Your Daily Phil: New York’s next-gen funders sip ‘Generositinis’
Good Friday morning.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider stories, including: Maccabi USA President Jeff Bukantz defends his pro-wrestling title at Maccabiah Mania 3; Herzog’s Voice of the People assembles ‘eclectic group’ of 150 mostly young Jews to ‘tackle the most urgent matters of the Jewish people’; Dara Horn returns to history — and literature — after Oct. 7. Print the latest edition here.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on last night’s UJA-Federation of New York Generosity Gala and RootOne’s expansion to new countries as Israel educational travel languishes. We spotlight Tikkun Olam Makers as the disability nonprofit looks to expand after receiving an international fellowship and examine the Trump administration’s cuts to Middle East peace programs. In advance of International Women’s Day tomorrow, we feature an opinion piece by Karyn Grossman Gershon with tips for effective gender-directed giving in Ukraine and beyond; plus, Joshua D. Margolis and Gali Cooks encourage nonprofits and funders to see paying for talent as an investment rather than a cost. Also in this newsletter: Mark Oppenheimer, Mijal Bitton and Rachel Fish.
Shabbat shalom!
What We’re Watching
The Yeshiva University men’s basketball team takes on Tufts this afternoon in Medford, Mass., in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.
The annual SXSW conference kicks off today in Austin, Texas.
At least 20 Jewish organizations, led by the National Coalition of Jewish Women, are sending delegations to Selma, Ala., on Sunday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Selma Bridge Crossing.
Jewish Silicon Valley is hosting “Holi Purim” on Sunday, highlighting the fact that the Hindu holiday of Holi and Purim both fall on the same day this year, March 14.
The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund will inaugurate on Monday morning the Iron Swords Forest, the country’s largest memorial forest, outside Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel, which will honor the victims and fallen soldiers from the Oct. 7 terror attacks and resulting war. The event was originally scheduled last month but was postponed due to security concerns.
What You Should Know
Dressed in their black-tie best, over 700 Jewish young professionals caught up with old friends and schmoozed with potential new ones, making the most of a dimly lit tinsel-decked partyscape overlooking the Hudson River at UJA-Federation of New York’s annual Generosity Gala last night, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports from the event.
For the attendees, young professionals ages 21-40 across UJA’s various career affinity groups, the event is a summer camp reunion, networking opportunity, gala and party all wrapped into one. But for UJA, it’s an opportunity to hydrate the city’s budding Jewish philanthropists, albeit less with water and more with Generositinis — the event’s signature drink.
“Yes it’s today, but it’s about tomorrow,” said Courtney Weinstein, senior vice president of financial resource development at the New York federation.
According to Weinstein, the event is also an opportunity to bridge the gap between young Jews’ social and professional lives, allowing them to create the sort of networks that sustain the community. “You might be in Wall Street and your roommate’s a lawyer or your girlfriend’s in finance and this is really both a social and professional opportunity for people to come together. People see people they haven’t seen since camp or college.”
This year, the event’s theme, Light up the Night, is an homage to a silver lining UJA has experienced since the torrent of antisemitism triggered by Oct. 7 — a surge in interest from young professionals. Last year, in its 18th year, the Generosity Gala sold out for the first time, and quickly. “Seeing a next generation of Jewish leaders that want to get involved and give back to their community really is the light that we see during otherwise dark times,” Weinstein said. “Young Jews want to connect, want to find meaningful ways to get more involved and feel pride in their Jewish identity.”
The interest in UJA programming for young leaders has continued this year. The federation’s young leaders’ Shabbat dinners regularly sell out. For around 200 of the 750 attendees registered for the event, the Generosity Gala was the first UJA event that they’ve attended — an important entry point into Jewish communal involvement, according to Spencer Herbst, the co-chair of UJA Young Leaders (and a consultant by day).
According to Herbst, the interest he’s seen in UJA’s programming indicates to him that there is a younger generation ready to go all-in on the Jewish communal space. “There’s a lot of commentary right now about whether the young generation is less enthusiastic about being pro-Israel, less enthusiastic about being involved in Jewish community,” said Herbst. “The engagement we have here is the exact opposite. We see a strong community, a community that’s rallied together and one that shows incredible kind of potential to really transform Jewish life here in New York and really across the broader world.”
NEW ROUTES
RootOne expands vouchers to cover trips outside of Israel amid continued security uncertainty
With teen educational travel to Israel severely curtailed by persisting security concerns, RootOne is changing itineraries, so to speak, and is now offering its vouchers for trips to alternative locations — Greece, Belgium, Costa Rica and Spain. “We don’t want another year to go by where we’re missing the opportunity to impact teens in a meaningful way related to their Jewish identity and Israel,” RootOne’s executive director, Simon Amiel, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nir Dayanim. “I have a huge number of American Jewish families who are just not ready to send their kids to Israel, but are interested in having their kids do something Jewish. Why not utilize and leverage that to be able to provide them something of significance?” said Amiel, noting that RootOne-supported trips dropped by 90% last year.
Alternative options: The alternative trips will be offered in partnership with trip providers including BBYO, the Union for Reform Judaism, Eli and Bessie Cohen Camps, JCC Association of North America and the Chabad Teen Network. Like all RootOne sponsored trips, this year the alternative trips will provide a mifgash — an encounter between North American and Israeli teens. On top of subsidizing international trips for Jewish teens, RootOne has also expanded its coverage to include some summer programs that cater to teens from Orthodox day schools, including Bnei Akiva’s Mach Hach Ba’Aretz, some NCSY programs and Sulam.
GOING GLOBAL
Newly named a ‘Scaling Fellow’ by disability inclusion nonprofit Zero Project, Israel-based Tikkun Olam Makers looks to expand
The Israel-based Tikkun Olam Makers nonprofit has transformed the lives of thousands of those with physical disabilities by developing and freely sharing open-source assistive technologies, such as toddler-sized wheelchairs and 3D-printed prosthetics that cost far less than traditional models. Now, that work is poised to expand significantly in the wake of the group being recognized as a “Scaling Fellow” of Zero Project, the world’s leading organization for disability inclusion. It will give the open-source disability technology group greater access to the resources needed to expand its footprint, Gidi Grinstein, its founder and president, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky.
Sends a message: As a Zero Project Scaling Fellow, TOM gains access to a powerful global network of policymakers, corporate leaders, and investors, enabling it to accelerate its mission to scale assistive technologies globally, noted Grinstein, who was also among one of the five fellows chosen among the 1,400 conference participants to present in front of the Austrian parliament. “I’m a son of a Holocaust survivor, I’m a grandchild of Holocaust survivors on both sides, and as an Israeli and as a Jew, it is a tremendously significant moment to be standing there in the parliament underneath this huge [Austrian coat of arms] and to speak to members of parliament and members of the government,” said Grinstein. “There are dozens and dozens of organizations here so they didn’t have to choose an organization whose name is Tikkun Olam Makers. Choosing a speaker from Israel is a statement. So I appreciated them deeply for that.”
FUNDING CUTS
Canceled USAID grants include Israel-Gulf scientific cooperation program
The Middle East Regional Cooperation program (MERC), a long-standing grant program supporting scientific collaboration between Israel and Arab states, was among those terminated when the Trump administration abruptly shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year, according to new whistleblower documents released by Senate Democrats. According to a spreadsheet of terminated programs and awards shared by a whistleblower with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and released by Punchbowl News, more than $32 million in MERC grant programs have been canceled by the Trump administration, reports Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
With the bathwater: The MERC program dates back to 1979, when it was created by Congress to contribute to Israeli-Egyptian relations following the Camp David Accords. The program grew to include Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. The program had over 40 active grants, according to a contractor that facilitated the program, focusing on areas including agriculture, water management, public health, sustainability and conservation, and aimed to support direct collaboration between Israelis and Arabs without the need for U.S. mediation. The cancellation of the program comes in spite of the Trump administration’s promotion of the Abraham Accords and its stated intention to pursue normalized relations between Israel and additional Arab countries.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
SUPPORT RESILIENCE UNDER FIRE
This International Women’s Day, make the choice to fund women entrepreneurs — in Ukraine, and globally
“Today, one in every two businesses in Ukraine is founded by a woman,” writes Karyn Grossman Gershon, CEO of Project Kesher, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “This statistic is the clearest indication of where private and institutional philanthropists and global funds should direct their resources, especially given the acute and heartbreaking limitations that have resulted from the destruction of USAID. With every dollar donated vastly more important, every dollar must unlock exponential impact — and funding for women entrepreneurs has this precise effect.”
Gender-directed giving’s impact: “Grants make it possible for these founders to stabilize their families, contribute to the local economy, offer their communities needed goods and services, bring on more workers who would otherwise be unemployed and even become philanthropists themselves. Moreover, economic stability does more for mental health than virtually any other investment. The ripple effects are simply enormous on an individual, communal and societal level. Achieving these results requires an understanding of best practices in women-directed giving and the ability to view grantmaking with a highly gendered lens… For too long, funders have made well-intentioned decisions about the needs of women grantees with limited understanding of their day-to-day realities, only to discover that their efforts are either ineffective or duplicative. Only by centering the needs and voices of women entrepreneurs in grantmaking programs and priorities can funders offer truly meaningful help.”
PEOPLE POWER
A talent investment mindset: The next frontier for Jewish communal innovation
“Jewish communal professionals are supporting and leading us, as a people, into a future for which there is no playbook,” write Joshua D. Margolis, the James Dinan and Elizabeth Miller Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and faculty chair of the school’s program for leadership development, and Gali Cooks, founding president and CEO of Leading Edge, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Where we grow next: “The Jewish community has been both adaptive and innovative many times in the past, but those innovations to date have been concentrated mostly in the product/service market (programs) and the capital market (philanthropy). The labor market (people) must be the focus for the next leap forward in Jewish communal innovation. It is the vehicle for driving success in the other two markets. Without developing and upskilling our talent, even the best product or service, empowered by abundant capital, cannot reach its highest level.”
Worthy Reads
The Disabled and the Divine: In The Wall Street Journal, Mark Oppenheimer reflects on the death of his friend and fellow congregant, Rich, who had an intellectual disability. “The Jewish tradition is conflicted about the place of adults with special needs. A shoteh, or one who is mentally ill, isn’t obligated to fulfill commandments. Nor is he counted in a prayer quorum. But some rabbinic authorities, including the great Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), distinguished between a shoteh and a peti, an intellectually disabled person. The latter, he said, should be counted. The idea was that the deranged aren’t capable of communicating with the Divine, while people with limited intellect are. I’d go further and question the importance of intellect altogether… What Rich and some of his fellow adults with special needs proved to me, time and again, is that they are sometimes more capable of understanding religious obligation than fellow congregants with supercharged IQs… I once tried to persuade a tenured philosophy professor who was returning to Jewish observance that, however nice it was that he had found a study partner and was brushing up on his Hebrew, he might also volunteer to help cook the kiddush meal or open the doors and greet people on Sabbath morning. He chuckled and said, ‘I don’t think that’s where my gifts are.’ Maybe not. Maybe he and Rich had different gifts. One man was a scholar, the other a mensch. I’ll take Rich’s any day.” [WSJ]
Feeling the Love: In the Jewish Journal, Nicole Zendehdel recounts her family’s experience during the L.A. wildfires in January and how her community has demonstrated its support in the days and weeks since. “On Tuesday, Jan. 7, the day we received orders to evacuate our home, I drove to Pico-Robertson to pick up my daughter from YULA and my two little boys from their school (our eldest son is in yeshiva in Israel). I drove my usual daily commute, not knowing this would be the last time I would ever see my home. The next 24 hours were filled with hope and prayers, disbelief and shock as we waited for news of our home. On Wednesday afternoon, we found out that our home, my parents’ home and the homes of many friends had been completely destroyed. It was the end of a chapter in my life. But also the beginning of how the Los Angeles Jewish community held me up when my home burned down… I’m grateful to Hashem for surrounding me with amazing friends and family who showed up for us and keep showing up throughout this journey to rebuild our lives. And I will always remember the way the LA Jewish community stepped in, before I even knew what support I needed. A Jewish community that took care of our family in such a beautiful way that my tears of sadness turned into tears of gratitude.” [JewishJournal]
Remember and Don’t Forget: In The Times of Israel, Mijal Bitton reflects on the commandment to remember how the nation of Amalek attacked the Israelites after they left Egypt, which we read about in a special Torah portion that will be recited tomorrow on Shabbat Zakhor, which is marked annually on the Shabbat before Purim. “The biblical commandment regarding Amalek is severe. We are meant to erase Amalek and kill its people. This is the Bible’s ‘baby Hitler’ scenario: Amalek is irredeemably evil. This commandment evolved. Already in talmudic times, the sages ruled that since the Assyrian king Sennacherib had scrambled the nations, Amalek could no longer be identified. This was a profound shift — from a genealogical to an ideological Amalek. Amalek is not about ancestry — it is a force that recurs throughout history. And so while the Torah’s command to destroy Amalek no longer applies to an entire nation, the injunction of Zakhor remains urgent: Every generation will have disciples of Amalek. They do not seek compromise, nor can they be appeased. They must be fought and defeated. Fighting Amalek is not about vengeance — it is about survival… Some people hate Jews for reasons that are not rational and will not be swayed by moral arguments or historical education. This is not new. It has always been the case. So while we must continue fighting antisemitism, we must also stop being surprised by it. Zakhor. Remember.” [TOI]
Word on the Street
The Israel on Campus Coalition told eJP that it has received a $500,000 grant from the Jewish National Fund-USA to strengthen its ability to empower Jewish and Zionist students on college campuses across the country…
The University of Maryland Hillel was the top fundraiser at the school’s Giving Day this week, receiving more than $1 million in donations, some $300,000 more than the next largest recipient; it also had the third largest number of donors, 833…
Jewish Insider examines the growing number of antisemitic conspiracy theorists being invited onto Joe Rogan’s popular podcast…
Canadian leaders, including outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, newly appointed Associate Minister of Public Security Rachel Bendayan and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw spoke out against antisemitism at Canada’s second national antisemitism summit and pledged to take concrete steps to address violence and hate…
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency examines how the Trump administration’s refugee ban is blocking 700 persecuted Iranian Jews from entering the United States…
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the Anti-Defamation League and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP filed lawsuits on behalf of students at Scripps College, Cal Poly Humboldt and the Etiwanda School District, all in California, alleging that the claimants faced incidents of antisemitism that violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act…
Tory peer Lord Hamilton of Epsom, a former Tory MP and minister, faced backlash for suggesting British Jews should fund a Holocaust memorial due to their wealth and property ownership. The Conservative Party condemned his remarks as “flagrantly antisemitic,” prompting him to apologize. Meanwhile, Labour reaffirmed its commitment to the long-delayed memorial near parliament, though the location remains controversial…
Harlan Diamond, philanthropist and director of the popular Executive Caterers at the Landerhaven event venue in Cleveland, died on Feb. 27 at 90…
Pic of the Day
Representatives from 25 JCCs across North America attend a four-day seminar this week at Brandeis University to provide them with “tools to address antisemitism and growing polarization around Israel in their communities,” according to the JCC Association of North American, which organized the event in partnership with the university and Boundless Israel.
“The seminar [provided] not only foundational knowledge but also practical strategies for JCC leaders to engage their communities around the complex intersection of antisemitism and anti-Zionism,” said Rachel Fish, special advisor to the Brandeis University President’s Initiative on Antisemitism and co-founder of Boundless, who coordinated the seminar. “Clearly defining and addressing the challenges of Jew hatred and anti-Zionism require a systemic approach, and it begins with leadership.”
Birthdays
Former CEO of the Trevor Project, now an entrepreneur-in-residence at the International Rescue Committee, Amit Paley, celebrates his birthday on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Times from 1984 to 2019, author and social observer, Suzanne Bregman Fields, Ph.D…. President emeritus of the California Institute of Technology, he is the 1975 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, David Baltimore… Former bureau chief for the Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, London and Tokyo, now a journalism educator at George Washington University, Myron Belkind… Former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 2005, Michael Eisner… Geneticist and 2017 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, his father was the cantor of Boston’s Temple Ohabei Shalom, Michael Rosbash… Member of the Knesset for the Meretz party between 1992 and 1996, Binyamin “Benny” Temkin… Retired media executive, Ruth Barbara Jarmul… Chairman emeritus and retired general trust counsel of Fiduciary Trust International, Gail Ehrlich Cohen… Award-winning freelance journalist, author and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Anne Farris Rosen… British barrister and a member of the House of Lords, he is the longtime chair of the British Legal Friends of Hebrew University, Lord David Philip Pannick… Executive director of Academic Exchange, Rabbi Nachum Braverman… Democratic political strategist, now the director of finance at Four Directions, Lewis H. Cohen… Professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and the author or editor of several books about Baruch Spinoza, Yitzhak Yohanan Melamed… Academy Award-winning actress, Rachel Weisz… News director for DC’s NBC4 News and an adjunct professor of journalism at American U, Matt Glassman… Executive director of the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, Rabbi Ellen Wolintz-Fields… Brooklyn-based political consultant and attorney, Michael Tobman… Director of the Congressional Affairs Department for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Elad Strohmayer… Television news anchor and author of five best-selling finance guides, Nicole Lapin… Israeli actress and singer, Ester Rada… Author, popular science writer, spaceflight historian, YouTuber and podcaster, Amy Shira Teitel… Climate deals reporter at Axios Pro, Alan Neuhauser… Attorney in Reno, Nevada, Sasha Ahuva Farahi… President of Every Minute Communications, Rachel Zuckerman… Director of communications at AIPAC, Cory Meyer… Comedian, actress, and screenwriter, Sarah Sherman… Jake Hirth… Yaakov Spira…
SATURDAY: Jazz pianist, composer, organist, arranger and music director, Dick Hyman… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CA-47) from 2013 until 2023, Alan Stuart Lowenthal… Chair of the U.K.’s Office of Communications, Baron Michael Grade (family name Winogradsky)… Judaism and Science blogger, he is a retired attorney at Seyfarth Shaw, Roger L. Price… Lyricist, singer, songwriter and New York Times best-selling author, Carole Bayer Sager .. Licensed clinical psychologist and past director of couple therapy training at the Chicago Center for Family Health, Mona Fishbane… Senior Fellow on national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, Alan Makovsky… Brenda Krantz… Former chair and CEO of MGM, he is now vice-chair of DraftKings, Harry Evans Sloan… Public affairs producer and weekend assignment editor at KDKA News in Pittsburgh, Aviva Jayne Radbord… Former governor of Virginia and later U.S. senator, his mother was from a Sephardic Jewish family in Tunisia, George Allen… Retired in 2016 after 29 years as the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester NY, Larry Fine… Host and managing editor of the WNYC radio program “On the Media,” Brooke Gladstone… Director of training and operations at Consilium Group, Bunny Silverman Fisher… President of the World Bank Group until 2023, he served as undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury in the Trump 45 administration, David Malpass… DC-based labor and employment attorney at Bredhoff & Kaiser, he clerked for Justice Brennan at the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1983 term, Bruce R. Lerner… Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actress, Camryn Manheim… Founder and CEO of 32 Advisors, LLC, Robert Wolf… Vice president of talent acquisition at Sageview Consulting, Carin Maher… Vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Evan A. Feigenbaum… Director of external affairs at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, Zack Fink… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017 (D-NJ-5), he is running for governor of New Jersey this year, Joshua S. Gottheimer… Former marketing and communications director at the Center for Open Science, Alexis C. Rice… Executive director of Masbia, a soup kitchen based in Brooklyn and Queens that serves over 2 million meals per year, Alexander Rapaport… Co-founder of Funcoach, he was an early designer at Facebook and co-created the “Like” button, Jared Morgenstern… Director at PJT CamberView, Eric Louis Sumberg… Founder and CEO of Delta Flow Solutions and GlueLetter newsletter analytics, Jeff Sonderman… Actress known as the store manager Lily Adams in AT&T commercials, she starred in the 2019 film short “The Shabbos Goy,” Milana Vayntrub… Manager of health policy at the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, David Streeter… Five-time BMI Songwriter of the Year award winner, known professionally as Benny Blanco, Benjamin Joseph Levin… Associate attorney at NYC’s Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello, Nathaniel Jacob Sobel… Program analyst at Mathematica Policy Research, Karen Katz… Director of government affairs and corporate citizenship in the Washington office of PepsiCo, Taylor Jaye Lustig… Social media manager at PragerU, Amanda Helen Botfeld… Tennis player, she has won 11 singles and 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women’s Circuit, Jamie Loeb… Strategy and operations for integrated marketing communications at Ford Motor Company, Alexa (Lexi) Chavin… Associate at 25madison, Miriam Applbaum…
SUNDAY: President at Adelson Family Foundation and a board member of Prizmah, Michael Bohnen… Sag Harbor-based painter, sculptor and printmaker, Eric Fischl… Host of Public Radio International’s Science Friday, Ira Flatow… Rhodes Scholar, Harvard Law graduate, author and political journalist, Michael Kinsley… Member of the Knesset from 1989 to 2021, then chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries until this past November, Amir Peretz… President and CEO of NYC’s flagship public TV station WNET, Neal Shapiro… Professor emeritus of economics at NYU, nicknamed “Dr. Doom,” Nouriel Roubini… Susan Liebman… NYC-based attorney, Gordon Platt… Private equity and venture capital investor, Howie Fialkov… Founder and head of the Chabad house at Harvard University, he is also the official Jewish chaplain for students and alumni of Harvard, Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi… Member of the Canadian House of Commons, she serves as the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Ya’ara Saks… Vice president and head of global communications and public affairs for Meta / Facebook, David I. Ginsberg… Senior fellow at Harvard University’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Matthew Vogel… Co-founder and CEO at ImpactTechNation, he is also a co-founder of the political party Wake-Up Jerusalem (Hitorerut B’Yerushalayim), Hanan Rubin… Israeli-born singer, now one-half of the world music duo Shlomit & RebbeSoul, Shlomit Levi… News editor in the U.S. bureau of JNS, Menachem Wecker… Partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Bocarsly Emden, Rachel Rosner… Political strategist for the Democratic Party, she is a co-host of “The Five” on the Fox News Channel, Jessica Tarlov… Communications director for North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Alissa “Sadie” Weiner… CEO at New Orleans-based QED Hospitality, Emery Whalen… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he now plays in the Mexican League, Jared Lakind… Founding partner of Mothership Strategies, Jacob “Jake” Austin Lipsett… Director of adult education and Israel engagement at the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County (Fla.) until this past January, Marla Topiol… First-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, now playing for the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Ozzy Wiesblatt… Stephen Lent…
