Your Daily Phil: JFN study uncovers shambolic efforts to combat antisemitism
Add EJP on GoogleGood Friday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we look at the stakes for the Jewish communal world in the United Nations General Assembly. We speak with American Israeli historian Adam Ferziger about his new book on the North American religious figures who have played pivotal roles in Israeli society and report on the recent remarks by one of the key architects of the Trump administration’s deals with universities over antisemitism allegations. We feature an opinion piece by Andrés Spokoiny about the state of the field of “anti-antisemitism”; Rabbi Nicole Guzik reflects on the experience of trailblazing female clergy in the Conservative movement; and Matt Fieldman joins eJP readers responding to M2’s “Hope Study” by sharing what gives him hope. Also in this issue: George Soros, Eric Cohen and Robert Kraft.
Shabbat shalom!
What We’re Watching
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is addressing the U.N. General Assembly beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
The traveling Nova exhibition opens today in Boston.
In London, center-left political figures from around the world are gathering for the Global Progress Action Summit, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Fred Hochberg, who led the Export-Import Bank of the United States under President Barack Obama.
On Sunday, the National Library of Israel, together with the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center and the International March of the Living, will hold a ceremony commemorating the Babyn Yar massacre on its 84th anniversary. At the event, never-before-seen documents from the atrocity will be shown to the public.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
With his back against the U.N. General Assembly’s green marble wall, so to speak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the focus of attention this morning as he addresses the plenum. He is expected to discuss the growing number of Western countries recognizing Palestinian statehood, the mounting criticism of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which is increasingly being referred to internationally as a “genocide,” as well as calls within his government to annex portions of the West Bank. This will also be his first speech since Israel’s war with Iran this summer and comes as Israel is reportedly nearing a security agreement with Syria.
Netanyahu’s speech — and the policies that it represents — will have profound significance on the American Jewish communal world as it supports Israel through its advocacy work and philanthropy.
The prime minister is, again, not scheduled to meet with American Jewish leaders during this trip, which runs through Monday, according to William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which normally organizes such gatherings. This will be the fifth time that Netanyahu will forgo a sit-down discussion with U.S. Jewish officials.
While Jewish leaders will not meet with Netanyahu, they have been meeting extensively with other world leaders, discussing issues related to combating antisemitism and the Jewish community, as well as Israel.
Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, met with French President Emmanuel Macron during the General Assembly. Macron, who helped lead the push to recognize Palestinian statehood, has been deemed persona non grata by many American Jewish leaders, who took exception to his foreign minister’s offer to meet them only after the decision was announced this summer. The American Jewish Committee’s Jared Isaacson also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York.
Daroff met with a number of world leaders, including the presidents of Paraguay and Poland and the Serbian foreign minister.
AGENTS OF CHANGE
New book examines the 8 North Americans who have reshaped Israeli Judaism
For the past 50 years, a small cadre of North American Jews has been radically reshaping the Israeli religious milieu, introducing the country to a more open New World Orthodoxy, which has been changing and adapting to fit the Middle East climate. In his new book, Agents of Change: American Jews and the Transformation of Israeli Judaism, Bar-Ilan University historian Adam Ferziger tracks eight so-called “agents of change,” from their beginnings in the United States and Canada through their arrivals in Israel in the late 1960s and early 1970s and their decades of activities in Israel, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Building bridges: Their names will be immediately familiar to English-speaking progressive religious Jews: Rabbanit Malka Bina, Rabbi Chaim Brovender, Rabbi Daniel Hartman, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein, Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, and Rabbi Daniel Tropper. But, according to Ferziger, their influence extends far beyond that admittedly small world of Modern Orthodoxy, particularly when considering the effects that they had on their students, many of whom went off to found their own initiatives, which were influenced by their American Jewish teachers’ sensibilities. According to Ferziger, these American Israeli leaders offer more than just a window to understand the Israeli religious landscape. “For American Jews who are not Orthodox, these people could be bridgers or can be people who can create certain types of alliances,” Ferziger said.
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Trump higher ed policy architect May Mailman explains antisemitism settlements
The Trump administration’s settlements with Ivy League universities, negotiated in response to alleged violations of federal civil rights law, are meant primarily as an attention-grabbing measure — a way to get more people to pay attention to President Donald Trump’s aggressive approach to tackling discrimination in higher education, according to an architect of those settlements, reports Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
A serious fine: These deals have included commitments from the universities on antisemitism policy, race-based hiring and admissions standards and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. “A settlement on its own without a fine might not be taken as seriously by the public or by other universities as when there is a fine,” May Mailman, a conservative attorney who until last month served as a senior White House strategist, told The New York Times’ Ross Douthat on an episode of his “Interesting Times” podcast that was released yesterday. “These are small dollar figures compared to the amounts that they are getting every year from the federal government and from their donors — but I think it provides a seriousness and a focus on these in ways that promises only wouldn’t.”
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
A VIEW OF THE FIELD
In the fight against antisemitism, passion isn’t enough
“We have been observing and studying the evolving field of anti-antisemitism for quite some time. Recently, my organization, the Jewish Funders Network, commissioned a study led by Eitan Hersh of Tufts University to add more rigor to our observations,” writes Andrés Spokoiny in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “The research examined 160 organizations that claim to combat antisemitism and the top 25 funders in the field.”
Real talk: “JFN is not prescriptive: We don’t tell funders what to do, and we don’t presume to own the truth. However, given our position, we hold a mirror to the community, and in the spirit of honesty, I can say that the image we see is a messy one. … [O]ver 50% of the organizations we looked at haven’t established clear, realistic parameters of success. Many organizations measure success in terms of ‘views on social media’ or ‘engagement,’ but few, if any, examine whether their work has resulted in an effective reduction of antisemitic incidents. In many cases, people haven’t even defined what their organizations actually do.”
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
Forty years later: Celebrating the sisterhood of female clergy
“Forty years ago, the Conservative movement ordained its first female rabbi. Now, roughly half of the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is composed of female rabbis, about 50% of Conservative rabbinical and cantorial students are women, and women also make up about half of Conservative synagogue presidents,” writes Rabbi Nicole Guzik, the first woman to hold the title of co-senior rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “These women are rewriting the norms of what leadership looks like; and they show other women that leadership can thrive when collaboration replaces competition.”
In the beginning: “When I graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2009, roughly 30% of my classmates were female. We knew we were the token ‘female rabbi’ wherever we went. … While sexism still certainly exists, most positions are no longer seen as the ‘woman rabbi’ or ‘female cantor’ job. But for years, I’d seen the competition between women in the workplace — women pushing each other down to get premier positions. Because of the individuals that came before us, the journey today for women in the rabbinate and cantorate is not as difficult. Perfect, no — but so much better, due to the camaraderie we are choosing.”
READER RESPONDS
Working to build interfaith bridges gives me hope
“The recent M² “Hope Study” made waves by showing how many Jewish communal professionals feel discouraged, lack hope, worry about internal division and struggle to see a clear future. Yet, the study also found that Jewish professionals remain committed to their work because they see the difference it makes in people’s lives. I recognize that paradox,” writes Matt Fieldman, co-founder and executive director of Rekindle, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “In fact, it’s what sustains me at Rekindle year after year, even as I hold down a full-time job outside the Jewish community.”
Ripple effects: “Like many, I worry about how the institutional Jewish world and our legacy organizations can respond to this moment with the speed, compassion and nuance it deserves. But what’s given me hope are the many Rekindle partners on the ground across the country — from small ADL chapters, to one-person JCRCs, to our volunteer leaders who have taken it upon themselves to reignite Black-Jewish dialogue in their cities and regions. These folks are taking on one more responsibility in their already-busy lives, and they’re doing a phenomenal job. … That such changemakers exist, and simply need the right tools to feel empowered, should give us all hope.”
Worthy Reads
Succession Planning in the Parsha: In The Times of Israel, Mordechai Silverstein shares two midrashim connected to this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayelech: one about the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua, and the other about the lack of information about exactly where Moses was buried. “Taken together, these two midrashim offer a profound vision of Jewish leadership. On the one hand, a leader must prepare successors, ensuring that Torah continues beyond their lifetime. On the other hand, the community must resist the temptation to sanctify leaders themselves. Continuity is safeguarded, and idolatry is rejected. The true measure of leadership, then, is not only what a leader achieves in life, but how the people continue after their passing — faithful to Torah, guided by new voices, and steadfast in remembering that only God is eternal.” [TOI]
Please Be Patient: In Inside Philanthropy, Lauren McKown encourages global health philanthropy to embrace longer timelines for change as it attempts to not only fill the gaps left by eliminated USAID contracts and foreign aid from other countries, but support the creation of something more self-sustaining. “Ensuring strong global health systems is going to take patient, flexible capital, largely from philanthropy, as countries work toward increasing domestic financing for health. But too often, philanthropists are reticent to partner on longer timelines. … Until we expand our scope of thinking about the problem, recognizing that progress in bridging the financing gap will likely take 10 or 15 years rather than a two-to-three-year grant cycle, we cannot have a productive conversation about what driving success in sustainable health gains looks like. … Philanthropy cannot and should not replace bilateral aid — but it can do what aid could not and accompany the building of something new and better. It can move faster, take risks, and stand behind local leaders whose plans are investable and ready.” [InsidePhilanthropy]
Connect the Dots: Sometimes good leadership involves spotting the gaps between front-line efforts and back-end data, writes Marcus Ippolito in Blue Avocado. “Everyone’s had their ‘crash’ moments. A database that freezes. A shipment that misses the dock. A report that’s wrong the night before a board meeting. But what I’ve learned to watch for is the quiet failure. The breakdown that doesn’t make noise — but erodes everything underneath. It’s the client call that doesn’t get logged. The pantry visit that never gets recorded. The donor follow-up that never happens because the note was buried in someone’s email. It’s the fundraiser who doesn’t trust the program data. The analyst who doesn’t know what the field team is going through. The grant writer waiting three weeks for a number that lives in someone’s head. No big explosions. Just silence. Until trust slips — and no one knows why.” [BlueAvocado]
Word on the Street
The Justice Department is pressing federal prosecutors to investigate George Soros’ Open Society Foundations…
In The Wall Street Journal, Tikvah Fund President and CEO Eric Cohen explains how the organization will use its recent grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the largest in the endowment’s history, to counter antisemitism…
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is selling an 8% stake in the NFL team, which was valued at $9 billion…
Gene Simmons, Lisa Edelstein and Mayim Bialik were among the more than 1,200 artists and media industry names who signed onto a letter opposing a recent call by other Hollywood figures to boycott Israeli film institutions…
A new study by the World Jewish Restitution Organization found that U.S. museums are now providing less information than they used to about the provenance of Nazi-looted art, which the group says hinders restitution efforts…
The Financial Times spotlights major donations being made in the United Kingdom by American philanthropists, including a recent $200 million gift to London’s National Gallery by Sir Michael Moritz, a Jewish venture capitalist who was born in Wales but now lives in the United States, and his wife, Harriet Heyman…
Netflix released the trailer for the second season of “Nobody Wants This,” in which Adam Brody stars as a rabbi dating a non-Jewish podcaster played by Kristen Bell, premiering Oct. 23…
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, attended his first Rosh Hashanah service on Monday night at a Brooklyn synagogue well-known for its anti-Zionist activism, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports…
The Union of European Football Associations, of which Israel is a member along with a handful of other non-European countries, is slated to vote next week on banning Israel’s national soccer team…
Microsoft ended the access given to the IDF’s Unit 8200 to its Azure cloud platform, alleging the IDF violated the company’s terms of service by storing surveillance information in the cloud; the termination comes after protests at Microsoft’s headquarters, including a sit-in in the office of President Brad Smith…
Major Gifts
The Leslie J. Raffel Foundation committed $2.5 million to Indiana University Bloomington to establish an endowed chair in its Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism…
Transitions
Brian Hermelin was elected president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Detroit…
Pic of the Day
Hundreds of local Jews and representatives from countries around the world gathered in Kyiv’s Jewish Community Center on the first night of Rosh Hashanah for a festive meal led by the Ukrainian capital’s chief rabbi, Yonatan Markovitch.
During the holiday, Russia conducted a strike on the city, reportedly using more than 150 suicide drones.
“The Jewish community gathered as one on Rosh Hashanah to pray for a brighter future for Ukraine and for Jews around the world,” Markovitch said at the gathering. “Precisely under the shadow of war, it carries deep meaning that the community radiates strength and faith as we welcome a new year that, with Hashem’s help, will bring peace and tranquility.”
Birthdays
Co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Arthur M. Blank turns 83 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Stage, film and television actor, he is best known as “The Most Interesting Man in the World” appearing in Dos Equis beer commercials, Jonathan Goldsmith turns 87… CEO of Israel Longhorn Project, dedicated to bringing Texas longhorn cattle to Israel, Robin Rosenblatt turns 77… Five Towns (N.Y.) resident, Barry Mandel… Former chairman and CEO of the French engineering conglomerate Alstom, he is the son of Holocaust survivors, Patrick Kron turns 72… Senior political advisor to President Bill Clinton during his second term and co-author of a New York Times best-seller on the future of politics in the U.S., Doug Sosnik turns 69… Chairman of Huntington National Bank and Chairman of Jewish Federations of North America, Gary H. Torgow turns 69… Teaneck-resident with a Jersey City dental practice, Paul Lustiger, DDS… Historian, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Robert Kagan turns 67… Chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Mark Isakowitz turns 59… Professional poker player with four World Series of Poker bracelets, his lifetime winnings exceed $13.9 million, Josh Arieh turns 51… Men’s basketball head coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas starting this year, he was the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year, Josh Pastner turns 48… CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, David G. Greenfield turns 47… Former communications director for N.Y. Gov. Paterson, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Congresswoman Jane Harman, she now heads a New York City based PR firm, Risa Beth Heller turns 46… Television host and producer, in 2020 he came in second on Dancing with the Stars, Yaniv “Nev” Schulman turns 41… New York City-based senior editor of global digital video programming at Bloomberg LP, Henry Seltzer… Associate director of policy and government affairs at AIPAC, Joshua Nason… Joanna Weiss DiMarco turns 35… Senior director of development at Tamid Group, Alec Deer… Director of strategic initiatives at the National Black Empowerment Council, Marvel Joseph…
SATURDAY: Of counsel, business litigator at the Jaszczuk law firm, Stephen J. Landes turns 80… Board member of the Milken Family Foundation, Ellen Sandler… Chairman of the Victoria Beckham fashion brand, Ralph Toledano turns 74… Longtime Washington correspondent, he is the author of books on Israel’s defense, intelligence and diplomatic services, Dan Raviv turns 71… President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond until 2017, he was a recent chair of the Richmond Jewish Foundation, Jeffrey M. Lacker turns 70… President of public relations firm BGR (Barbour, Griffith & Rogers), Jeffrey H. Birnbaum turns 69… Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003 until earlier this year, he is married to a Minneapolis rabbi, Marcia A. Zimmerman, Frank Hornstein turns 66… Comedian and author, he used to be a frequent guest on both Letterman and Conan O’Brien, Marc Maron turns 62… Chief rabbi of France since 2014, Rabbi Haïm Korsia turns 62… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005, she was chairperson of the DNC until 2016, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) turns 59… Literary and film publicist based in Israel, she is also the publisher of Intelligentsia Books, Judy Tashbook Safern… President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Michael Balaban turns 59… President of NBC News Editorial, Rebecca Blumenstein turns 59… Hockey reporter for Sportsnet and as an insider for the NHL Network, Elliotte Friedman turns 55 on Saturday… Israel’s special envoy for innovation, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum turns 52… Author of four books on North Africa and the Middle East and president of The Center for Peace Communications, Joseph Braude… Musician, actress, writer, director and comedian, Carrie Rachel Brownstein turns 51… State Treasurer of Ohio from 2011 until 2019, Josh Mandel turns 48… Architect, entrepreneur and author, Marc Kushner turns 48… Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the D.C. suburbs, Daniel Isaac Helmer turns 44… SVP and rabbi-in-residence at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Rori Picker Neiss… Advisory manager for cyber and strategic risk at Deloitte, she was previously a Hebrew teacher and coordinator of Jewish programs at Zeta Beta Tau, Alexa Wertman Brown… Actor best known for his role as Geoff Schwartz in 161 episodes of ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” Sam Lerner turns 33…
SUNDAY: International Emmy award-winning Scottish television producer, Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs turns 93… Former governor of Vermont (the first Jewish woman elected to govern any state), she was also the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, Madeleine May Kunin turns 92… Physician and theoretical biologist, he was a 1987 MacArthur genius fellow, Stuart Kauffman turns 86… Former president of Warner Home Video, Warren Lieberfarb turns 82… French businessman who, with his brother, own the controlling interest in the House of Chanel and several famous vineyards, Alain Wertheimer turns 77… Real estate agent in New York’s Hudson Valley, Jerry Weiss… Teaneck, N.J.-based real estate attorney, Gary E. Miller… Physician and U.S. Senator (R-LA), Bill Cassidy turns 68… Pediatrician and author of the book Winning A Debate with An Israel Hater about the fight against BDS, Dr. Michael Harris… Best-selling author of more than 25 books, he is also a magazine journalist, Ben Greenman turns 56… President and CEO of the JCC Association of North America, Barak Hermann… Area director for San Diego and Orange counties for AIPAC, Elliott Nahmias… Winner of four Olympic gold medals in swimming for the USA (2000 and 2004), Leonid “Lenny” Krayzelburg turns 50… News editor and correspondent at Voice of America, Michael Lipin… Israeli Ironman triathlete, Nina Pekerman turns 48… SVP at the Katz Watson Group, Lauren France… Director of field marketing for the Anti-Defamation League, Samantha Collidge… Regional director for the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition, Hadassa Levenson Korn… VP of operations at Tel Aviv-based iAngels, Ayelet Cohen… 2023 graduate of Yale Law School and author of a coming-of-age novel set in the Modern Orthodox community, David Hopen turns 32… Former NFL, XFL and CFL wide receiver and kick returner, Daniel Braverman turns 32…
