director of the Holocaust education nonprofit Butterfly Project, which aims to make 1.5 million ceramic painted butterflies in memory of the children murdered in the Holocaust, will step down from her position after 18 years in the role. Keren-Dee Hamui will succeed her…
The New Yorker spotlights Jessica Tisch, the head of sanitation for New York City…
Rabbi Albert Thaler, the founding director of the Ramah Nyack day camp, died last week at 91…
Ruth Lansing, a Holocaust survivor who worked as a translator for the United States during the Nuremberg trials, died earlier this month at 105…
Pic of the Day
A poster of Eliya Cohen, one of the hostages being held in Gaza, is seen today above a crowd of more than 30,000 people who traveled to the Western Wall for Birkat HaKohanim, the priestly blessing.
During the ceremony, which was led by Israel’s chief rabbis, David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef, and the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites, Shmuel Rabinowitz, prayers were said for the swift return of the hostages, for the healing of the wounded and for the well-being of the State of Israel and its security forces.
Birthdays
Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian and producer, he is descended from a Sephardic family rooted in Thessaloniki, Hank Azaria…
Retired attorney, Myron “Mike” Sponder… Social worker and health spokesman of the Green Party of the U.K., he is the older brother of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Larry Sanders… Hedge fund manager and founder of Renaissance Technologies, James Harris Simons… Hedge fund manager and founder of Omega Advisors, Leon G. “Lee” Cooperman… Hedge fund manager and founder of CAM Capital, Bruce Stanley Kovner… Rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University since 1973, rabbi of the Young Israel of Riverdale Synagogue since 1974, Rabbi Mordechai Willig… David Handleman… Longtime chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures, now president of Through The Lens Entertainment, Bruce Berman… Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations from 2018 to 2021, he was previously president of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Arthur Stark… Administrative law judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Beth A. Fox… Commissioner of the National Basketball Association since 2014, Adam Silver… Senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, focused on security issues in the Middle East, Michael Scott Doran… Litigator at Quinn Emanuel, he served as U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama administration and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, Andrew H. Schapiro… Infomercial pitchman, better known as Vince Offer, Vince Shlomi, or “The ShamWow Guy,” Offer Shlomi… CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester (N.Y.) since 2016, Meredith Dragon… New York Times-bestselling author and adjunct professor of neuroscience at Stanford University, David Eagleman… Deputy director of community health at the Utah Department of Human Services, David E. Litvack… Manager of the Oakland Ballers baseball team in the Pioneer League, Micah Franklin… Democratic party strategist, she is a co-founder of Lift Our Voices, Julie Roginsky… President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the nation’s largest business improvement district, Jessica S. Lappin… Senior editor-at-large for Breitbart News, Joel Barry Pollak… Attorney turned grocer and now professor, she founded Glen’s Garden Market north of Dupont Circle, Danielle Brody Rosengarten Vogel… Co-founder of WeWork and now Flow, Adam Neumann… Director of development at Yaffed, Adina Mermelstein Konikoff… Managing director, head of social, content and influencer at Deloitte Digital, Kenneth R. Gold… Spokesperson and director of public affairs and planning division at FEMA, Jaclyn Rothenberg… Film and television actress, model and singer, Sara Paxton… Senior political reporter in Manhattan, Emily Cahn Singer… Former NHL ice hockey defenseman, now a color analyst for Westwood One and ESPN, Colby Shane Cohen… TikTok Star, he runs the culinary website CookWithChefEitan, Eitan Bernath…
