Your Daily Phil: Landmark mapping study finds glaring waste in Israeli food aid
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine a new landmark study mapping Israel’s food-aid network that finds waste and poor oversight, and report on Tel Aviv University removing the Sackler name from its last remaining department. We feature an opinion piece by Rabbi Adir Yolkut about taking an honest look at how Judaism shows up in our organizations’ work and internal practices, and a piece by Lotem Eilon wraps up our preview of essays from “Cultivating Jewish Peoplehood at Camp,” the latest edition of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education’s Peoplehood Papers series, produced in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp. Also in this issue: David A. Halperin and Michael J. Koplow, Robert Tafeen and Stan Adelstein.
Shabbat shalom!
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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
The Docu.Text Festival kicks off on Sunday at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
Inefficiency, insufficiency and paucity of useful data — these are the regular findings of studies into social endeavors, be it education, welfare, combating antisemitism or poverty. But a new report into Israel’s nonprofit food-aid network is far from yet another banal critique of the effort to address hunger and malnutrition; it is a blaring red flag, raising serious questions about waste, egregious redundancies and a pronounced absence of government oversight for a field with major repercussions on health care, education and the economy.
Published in the journal Food Policy, the article, “Philanthropic food assistance in high-income countries: Lessons from Israel’s food-aid network,” offers what it describes as the first national mapping of the philanthropy-backed organizations that provide food assistance to the 2.8 million people, including more than 1 million children, whom Israel’s National Insurance Institute found were unable to afford sufficient or sufficiently nutritious food in 2024 — representing 27.1% of the population.
Reviewing the financial documents of all Israeli food security nonprofits, the authors — professor Aron Troen and Moran Accos of the Hebrew University, alongside Orly Tamir from Sheba Medical Center — find that there is enough funding in the field to have a significantly greater impact than there is and that there are far, far more food-aid organizations than can reasonably be justified. The current system, Troen told eJewishPhilanthropy this week, is wasteful and instead of solving an “acute need,” it is “designed now to create chronic dependency,” with recipients of food aid unable to improve their situation. “And that is going to kill Israel,” he said. “We are on the wrong course.”
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
News
CLEAN SLATE
Tel Aviv U. removes Sackler name from science faculty — the final department still named for the opioid-tied family
Tel Aviv University has removed the name of the Sackler family from its Faculty of Exact Sciences, the final department on its campus that was still named for the family tied to the U.S. opioid crisis, the school said on Thursday, noting that its removal cleared the way for a major new naming donation, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet.
De-Sacklering: The move closes out a relationship that ran for half a century and follows the same path the university took with its medical faculty — a renaming that preceded a $125 million gift last year, the largest in TAU’s history.
Opinion
PRACTICAL TORAH
Facade or foundation: Examining the ‘Jewish’ in our Jewish organizations
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Rabbi Adir Yolkut, vice president of Jewish learning at Leading Edge, marks the start of the Hebrew month of Elul with timely teaching from 17th-century Polish kabbalist Rabbi Natan Nata Shapira.
“Elul asks us to be honest about where we’ve fallen short before we can move forward — to carry our brokenness rather than pretend it isn’t there — because it’s only in pairing what’s broken with what’s whole that we actually learn anything. I think our field can do that same work. We can look honestly at the places where our Jewish identity has become decorative rather than foundational, and we can choose, with intention and a spirit of inclusion, to close that gap.”
PEOPLEHOOD PAPERS
The radical act of presence
Lotem Eilon, director of education for the Summer Shlichim Program at the Jewish Agency for Israel, reflects on her own experience as a shlicha (Israeli emissary) and the role of these young Israelis in the Jewish camp “bubble.”
“When an Israeli staff member first arrives, there is often a quiet, internal pressure to be the ‘perfect’ representative of Israel. What we often forget is that as Israeli staff, we aren’t just international visitors at camp — we are stepping into our extended global family. … I realized that my impact wasn’t about the facts I knew, but about the choice to be genuinely present.”
Worthy Reads
Drying Up: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Mark Dobosz draws attention to what he sees as “the most consequential threat to the long-term health of the philanthropic sector” after four decades in the field. “Senior fundraisers — the relationship architects, legacy builders, and mission storytellers who have spent careers learning the art of transformational giving — are retiring. Not only are we not replacing them, but we are failing to attract young professionals into the field. And as the pipeline narrows from both ends, the transactional, quota-driven, relentlessly metrics-obsessed culture we have built is accelerating the exodus of those still in the middle.”
Beyond Borders: In The Times of Israel, Israel Policy Forum’s David A. Halperin and Michael J. Koplow argue that Israel’s Oct. 27 election carries unique consequences for American Jews as much as for Israelis. “This is new and frightening territory for American Jews, and what makes it worse is that the ability to alter this trajectory lies partially halfway across the world. Because while part of what is taking place is the age-old and all-too-familiar story of antisemitism that has plagued Jews across time and space, part of it is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have destroyed much of Israel’s credibility and goodwill across the American political and demographic spectrums.”
Major Gifts
A three-year, $430,000 grant from The Leon Levine Foundation will underwrite the first executive director, early programming and student leadership roles at Clemson University‘s new professionally staffed Hillel, which will launch this fall after years of being a student-led operation…
The OpenAI Foundation is committing $100 million to a new program that will use AI tools to expand access to advanced medical treatments for underserved patients…
Transitions
Word on the Street
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani promoted a forthcoming municipal antisemitism plan his office will unveil next month, days after rabbis pressed him in a roundtable to soften his rhetoric on Israel, reports Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman…
Jared Kushner is expected to visit Israel and Egypt next week to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on advancing the next phase of the Gaza plan…
A California bill to require state agencies to include “Jewish” as an ethnicity option on all forms that collect demographic data — which would make it the first state to formally treat Jewishness as more than a religion — cleared a key committee vote Thursday and now heads to the State Assembly…
Bloomberg reports Anthropic, the developer of the Claude chatbot, is in talks to acquire Israeli AI startup Decart for as much as $6 billion…
A federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit accusing Harvard of failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students, ruling the cited incidents were too isolated and episodic to show an ongoing Title VI violation…
The Diamond Family Foundation is launching a weeklong Aspen recovery retreat later this month that will gather 12 Israel Defense Forces veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder; the program is in memory of Columbus, Ohio, philanthropist and Yom Kippur War veteran Ari Deshe who died in April…
New Jersey awarded the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey $2 million in state funds to bolster community security programs run by Jewish federations statewide…
German airline Condor resumed operations at Ben Gurion Airport last weekend, well ahead of most American and European carriers and framing the move as a bet on the travel market’s long-term potential despite ongoing security and operational risks…
Toms River, N.J., resident, Leor Moshe, 43, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to wire fraud for defrauding more than 97 investors — mainly members of his Orthodox Jewish community — of some $47 million in what the U.S. attorney described as a Ponzi-like scheme…
Stan Adelstein, a philanthropist and moderate Republican who served in the South Dakota state Senate and gave widely to cultural and Jewish causes across the Black Hills, died yesterday at 94…
Pic of the Day
A delegation of Israeli search-and-rescue, medical and logistics soldiers prepares to fly to Colombia last night after a deadly earthquake there on Monday.
Birthdays
Daniela Lily Amodei, president of Anthropic, sister of the CEO, turns 39
Dorothy Katz Wiggins, social media influencer, she appears regularly on both Instagram and TikTok, turns 101
Frederic Michael Raphael, American-born British novelist, biographer, journalist and Oscar-winning screenwriter, turns 95
David Samson, former attorney general of New Jersey and chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, turns 87
Carol Levin, president of the Hampton Synagogue until 2024 and former board member of the UJA-Federation of New York
Jay Edward Horwitz, historian and VP of alumni relations for MLB’s New York Mets, the press box at Citi Field is named in his honor, turns 81
Charles D. Lavine, member of the New York State Assembly since 2005, turns 79
Ester R. Fuchs, professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, turns 75
Henry Brem, M.D., professor of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, turns 74
Richard Mark Gergel, U.S. district court judge in South Carolina, he is the co-author of a book on the early Jews of Columbia, S.C., turns 72
Dani Rodrik, Turkish-born economist and professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, turns 69
Harry Slatkin, home fragrance and décor guru, turns 66
Martin J. Sweet, lecturer at Purdue University, turns 56
Adam Goldman, winner of three Pulitzer Prizes as a journalist, turns 53
Raphaela Neihausen, filmmaker and producer, she is the executive director of DOC NYC, a major documentary film festival in NYC, turns 50
Jeremy Scott Wynes, VP at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, he was an AIPAC and Republican Jewish Coalition staffer who ran for Congress in 2018
Scott Lipsky, professional tennis player for 15 years, primarily a doubles specialist, now an assistant athletic director, turns 45
Boris Epshteyn, personal counsel to President Donald Trump, turns 44
Mila Kunis, Ukrainian-born actor, she moved to Los Angeles at age 7 and has appeared in dozens of films, turns 43
Rachel Kohn, opinion editor at eJewishPhilanthropy, turns 42
Adam D’Angelo, internet entrepreneur and former CTO at Facebook, he is the co-founder and CEO of Quora, turns 42
Maxwell “Max” Oren Seibald, retired lacrosse player, he played for ten seasons in Major League Lacrosse and for Team Israel in 2018, turns 39
Jacob Lefkowitz, managing director at Marcus & Associates Executive Recruiters
Ryan Smith
Dylan Cooper
Tim Carney
Yitzhak Shimon Wasserlauf, member of Knesset for Otzma Yehudit, he serves as the minister for the development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, turns 34
Dylan Cooper
SATURDAY:
Irvin Farber, Philadelphia resident
Stephen Breyer, retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice, turns 88
Allen Weisselberg, former CFO of The Trump Organization, turns 79
Chaim Chesler, founder and chairman of the Executive Committee of Limmud FSU, he has also served as treasurer of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization, turns 77
Rabbi Samuel K. Joseph, professor emeritus of Jewish education and leadership development at Hebrew Union College, turns 76
Selwyn Gerber, economist, CPA, investment advisor and founding member of wealth advisor RVW Wealth LLC
William Crary “Bill” Weidman, Colorado resident, he is an artist and avid mountain biker
David A. Sherman, chairman of Benj. E. Sherman & Sons, he is the immediate past chair of Israel Policy Forum, turns 66
Dr. Dario Perugia, orthopedic and trauma surgeon in Rome, turns 64
Rabbi Mario Karpuj, co-founding rabbi of Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Ga.
Debra Messing, Emmy Award-winning actor, she played Grace Adler on the 11-season sitcom “Will & Grace,”, turns 58
Elyse Spector Kalmans, immediate past board chair of Holocaust Museum Houston, turns 57
Margot Ettlinger, chief development officer for the Birthright Israel Foundation
Benjamin Noah Silverman, co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate, turns 56
Joshua Paul Groban, associate justice of the California Supreme Court since 2019, turns 53
Elaine Goodman Luria, member of the House of Representatives (D-VA) for four years ending in 2023, turns 51
Meir Neuberger, real estate and business law attorney in the Baltimore law firm of Rosen Neuberger Lehmann
Raz Meirman-Baruch, senior director at Teva Pharmaceuticals, he was an international model for Armani and appeared in the Israeli versions of “The Amazing Race” and “Dancing with the Stars,” turns 49
Adam Rittenberg, national college football reporter for ESPN, turns 45
Rachel Sterne Haot, chief of staff at Los Angeles-based Bedrock, turns 43
Lex Fridman, computer scientist at MIT and podcaster, he interviews notable figures from science, technology, sports and politics, turns 43
Rachel Spekman, career counselor
Grier Hayden Hopkins, member of the Alaska House of Representatives until 2023, now mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, turns 43
Yael Wissner-Levy, chief communications officer at AI-native cybersecurity company Tenzai
Tali Rubinstein, contemporary jazz and classical recorder player, vocalist, composer and educator, turns 42
Adam Jason Katz, co-founder of Irenic Capital Management
Talia Siegel, freelance designer
Jon Moscot, MLB pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 and 2016, he played for Team Israel in the 2020 Summer Olympics, he is now a VP at a private equity firm, turns 35
Justin Goldberger, VP of technology policy at Retail Industry Leaders Association
Ezra Mosseri, founder and managing partner at Ezra Venture Group
Joe Farry
David Summer
SUNDAY:
Barbara Dale Underwood, solicitor general of New York, turns 82
Shira Ann Scheindlin, retired judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, she is currently of counsel at Boies Schiller Flexner, turns 80
Brad Sham, sportscaster known as the “voice of the Dallas Cowboys,”, turns 77
Josh Bolten, president and CEO of the Business Roundtable, he was previously the White House chief of staff in the Bush 43 administration, turns 72
Rona E. Kramer, secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging from 2015 to 2023, turns 72
Gerald Platt
Sol Levine, media consultant
Eliezer Shkedi, former commander of the Israeli Air Force and later CEO of El Al, turns 69
Steven C. Demby, shareholder in the Denver office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and an AIPAC board member
Scott David Malkin, founder of Value Retail Plc and co-owner of the NHL’s New York Islanders, his sister is married to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), turns 68
Martha Mendoza, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Associated Press, turns 60
Bonnie Bernstein, founder of Walk Swiftly Productions, she spent 17 years on-air at ESPN/ABC and CBS covering the Super Bowl, NBA playoffs and MLB playoffs, turns 56
Caron Bernstein, Johannesburg, South Africa-born model, actor and singer-songwriter living in NYC, turns 56
Michael Grunwald, award-winning journalist, currently an opinion columnist for The New York Times
David E. Zuckerman, former lieutenant governor of Vermont, turns 55
Vladimir Beliak, member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, turns 53
Carmel Shama-HaCohen, mayor of Ramat Gan, Israel, he served as a member of the Knesset and as Israel’s ambassador to the OECD, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, turns 53
Kami Troy, board member of the Torah School of Greater Washington
Sarah Hofstetter, senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group
Gil Oved, co-founder and co-CEO of The Creative Counsel, South Africa’s largest advertising agency, turns 51
Jonathan Lipshutz, political and public relations consultant based in Albuquerque, N.M.
Matthew J. Silverstein, producer with Reuters News Agency
Adina Taylor, research analyst at Fidelity Investments
Nathan David “Nate” Cohn, chief political analyst for “The Upshot” at The New York Times, turns 38
Julian Olidort, VP at BlackRock
Anna Dubinsky, studio manager at Barre3 Bethesda and founder of Atom, LLC
Phillip Schermer, founder and CEO at Project Healthy Minds
Diego Schwartzman, Argentine former professional tennis player, he has ranked as high as No. 8 in the world, turns 34
Rachel Berman
Katherine Dolgenos O’Donnell, associate in the D.C. office of Eversheds Sutherland
Jack Metzger, member of AJR, an indie pop multi-instrumentalist trio, together with his two brothers, turns 29
Galit Tassi Imbo, VP at Tier One Rankings, she was the executive assistant to the ambassador at the Israeli Embassy in Washington
Cooper Boyar, director of public affairs at J Street
Ellen Weissfeld
Marshall Cohen
Dave Jacobsen
