Your Daily Phil: Progressive philanthropies fear White House crackdown after Kirk killing
Add EJP on GoogleGood Friday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine growing concerns among progressive philanthropies of a crackdown on their activities by the Trump administration in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. We report on the launch of a new intelligence-sharing partnership between the Anti-Defamation League and the Community Security Initiative, and speak with a demography expert about the recent closure of a 22-acre Jewish community campus in Tampa, Fla. We feature an opinion piece by Adina H. Frydman about finding hope in the optimism she encounters among Jewish youth, and one by Sonia Gomes de Mesquita about a collaborative initiative building early childhood education centers in northern and southern Israel; plus Rabbi Aviva Richman shares Talmudic insights about the human capacity for reflection and improvement. Also in this issue: William Cohan, Yair Golan and Dammara Rose Markowitz.
Shabbat shalom!
| 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: M² survey finds Jewish professionals lack hope, fear internal division, but believe in their work; Musician, author and philanthropist Ethan Daniel Davidson adds rabbi to his many hats; and Family of Raphael Lemkin, who coined term ‘genocide,’ fights to have his name removed from ‘anti-Israel’ institute. Print the latest edition here. |
What We’re Watching
The American Jewish Committee is hosting another event this morning in a series marking the fifth anniversary of Israel’s normalized ties to the United Arab Emirates, titled “Fulfilling the Promise of the Abraham Accords,” featuring Washington Institute Middle East scholar David Makovsky.
“Breaking the Chain: Global Action Against Hostage-Taking” will be held in New York today, featuring the first public remarks from former Israeli hostage Na’ama Levy. Also speaking are a Yazidi survivor of ISIS captivity; Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N.; Dorothy Shea, acting U.S. representative to the U.N.; and Ibrahim Olabi, Syria’s ambassador to the U.N.; among others.
Chabad at Vanderbilt University will honor Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier with Chabad’s Lamplighter award tomorrow.
On Saturday, the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream is opening with its flagship exhibition, the “American Dream Experience,” in Washington.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
Large philanthropic foundations, particularly those on the political left, are growing increasingly concerned about what they see as an effort by the Trump administration to crack down on their operations in the wake of last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and other recent acts of political violence.
More than 150 foundations, more than 10% of them run or founded by American Jews, released an open letter yesterday warning against “attempts to exploit” these recent attacks. Signatories include Ford Foundation, Knight Foundation, Tides, Open Society Foundations and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, as well as the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation, Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation, several funds affiliated with the Haas family, Siegel Charitable Foundation and more.
The letter opens with a denunciation of the recent incidents of political violence, which they wrote, “have no place in our democracy.” They added: “We must all forcefully condemn these heinous acts as affronts to the fundamental principles and health of our nation — and as charitable giving organizations, including those working in communities impacted by these tragedies, we do.”
The groups then criticized recent attacks on and threats to philanthropic organizations, without citing specific instances or naming the Trump administration. “We reject attempts to exploit political violence to mischaracterize our good work or restrict our fundamental freedoms, like freedom of speech and the freedom to give. Attempts to silence speech, criminalize opposing viewpoints and misrepresent and limit charitable giving undermine our democracy and harm all Americans,” they said.
The letter comes as White House officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have explicitly condemned investor and philanthropist George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation for their activities and intimated that they may revoke or alter their tax-exempt status.
These growing threats to left-wing philanthropies follow similar ones against institutions of higher learning, including threats to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status. Proponents of these moves see them as a necessary bulwark against violent, anti-American activities, while their detractors — including those on the right — see these as undemocratic attacks on political opponents, ones that could someday be used by Democratic administrations against conservative nonprofits.
EXCLUSIVE
Anti-Defamation League, Community Security Initiative launch joint national threat monitoring network
The Anti-Defamation League and the Community Security Initiative of New York are partnering to launch a national threat monitoring and assessment network, following a year marked by two deadly attacks on North American Jewry, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
Intelligence sharing: The organizations described the joint initiative, The Joint Threat Intelligence Partnership (JTIP), as the first national intelligence sharing network focused specifically on Jewish security. “In some ways, redundancy regarding Jewish security is not a bad thing, right? We want to have multiple organizations looking out,” Oren Segal, the ADL’s senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence, told eJewishPhilanthropy on Thursday. “Where it can get confusing for the community is not knowing who to turn to… that’s where organizations like [CSI-NY and the ADL] which are building up the capacity, can also work together, so that we are not kind of competing on that front, but actually working together in order to protect the community.”
Bonus: The Anti-Defamation League filed a new federal lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of more than 140 U.S. victims of the Oct. 7 attacks alleging that several different terrorist groups carried out the attacks with material support from U.S.-designated state sponsors of terror: Iran, Syria and North Korea, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
DATA DRIVEN
Closure of 22-acre Tampa Jewish campus highlights importance of demographic studies, expert says
Last week, the Maureen and Douglas Cohn Jewish Community Campus in Tampa, Fla., announced it would be closing its doors after 33 years. The announcement cited various reasons for the move: demographic changes, lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a decrease in residents in its assisted-living facility, rising costs for security and damage from recent hurricanes. But according to Ira Sheskin, a leading Jewish demographer, the main culprit may be the community’s lack of an up-to-date demographic study, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.
Do your homework: “The going estimate for Hillsborough County is 30,000 Jews, but who knows?” Sheskin, a professor and the director of the Jewish Demography Project at the University of Miami, told eJP. “They’re one of the larger communities in the country” that hasn’t done a recent demographic study. The 22-acre North Tampa campus was purchased by the JCC and Federation in 1992 for $3.25 million and houses many entities: the local Jewish federation, the JCC, a Jewish assisted living facility, a preschool, a Jewish family services and a community foundation. “When you’re going to open something like a JCC or a synagogue or a daycamp or a preschool, and you do it without doing your homework first, you can make a multimillion-dollar mistake,” he added.
READER RESPONDS
Working with youth gives me hope
“In the recent ‘Hope Study’ by M², the nonprofit found that Jewish community professionals are experiencing a crisis of hope (‘M² survey finds Jewish professionals lack hope, fear internal division, but believe in their work,’ eJewishPhilanthropy, Sept. 18)… The ‘Hope Study’ cites various sources of hope that mitigate the lack of hope among Jewish professionals. They include professional impact, participating in social change, belonging to a group, and tradition. I would add to this list: working with youth,” writes Adina H. Frydman, CEO of Young Judaea Global, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A personal remedy: “Throughout the year, while my work demands a significant amount of travel, getting out into the field to talk to our youth, to engage them in dialogue and to be constantly amazed by their freshness, directness and unbridled optimism — that is what gives me hope. … [A]s I come back to the office, I try to hold onto that feeling, those precious interactions, until my next time in the field. So, if you are looking for an oxygen mask to revive you and restore your hope, consider working with today’s youth.”
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Planting seeds of renewal: Philanthropy’s role in rebuilding early childhood education in Israel
“Early childhood education is not a privilege; it is the heartbeat of society,” writes Sonia Gomes de Mesquita, deputy chair of SASA Setton and CEO of the Center for Jewish Impact, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. Rebuilding early childhood education centers in areas of Israel devastated by the Oct. 7 attacks and the past two years of conflict “is a declaration that life will continue, that children will grow in their communities and that families will not give up on their future.”
A group effort: “Guided by this vision, a three-year initiative is rehabilitating and redesigning 32 early childhood educational centers of excellence for ages 3-6 across the Gaza Envelope and northern Israel. This multimillion-dollar project, led by SASA Setton, Alumot Or and the Center for Jewish Impact, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and local municipalities, is a model of comprehensive recovery. The work is not about simply reconstructing buildings but about guiding an entire educational process with teachers and communities at its center.”
SPACE FOR INQUIRY
Why Talmud is the bedrock of my faith
“As we approach Rosh Hashanah and celebrate the creation of the world and humanity, perhaps you, like me, are wondering how to have faith alongside daily headlines of human suffering, violence and upheaval. Beyond ongoing shock and grief, I have a gnawing fear that we’re just not up to the task,” writes Rabbi Aviva Richman, rosh yeshiva at the Hadar Institute, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
The sages’ argument: “I appreciate that Talmud does not shrink from articulating our worst fears: Maybe our existence is more of a nightmare than a gift. At the end of the day, we’re left with a seemingly nihilist conclusion — better had we never been created. Yet, this is not a nihilism that leads to apathy. On the contrary, it suggests that the pathway forward in our existence requires attentiveness and investment … Maybe our lack of faith in humanity is well-grounded, but Talmud teaches us to nonetheless believe in human capacity for reflection and improvement. In other words, the only way to approach the sometimes scary reality of our existence is through the ongoing careful work of teshuvah.”
Worthy Reads
Hummus in Damascus: In The Times of Israel, David Horovitz recalls his 48-hour visit to Damascus, including stops at its Jewish sites, as one of the first Israeli journalists to visit the country since the overthrow of the Assad regime last year. “The only member of this group to be Israeli, living in Israel, and a journalist, I am here because Asher Lopatin, a modern Orthodox rabbi from Michigan, has put together a group for ‘a goodwill trip from the Jewish community’… Israelis used to speak about the day when we’d be ‘eating hummus in Damascus’ as being emblematic of a longed-for era of peace. Now, we’re eating hummus in Damascus, and it’s even kosher, says [Mendy Chitrik, the Safed-born rabbi of Turkey’s Ashkenazi community and the chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States].” [TOI]
Ellison’s Empire: William Cohan, former Wall Street banker and founding partner of the Puck media company, suggests in The New York Times that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s rising profile as a “media magnate,” along with his friendship with President Donald Trump, threatens to reshape American journalism into a more partisan landscape. “Along with his son, David, [Ellison] could soon end up controlling a powerful social media platform, an iconic Hollywood movie studio and one of the largest content streaming services, as well as two of the country’s largest news organizations. Given Mr. Ellison’s friendship with, and affinity for, Donald Trump, an increasingly emboldened president could be getting an extraordinarily powerful media ally — in other words, the very last thing our country needs right now. … And that will put yet another chink in the fragile armor that is America’s democracy.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada released a joint statement urging their respective governments to reconsider their plans to recognize a Palestinian state next week…
The Canadian government is reportedly considering a new law that would make it a crime to promote hate against an identifiable group by displaying designated terror and hate symbols in public; the measure appears to be motivated in part by complaints from Jewish groups over the appearance of terrorist organizations’ flags at anti-Israel demonstrations…
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on security concerns and measures being taken among nonprofit leaders and public speakers in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk…
Yair Golan, head of Israel’s progressive Democrats party, in a Jewish Telegraphic Agency opinion piece ahead of Rosh Hashanah, calls for Diaspora Jews to play a more active role in Israeli politics…
NPR spotlights advances to Israeli combat medicine that have been made over the course of the past years of war, including increased use of drones and the development of shelf-stable blood…
Major Gifts
A $25,000 donation was made to the Yavapai County (Ariz.) Free Library District through the local Jewish Community Foundation to purchase online e-books and magazines for K-12 students…
Transitions
Dammara Rose Markowitz was elected chair of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies’ Israel board…
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder of Lab/Shul, announced yesterday that he will begin a three-year process of stepping down from his role as senior spiritual leader of the New York City community; starting in January, Lau-Lavie will also begin serving as the inaugural living Torah fellow of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah…
Pic of the Day
An estimated 50,000 people gather at the Western Wall last night to recite the Selichot service, a series of penitential and supplicant prayers that are said each night or early each morning ahead of the High Holy Days (for the entire month before Rosh Hashanah for most Sephardi Jews and for several days before for most Ashkenazi Jews).
Pic of the Day
Rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, he is the inaugural rabbinic fellow at the ADL, David J. Wolpe turns 67…
FRIDAY: Professor of Jewish history and literature at Yeshiva University, he is the only son of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Haym Soloveitchik turns 88… Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives until 2022, he has served as synagogue president, Jeffrey Colman Salloway turns 84… Professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law and director of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck turns 76… Distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, after a 28-year Pentagon career as a Middle East expert, Harold Rhode turns 76… Freelance reporter, he was a writing instructor at Montana State University Billings, Bruce Alpert… Archaeologist and professor of early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jodi Magness turns 69… Stockton, Calif.-based physician at The Pacific Sleep Disorders Center, Ronald Kass M.D…. Producer of over 40 films in his career and executive producer of the television series Monk, David Elliot Hoberman turns 73… Boston-based attorney focused upon Section 529 college savings plans, Mark A. Chapleau… Chairman and CEO of New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, John Nathan “Janno” Lieber turns 64… Bow tie-clad field reporter for Fox Major League Baseball since 2005, he is also a senior baseball writer for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal turns 63… Inspector general of the Federal Reserve Board and the CFPB, Michael Evan Horowitz turns 63… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Ronald Halber… Author of eight popular business books, former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Mike Michalowicz… Founder and managing director at Two Lanterns Venture Partners, he is also the founder of MassChallenge, John Harthorne… Pole vaulter, she competed for the U.S. in the 2004 Olympics and for Israel in the 2012 Olympics, now an associate brand manager at Kraft Heinz, Jillian Schwartz Dickinson turns 46… CEO of Enduring Cause Strategies, Neal Urwitz… Former MLB player for nine seasons, he was on Team Israel for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Danny Valencia turns 41… Public affairs director at Elliott Investment Management, Joe Kristol… Singer-songwriter and producer, he frequently wears a Magen David pendant when performing, Charlie Burg turns 29… Former NFL placekicker, his college teammates nicknamed him the “Kosher Cannon,” Sam Sloman turns 28…
SATURDAY: Author, theater producer, television personality and philanthropist, Candy Spelling turns 80… Wealth management advisor, he won four Super Bowls with the Steelers during his 8-year career as a tight end, C. Randy Grossman turns 73… Dean of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky turns 72… Senior chairman of Goldman Sachs since 2019, prior to which he served as CEO there for 13 years, Lloyd Blankfein turns 71… Co-founder and board chair of Broadcom and owner of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, Henry Samueli turns 71… Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel since 2017, Yosef Elron turns 70… Insurance agent in Tulsa, Okla., Lawrence M. Schreier… Real estate developer, sports agent and boxing promoter, Marc Roberts turns 66… Former rabbi of Congregation Beit Torat Chaim of Jakarta, Indonesia, Rabbi Tovia Singer turns 65… Emergency medicine physician in Austin, Texas, he was the goalkeeper for the U.S. field hockey team at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Randolph B. “Randy” Lipscher turns 65… Civil rights attorney, author and legal analyst on “The Today Show,” “NBC Nightly News” and MSNBC, Lisa Bloom turns 64… Senior vice president of marketing and communications at BBYO, Deborah Gavin Shemony… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Keren Barak turns 53… Founder of PFAP Consulting and COO of PizzaIDF, Melissa Jane Kronfeld… Senior advisor to the under secretary of defense for research and engineering, James Mazol… Deputy news team lead at Bloomberg Law, Drew Singer… Principal at Blue Laurel Advisors, Emily Grunewald… Climate activist in Oakland, Calif., Carter Lavin… Senior director of strategic initiatives at Sony Music Entertainment, Alison Bogdonoff… Vice president of marketing at Cumulus Coffee, Zoe Plotsky Rosen… Isabel Eliana Tsesarsky… Actor, best known for his leading role as young aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans,” Gabriel LaBelle turns 23… Theater, film and television actor, Jason Ian Drucker turns 20… Lauren Ackerman…
SUNDAY: One of the highest-grossing Hollywood box office producers of all time, plus the producer of many commercially successful TV shows, Jerry Bruckheimer turns 82… Chairman of the board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Mark B. Sisisky turns 75… Immediate past chair of the Board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Cheryl Fishbein… Professor at Harvard Law School, following a three-year stint in the Obama White House, Cass Sunstein turns 71… and his wife, with whom he shares a birthday, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Biden administration, Samantha Power turns 55… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party since 1998, he serves as Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz turns 70… Immediate past president of the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, Debbi Kaner Goldich… Professor of political science at Tel Aviv University and professor emeritus at Georgetown, Yossi Shain turns 69… One-half the renowned film-making team of the Coen Brothers, Ethan Jesse Coen turns 68… Attorney, author of ten books and Fox News host of “Life, Liberty & Levin,” Mark R. Levin turns 68… Retired managing director of equity trading at Goldman Sachs, Andrew Berman… Co-founder of the private investment firm Centerbridge Partners, he is a former board chair of Johns Hopkins University, Jeffrey Aronson turns 67… Russian businessman who fell out of favor with President Putin, now living in Israel, Leonid Nevzlin turns 66… Co-founder of Wisdom Without Walls, she is the author of a series of courses for the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning, Sandra Lilienthal… Director of the Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago, Alissa C. Zuchman, Ph.D…. Janet Bunting… Senior partner at polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Anna Greenberg, Ph.D…. Emmy Award-winning talk show host, actress and producer, Ricki Lake turns 57… Guitarist and music producer in Israel, Nachman Fahrner turns 53… Managing editor of the New York Jewish Week, Lisa Keys… Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, Marc Alan Korman turns 44… Associate professor of radiology at Duke, he is an Olympic gold medalist in swimming, Dr. Benjamin M. Wildman-Tobriner turns 41… Former program director for strategic engagement at B’nai B’rith International, now a senior manager at Meridian International Center, Sienna Girgenti… COO of TAMID Group, Nathan Gilson… Lecturer in expository writing at UMass Boston, Mia Appelbaum… Member of the Michigan House of Representatives since 2023, Noah Jeremy Arbit turns 30… Global director of communications at Gallagher Bassett, Scott Frankel…
