Your Daily Phil: KKL-JNF allocates NIS 859 million for northern Israel recovery
Add EJP on GoogleGood Monday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s allocation of NIS 859 million ($286.3 million) for recovery efforts in northern Israel, and have the scoop on mental health nonprofit Ohel pulling out of the purchase of Camp Lavi after outcry from campers’ parents. We feature an opinion piece by Frayda Leibtag about the evolution of Israeli philanthropy, and kick off a weeklong preview of essays from the latest edition of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education’s Peoplehood Papers series: “Cultivating Jewish Peoplehood at Camp,” produced in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp, with a piece by Diana Bloom. Also in this issue: Frimet Roth, Miriam Belsky and Reed Rayman.
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
A federal bankruptcy court in New Jersey will meet today to review a new plan for the sale of Camp Lavi in Lakewood, Pa. More on this below.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP’S JUSTIN HAYET
The board of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund approved a NIS 859 million ($286.3 million) investment plan for northern Israel, the largest outlay the organization has ever directed at the region, the group announced yesterday.
The three-year package designates the North as a single arena — stretching from the valleys of northern Israel, through the Galilee and up to the Golan Heights — and pledges funding toward infrastructure, housing, education and culture throughout the region.
With its semi-public, semi-private status, KKL-JNF has been at the center of a roiling debate in Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and resulting nearly three years of war about the role of government and philanthropy in the reconstruction process. Drawing on its large, land-funded budget, KKL-JNF has supplemented government allocations, becoming one of the central forces underwriting the North’s recovery.
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
News
SCOOP
Ohel agrees to halt purchase of Camp Lavi, allowing sale to operator who will keep it as is
After a week of turmoil in the East Coast Jewish summer camp world, a parent-led campaign persuaded Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services Inc. to hand its winning bid for Camp Lavi in Pennsylvania to the second-place bidder, ensuring that the Modern Orthodox camp will continue operating in its current format, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher has learned. A final decision will be made by the New Jersey bankruptcy court judge at 11 a.m. on Monday.
Bowing out: Camp Lavi in Lakewood, Pa., was one of more than two dozen summer camps — several of them Jewish — that went up for auction after their owners, the New York-based Shabsels brothers, declared bankruptcy in June. Initial reports of the sale of the camp to Ohel, a mental health nonprofit that primarily caters to the Orthodox community, drew concern from the stakeholders of Camp Lavi, which also primarily serves the Orthodox community. Under the emerging agreement, Ohel, which had planned to use the site to run its own programming, will drop its winning bid, allowing the camp to be sold to the runner-up, American Youth Camping, which will keep the camp as is.
Opinion
THE NEW FOUNDERS
Philanthropic entrepreneurs: Israeli giving, 13 years on
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Frayda Leibtag, a public affairs strategist based in Israel, explores the ethos of Israeli philanthropy and how giving culture and infrastructure evolved before and since the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
“Philanthropy is now being discussed not as something successful Israelis might do in retirement, but as a component of a deal itself, baked into ‘exits’ and IPOs. Younger founders are treating giving as part of their identity as builders, not a milestone to reach later. … What I could not have predicted was that the deepest cultural shift would not come from prosperity. It would come from crisis.”
PEOPLEHOOD PAPERS
What camp teaches us about accountability and belonging
Leaders interested in the development of young Jews into engaged and reliable participants in communal life should take a lesson from the way Jewish camps teach accountability “as a lived value and as an enabler of joy, not a threat to it,” writes consultant Diana Bloom, in an essay that will be featured in the latest edition of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education’s Peoplehood Papers, which was produced in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp and previewed exclusively in eJewishPhilanthropy.
“At camp, accountability lives in culture, not checklists. It is not about rigidity or compliance. It is about honoring the trust placed in us and our obligations to one another. It shows up in shared norms, clear expectations and common language. When accountability is framed as care rather than punishment, it becomes a way to help people succeed rather than a mechanism for assigning blame.”
Worthy Reads
No Signal: In The Atlantic, educator Russell Shaw laments that daily photo feeds, facial-recognition software and parent chat groups have turned summer camp into another arena for hovering, parental intervention. “Camp meant independence from home and school — and this was a feature, not a bug. Children without their parents were forced to navigate the world on their own. They learned to make friends without mediation (no play dates!), resolve conflicts without referees, and experience homesickness without rescue. But at many camps, all of that is being renegotiated.”
A Mother’s Longing: In The Times of Israel, Frimet Roth marks the 25th anniversary of the Aug. 9, 2001, Sbarro pizzeria bombing that killed her 15-year-old daughter Malki and renews her plea for the U.S. to extradite attack planner Ahlam Tamimi, who was released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal and lives freely in Jordan. “For us, though, the loss of Malki, of her radiant smile, her generous heart, her magnificent flute playing and melodious singing, her prolific artistic works, her warm embrace of everyone surrounding her – friends and family – is always a source of pain and longing.”
Team Effort: In SmartBrief’, Seth Katzen, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, encourages nonprofits to involve their communities in strategic planning efforts, citing his federation’s recent experience. “Together, we updated [the federation’s] mission and vision, identified the values that will guide our decisions and established community impact priorities to shape future investments and aspirations. Yet the most enduring impact of this process may not be found in the final report. It may be found in the relationships, understanding and trust that were strengthened along the way.”
Major Gifts
Investor Michael Moritz‘s Crankstart Foundation, with the nonprofit Lever for Change, launched a global competition offering $10 million to $50 million each to up to three organizations for workable plans to improve life in San Francisco…
Transitions
Miriam Belsky has been appointed executive vice president of the TruBob Fund, a new national initiative supporting Jewish day schools established by philanthropists Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert W. Gottesman…
Rabbi Jeremy R. Weisblatt was named CEO of The Marjorie & Lewis Katz Jewish Community Center in Margate, N.J.…
Apollo Global Management in recent months appointed partner Reed Rayman to lead its AI sector and develop relationships to help the firm land more large AI infrastructure financings, The Information reports…
Randall Fried joined California Jewish Action Network as its deputy executive director…
Sara Sternstein Hasson was hired by SAR Academy & High School as its director of development…
President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf will replace David Warrington as White House counsel effective Sept. 1, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports…
Word on the Street
Chabad of the Upper East Side and Manhattan’s 136-year-old Park East Synagogue announced a partnership that installs Chabad rabbis in the congregation’s leadership, including Rabbi Ben-Tzion Krasnianski, and brings its Young Professionals, Friendship Circle and other programs to the historic shul beginning on Rosh Hashanah…
The National Council of Jewish Women’s Arizona chapter disaffiliated from its national organization on July 1 and rebranded as the Jewish Women’s Action Alliance Arizona, opting to preserve its independent nonprofit status and local advocacy work..
The Harvard Crimson examines Harvard Chabad‘s extensive efforts and negotiations with public officials to enable its five-story Center for Jewish Life months to resolve a complex zoning issue that is still being litigated…
A House Democratic report alleges that the Trump administration‘s politically-oriented Freedom 250 nonprofit misdirected donors away from the congressionally chartered, bipartisan America250…
The U.K.’s Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Al-Khair Foundation over alleged Hamas ties and restricted its finances, after an employee of an overseas partner organization was arrested in the U.K. and charged by U.S. authorities with conspiring to provide material support to the group…
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that a wave of leadership turnover at major U.S. foundations — including the Ford Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Scherman Foundation — is bringing in CEOs expected to step out of the “back office” and take visible public roles defending grantees amid rising skepticism from populist movements and the Trump administration…
Israel revoked the travel authorizations of at least seven American Jews who joined “protective presence” efforts aiding Palestinian farmers in the West Bank…
The Associated Press spotlights the Jews of Cochin, India, as the last remaining members of the community — the majority of which moved to Israel in the 20th century — work to preserve remnants of the past…
Haverford College settled a lawsuit filed by a handful of students and the group Jews for Haverford over administrators’ handling of antisemitism on the Pennsylvania liberal arts campus…
On Friday, the American Psychological Association postponed for the second time this year a vote recognizing the Association of Jewish Psychologists as an official ethnic group, drawing condemnation from the ADL and Jewish Medical Association, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
The Information profiles Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, diving into his unorthodox leadership style and his tendency to rely on a small inner circle while ignoring outside advice — as the company approaches its IPO. Also detailed: a meeting with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump about potential Anthropic funding (Kushner passed).…
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced she will self-publish her third novel for free on her Substack…
Will Shakin, a New York-raised lone soldier who moved to Israel after the Oct. 7 terror attacks and served in Gaza, died by suicide at the age of 25 in New York after struggling with unrecognized PTSD. His family is now in talks with Israel’s Defense Ministry for a Mount Herzl military burial as he was not immediately designated a combat-trauma casualty…
Sandra Abrams, a longtime Atlanta real estate broker and philanthropist devoted to the William Breman Jewish Home and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, died Aug. 7 at 89…
Pic of the Day
A child with a disability surfs with an instructor on Friday at Charles Clore Beach in South Tel Aviv, as part of an event, “Accessible Friday at the Beach,” organized by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and the HaGal Sheli nonprofit. Jewish and Arab children from the city took part in the event, according to HaGal Sheli, which offers surf therapy to an array of populations, including at-risk groups, trauma survivors and people with physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities.
“For me, accessibility is not just a ramp or a designated chair — it is the right of every child, every adult and every family to enjoy the beach with dignity, safety and equality,” Zippi Brand Frank, deputy mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo who oversees the city’s beaches and parks, said in a statement. “The beach is a public space that belongs to all of us, and therefore it must be accessible to everyone. Accessibility is not a favor done for someone, but a basic right.”
Birthdays
Rabbi David Yosef, Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel and Rishon LeZion since 2024, turns 69
Robert N. Feldman, CEO at Royal Health Services in Beverly Hills
Shimon Schuldiner, professor emeritus of biochemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, turns 80
David Bistricer, NYC-based real estate developer, he is the founder and principal of Clipper Equity, turns 77
Gill Marcus, former governor of the South African Reserve Bank, the first woman to hold that position, turns 77
Rabbi Jack Moline, Conservative rabbi who served as executive director of the Interfaith Alliance, turns 74
Joseph S. Allerhand, retired co-leader of the securities litigation practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, he is the co-president of NYC’s Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
Edward Salkind, certified registered nurse anesthetist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Jami Bernard, author, media consultant and former film critic for the New York Post and the New York Daily News, turns 70
Danielle Spera, former director of the Jewish Museum of Vienna, she was a founder of the German-language magazine Nu devoted to Jewish politics and culture, turns 69
Steven Mitchell Glazer, former member of the California state Senate, turns 69
Andy Levin, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-MI), now a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, turns 66
Yaron Oz, professor of physics and astronomy at Tel Aviv University, turns 62
Reuven Michael Carlyle, tech entrepreneur, he served as a Washington state senator until 2023, turns 61
Jeremy Ring, former member of the Florida state Senate, he authored a book about his time as one of the first employees of Yahoo, turns 56
Sharon Afek, deputy attorney general of Israel, turns 56
Jason P. Reyes, regional chief technology officer in the South Texas office of Technologent
Eytan Sosnovich, senior director of development for the NYC-based Tikvah Fund
Sophie Vershbow, marketing and editorial consultant
Jacob Cohen, senior vice president of commodities compliance at Citibank
