Your Daily Phil: Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance stands by ad after getting sacked by critics
Add EJP on GoogleGood Monday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we speak with Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance, which is standing by its recent Super Bowl commercial, despite the criticism that it has received from parts of the Jewish community. We spotlight Kesher Families, which supports Orthodox families with LGBTQ+ children, as the organization expands. We feature an opinion piece by Rabbi Micah Greenland about supporting Jewish students for whom antisemitic bullying is a daily concern, another by David Weissmann about how generative AI is changing how the Jewish community holds its debates, and one by Erica N. Hruby and Beth Lipschutz spotlighting a mental health “first aid” training program for teens. Also in this issue: Omar Yahya, Patrick Drahi and Robyn Markowitz Lawler.
What We’re Watching
The Jewish Federations of North America is kicking off its three-day FedPro conference for Jewish federation employees’ professional development in Phoenix.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog kicked off a four-day visit to Australia today, beginning with a memorial service for victims of December’s Bondi Beach terror attacks.
What You Should Know
The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate’s widely watched Super Bowl commercial last night designed to combat antisemitism instead sparked a heated divide within the Jewish community over the effectiveness of its message, reports Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Titled “Sticky Note,” the ad from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s group featured a Jewish student being harassed by his high school classmates because of his religion, with bullies placing a “dirty Jew” sticker on his backpack. In a show of allyship, a Black classmate puts a blue square over the note. “Do not listen to that,” he tells his Jewish classmate. “I know how it feels.”
A chorus of commentators criticized the advertisement, which is part of a $15 million media campaign that will also include ad spots during the Winter Olympics, for depicting Jews as victims in need of protection from non-Jews and for avoiding the reality that the source of many antisemitic incidents in schools stem from hostility toward or hatred of Israel.
But the leader of Kraft’s group told eJP that the ad wasn’t trying to appeal to a Jewish audience. Instead, Blue Square Alliance’s president, Adam Katz, told eJP that with more than 100 million viewers, the Super Bowl provides an opportunity to reach an audience that is “unengaged — and in many cases uninformed —- about antisemitism … We’re very focused on this audience that’s lacking awareness, empathy and motivation to act,” he said.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Antisemitism Research also responded to the flurry of negative feedback to the commercial by running its own test last week, and shared the results exclusively with eJP. (ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was one of the first Jewish leaders to praise the message of the advertisement, amid the criticism on social media.)
The survey research, according to the ADL, found that the group that saw the antisemitism ad said they were notably more likely to “think antisemitism is a serious problem,” interrupt friends or family who make antisemitic comments and feel more motivated to fight antisemitism.
Leading up to the Super Bowl, Katz said Blue Square ran focus groups mostly consisting of non-Jewish and racially diverse Gen Zers and millennials. “We have seen a particular rise in antisemitic sentiment among younger generations,” Katz said. “Gen Z is three times more likely to witness antisemitism but twice as likely to say it’s not a problem. How do we reach that audience and give them a visible example of allyship?”
Guide for the Perplexed
Kesher Families helps Orthodox parents with ‘Godly mission’ of embracing LGBT children
When their then 15-year-old son came out as gay 15 years ago, Rebbetzin Adeena and Rabbi Menachem Penner — then dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University — didn’t have anyone to turn to. Desperate to support their son as he shaped his identity, Adeena and Menachem finally found someone to talk to, another Orthodox rabbi who understood that their son wasn’t trying to upset them or rebel against Judaism — this was who he was, and as hard as the situation was to navigate for them, coming out was that much more difficult for him, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher. Wanting to help other families save their relationships, too, the couple founded Kesher Families in 2022, an organization that supports the parents of LGBTQ+ children, so they can be there for their kids.
Filling a need: Kesher was started because of demand. People noticed the way the Penners supported Gedalia and turned to them, yearning to learn how they too could embrace their kids. After Gedalia and Menachem appeared on the “18Forty Podcast” in 2021, speaking about their experience, calls flooded into the Penners, their table often circled with other families navigating territory they never imagined they would travel, but determined to go the journey together. “We just couldn’t handle the volume of people that were coming forward texting us and calling us,” Menachem said. “This wasn’t something that, as two individuals, we could do. We needed to bring on mental health professionals and [other Jewish leaders who were experts on the subject of supporting LGBT+ loved ones.]”
RIGHT BACK AFTER THESE MESSAGES
The morning after the Super Bowl: The reality facing today’s Jewish teens
“This year’s Super Bowl wasn’t just about football. It wasn’t just touchdowns and halftime shows. For millions of Americans tuning in to watch the biggest event on television, it was also a moment of exposure — however fleeting — to a truth most of us know far too well: antisemitism is not an abstraction. It is real. It is rising. And antisemitic bullying, in school as well as online, is a reality in the lives of our children,” writes Rabbi Micah Greenland, international director of NCSY, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
What we’re seeing: “Our Jewish Student Union advisors, who operate at more than 500 schools nationwide, are often the first adults Jewish students turn to after an incident of antisemitism. Sometimes it’s a slur whispered in class. Sometimes it’s a social media post that explodes overnight. Sometimes it’s a swastika drawn where everyone can see it. These moments don’t disappear when the news cycle moves on. They linger in the minds of kids who are still figuring out who they are. [New England Patriots owner Robert] Kraft’s ad shines a light on the problem. We are grateful for that, truly. Awareness matters. Visibility matters. But real change happens when that light carries into classrooms and clubs where students are given tools, language, confidence and community.”
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Generative AI reimagines the Blue Square Super Bowl ad in real time
“The Super Bowl has been decided with a Seahawks’ decisive victory, but in the Jewish community, the conversation around the Blue Square Alliance ‘Stand Up to Jewish Hate’ commercial continues,” writes David Weissman, the vice president of media strategy at the Gova10 PR firm, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “While Robert Kraft deserves credit for investing significant resources and putting his money where his mouth is, many within the Jewish community argued the creative execution ‘missed the mark’ with an unrealistic victimization-focused depiction of Jew hate. What followed was not just backlash but a case study in how generative AI has reshaped the way these debates play out.”
Our turn: “The available technology allowed creators to do more than just gripe; they offered alternative realities and views. Instead of a half-day of backlash, creators without deep backgrounds in video production were able to respond immediately. While critics dismissed many of the AI-generated responses as ‘AI video slop,’ they successfully capture a specific moment in time for the Jewish People. … The availability of these tools allowed the community to talk back — not only with letters to the editor, but with their own vision of what Jewish strength looks like.”
AREIVUT IN ACTION
The best spotters on the front lines of teen mental health? It’s often their peers
“The National Council for Mental Wellbeing tells us that 1 in 6 youth and adolescents will experience a mental health condition in any given time, nearly half of teens (44%) report feeling persistently sad and hopeless and 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14,” write Erica N. Hruby, senior manager of national teen education and engagement at The Jewish Education Project, and Beth Lipschutz, director of education and training at Jewish Federations of North America’s BeWell initiative, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Too often, we rely on adults alone to notice warning signs and intervene, when in reality teens are usually the first to clock when something is wrong with their peers. They see the changes in mood, the missed classes, the alarming social media posts, the risky behavior at parties.”
Bridge the gap: “With the right tools, teens can help their peers. This is exactly what Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) sets out to do. … Importantly, tMHFA does not task teens with attempting to diagnose or ‘fix’ their friends; rather, it teaches them how to recognize when a peer may be struggling, how to start a supportive conversation and how to involve a trusted adult when needed. They learn to identify warning signs related to mental health and substance use, understand the impact of bullying and violence and recognize if someone is in crisis. … In the course of training, teens work through real-life scenarios, engage in honest conversation and leave with clear action plans. They gain language, confidence and clarity, often for situations they are already encountering.”
Worthy Reads
Mother of Invention: In response to a boycott preventing artwork from being loaned to Israeli institutions, the Israel Museum decided to tap into its storerooms to keep things fresh, reports Gilad Melzer in Haaretz. The resulting new exhibit of six centuries of printmaking includes works by Callot, Goya, Rembrandt, Matisse, Picasso, Warhol, Hockney, Miró — the list goes on. “While this is not an exhibition of groundbreaking innovations, revolutionary theses or pioneering research, the result is spectacular. It is rare to encounter so many masterpieces from the Champions League of the medium displayed together. Because of its reproducibility, printmaking is often the least appreciated of the visual arts. Several curatorial decisions here effectively correct that misconception.” [Haaretz]
Attraction-Selection-Attrition: In his Substack “Moneyball Judaism,” Rabbi Joshua Rabin explores why efforts to promote civility in Jewish communal life haven’t produced… well, more civility. “Of course, Jewish organizations don’t exist in a vacuum. It’s unreasonable to expect Jewish spaces to be better at difficult conversations than the world around them. But this week’s post is a thought experiment about something closer to home: whether our organizations are truly creating environments conducive to disagreement and diversity — or whether we are loudly advocating for diversity inside organizations that increasingly look, think, and feel the same.” [MoneyballJudaism]
Putting Faces to the Data: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Eden Stiffman spotlights the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, which started out as a small nonprofit studying and working to reform the criminal justice system but gained national attention (and funding) after it secured the release of a 58-year-old man imprisoned for 36 years for stealing $50 and change from a bakery. “In a state dominated by a Republican supermajority and long resistant to criminal-justice reform, Alabama Appleseed has become one of the South’s most unexpectedly effective advocacy groups. While expanding its programs, it has kept its focus narrow, zeroing in on freeing older inmates who received harsh sentences for nonviolent crimes committed decades earlier.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Word on the Street
A 25-year-old man, Omar Yahya, was shot and killed in the Arab Israeli town of Kafr Qara yesterday, bringing the number of homicides in Israel to 40 in the first 39 days of the year, 35 of whom have been Arab Israelis…
Philanthropist and media mogul Len Blavatnik has chosen to sell the Israeli television channel Reshet 13 to French Israeli telecommunications magnate Patrick Drahi, an ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
The Chronicle of Philanthropy spotlights a new ranking system for grantmakers that was developed by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, which looks at how foundations distribute their funds and not only how much…
The Times of Israel interviews William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, ahead of his organization’s mission to Israel next week…
A division of USAID — Development Innovation Ventures — which was eliminated by the Trump administration last year, is finding new life as an independent nonprofit, DIV Fund, with $48 million raised from two private donors: Coefficient Giving and an anonymous funder…
Some 4,500 women representing Chabad houses in more than 100 countries traveled to New York over the weekend for the International Conference of Shluchot…
The New York Times interviews Moshe Davis, the outgoing head of New York City’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, who expressed concerns about the future of the office under his recently named successor, Phylisa Wisdom…
El Al was fined $39 million by Israel’s Competition Authority for price-gouging in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks; the government body found that the airline raised prices on routes — a majority of which were only being served by the airline due to security concerns that resulted in widespread route suspensions by other carriers — by between 16-31%…
New documents from the “Jeffrey Epstein files” reveal the previously unknown role that the disgraced financier’s longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, played in the creation of the Clinton Global Initiative…
Additional emails that were released in the Justice Department’s latest disclosure also show that years after he pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor, Epstein helped Leon Black and Ronald Lauder create a legal vehicle so they could jointly own a $25 million painting…
Israeli music legend Matti Caspi died yesterday at 76…
Howard Bernstein, who served on the boards of several New Jersey Jewish organizations, died last month at 93…
Major Gifts
Benjamin Ellis has been elected the next chair of the board of trustees for the U.K.’s Limmud…
Robyn Markowitz Lawler was named the next executive director of the Pennsylvania State University Hillel…
Elyse Picker was hired as the managing director of national programs for the Black-Jewish partnership group Rekindle, and Sam Dickerson was hired as managing director of the group’s Cleveland programs and partnerships…
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog lay a wreath today at the site of the Hanukkah terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a four-day visit to Australia.
Birthdays
Creator of the HBO series “The Wire” (2002-2008) and NBC’s series “Homicide: Life on the Street” (1993-1999), winner of a 2010 MacArthur genius fellowship, David Judah Simon turns 66…
Grammy Award-winning songwriter of over 150 hits including “Somewhere Out There” from the movie “An American Tail,” in partnership with his late wife Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman) turns 87… Singer-songwriter, she wrote 118 songs that made it to the Top 100 between 1955 and 1999 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Carole King (born Carol Klein) turns 84… Professor of economics at Columbia University, Nobel laureate in 2001, former SVP and chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz turns 83… Three-time Tony Award and three-time Emmy Award-winning actress, Judith Light turns 77… Professor of history and modern Jewish studies at UCSD, Deborah Hertz turns 77… Israeli singer mostly in the Mizrahi music tradition, he has released over 30 albums, Shimi Tavori (born Shimshon Tawili) turns 73… Former governor of Virginia, chair of the DNC, chair of two Clinton presidential campaigns (Bill’s in 1996, Hillary’s in 2008), Terry McAuliffe, a/k/a “the Macker,” turns 69… Theoretical physics professor at Columbia University since 1996, author of multiple books written for the general public such as Icarus at the Edge of Time, Brian Greene turns 63… Isaac Lieberman… Managing director with the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, he was the lieutenant governor and then attorney general of Delaware, Matthew P. Denn turns 60… Play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s men’s college basketball and for the Toronto Blue Jays, Dan Shulman turns 59… British broadcasting executive who is currently chief content officer at the U.K.’s Channel 4, Ian Katz turns 58… Sports announcer for NBA, NFL and college basketball games on CBS, TNT and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network, Ian Eagle turns 57… President of the K-12 education portfolio at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Julie Mikuta… Assistant adjunct professor of journalism at UCLA, she was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Los Angeles Times for 16 years, Abigail Helaine “Abbe” Goldman turns 56… Managing director of AlTi Tiedemann Global, Jeffrey L. Zlot… Charleston, S.C., resident, Ellen Miriam Brandwein… Television and film actress, Margarita Levieva turns 46… Member of the Minnesota state Senate since 2011, Jeremy R. Miller turns 43… Senior director of public policy and strategy for Christians United for Israel Action Fund, Boris Zilberman… Director of development for Ben-Gurion University, Jason Pressberg… Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (D-182) since 2023, Benjamin R. Waxman turns 41… Managing partner of Precision Infrastructure Management, Thomas Szold… Brazilian chess grandmaster, André Diamant turns 36… Associate director at Merck Research Laboratories, Carly Abenstein Myar… Israeli judoka, he competed for Israel at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Baruch Shmailov turns 32… Offensive tackle for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, Jake Curhan turns 28…
