Good Friday morning!

Ed. note: Your Daily Phil will not be publishing on Monday, June 6 in observance of Shavuot. Chag sameach!

Cadets and midshipmen in dress whites mingled with guests in black hats last night at the gala dinner of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF) in an appropriate if unorthodox spot: the Hangar Deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, located on an aircraft carrier docked off of 42nd Street on Manhattan’s West Side. The night’s main honoree was former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the men and women in uniform stole the show.

The military trainees weren’t at the gala because they lingered in New York after Fleet Week, which concluded on Tuesday. Rather, they’re participating in an AJCF program that takes them to Auschwitz and to the adjacent Polish city of O?wi?cim, where AJCF has rehabilitated a synagogue and built a museum and campus. The program teaches participants about the Holocaust and ethical behavior in the military.

Military ceremony pervaded the beginning of the program. A four-person color guard stood with guns and flags upright while actor Alexis Fishman, a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” then rested their guns on their shoulders as she sang “Hatikvah.” The crowd, meanwhile, remained silent for the U.S. national anthem but sang along with Israel’s. Afterward, the cadets and midshipmen stood in a line and introduced themselves. They’ll serve across the armed services, including one cadet who’s slated to join the Space Force.

As with so many events in recent months, speakers and videos referenced the war in Ukraine throughout the night, including one jarring segment that juxtaposed photos of Nazi atrocities and mass graves with similar images from present-day Ukraine. AJCF detailed its work with Ukrainian refugees, including Polish language classes, arts programs for children and a summer camp.

Near the end of the night, one of the honorees, Jack Simony, brought a child who is fighting leukemia to the podium; the child, named Henry, started an initiative while he was undergoing chemotherapy to send cards of support to Ukrainian refugee children.

A moment of levity came at the end of the program, when Dr. Ruth Westheimer addressed the audience via video, talking about her friendship with Schwarzenegger as photos of the diminutive nearly 94-year-old sex therapist standing next to the bodybuilder flashed on the screen. In his speech, also delivered via video (he’s shooting a Netflix series in Canada), Schwarzenegger referenced his “secret girlfriend, Dr. Ruth.”

Schwarzenegger received AJCF’s inaugural Award for Fighting Hatred in recognition of his outspoken stance against atrocities, but he kept his remarks light. “I just want to thank all of you for bestowing on me the first award to fight hatred, and to terminate hatred,” he said, drawing a laugh. He ended his speech by saying, “You all have a great time. Hasta la vista.”

IMMERSE YOURSELF

Inside the new project to professionalize the Jewish retreat sector

Courtesy of Pearlstone

When David Phillips set out to renovate the retreat center at Capital Camps in Waynesboro, Pa., there was one thing he couldn’t find: someone to consult with on designing the camp’s retreat lodges. There were multiple sources available on best practices in Jewish camping, but nothing on the art and science of Jewish retreats. Now, a decade later, Phillips and a colleague, Josh Fidler, hope to fill that gap. This week, the pair announced the launch of Retreat Jewish, an initiative designed to support Jewish retreat operators and organizers across the country and professionalize the field, reports Daniela Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy.

A sizable market: According to “Advancing Jewish Retreating,” a 2020 study by Amy L. Sales and Nicole Samuel, researchers at Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Jewish retreat centers collectively drew more than 100,000 people annually before the pandemic. Retreat Jewish is affiliated with the Baltimore-area Pearlstone Retreat Center, one of the largest Jewish retreat centers in North America, and is an 18-month seed project with $500,000 in funding from the Jim Joseph Foundation and The Marcus Foundation.

The goal: Fidler and Phillips hope the project will continue beyond that timeframe if they’re able to produce targeted research about the field, organize its leaders into peer cohorts and be seen as valuable by those working at and leading Jewish retreats. “A lot of people saw retreating as a sideline and few people understood retreating as a profession,” says Fidler, a real estate developer and the founding chair of Pearlstone. “So one of the things that we intend to do with Retreat Jewish is to create tools, techniques, best practices, some common and hopefully enhanced resources to professionalize the field and to make sure that experiences deliver fundamentally for participants.”

Read the full story here.

PARSHA PHIL: BAMIDBAR

Everybody Counts

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“As we begin the book of Bamidbar — which means ‘in the desert/wilderness’ — the parsha begins with a counting, a census of adult males who will clear the path and conquer the land. God assigns the census-takers: Moses and Aaron, and a leader or point person from each ancestral house, tribal heads who serve as assistants and are responsible for those within their group. Like a philanthropy assistant, we can imagine them recording gifts and notes, creating reports, helping to make sure everyone is counted and that everyone steps forward proudly to contribute,” writes Rabbi Lisa Gelber, spiritual leader of Congregation Habonim in Manhattan, in this week’s Parsha Phil column.

The gravitational pull of the holy: “The parsha tells us… that B’nai Yisrael ‘shall camp around and opposite the tent of meeting’ (Num. 2:2). Situated opposite the ohel mo’ed, everyone’s heart is turned towards the center. By sacred design, each member of the community can feel the gravitational pull of the holy, the reason we are counting, collecting and building. Everyone, in their own way, from their own place, is responsible for the whole.”

Whatever the distance: “The 12th-century Spanish commentator Ibn Ezra clarifies that where Num. 2:2 says the people were to set themselves up ‘mineged,’ in relation to the ohel mo’ed, this means ‘a good way off.’ This reminds us that while some are close to the center, they remain in relation to the sacred and to each other; everyone’s work and effort has power that supports the whole. We must make space for everyone’s gifts and talents no matter where they are positioned.”

Read the whole piece here.

VOTING BEHAVIORS

Insights into the changing Jewish political marketplace

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“Politics represents an extension of who we are. All of the social forces acting upon us serve to define our political outlook. Within the Jewish political context, we know that religious affiliation, ethnic orientation, generational status and one’s urban-suburban status are all key influencers in shaping both voting patterns and candidate giving,” writes Steven Windmueller, interim director of Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

The importance of social issues: “This is an uncertain moment in the American democratic story. The immense and significant issues before us are also impacting the Jewish voter. Threats to the character and substance of our democracy, the pending Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, the issues of economic justice, the questions of racial equality and sexual choice, these and so many other considerations are profoundly important to Jewish Americans.”

The world around us: “Living with spiking gas prices, expanding COVID cases, managing gun violence and responding to domestic extremism add to this season of challenging issues. Externally, one finds a world in distress facing a global climate crisis, the effects of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the presence of such reckless national actors as Iran and North Korea. As with domestic considerations, Jews remain deeply concerned about the international order, especially as it may impact Israel and the United States.”

The Jewish response: “Social mores and cultural norms are altering how Jews understand and embrace their Jewish identity in the context of their Americanism. Contemporary antisemitism and the disruptive state of American politics must be seen as additional transformative factors…  Much like all other voters, Jews are being bombarded by the many electoral and policy considerations that define our society. The Jewish political typology parallels these general patterns, as Jews are concerned on the one hand about the welfare of this democracy and on the other realize that their self-interests are being challenged.”

Read the full piece here.

Worthy Reads

Pic of the Day

Yair is called to the Torah and is assisted by teacher, Elia Fernaldes. His father, Chaim, and Rabbi Mikie Goldstein, look on; courtesy of The Shirley Lowy Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

Two young men with autism, surrounded by family and teachers, celebrated their b’nai mitzvah during a special musical Shacharit service last week at Adat Shalom-Emanuel in Rehovot, Israel. The rite of passage took place as part of the Masorti Movement’s bar and bat mitzvah program for children with disabilities, which has celebrated more than 4,500 b’nai mitzvah.