Your Daily Phil: Preparedness empowers: CSS-MDA partnership highlights expanding layer in community security
Add EJP on GoogleIn today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the newly minted partnership between Community Security Service and Magen David Adom, Ohel‘s sale of Camp Lavi to a for-profit group led by the camp’s former director and a key finding from a new Anti-Defamation League study. We feature an opinion piece by Arieh Miller addressing a gap between leadership training and leadership opportunities in the Jewish communal world and a piece by Rachel Grunbaum, Ora Kalfa and Aviad Yisraeli spotlighting chronic pain as a major social challenge on Israel’s horizon. Also in this issue: Carol Ann Schwartz, Dan Tatar and Yisrael Katz.
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 Montreal City Council is slated to hold a vote this evening on a resolution that would declare a genocide in Gaza and “recognize and denounce the apartheid regime in Palestine.” The resolution, being promoted by the opposition Projet Montréal party, has stirred controversy in the city and drawn pushback amid an uptick in antisemitic crimes.
This evening, the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla, Calif., will host former hostage Eli Sharabi at a community-wide event where he will discuss his memoir, Hostage.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP’S RACHEL KOHN
For Richard Priem, CEO of Community Security Service, the organization’s new partnership with American Friends of Magen David Adom is both an exciting opportunity and a concession to unprecedented times.
The partnership, which was announced last week,will center on MDA’s “First 7 Minutes” incident-response training. The course draws on MDA’s mass-casualty experience and is generally taught by MDA staff who have responded to actual terror attacks in Israel; but in this case, CSS volunteer instructors will undergo “First 7 Minutes” training at CSS Academy and then incorporate the program into the existing security and safety curriculum delivered to the organization’s grassroots network of more than 7,000 volunteers.
“Our entire model is predicated on preventing terrorist attacks from succeeding,” Priem said. “At the same time, we cannot stick our head in the sand and ignore the fact that terrorist attacks have been increasing, abroad and in the United States, and it is not inconceivable that there is going to be a terrorist attack” at a location where CSS is directly active or one of its volunteers is in attendance. “If that’s the case,” he said, “we want those community members to have these skills, to save lives.”
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
News
CAMP SECURED
Ohel announces Camp Lavi sale to for-profit group, not Camp Lavi Foundation
After a summer of uncertainty, the families and supporters of Camp Lavi in Lakewood, Pa., seemed poised to purchase the institution through a deal with the party that won the property at auction earlier this month, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services, Inc. ?In the end, however, a for-profit group led by a former Camp Lavi director ultimately succeeded in securing a deal with Ohel, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports.
Last-minute deal: The deal was struck on Wednesday night with a for-profit group led by Joey Hoenig, the co-founder of the Five Towns Basketball League and director of athletics at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway. The good news for the camp’s patrons and supporters: it will remain in operation as a Modern Orthodox camp.
EDUCATION IMPACT
New ADL study: One antisemitism education lesson reduces belief in anti-Jewish conspiracy theories
One 45-minute lesson on contemporary antisemitism can meaningfully cut teenagers’ belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories, according to a new study by the Anti-Defamation League. The study evaluated 372 middle and high school students across nine schools in a North Carolina school district found that students who received the lesson were 14% more likely than a control group to reject the claim that Jews have too much power in the United States, Haley Cohen reports for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Simple solution: “We now have data showing that a single, well-designed lesson, taught by educators with no special training, can measurably shift how teens think about antisemitism. That’s a solvable problem for schools. Based on our research, districts don’t need a semester-long unit or a major new investment to make progress, they need the right 45 minutes, and now we’re closer to knowing what that looks like,” said Matt Williams, vice president of the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research.
Opinion
LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
‘Future leader’: It’s not the compliment we think it is
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Arieh Miller, CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council, calls on the Jewish communal world’s gatekeepers to give the next generation real opportunities to exercise their leadership muscles.
“It is an absolute must for those holding the keys to leadership positions to ensure that space at the top table is made for younger, less experienced people; to ensure that younger people have spaces at board level, are given senior executive roles and are allowed to be in positions of genuine decision-making. Otherwise, how on earth will they ever gain experience?”
THE WAR COMES HOME
Living in pain
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Rachel Grunbaum (an Israel-based consultant to the Samis and Nitzan Foundations), Ora Kalfa (founder of Live the Pain) and Aviad Yisraeli (director of Warriors in Pain) describe the building wave of Israeli veterans struggling with chronic pain and emphasize that either an entire field of care will be built now or will be left to catch up years after it’s needed.
“Public money tends to follow proof rather than get out ahead of it, and somebody has to be willing to take the first risk to generate that proof. Philanthropic dollars can move before a problem has even been properly categorized, before it’s been divided up between ministries, before it’s made its way into policy — testing models, building evidence, training the people who will run this work, showing what good care could actually look like.”
Worthy Reads
Medicine’s Double Standard: In The Lancet, Yoram Weiss, Hadassah Medical Organization’s director general, and Carol Ann Schwartz, Hadassah’s national president, condemn a petition to expel the Israel Medical Association from the World Medical Association, warning it holds Israeli physicians to a discriminatory double standard and fuels antisemitism. “Hadassah’s hospitals have long been a bridge to peace for patients and practitioners of every race, religion, or nationality, and our doctors… Attempts to politicise medicine derail potentially lifesaving collaboration among healthcare professionals, compromise global health and, ultimately, harm countless patients.”
Living It Louder: In an AEPi blog post, Josh Greenwood, a member of the fraternity from San Diego, recounts returning to his former off-campus house to find it vandalized with swastikas and slurs, and describes how his chapter responded by leaning into Jewish pride — planning community service and a large Shabbat dinner — rather than retreating. “Strength does not mean pretending we were not scared or hurt. Resilience does not mean forgetting what happened. To me, resilience means deciding that the people who painted those symbols do not get to determine what we do next. Our response will not be to hide our Jewish identity. It will be to live it more openly.”
We Stan: In the South Dakota Searchlight, Mary Garrigan remembers former legislator Stan Adelstein, who died Aug. 10, as a philanthropist who spent decades sharing Jewish heritage with South Dakota’s Christian-majority public and quietly funding causes he cared about. “Like much of Adelstein’s philanthropy, it all happened very quickly. He saw a need, and he met it… It’s amazing what a little light, and a little money, can do for a problem.”
Major Gifts
Temple Sholom in Vancouver, British Columbia, announced it has received an “extraordinary” $1.2 million bequest from the estate of Dr. Sharon Kahn and is dividing the funds between two permanent Temple Sholom endowments…
Hillel International is awarding 65 students across the U.S. a total of more than $350,000 through its 2026 Student Leadership Scholarships…
Transitions
OpenDor Media has announced two new hires: Nadia Simons as chief content officer and head of Unpacked, and Dan Tatar, former interim CEO ofThe iCenter, asdirector of external partnerships…
Yisrael Katz has been appointed as the new CEO of Kav L’Noar, an Israel-based mental health organization…
Gary S. Cohn was hired as the philanthropy executive officer at Front Porch Communities…
Jeanne Snodgrass was hired by the Montana Jewish Project as its new executive director…
Word on the Street
The Altalena, the arms ship sunk by the IDF off the coast of Tel Aviv in the deadliest bout of intra-Jewish fighting during Israel’s War of Independence, has been located 503 meters underwater off the Israeli coast, 78 years later; the operation was initiated by Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu…
Jewish Telegraphic Agency chronicles the collapse of the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg (Pa.), which laid off its entire staff and is selling the $4.5 million Alexander Grass Campus for Jewish Life amid a financial unraveling that pushed the property’s mortgage to $9 million and drew a rare intervention from the Jewish Federations of North America…
Camp Modin, a Jewish summer camp in Belgrade, Maine, is seeking a protection order against neighbor Nathan Hewett, 36, who allegedly fired about 20 rifle shots near the camp on Aug. 7 while some 400 campers and staff were present, prompting a camp-wide lockdown…
Jewish Community Relations Council of New York’s CEO Mark Treyger accused commentator Mehdi Hasan of hypocrisy for slamming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) reported private meeting with Jared Kushner as “pathetic”…
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, in Ukraine, launched the Lilka Scholarship, funded by Australian Jewish philanthropist Irene Kronhill Pletka, teaching Yiddish to 15 non-Jewish Ukrainian students who study through air-raid sirens…
Masa Israel Journey is expanding its Beersheva “Doctors’ Journey” program with a new track to recruit physicians from Latin America, aiming to ease the Negev’s medical staffing shortage…
A University of Michigan astrophysics doctoral student built a web app that calculates Shabbat’s end from star brightness and atmospheric data, often landing about 10 minutes later than the rabbinic estimates many communities use…
Argentina removed federal Judge Alfredo Eugenio López over antisemitic social media posts…
Fifty-two percent of Israelis say they feel some concern about identifying as Israeli while traveling abroad since Oct. 7, 2023, according to a new study by the Center for Jewish Impact…
Nancy Kissinger, a foreign policy specialist who worked for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund before marrying Henry A. Kissinger in 1974 and traveling widely with him on the secretary of state’s diplomatic missions, died Aug. 20 at 92…
Pic of the Day
Ukrainian Jewish children hold their new backpacks and “Together to School” certificates during one of the distribution events held across the country by Jewish Relief Network Ukraine. The organization has relaunched the annual initiative for the 2026-2027 school year, giving new backpacks to hundreds of Jewish children from financially strained families ahead of the country’s Sept. 1 “First Bell,” the traditional ceremony marking the first day of school.
Birthdays
David Gregory, CNN political analyst, he is the former host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” turns 56
Meir Stern, rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic, N.J., turns 91
J. David Bleich, professor of Jewish law and ethics at Yeshiva University, he also teaches at Cardozo Law School, turns 90
Lois Tager, author, speaker, geriatric care manager and online counselor for seniors in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Mel Karmazin, former president of Infinity Broadcasting, he eventually became the CEO of CBS and of Sirius Radio, turns 83
Joe Manchin, former U.S. senator (I-WV), turns 79
Dakota Jackson, celebrity furniture designer known for his eponymous furniture brand, turns 77
Lawrence Bacow, former president of Harvard and Tufts universities, turns 75
Jonathan Romain, rabbi emeritus of the Maidenhead Synagogue in Berkshire, England, turns 72
Ricki Seidman, senior counselor to the secretary of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, turns 71
Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, turns 71
Phil Rosen, retired in 2024 as head of the real estate practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, he is the vice chair of Birthright Israel Foundation and chair of World Jewish Congress-American section
Adam Gopnik, author of nine books, essayist and longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, turns 70
Steve Guttenberg, actor, producer and director, turns 68
Marvin Krislov, president of Pace University, turns 66
Jonathan Aviv, professor of otolaryngology at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC, turns 66
Marc Terrill, president emeritus of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore
Donna Barwald, professional organizer
Marlee Matlin, 1986 winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor for her role in “Children of a Lesser God,” she is the first deaf performer to have won the award, turns 61
Nick Denton, founder and CEO of Gawker Media until it was bankrupted by Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel, turns 60
Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, he is now executive director for Disability Law Colorado, turns 60
Lonnie Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
Todd Young, U.S. senator (R-IN), turns 54
Avigail Sperber, Israeli cinematographer and film and television director, turns 53
Meital Dohan, Israeli actor and musician, turns 50
Miriam Shaviv, content marketing lead at Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, turns 50
Jon Daniels, former GM of MLB’s Texas Rangers, now a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays, turns 49
Emily Cherniack, Boston-based, founder and executive director of the group New Politics
Michael M. Rosen, counsel at Irell & Manella and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
Jenn Hyman, co-founder and former CEO of Rent the Runway, a company focused on the renting of high-end clothing and accessories, turns 46
Jon Scheyer, head coach of the Duke men’s basketball team after serving as assistant to the legendary Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski), turns 39
David Perelman, CEO of the JCommerce Group, an e-commerce enterprise that services the Jewish community
Galia Slayen, vice president of strategic communications at The Lede Company
Samantha Feinstein, owner of Sustayne and co-owner of Peabody Group
Natalie Short, senior vice president at Edelman Smithfield
Griffin Gluck, film and television actor, turns 26
