Your Daily Phil: Jewish groups grapple with harnessing AI for Torah study
Add EJP on GoogleGood Thursday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report from Jerusalem’s Tower of David, where HaGal Sheli brought together hundreds of high-tech leaders for a techno-themed fundraiser to support its surf therapy work. We explore how various Jewish organizations are using artificial intelligence for Torah study, and report on Hadar Institute’s expansion to college campuses. We feature an opinion piece by Israel Altman and Rabbi Eddie Shostak about the role of integrative experiences in trauma recovery; Robert Lichtman reflects on the ideal of Jewish unity in the context of Shavuot; and Rabbi Ana Bonnheim highlights the power of Jewish text learning as a lifelong practice for resilience and meaning-making. Also in this issue: Michael W. Sonnenfeldt, Shay Shwartz and Barney Frank.
Ed. note: In observance of both Shavuot and Memorial Day, the next edition of Your Daily Phil will arrive in your inbox on Tuesday, May 26. Chag Shavuot sameach and Shabbat shalom!
Today’s Your Daily Phil was curated by eJP Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross, Opinion Editor Rachel Kohn and Israel Editor Justin Hayet. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the terror attack at the Capital Jewish Museum that killed two Israeli Embassy staffers outside of an American Jewish Committee event taking place inside the venue. In marking the day, the museum announced that it will be open to the public today “as a space of reflection and remembrance.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding candidate forums today with D.C. mayoral candidates Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George.
What You Should Know
More than 700 figures from Israel’s business and philanthropic communities gathered last night for a rave at Jerusalem’s Tower of David — and also to mobilize the country’s high-tech sector to address the crushing mental health crisis by raising money for HaGal Sheli, a nonprofit that uses surf therapy to treat those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet from the event.
Spearheaded by Paragon Solutions CEO Idan Nurik, the event was backed by a coalition of key high-tech sponsors and partners, including Paragon Solutions, Papaya Global, Natural Intelligence, NFX, WalkMe, Investing[dot]com, NextGen Philanthropic Funds, Island, Clarity Group, M.M., ION Asset Management, Kela, EON, Jefferies, Ratio Energies and Hadasim Group.
With tickets priced at NIS 2,000 ($690), the rave-themed event featured modern light installations projected onto the Tower’s ancient stones, as techno music filled the courtyard. HaGal Sheli (My Wave) did not provide an immediate tally of how much was raised at the event, but indicated that it brought in upwards of NIS 1.4 million ($480,000), not counting costs, a significant portion of which were covered by existing supporters, the organization told eJP.
The event highlighted the intersection between Israel’s high-tech sector and its military reservists. Ido Galili, who works as a project manager at Paragon and volunteers with the organization, noted that his professional environment reflects the needs HaGal Sheli is trying to serve. “Among my team at Paragon, 31% [of them] are in elite units and have served for hundreds of days since Oct. 7,” Galili told eJP. “I work at Paragon, I volunteer at HaGal Sheli, and I did 200 days in reserves. We are bringing together all different colors of Israeli society because trauma doesn’t discriminate.”
Since the start of the war, HaGal Sheli has treated thousands of IDF reservists, former hostages and their families, Nova music festival survivors and residents from the Gaza envelope. To accommodate the growing demand, the organization has received significant grants from Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropy and UJA-Federation of New York’s Day After Fund, as well as from individual donors and foundations. Despite this influx of support, the organization’s level of need continues to rise, the group’s co-founder, Yaron Waksman, told eJP, noting that the organization has supported 5,000 new participants this year alone.
“We see miracles,” Waksman said at the event, surrounded by Israeli supporters and HaGal Sheli program alumni, with pulsing techno music and strobe lights reflecting off the Tower of David’s ancient stones. And yet, he continued, “we are in an unprecedented mental health crisis. People will need us for the long term. We don’t want to say no to anyone.”
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
As AI spreads, Jewish groups grapple with what it means for Torah study
When artificial intelligence exploded into everyday life after the release of ChatGPT in 2022, some religious organizations saw it as an opportunity to supercharge their existing services, speeding up their employees’ work, making it easier or both. Others saw the chance to expand their services, having AI-powered bots do the work that a person would normally have done, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.
Lost in translation: Sefaria is one of many Jewish nonprofits that aren’t evading AI but are also eyeing it warily. In February, Sefaria released the first-ever comprehensive English translation of Kli Yakar by Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Luntschitz. Such a translation would have taken 18 months for a person to do — Sefaria did it in a third of the time using AI, which was then checked by a human translator. “It was a really significant cost improvement,” Michael Kellman, chief product officer at Sefaria, told eJP. “And that was using Claude 3.7, which was state-of-the-art when we started that project. … Every month, there’s a new version that comes out that is twice as good or three times as good as the one that came before it.”
GOING TO COLLEGE
Hadar expands onto campus with rabbis at Rutgers, UMass Amherst and NYU
Looking to bolster Israel’s national security and national standing, as well as provide a springboard for promising students in aerospace engineering, Houston-based businessman and proud Technion alumnus Max Blankfeld has endowed an international prize at the Israeli school to help transform the aerospace field, bringing in foreign researchers one year and boosting local students the next, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet.
Reaching new heights: “Aerospace in Israel plays a very important role in the security of Israel,” Blankfeld told eJP, explaining his decision to split the prize’s impact. “The idea was to have an international prize that would bring and honor the best minds… and allow them to share ideas and knowledge [with students and faculty].” The prize in the alternating year “will be to encourage students at the Technion who are very promising to develop their own ideas in the field.”
COMMUNAL HEALTH
From Sinai to group therapy: Why follow-up matters for soldiers and Diaspora Jews alike
The Hadar Institute is making a push into Jewish campus life, announcing on Wednesday that it will place rabbis at three major universities across the Northeast for the coming academic year. The university expansion comes as part of an ongoing effort by the nondenominational egalitarian movement to extend access to its programming across every stage of Jewish life, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
Northeast extension: The three “Hadar campus rabbis” will be installed at Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts Amherst and New York University, in partnership with Hillel, the organization said. “There’s really no substitute for being on a campus in order to have a direct and sustained relationship and connection with college students,” Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, president and CEO of the Hadar Institute, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “It was the right moment to take this next step for a deeper connection to campus life.”
SHAVUOT 5786
The brilliance of brokenness
“It never escapes me that whenever we go back in time to accept the Ten Commandments on Shavuot, we know — because we have been here before — that soon the sapphire tablets created by God will be broken, smashed to smithereens. That explosion echoes for 40 years, all the way to the end of Torah and God’s moving eulogy of Moses,” writes veteran Jewish communal professional Robert Lichtman in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Strange praise: “The very last Rashi in the Torah ends with God saying to Moses, ‘Yishar kochacha sheh’shavarta — More power to you for smashing them’ (Deuteronomy 34:12). This, to me, is the most breathtaking, perfect metaphor for where we find ourselves today, and where Jews of every generation that came before us stood as well, because the differences among us are not new.”
LIFE SUPPORT
Why an answer to our anxiety might lie in Jewish texts
“Jewish learning is often framed as enrichment; as something for children, or for adults with time and prior knowledge, or as preparation for a lifecycle event. But that framing misses learning’s deeper function,” writes Rabbi Ana Bonnheim, founding executive director of the Jewish Learning Collaborative, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A source of resilience: “Judaism is a lifelong practice. When we center learning in that experience, adults can access and reaccess it at any stage, especially in moments of searching or instability. That shift has practical implications. It means investing in adult learning with the same seriousness as youth education; and not just one-off programs, but sustained study. It means tweaking learning experiences so that people with little or no background can feel welcome and curiosity, not prior knowledge, is the prerequisite for participation. It means expanding models beyond the classroom to include one-on-one or small-group study, where learners can bring real questions and not feel exposed. And it means integrating Jewish texts into the moments when people are actively seeking meaning after loss, during crisis or in periods of transition.”
Worthy Reads
Values Over Ideology: In The Atlantic, Israel Policy Forum co-founder and philanthropist Michael W. Sonnenfeldt examines the modern crisis of identity and security facing American Jews. “Anti-Semitism is rising… political identities are being reshuffled, and emotional ties to Israel are strained by policies that clash with deeply held democratic and ethical commitments. The simultaneity of these pressures — political, moral, and psychological — is what makes the present moment feel so destabilizing… We cannot accept the erosion of pluralistic democracy as the price of order, security, or ideological victory. That lesson, more than ideology, anchors where I ultimately stand.” [TheAtlantic]
Solidarity Despite Rhetoric: In The Forward, Rob Eshman argues that despite the divisive and inflammatory rhetoric previously expressed by the leadership at the Islamic Center of San Diego, Jewish organizations were right to offer support following a deadly shooting at the mosque. “The teenagers who opened fire on the Islamic Center of San Diego didn’t care what the imam said about Gaza. They saw Muslims, and they wanted them dead — the same way the Pittsburgh and Poway shooters saw Jews. Our enemies are not making the distinctions we make about each other. Maybe it’s time we stopped making them too.” [TheForward]
Revisiting Ben-Gurion’s Vision: In an Israel Democracy Institute explainer, Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz and Hodaya Ben Ari contend that a Knesset bill to use Orthodox definitions to define “Who is a Jew?” is not a reversion to traditional ideas but a radical shift that risks fracturing Israel’s social cohesion and jeopardizing its relationship with Diaspora Jewry. “Over the years… many political attempts have been made to add the words ‘according to halakha’ to the law. Yet every prime minister, from both the Right and the Left, refrained from doing so. In practice, if the current proposal is adopted, it would constitute a revolution in relation to all previous decisions on the matter, rather than a return to any prior arrangement.” [IDI]
Word on the Street
The Institute for Jewish Policy Research released a policy paper by top Jewish demographer Sergio DellaPergola predicting that shifting demographic power toward Israel, internal religious growth and the persistence of assimilation and antisemitism will necessitate new models of leadership and unity to sustain Jewish identity and collective interests over the next century…
ILTV CEO Tom Zadok and entrepreneur Reuven Moskowitz acquired ILTV from its original owners Simon Falic, David Herzog, Jess Dolgin and Yaakov Berg…
A study by Inside Philanthropy finds that billionaires and their heirs now maintain control over half of the nation’s 100 largest private foundations…
A new international initiative led by The Rockefeller Foundation and Temasek Trust is directing philanthropic resources toward the global nuclear sector to assist nations in developing the essential infrastructure required to implement nuclear power safely…
Speaking at a House Education & Workforce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, a doctor accused his union of engaging in systemic discrimination against Jewish and Israeli health providers, supporting terrorist sympathizers and making “its obsession with a single geopolitical conflict a defining future of its identity” — all while he’ll be forced by federal law to fund it, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
A new report from Chariot and K2D Strategies illustrates how nonprofits can significantly boost revenue and donor retention by treating donor-advised funds as a core, long-term strategy rather than a secondary channel…
The Association of Israel Studies has announced the winners for this year’s Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies: Elizabeth Imber for Uncertain Empire: Jews, Nationalism, and the Fate of British Imperialism and Adam Ferziger for Agents of Change: American Jews and the Transformation of Israeli Judaism. Read eJP’s interview with Ferziger about his book here…
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin will back fresh legislation to compel the NYPD to establish formal protocols for deploying buffer zones around schools during protests — a push Menin said will sail through the council with more than enough votes to beat any effort from Mayor Zohran Mamdani to block it, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports…
Meta is cutting approximately 90 positions in Israel as part of a 10% global workforce reduction aimed at redirecting resources toward AI infrastructure…
Shay Shwartz, an entrepreneur with a background in Israeli defense projects including the Iron Dome, has raised $28 million to launch Ocean, an AI-powered cybersecurity platform…
The State Department is investigating the defunct Gaza Humanitarian Foundation regarding the management of a $30 million emergency aid grant…
James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems acquired New York magazine, the Vox Media podcast network and the news site for over $300 million — a move that expands his media portfolio and secures high-profile talent like Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway…
Michael Bay is slated to direct a Universal Pictures film based on the real-life story of the mission to rescue two U.S. pilots shot down behind enemy lines in Iran during Operation Epic Fury…
Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who represented the Boston area in Congress for more than three decades and was the first openly gay member of Congress, died on Tuesday. He was 86. Known as a liberal firebrand, Frank’s most high-profile act in politics was drafting the legislation that tightened financial regulations in response to the 2008 financial crisis, a bill known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
Major Gifts
Brandeis University received a $25 million gift from trustee Karen Richards Sachs and her husband, David Sachs, to support student living projects and the construction of a new campus hub called “The Dot,” in honor of Karen’s mother…
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations announced a $300 million investment aimed at strengthening economic security and defending civil liberties in the United States in response to concerns over democratic backsliding and rising affordability crises. This follows the foundation’s recent $30 million pledge to tackle antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate. See the eJP story on that initiative here…
Transitions
Rabbi Elliott Tepperman was appointed to be the next president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism…
Debbie Stillman, the principal gifts officer at the Anti-Defamation League, is leaving the organization to become the next vice president of development at the National Council of Jewish Women in August…
Shai Kiviti was selected to be the head of the technology division at Israel’s Finance Ministry…
Pic of the Day
Residents of the northern Israeli community of Shtula sit on a tractor today as part of a traditional harvest festival ahead of tonight’s Shavuot holiday, which celebrates both the receiving of the Torah and the wheat harvest.
Birthdays
Northern California-based monologist, he celebrated his bar mitzvah at 52 years old in Israel, Josh Kornbluth turns 67…
Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he was previously a comedian, actor and writer, Al Franken turns 75… Vice president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Ralph Lewin turns 73… Guitarist and composer, Marc Ribot turns 72… Executive vice president of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, Ron Solomon… Chief rabbi of Mitzpe Yericho (a yishuv located in the Judean desert) and dean of Hara’ayon Hayehudi yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer turns 71… CEO of the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, he is co-founder of Times of Israel, Seth Klarman turns 69… New York Times contributing opinion writer, Jeffrey Toobin turns 66… Founder and publisher of City & State NY, Thomas Allon turns 64… Director of antisemitism education and associate director of the Israel Action Program, both at Hillel International, Tina Malka… Actor, artist and playwright, Lisa Edelstein turns 60… Former head of Dewey Square’s sports business practice, now a freelance writer, Frederic J. Frommer… Author and journalist, she was a reporter with The New York Times for eight years, Amy Waldman turns 57… U.S. cyclist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, she is now the executive director of the New England Mountain Bike Association, Nicole Freedman turns 54… President and CEO of the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Darin McKeever… University chaplain for NYU and inaugural chief rabbi of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna turns 48… Founder of Agora Global Advisory, Brandon Pollak… Executive vice president and chief legal officer at Sinclair Inc., David Gibber… Professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, Scott Joel Aaronson turns 45… President of Mo Digital, Mosheh Oinounou… Los Angeles-born, raised in Israel, international fashion model for Versace, Sharon Ganish turns 43… CEO of CreoStrat, Steve Miller… Windsurfer who represented Israel in the Olympics, she is now an energy management program manager at SolarEdge, Maayan Davidovich turns 38… Player on the USC team that won the 2016 NCAA National Soccer Championship, she is now an associate in the L.A. office of Foley & Lardner, Savannah Levin turns 31… Comedian, actor and writer, known for starring in the HBO Max series “Hacks,” Hannah Marie Einbinder turns 31… COO at the Yael Foundation, Naomi Kovitz…
