Your Daily Phil: New fellowship to boost disability inclusion in Jewish life
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the rescue of a Jewish boy from Baltimore, separated from his family at a national park in Arizona, by a group of Chaverim volunteers from New York; a new partnership between Hillel International and Secure Community Network to bolster student safety on campus; and an update on JNF Canada’s fight to restore its status as a tax-exempt organization. We feature an opinion piece by Betsy Polk and Joyce Gordon with advice for anxious parents of new and returning college students. Also in this issue: Mort Klein, Jodie Snyder and Matthew Strauss. We’ll start with a new fellowship being launched by Matan to help Jewish groups improve offerings for young adults with disabilities.
The Jewish world has dramatically improved its inclusion of children and young adults with disabilities in formal and informal education in recent years, but there is still a need for infrastructure to support their involvement in Jewish life once their final summer at camp is over and they graduate from high school, Dori Frumin Kirshner, executive director of Matan — a national nonprofit focused on disability inclusion — told Jay Deitcher for eJewishPhilanthropy.
To address this issue, Matan is teaming up with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington to offer the Lieberman Fellowship, funded by Jerry and Eileen Lieberman, which will support Jewish professionals in creating communities that are inclusive to young adults with disabilities.
“Jewish continuity, education and disability inclusion have always been at the forefront of our philanthropic giving,” Eileen Lieberman, who served on Matan’s board and has a 45-year-old son diagnosed with cerebral palsy, told eJP. “There are organizations today such as Moishe House and One Table that provide meaningful connections for young Jewish adults, but they need the training on how to include the population of people with disabilities into their framework.”
The inaugural cohort will include 6-10 teams made up of a handful of people from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, with future annual cohorts in other locations across the United States. Running from Sept. 5 through mid-June 2025, the fellowship will include monthly virtual learning sessions; eight hours of one-on-one mentoring provided by disability advocates and focused on each organization’s specific needs; and in-person training days. The fellowship will conclude with the presentation of Inclusion Impact (Capstone) Projects, showcasing how each team implemented their knowledge to improve their organization’s inclusion efforts.
“It’s not a matter of limitations,” Elisa Deener-Agus, chief of staff at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, told eJP. “It’s a matter of having the community have the confidence to give [Jews with disabilities] what they need in order to engage… I have deep confidence that the more our organizations do this, the more passionate they’ll become about doing more and more and more.”
CAMPUS SAFETY
SCN partners with Hillel to protect Jewish students on dozens of campuses
As Jewish students and campus professionals brace themselves for the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the Secure Community Network and Hillel International have announced a partnership to expand resources to ensure the safety of Jewish students on more than 50 campuses across the U.S., reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.
Operation SecureOurCampuses: The initiative will “leverage SCN’s national, regional and local resources, along with the national network of security professionals, to deploy critical resources to protect Jewish students,” according to a release from the groups on Thursday. This will include full-time intelligence analysts dedicated to monitoring campus developments and providing intelligence support; assessments of Jewish facilities on campuses; direct consultations on physical security and emergency plans and procedures; and enhanced coordination with law enforcement and public safety officials and centers of Jewish life, including fraternal organizations, religious institutions and other campus groups.
More training opportunities: SCN, which was created by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in 2004, also said it will launch a new training initiative designed specifically for Jewish students, faculty and staff at select campuses. “The training will provide Jewish students with critical skills in situational awareness and instruction on what to do if confronted by protesters and demonstrators, how to report incidents, to include with law enforcement and how to respond in potentially life-threatening situations,” according to the group. Another Jewish community-based security organization, Community Security Service, announced a similar training initiative last week, but CSS’s program also includes training for students in hand-to-hand combat.
SAFE AND SOUND
Inside the national operation that rescued a Baltimore boy who went missing in Arizona’s Coconino National Forest
Tzion Maron of Baltimore was vacationing with his parents in Arizona’s Coconino National Forest on Wednesday when he went missing during a hike at the Lava River Caves, separated from his family as a sudden downpour flooded a mile-long cave. Thankfully the 8-year-old was found alive and in stable condition the following morning by a group of volunteers dispatched by the Rockland County, N.Y., branch of Chaverim, a community-based volunteer emergency service, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.
Answering the call: It was just before midnight on Wednesday when Menachem “Mark” Kahn, founder of the drone department at the rescue division of Chaverim of Rockland, received an emergency call at home about Maron’s disappearance. By 3 a.m., he and some 20 Chaverim members were on their way to Arizona, traveling via Hatzolah Air, an emergency medical air transport service. “We [immediately] started mobilizing a plan with our search-and-rescue unit, which comprises hikers, navigation, command and the sophisticated drone unit that uses drones with thermal cameras that can fly over fires and detect heat from a body,” Kahn told eJP in an exclusive interview while he was en route home following the rescue. “Incorporating drones into emergency response has been a game changer in expediting the searches, as well as ensuring safety of people on the ground.”
Feeling grateful: The extensive search — which included six drones commanded by Kahn — lasted throughout the night and into the morning, when Maron was found asleep on the ground with stable vitals. Several other rescue groups assisted in the search, including Hatzolah of Los Angeles members and local Flagstaff law enforcement. “We’re thankful to Hashem for allowing us to be the messengers to bring this child back safely,” Kahn said.
TAX BATTLE CONTINUES
JNF Canada files for judicial review, calls for public retraction from Canada Revenue Agency
Jewish National Fund Canada filed an application for judicial review last Tuesday in response to the country’s tax authority revoking the charitable status of the group earlier this month, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports. The request calls on the Minister of National Revenue to publish a retraction of the revocation, which JNF said was done “in a manner contrary to the [Canada Revenue Agency’s] standard practice.”
‘A compelling case’: Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of Jewish Federations of Canada, told eJP that the group is supportive of JNF’s appeal. “We believe JNF has a compelling case to make in light of a troubling experience with CRA, which is mandated to work with charities rather than adopt an adversarial approach,” Fogel said. “CIJA remains hopeful that JNF and CRA will ultimately identify a constructive resolution, permitting JNF to continue its important work ranging from relief from poverty to environmental reclamation. While we are concerned with the approach taken by CRA in this case, we do not discern any generic hostility on the part of the Government agency or a pattern that is targeting Jewish charities.”
Outpouring of support: JNF Canada said that it has received an unprecedented number of donations since the revocation. The decision to revoke the status of JNF, as well as the Ne’eman Foundation — another nonprofit that funds philanthropy in Israel — was announced by Canada’s tax authority on Aug. 10 in a notice published in the Canada Gazette, the government’s official newspaper.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Parents of Jewish college students: Please turn your attention to this in-flight demonstration
“It all began at Gate A-18 at LaGuardia Airport. We were returning from a Hillel International meeting, engaged in a deep discussion about supporting Jewish students, a topic near and dear to us,” write Betsy Polk and Joyce Gordon, directors of Jewish life at two North Carolina universities, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “This work has taken on even greater significance after the previous academic year, which was marked by heightened tensions after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel.”
How can we help?: “We are both Hillel directors and parents: Joyce’s son is starting college this fall, while Betsy’s daughter graduated in May. Our experiences give us insight into the worries parents have about whether their children will connect and thrive as Jewish students in the coming year… We asked each other: What could we do to help alleviate these fears? How could we use our experience to support families during these challenging times? Hillel International, along with other Jewish organizations, has published recommendations for campus administrators and students for the upcoming academic year — what might we recommend to parents?”
A lightbulb moment: “We boarded the plane and the flight attendant began the usual safety shpiel. Only this time, the familiar instructions provided us with unexpected inspiration for what we could offer to families of Jewish students.”
Worthy Reads
A Balancing Act: In Tablet, Hillel Kuttler reports on preparations for a new school year across the Gaza Envelope region, where communities are still under fire, many residents are still displaced and the scars of Oct. 7 are still fresh. “Drowning in grief is understandable — but not an option, said Shlomtsion Cohen, Alonim’s principal… During our conversation, Cohen often employed the Hebrew word khosen, fortitude — often in this phrase: khosen rigshi, emotional fortitude. It’s what we Americans would call resilience. It’s a trait Cohen said she strives to build in the youngsters… Heading into the new term, counselors and psychologists are prepared to address pupils’ emotional needs, including by providing pet therapy and art therapy. Cohen figures that ‘not some of the kids, but 100%’ are experiencing turmoil from Oct. 7. As the term progresses, ‘we’ll see who needs more [attention] and who’s OK,’ she said. But, she said, ‘we can’t spend the whole day on treatments. There must be a routine… I don’t want to focus only on the bereavement. We must focus on life.’” [Tablet]
Zeroing in on Early Ed: In Inside Philanthropy, Connie Matthiessen explores the reasoning behind the Bainum Family Foundation’s recently announced $100 million, five-year commitment to supporting early childhood education — the foundation’s largest investment ever. “The foundation found — in its work with youth, its examination of the latest science and its own research, and feedback it received from the communities with which it works — that all roads lead back to early childhood… [We] know that quality early care has a huge impact on that development, yet our disorganized, haphazard, costly and underfunded early care system leaves far too many children behind. The Bainum Family Foundation is addressing this issue from several directions. It supports organizations that provide direct early services, as well as a number that advocate for policy change. In terms of direct services, Bainum supports what it calls ‘practice partners’ that provide affordable, quality early care. Bainum also supports organizations that advocate, engage in research and provide public education to create a more effective and equitable early childhood education system. These ‘policy partners’ include organizations with local, state and national reach… ‘Reimagining a system to support children and families requires giving those closest to the challenges the time and space they need to develop innovative solutions,’ said David Daniels, Bainum’s president and CEO, when the new funding was announced. ‘I encourage other philanthropies to explore partner-centric approaches anchored on community feedback and directed by those closest to the work.’” [InsidePhilanthropy]
Around the Web
Two board members are suing to remove Mort Klein from his role as president of the Zionist Organization of America, alleging that he has made the group “at best, an irrelevancy, and, at worst, a joke” and misused funds for his own benefit…
Retired Merck chairman Roy Vagelos and his wife Diana are donating $400 million to Columbia University to establish the Roy and Diana Vagelos Institute for Basic Biomedical Science at the university’s medical school; the donation will also support construction of a new biomedical research facility, to be named the Vagelos Innovation Laboratories….
The Jewish Federation of Orange County appointed Jodie Snyder as its new senior director of philanthropy…
JEWISHcolorado named Daphna Strelitz as the new manager of the Jewish Community Foundation. The foundation helps individual donors and Jewish agencies achieve their philanthropic legacy goals through vehicles such as donor-advised funds, endowments and giving circles…
This week’s Burning Man festival, which draws 70,000 people annually to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, features “Nova Heaven,” a massive tribute to the Nova festival victims…
Reboot Studios — the production arm of Reboot, a Jewish arts and culture nonprofit founded by Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw’s Righteous Persons Foundation and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies — announced the four recipients of its 2024-2025 Creator Fund. “These projects reflect our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive understanding of Jewish identity,” said the studio’s managing director Noam Dromi…
A study by Brandeis University found that one-third of non-Jewish college students are hostile to Jews or Israel…
An explosion outside a synagogue in southern France that injured a police officer is being treated as a terror attack, and France’s acting interior minister has ordered police reinforcements to protect Jewish places of worship…
The Detroit Jewish News spotlights Ashir, a nonprofit started by two local Orthodox women to aid families in financial crisis. The duo have expanded their offerings to include a training program to help couples proactively avoid financial pitfalls…
A flag rescue project enabled some evacuated members of Kibbutz Be’eri to open the school year with their community’s traditional first grade flag parade…
A rally/dance party on a Berkeley, Calif., overpass supporting the release of American hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin from Gaza drew hundreds of participants yesterday…
Harvard University will expand its kosher offerings beginning in the fall semester, one of the recommendations offered by a task force set up by the school to address antisemitism on campus…
Harold Kaplan, a member of Lees-McRae College’s board of trustees, died last week at 88…
Matthew Strauss, founder and president of the Matthew & Iris Strauss Family Foundation, Inc., died last week at 91…
Philanthropist and Colorado Business Hall of Fame inductee Donald Sturm died last week at 92…
Pic of the Day
For the third consecutive year, Mosaic United and Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, with the support of the Koum Family Foundation, the Jewish Federations of North America and the Yael Foundation, organized summer camps and respite days for over 3,000 Ukrainian residents and refugees this summer.
Following a call for proposals from Jewish camp operators in Ukraine, Europe and North America, 17 providers were carefully selected to organize over 80 camps in Ukraine, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Poland, Spain and the U.S. over the course of June through September. The goal of the camps is to strengthen Jewish connection and provide relief from life in wartime. They feature emotional support services, opportunities for social bonding and workshops to strengthen resilience, as well as fun summer activities like the foam party pictured here.
The camps are also a family experience: Participants include children, teenagers and young adults up to age 25 along with their parents.
Birthdays
For the third consecutive year, Mosaic United and Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, with the support of the Koum Family Foundation, the Jewish Federations of North America and the Yael Foundation, organized summer camps and respite days for over 3,000 Ukrainian residents and refugees this summer.
Following a call for proposals from Jewish camp operators in Ukraine, Europe and North America, 17 providers were carefully selected to organize over 80 camps in Ukraine, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Poland, Spain and the U.S. over the course of June through September. The goal of the camps is to strengthen Jewish connection and provide relief from life in wartime. They feature emotional support services, opportunities for social bonding and workshops to strengthen resilience, as well as fun summer activities like the foam party pictured here.
The camps are also a family experience: Participants include children, teenagers and young adults up to age 25 along with their parents.
