Your Daily Phil: Musician, philanthropist Ethan Daniel Davidson adds ‘rabbi’ to his honorifics
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine last night’s Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education panel breaking down “Surge” data from a number of Jewish organizations. We interview musician and philanthropist Ethan Daniel Davidson about his recent rabbinic ordination and report on remarks made by Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, at American Friends of Chabad (Lubavitch)’s Lamplighter Awards last night. We feature three opinion pieces focused on combatting antisemitism in different arenas: one by Eran Shayshon and Dor Lasker about rooting out the antisemitism in sheep’s clothing penetrating Jewish spaces, one by Michelle Stravitz about efforts to address antisemitism in the healthcare field and one by Avi D. Gordon about teaming up with student athletes to make campuses more welcoming for Jewish students. Also in this issue: Shalom Weil, Shari Redstone and Meghan McCain.
What We’re Watching
The Jewish Day Camp Network is wrapping up its fall conference today in Rockville, Md.
Several Jewish organizations are visiting Capitol Hill this morning to discuss the Jewish community’s security needs ahead of the High Holy Days. The event will be moderated by Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News and feature JFNA’s Eric Fingerhut; the Conference of Presidents’ William Daroff; Secure Community Network’s Michael Masters; the Orthodox Union’s Rabbi Moshe Hauer; and the ADL’s Carmiel Arbit.
The U.S. Postal Service is holding a “First Day of Issue Ceremony” this morning to mark the launch of a stamp in honor of Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel at New York’s 92nd Street Y.
Also in New York, Yeshiva University will host an Oct. 7 memorial service this evening, featuring remarks by Irit Ben Aryeh whose late husband, Haim, rescued more than 50 victims from Kibbutz Be’eri in his school bus during the attacks.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
One of the few silver linings of the past two years of war in Israel and rising antisemitism around the world has been the so-called “Surge” in Jewish engagement that has been documented in studies conducted by a number of Jewish organizations.
Data scientists from several of those groups broke down their numbers last night in a panel discussion hosted by the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education, painting a hopeful but more nuanced picture of the Jewish world today than the rosier, more straightforward one that has been more widely publicized. In particular, the representatives revealed the inherent limitations of the studies, which rely on potentially flawed self-reporting and lump together significantly different forms of engagement and also primarily indicate what is happening post-Oct. 7, but not necessarily why they are happening.
A recent study by UJA-Federation of New York, for instance, found that between 11% and 23% of respondents reported attending Jewish programming or events more frequently than before Oct. 7, 2023. However, data on participation in Jewish programs “has not experienced a statistically significant change” during that time, according to the researchers.
This can make it more difficult for organizations to use the data to inform their decisions going forward, and yet groups do appear to be relying on these figures for planning purposes.
“We have seen various communities create ‘Surge’ committees within their planning or allocations departments to really think about what are the organizations within their catchment area that are seeing an increase in individuals coming, that are well-positioned to do outreach to individuals or address some of those interests that we’re seeing,” David Manchester, director of community data and research development at Jewish Federations of North America, said.
Answering a question from eJP about which “Surge” behaviors appear likeliest to remain — increased synagogue attendance, tracking Jewish-related news more carefully, greater religious and cultural practices, etc. — Manchester said that the initial behavior that gets someone involved is less significant than “what that experience is once they’re in the door.” He highlighted the need for Jewish organizations to bring people into their communities and build personal relationships with them.
“From what we’ve seen, the big piece is that development of social capital and social networks,” he said. “The hardest thing to walk into a Jewish program is the concern about not knowing people. … What I’ve over the last few years been saying to people is [that it] doesn’t matter what the topic of the program is, it is a relationship-building program, and that needs to be our top goal if we want to keep these people engaging in the Jewish community.”
UNAVOIDABLE JUDAISM
Musician, author and philanthropist Ethan Daniel Davidson adds rabbi to his many hats
Ethan Daniel Davidson wears many hats. He’s a folk singer, an author, a philanthropist and now, after receiving ordination last month, a rabbi. As a cowboy hat aficionado, he also literally wears many hats. Before his father, William Davidson, died in 2009, he asked his son to take the helm of his eponymous foundation, which has a deep focus on Jewish education, funding initiatives such as Sefaria, the Shalom Hartman Institute and the Hadar Institute. “I made a commitment to deepen my Jewish literacy, my Jewish knowledge in service of his philanthropy,” Davidson told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher. “If I’m going to make these decisions around Jewish identity, Jewish education, then I need to be as Jewishly educated and as traditionally literate as I can be.”
Jewish literacy: His years of studies gave him a better appreciation for his philanthropy work, he said. “If you asked me, 15 or 20 years ago, what’s important about being Jewish, I don’t think I could answer that at all back then.” Today, he doesn’t care if Jews are religious or not, but he wants to offer them the opportunity to study through day schools and camps. “I want to make Judaism unavoidable,” he said, because through studying the Torah, Jews learn to bring light into the world. “Through a serious engagement in enhancing our own Jewish literacy and through a Jewish practice, we learn how to be human beings,” he said. “We learn how to treat other people as human beings. Not all Jews are successful at that.”
KARP’S CALL
Palantir’s Alex Karp says Jews need to ‘leave their comfort zone’ to defend community
Palantir CEO Alex Karp called for the Jewish community to step outside its “comfort zone” and look for new strategies to defend itself amid rising antisemitism, during a speech on Tuesday at the American Friends of Chabad (Lubavitch) annual Lamplighter Awards in Washington, where he was honored, reports Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider. Karp also suggested that some Jewish nonprofits are failing to work effectively. “One of the things we have in corporate America, is when institutions fail, they disappear,” Karp said. “We don’t have that in nonprofits. We’ve got to recognize that what’s [happening] now is not working.”
Taking the leap: Karp was introduced onstage by Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of Hersch Goldberg-Polin, an American Israeli dual national taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed by the terrorist group in Gaza last August. Goldberg-Polin said that she and her husband Jon had connected with Karp during their efforts to free their son, getting “access, ideas, contacts, advice [and] connections,” as well as support on a personal level. “You spoke and continue to speak an unpopular truth and to chase justice. You are a righteous man. You are not afraid to jump,” she said.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ANTISEMITISM?
Seinfeld is right: It’s time for a Jewish standard
“When Jerry Seinfeld recently told a Duke University audience that the ‘Free Palestine’ movement is, in a way, worse than the KKK, predictable outrage ensued. The Klan, he argued, is at least blunt about its hatred, but the phrase ‘Free Palestine’ often serves as a more insidious tool,” write Atchalta founder Eran Shayshon and deputy CEO Dor Lasker in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “[It’s] an example of a phrase with just enough plausible deniability to be defended as legitimate political speech, yet it is often deliberately deployed to troll, harass and undermine the safety of Jewish spaces.”
Hard truth: “Seinfeld’s observation reflects a core challenge facing the Jewish community. Our adversaries have mastered the art of weaponizing language to force us into endless, unproductive debates over definitions of antisemitism while real harm continues. By obsessively trying to parse the precise meaning of a phrase, we fall into a semantic trap, ignoring context and, most importantly, intent. This isn’t a theoretical problem: It’s happening in the heart of our communities.”
GOOD MEDICINE
Combating the latest disease in America — antisemitism in health care
“Antisemitism in all forms is an age-old problem, one that has reared its ugly head once again in medicine in the wake of Oct. 7, 2023,” writes Michelle Stravitz, CEO of the American Jewish Medical Association, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “On Aug. 25, AJMA convened the first official meeting of major Jewish organizations who have stepped up to fight antisemitism in health care.”
A team effort: “The work ahead is ambitious, but the vision is clear: a health-care environment where antisemitism is confronted with the full strength of the Jewish communal network and where Jewish healthcare professionals can thrive as healers, leaders and advocates. … This historic collaboration signals that the Jewish community is prepared not only to defend itself against antisemitism in health care and be poised for new crises, but also to model unity, resilience and determination for the broader fight against all antisemitism.”
CREATIVE CAMPAIGN
College athletes can help confront campus antisemitism
“The return of college football is bringing a surge of excitement to sports fans nationwide. It also offers a novel opportunity to confront the antisemitism that has plagued university campuses for the last two years,” writes Avi D. Gordon, executive director of Alums for Campus Fairness, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Game-changer: “[T]his spring Alums for Campus Fairness pioneered tapping into the on-campus celebrity of college sports stars to amplify calls for university administrators to do more to protect Jewish and pro-Israel students. The early results were encouraging and suggest that organizations invested in ending the scourge of anti-Jewish hate should take advantage of new ways to enlist college athletes in the cause.”
Read the full piece here.
Worthy Reads
Taking a Toll: In The Times of Israel, Shalom Weil expresses concern about the rise in incidents of violence and aggression among adolescents in Israel, tying the phenomenon to the ongoing war. “We do our best to comfort the bereaved, to deliver cakes to reserve soldiers’ families for Shabbat, but, within the storm, there is a factor we are overlooking. In these terrible circumstances, our communities and our children have become more aggressive. We must not forget the children and youth. It is now our duty to turn our attention back to their needs. … We need to help them regulate their anger, soften the defensive shells they put up, and foster growth and partnership. This way, we will strengthen not only their resilience but also their capacity to lead our nation forward.” [TOI]
Peoplehood Positions: In Haaretz, Julie Cooper makes a left-wing case for the concept of Jewish peoplehood. “At this crisis moment, the concept of peoplehood is more important than ever. … Jews today can craft a new vision of peoplehood as a contentious, internally diverse community bound together by these very shared political concerns. … Even the most radical dissidents appear to recognize – whether consciously or unconsciously – that they belong to a collective encompassing Jews whose politics they deplore. … ‘Peoplehood’ is exactly the framework that these grassroots, transnational organizing efforts desperately need. Ceding the term only strengthens Israel’s claim to be the arbiter of all things Jewish. Instead, critics should wrest control over the definition and boundaries of the Jewish people and build democratic organizations that can translate majority opinion into effective political power.” [Haaretz]
Word on the Street
Advocates with the Anti-Defamation League are set to lobby lawmakers this week on a series of actions related to antisemitism, including a push to jump-start the stalled Antisemitism Awareness Act, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Shari Redstone has invested in and joined the board of the Israeli production company Sipur, which produced the Oct. 7 documentary “We Will Dance Again”; Redstone told Variety that this will be a “hands-on” investment…
The Israeli government cut funding to the country’s Ophir Awards — the local Oscars equivalent — after “The Sea,” a film about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from Ramallah wanting to go to the beach, won best feature at the award ceremonies last night…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified his remarks that Israel’s economy may “need to adapt to … autarkic characteristics” on Tuesday, after a dip in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and after business and industry leaders came out against Netanyahu’s remarks, saying that “an autarkic economy will be a disaster for Israel,” and “this vision … will make it hard for us to survive in a developing globalized world,” Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…
Some 90% of the residents of Gaza border communities have returned to their homes so far, joined by approximately 2,500 newcomers, according to a new report by the government’s Tekuma Directorate, which is overseeing reconstruction efforts…
The Democratic PR firm SKDK terminated its contract with the Israeli government, which was meant to run until March 2026. Originally contracted to raise the profile of the Bibas family tragedy, a spokesperson for the firm declined to tell Politico why the deal was cut short…
More than three-quarters of Jewish university students around the world reported hiding their Jewish identity and Zionist beliefs on campus, according to a new study by the Anti-Defamation League and the World Union of Jewish Students…
The Berkeley, Calif.-based nonprofit Wilderness Torah, which advocates “Earth-based Judaism,” is joining the national Jewish environmental group Adamah…
The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County (Fla.)’s Center to Combat Antisemitism & Hatred has announced $3.2 million worth of allocations to dozens of local organizations…
Gordon Gee, who served as president of five universities, is joining Brownstein as a strategic consulting adviser for the firm’s higher education task force…
A new plaintiff was added to a lawsuit brought by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The complaint alleges that a Jewish graduate student was cornered in a campus parking lot by masked individuals calling for death to Israel and Zionists and faced a “campaign of hostility” inside his lab, and the university took no action when it was reported…
Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev cleared Uber for entry into Israel’s taxi market, a significant move for the country, which has a strong taxi drivers union…
Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, has quit the ice cream company, saying that the business has been “silenced” by parent company Unilever on social issues; the two firms have clashed in recent years over issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…
Major Gifts
The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation announced grants totaling $10 million to four local initiatives; these are the first allocations that have been made since Wallis Annenberg’s death in July…
Reform Alliance, the nonprofit created by rapper Meek Mill, raised $20 million at an auction and blackjack tournament over the weekend. Attendees included: Robert Kraft, Ivanka Trump, Beyoncé, DJ Khaled and Cameron Diaz, among other celebrities…
The government of Alberta, Canada, provided $1 million to Jewish Edmonton for the construction of a new Jewish community center in the city…
Transitions
StandWithUs hired Cassie Schwartz as its director of K-12 educator outreach…
Pic of the Day
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Ari Ackerman presents the American Friends of Magen David Adom’s Champion of Israel Award to Meghan McCain last night at the group’s New York gala dinner at Cipriani Wall Street.
“No matter how much of the world — motivated by moral cowardice, material interest or the sublimated antisemitism that still stalks the globe — turns away from Israel, I will not. I will never,” McCain said in her acceptance speech.
The event was attended by nearly 600 AFMDA supporters and featured remarks from Ambassador Gilad Erdan, MDA’s global president, and senior paramedic Raphael Herbst; as well as a musical performance by Israeli singer and Oct. 7 survivor Yuval Raphael.
Birthdays
Israeli businessman with real estate holdings in Israel and New York City, Mody Kidon turns 71…
Fashion designer, known worldwide for his leading-edge corporate uniforms, Stan M. Herman turns 97… U.S. Navy veteran and retired pharmacist, Ronald Aronson… Investment banker who once served as a New York City deputy mayor, Peter J. Solomon turns 87… Newbery Honor-winning author of many young adult books, Gail Carson Levine turns 78… Author of 11 books, Joshua Muravchik turns 78… Former president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and then president of Gallaudet University, T. Alan Hurwitz turns 78… Rochester attorney, he has held positions at the UJA-Federation of New York and the Rochester Jewish Federation, Frank Hagelberg… Retired judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Jeremy Don Fogel turns 76… Professional tennis player who achieved a world ranking of No. 5 in 1980, Harold Solomon turns 73… Comedian, writer and actress, she was a frequent guest of Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show,” Rita Rudner turns 72… Author, comic book writer and editor, best known as group editor of the Spider-Man books at Marvel Comics, Daniel Fingeroth turns 72… Author and graphic designer, Ellen Kahan Zager… Former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Rina Frenkel turns 69… Rabbi of the New North London Synagogue with over 3,700 members, Jonathan Wittenberg turns 68… Former consultant at Quick Hits News, Elliott S. Feigenbaum… Journalist, best-selling author including two books on the Obama presidency and Emmy Award-winning executive producer, Richard Wolffe turns 57… Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the last 18 months of the Biden administration, Mandy Krauthamer Cohen turns 47… Former regional communications director and spokesperson for President Barack Obama, now a partner at Seven Letter, Adam Abrams… Member of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education, Nick Melvoin turns 40… Former Obama White House speechwriter who has since written a best-selling comedic memoir, David Litt turns 39… Principal product manager for CathWorks, Adina Shatz… National health-care reporter The Washington Post covering the FDA, Rachel Roubein… Associate at Strand Partners in London, Natalie Edelstein Jarvis… Founder of the Israel Summit at Harvard and board member of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, Max August…
