Your Daily Phil: Mideast war looms over Miami confab charting U.S. Jewry’s future
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we preview Reut USA’s AJ2026 conference taking place today in Miami, aimed at envisioning the coming decade for American Jewry. We report on the launch of a new Jewish Agency fund to provide immediate grants to Israeli victims of this week’s Iranian attacks, and spotlight the work of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Israel, which finds itself thrown back into crisis mode by the current conflict with Iran and its proxies. We feature an opinion piece by Andrew Rehfeld on the two leadership models offered by the two queens in the story of Purim; another by Josh Weiner on countering antisemitism in K-12 education; and one by Robert Lichtman offering a non-rabbi’s perspective on today’s rabbi supply and demand. Also in this issue: Matthew Yglesias, Michelle Friedman and Marc Rowan.
What We’re Watching
Jerusalem celebrates Shushan Purim today.
Reut USA’s “AJ2026: Launching a Decade of Renewal” kicks off today in Miami. More on this below. If you are there, say hi to eJP’s Rachel Kohn and Jay Deitcher.
The Israeli government approved the repatriation Operation Lion’s Wings to begin flying home Israeli nationals who are stuck abroad as the country’s airspace begins to reopen in response to Iranian missile attacks.
UJA-Federation of New York is hosting author Izabella Tabarovsky tonight to speak about her latest book, Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S RACHEL KOHN
Jews around the world gathered yesterday (and today in Jerusalem) to listen to the Book of Esther: a tale of two Diaspora Jews who, from very different positions of leadership, not only responded to a lethal antisemitic threat to their community with commitment, strategic thinking and self-sacrifice, but also rallied their fellow Jews to action and established communal traditions that continue to bring us together.
A different Jewish gathering is commencing today in Miami, taking place in the shadow of the war in the Middle East and rampant antisemitism challenging Jewish communities around the world. But like the protagonists of the Purim story, the organizers are dedicated to ensuring the security and continuity of their Diaspora community — in this case, American Jewry — and see an opportunity for wider grassroots collaboration.
“I think everybody agrees that American Jewry is in a state of crisis, challenge, decline — there’s been a lot of talk about that and a lot of writing,” Gidi Grinstein, founder and president of the think tank Reut USA, said in a recent phone call with eJewishPhilanthropy. “To [emerge] out of this crisis requires creating communal knowledge. Nobody’s an expert about the future; people are experts about specific lanes, they’re experts about specific topics, but not about the future. So the purpose of this conference is to extract, elicit and inspire people to share their insights.”
Around 100 lay leaders, professionals, scholars, journalists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs and activists of varied denominational and political stripes are expected to attend AJ2026, one in a series of confabs being organized by Reut USA to discuss the condition and direction of American Jewry alongside America’s 250th anniversary. Today’s event is taking place in partnership with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, as well as eJP, which is serving as a media partner for the conference.
While the growing war in the Middle East will loom over the conference, Grinstein stressed that the discussions are separate from the current conflict. “The war against Iran is existential for Israel, consequential for the Middle East and may also affect the stature of Israel in the U.S., particularly if it continues without a decisive victory,” Grinstein said. “That being said, AJ2026 is a conference of American Jews about the long-term well-being and security of American Jewry. Most of the topics on our agenda, like education, leadership, institutional renewal, contribution to the U.S. or participation in America’s 250th celebrations, are not affected by the current conflict, and most Israeli participants are also Americans.”
Building on Reut USA’s AJ2025 conference in New York in July, in which the attendees helped develop an “11-point agenda” for the next decade of American Jewry renewal, today’s gathering is meant to take that admittedly ambitious goal forward. “We’re trying to nudge the ecosystem, which consists of hundreds and hundreds of Jewish organizations, thousands of lay leaders and professionals and philanthropists and activists and entrepreneurs and so on. The way you nudge the ecosystem is you convene people, you offer a vision, you model successes — you do all these things that are like a catalyst, that are moving the ecosystem. And this is the logic of this conference, and that’s why it’s so important for us to get so many people, to give so many people the opportunity to share their insights.”
EXCLUSIVE
Jewish Agency launches fresh fund for victims of latest war with Iran
The Jewish Agency for Israel launched a new fund on Wednesday to provide direct, immediate grants to victims of Iranian attacks during the current conflict, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross has learned. The new fund — dubbed the Roaring Lion Fund, for Israel’s name of the military operation — operates in the same way as the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror, offering immediate grants of NIS 4,000 ($1,300) to anyone directly affected by the war, including those injured in the attacks or anyone whose home was damaged or destroyed.
Without hesitation: The Jewish Agency launched a similar fund, the Rising Lion Emergency Fund, last summer, during the previous war with Iran. As the Fund for Victims of Terror is exclusively designed for victims of terrorist attacks, the Jewish Agency determined that it could not issue grants through that fund to victims of war, necessitating a new funding mechanism. “In moments of profound crisis such as the current war, we show up for one another without hesitation,” Mark Wilf, chairman of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors, said in a statement. “This powerful gesture of solidarity from world Jewry to the Israeli people serves to strengthen resilience and forge meaningful bonds of connection.”
JOINT EFFORT
Just as it was wrapping up work from June war, fresh Iran conflict thrusts JDC back into crisis mode
About two weeks ago, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Israel marked a milestone: A majority of families from Ramat Gan and Bat Yam in its Ad Habayit (“All the Way Home”) program — which provides “housing mentors” to help vulnerable populations who lost their homes in the June war with Iran secure new housing — were resettled. “It felt like, ‘OK, we are standing in the final lines,’” Avital Rosenberger, JDC-Israel’s humanitarian operation director, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim on Monday. Now, five days after Israel and the U.S. launched military operations in Iran, Israeli population centers face renewed bombardment.
We’re tired: “The needs are massive. I was there in Beit Shemesh, and I already know the evolution of a disaster. In the beginning, it’s chaos. You don’t know what you need. I was expecting to get the massive needs in a few days. But already I’m feeling that we are getting very, very heavy needs,” said Rosenberger. “We are tired, and philanthropy is tired, and the government is tired — and the needs are just getting bigger.”
LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP
Purim’s two heroines and the politics of moral choice
“Yesterday, we celebrated Purim. I’ll share a secret: I hate the holiday. Or rather, I’ve long hated how we celebrate it. … Despite my feeling about our celebrations, the Book of Esther, the holiday’s core text, is among the most finely crafted works in the Tanach, especially as a work of political theory, a reflection on power, complicity, protest and survival under an unjust regime,” writes Andrew Rehfeld, president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Two options: “King Ahasuerus, often portrayed as a bumbling, inept ruler whose inattention, if not outright perfidy, enables his deputies to commit unspeakable evils on the masses, could have been drawn from current world headlines. Whether in countries where brave citizens risk imprisonment or worse to protest repression or in democracies veering towards authoritarianism, the story of a leader unbounded by the rule of law feels painfully familiar. Against that political backdrop, the text offers two models of response: Vashti and Esther. One of protest that is often ineffectual but morally pure, and another of effective strategic action that often springs from self-interest rather than moral courage.”
LEARN FROM THE CHAMPS
Want to counter antisemitism in K-12 education? Fund like a Qatari
“I can’t tell you how many smart Jewish philanthropists I’ve spoken with in the past couple of years — CEOs, founders, investors who understand complex systems better than almost anyone — who, when the conversation turns to rising antisemitism in America, almost always default to the same refrain: ‘Follow the money!’” writes Josh Weiner, chief strategy officer for the North American Values Institute (NAVI), in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Real talk: “When you follow that money, you land in the same place again and again: Qatar (with additional support coming from China). … Further exposure of those funding channels is essential. If we press the right buttons, some will eventually be shut down, and that will matter. But here is the uncomfortable truth: Even if we shut off every Qatari funding pipeline tomorrow, it would not be enough. To sideline antisemitism, we must expand our horizon beyond where the money comes from and start studying how Qatar and other malign actors have achieved such outsize influence — and then learn to do what they do, only better and faster.”
READER RESPONDS
The rabbis we need now
“Over the past year, much has been written about rabbis — their spiritual development, how they view their preparation, their career paths and the increasing diversity of their professional pursuits,” writes Robert Lichtman, a veteran Jewish communal professional, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “As is the custom among Jews, all of this study has provoked commentary; and like most Jewish commentary over the millennia, most of it has been offered by rabbis.”
Chiming in: “I write from a different vantage point. With fewer than 10,000 rabbis in the United States, I am among the 6 million Jews they are seeking to serve; and while I’m not speaking for anyone else, I also have some thoughts about the rabbis we need.”
Worthy Reads
Wrong Response: In his Substack “Slow Boring,” Matthew Yglesias argues that the approach of encouraging people to “call out” antisemitism misses the mark. “This is important to me, so I’m going to be as clear as I can: American Jews, as individuals and as leaders of institutions, need to think a lot more clearly and seriously about what’s going on. And that starts with acknowledging that while antisemitism has always been morally wrong, in the very recent past it was a pretty marginal problem in the United States, and the institutions that are supposed to fight antisemitism trained for combat in this environment of low antisemitism. And today, they have no idea what to do in an environment where prejudice against Jewish people is a genuinely non-trivial — and growing — social force.” [SlowBoring]
Workers’ Rights: Writing on the blog of the Israeli Histadrut trade union, the group’s international spokesperson Peter Lerner reflects on the labor movement’s response to the war against Iran. “Statements from union organizations around the world emphasize ceasefire, de-escalation, diplomacy, and adherence to international law. They warn that wars devastate working people, destroy public services, and divert resources away from social welfare. As a trade unionist myself, I recognize the moral instincts behind these arguments. Workers do pay the price of war. … But from the perspective of a liberal Israeli trade unionist, the global labor movement’s response to the war with Iran also exposes some serious blind spots. The most obvious is the movement’s instinctive aversion to the use of force under almost any circumstances. … If the global trade union movement wishes to remain a credible voice in debates about war and peace, it must learn to hold these tensions rather than retreat into familiar slogans. Workers deserve nothing less than that seriousness.” [Histadrut]
Accessibility From the Start: In a post on her blog “Blind People Don’t Mingle,” Michelle Friedman points out a source of “familiar fatigue” for disabled advocates of inclusion. “A persistent pattern remains: accessibility is still frequently treated as something to add on rather than something to build in. When accessibility is considered late, it becomes expensive, inconvenient, and negotiable. When it is considered from the beginning, it becomes standard. We still see: Event flyers that say ‘Contact us if you need accommodations.’ Livestreams without captions. Registration forms without accessibility questions. Renovations that overlook universal design. Programs that assume everyone learns, moves, and communicates the same way. Accessibility should not depend on someone having the courage to ask. It should be part of the blueprint. The question is no longer whether we know disabled people exist. The question is whether we are designing Jewish life as though we expect disabled people to be there.” [BlindPeopleDon’tMingle]
Word on the Street
Speaking yesterday at Bloomberg Invest 2026 in New York, investor Marc Rowan, the board chair of UJA-Federation of New York who also serves on President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, said that he believed the war with Iran was necessary, despite the disruptions that it has caused in the global economy. “We always have an overreaction to the confrontation of problems, but this is a problem that needed to be dealt with. And if it were dealt with in other years, it would have been more difficult. And so the notion that it’s being dealt with today, in some ways, is reassuring, notwithstanding the current instability,” he said…
A Fox News poll found Americans split 50-50 on U.S. military action targeting Iran; other surveys show a majority of Americans disapproving of the strikes, such as a CNN poll that found that 59% of Americans were against the attacks…
Gunshots were fired at a Reform synagogue in Toronto, Temple Emanu-El, on Monday night, hours after the congregation wrapped up Purim festivities…
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that the Berlin branch of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union political party is being investigated for allocations that it made to combat antisemitism post-Oct. 7, some of which appear to have gone to groups that are accused of spreading antisemitic messages…
The German Culture Ministry, which provides funding for the annual Berlinale, is creating a board of advisors to oversee the film festival’s executive director and instituting a code of conduct regarding antisemitism after incidents last year in which award winners used their speaking time to criticize Israel…
Team Israel defeated the Miami Marlins 1-0 yesterday in an exhibition game in advance of the World Baseball Classic…
The Yeshiva University Maccabees are again heading to the Division III NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after the team’s 79-72 win over the Farmingdale State Rams over the weekend secured their position as Skyline Conference champions…
Epstein Hillel School in Marblehead, Mass., which had appeared on the cusp of shutting down, announced that it had raised enough funds to open next year, though the pre-K-8 school will now switch to a pre-K-6 model…
Maimonides Medical Center in the Haredi neighborhood of Borough Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., is set to join the city’s public health system, despite a lawsuit aimed at blocking the merger…
Federal prosecutors are filing an additional charge of damaging religious property against the man accused of ramming a car into the headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch in Brooklyn in January…
Geraldine Schottenstein, who with her husband, Jerome, was a major donor to Jewish causes in the Columbus, Ohio, area, including Jewish Columbus and the newly renamed Jerome and Geraldine Schottenstein Chabad House Student Center at The Ohio State University, died at 93…
Transitions
Pic of the Day
Ori Kupfer-Tsurel reads the Book of Esther yesterday in a bomb shelter in Jerusalem, in a communal reading organized by the Hadar Institute.
Israeli military restrictions on public gatherings in light of the current war with Iran have prompted communities to find alternative solutions to the traditional readings in synagogues, including events in or next to bomb shelters and readings over Zoom.
Birthdays
Founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, Eva Moskowitz turns 62…
Composer, conductor, author and music professor, Samuel Adler turns 98… Broadcast journalist and author, she is best known as a correspondent for the ABC news magazine “20/20” for almost 30 years, Lynn Sherr turns 84… Board member emeritus at New York City Center, Perry B. Granoff turns 83… North American representative of World ORT for 20 years, Harry Nadler… Screenwriter and director, she is the mother of actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal turns 80… British promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts and television broadcasts, Harvey Goldsmith turns 80… Retired CEO of LCH Clearnet LLC, a clearing house affiliated with the London Stock Exchange, David A. Weisbrod… Former director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, Rabbi Avi Shafran turns 72… President of the New England Patriots, Jonathan A. Kraft turns 62… Manager of the Louvre’s restitution investigations of art looted from Jewish families during the Nazi and Vichy regimes, Emmanuelle Polack turns 61… Former member of both the New York City Council and state Assembly, now at the Brandeis Center, Rory I. Lancman turns 57… Evan L. Presser… Staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, Emily Bazelon… Chief of staff at Goldman Sachs, Russell Horwitz… First Jewish player to be selected in the top round of the NHL Draft (1998), Michael Henrich turns 46… Member of the Knesset for the New Hope party, Sharren Haskel turns 42… Vice president of public policy at the International Council of Shopping Centers, Abigail Goldstein “Abby” Jagoda… Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram in 2010, Michel “Mike” Krieger turns 40… Singer, music producer and composer, Aryeh Kunstler turns 40… Chief of staff for New York state Senator Andrew Gounardes, Victoria “Tori” Burhans Kelly… Israeli-born basketball player who played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, Gal Mekel turns 38… Model and actress, she was a lead Victoria’s Secret model, Erin Heatherton (born as Erin Heather Bubley) turns 37… Foreign policy advisor for U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Jennifer Miller… Ice hockey goaltender for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League, Yaniv Perets turns 26…
