Your Daily Phil: Sheryl Sandberg: Jews ‘inadvertently’ spreading antisemitism by fighting it
Add EJP on GoogleGood Monday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we check in on the Israel summer program field in light of the war against Iran. We cover remarks by Robert Kraft and Sheryl Sandberg at yesterday’s Birthright Excelerate Summit in New York City, and report on the latest case of gunshots fired at synagogues in Toronto. We feature an opinion piece by Jamie Kleinman about a post-Oct. 7 surge of people joining the Jewish nonprofit world, and one by Galit Cohen sharing reflections from two decades in the field of humanitarian aid and development. Also in this issue: Elkana Bar Eitan, Laura Stein and Shir Goren.
What We’re Watching
Cardozo Law School’s Law and Antisemitism conference concludes today.
Team Israel faces off against the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic today in Miami. The Israeli team, which lost 11-3 on Saturday against Venezuela, came back to beat Nicaragua 5-0 on Sunday.
What You Should Know
After the past two summers saw participation in Israel travel programs plummet — decreasing by some 90% in 2024 — organizers had hoped to see an uptick this year as the war in Gaza wound down and the situation in the country appeared to be stabilizing. The war against Iran has not quashed those hopes — yet — though parents appear to be taking a “wait and see” approach to their children’s summer plans, Simon Amiel, executive director of RootOne, which provides vouchers for many Israel travel programs, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
“We don’t have parents telling us that we should be canceling or that they’re pulling their kid out. By and large, the families are saying, ‘OK, we’ll wait and see,’” Amiel said late last week, shortly after a meeting with trip providers.
The most common question from parents is whether the vouchers that their children have earned through RootOne can be used next year instead, Amiel said. “The answer’s yes,” he said. “But that’s the biggest issue that they’re dealing with right now” — not cancellations but potential postponements.
Israeli and American leaders have indicated a willingness for the strikes against Iran to continue for at least several more weeks, if not longer. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, meanwhile, has said that it “is capable of continuing at least a 6-month intense war.”
For now, trip providers do not need to take action, but in the coming weeks, as the three-month airline ticket cancellation deadlines approach, organizers — and parents — will have to decide how to proceed. “They’re waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Amiel said. “They’re really hoping that they avoid that, that things wrap up and things will be OK, but they’re already thinking and preparing for a couple of different scenarios, should it come to that.”
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
Kraft, Sandberg call on Birthright Excel alums to take responsibility for Jewish People
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg urged the next generation of Jewish leaders to use their influence to benefit the Jewish People, highlighting their own commitments to the Jewish community and Israel, in addresses yesterday at the Birthright Israel Excelerate26 Summit at New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
She said: Sandberg called for a sensible and targeted strategy to combat antisemitism and added that the Jewish communal world may be contributing to the problem. “The thing about antisemitism is, it is really bad, massively on the rise, on the right, on the left. It is a massive problem. But it is still a fringe problem. The average person in this country is not antisemitic. And the problem is that if we run around telling everyone that everyone’s antisemitic, we will cause everyone to be antisemitic. That’s what all the data shows us,” she said. “And I do think as a Jewish community, as we’ve gotten alarmed about the rise of antisemitism, I am worried that some of us are inadvertently kind of spreading it.
He said: In his keynote address, Kraft recalled the conversations between local Jewish leaders in his family’s Boston suburb home as a boy, where he said he learned the importance of both leadership and speaking out against injustice. “I ask all of you, use your talent not only to build wealth, but to build dignity. Use your influence not only to advance yourselves but to strengthen our people and protect others,” he said.
CANADIAN CRISIS
Two more Toronto synagogues hit by gunfire days after prior shooting
Two Toronto-area synagogues were damaged by gunfire late Friday and early Saturday following an earlier shooting at another area synagogue last week. Officials are investigating a possible connection between the shootings, the latest of which occurred outside of Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue and The Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT) synagogue over the weekend. No one was injured in either incident, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Growing concern: At a press conference on Sunday, Noah Shack, the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, said that the country is “at a crossroads” following the three shootings. “This gunfire didn’t come from nowhere,” said Shack. “Over the last two years, our Jewish community has been subject to increasing incidents of hate, intimidation, harassment and violence.”
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
Also in Europe: A bomb was set off last night outside a synagogue in Liege, in eastern Belgium, causing damage to the building but no casualties.
LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
Jewish professionals are answering a new call. How we respond matters.
“Across law, finance, tech, medicine, business and education, Jewish professionals are reexamining long-held definitions of success and purpose. Many are leaving established careers to bring their skills, leadership and experience into the Jewish nonprofit and communal world. I am one of them,” writes Jamie Kleinman, director of executive leadership at the Jewish Graduate Organization, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “This professional surge represents an extraordinary opportunity for the Jewish nonprofit sector.”
Pathways for integration: “[W]e cannot assume this talent will automatically integrate into communal work. Nonprofits must build intentional pathways for professional entry, leadership development and retention. Funders must invest not only in programs, but in people. Boards must embrace new leadership models that value professional expertise alongside traditional communal credentials. This moment calls for a reimagining of Jewish leadership pipelines. If we fail to cultivate and sustain this professional awakening, we risk losing one of the most powerful engines of communal renewal in a generation.”
LESSONS LEARNED
Beyond good intentions: Building change that lasts
“When I was a teenager, my father once asked me to hand him the newspaper. I tossed it toward him instead of getting up. He stood and picked it up, and he told me: ‘When you give, give with all your heart.’ I’ve never forgotten that lesson. It continues to guide how I think about partnership and responsibility,” writes Galit Cohen, founder and executive director of Ripples for Change, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Firsthand from the field: “For more than 20 years, my work has taken me into places shaped by crisis, resilience and hope. From responding to the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, to spending nine months in conflict-torn South Sudan, to now living and working for over a decade in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa — I’ve witnessed the full spectrum of humanitarian work, from its finest moments to its deepest shortcomings. What follows are lessons shaped by experience, mistakes and observation. I share them not as absolute truths, but as reflections offered in the hope that others may learn without having to repeat the same missteps.”
Worthy Reads
Rumors of My Death: In The Times of Israel, IDF reservist Elkana Bar Eitan shares his surreal experience after he was unexpectedly featured in a piece of the Iranian regime’s wartime propaganda. “A few days ago, I woke up to discover that I had been killed. At least according to the Iranian military. A friend sent me a screenshot from a Facebook group called ‘Iranian Military.’ In the post was a clear picture of me alongside seven other photos of Israeli IDF reservists. … Dark humor helps in moments like this. But the experience quickly stopped being amusing. Because this wasn’t random internet trolling. It was part of a strategy. … But the truth is harder to manipulate. Israelis are still here. Still standing. Still fighting. And apparently, at least in my case, we’re even fighting after we’ve already been declared dead.” [TOI]
School Choice, Billionaire Edition: In Town & Country, Andrew Zucker examines the proliferation and increasing competitiveness of private schools around Miami. “For the past six years [southern Florida] has seen wave after wave of wealthy newcomers, starting with pandemic-era transplants drawn by the region’s mild climate and looser health restrictions, and continuing as a series of large companies moved to the state to take advantage of its favorable tax rates. … As a result, what was once a comparatively sleepy private education market is now filled with sharp-elbowed parents looking for an edge. … That space-jockeying has altered Florida’s education landscape, making it a center of activity, with billionaire-backed education companies, real estate developers, and Tallahassee legislators all playing roles in this new era. And with only so many elite schools and a growing number of families hunting for spots, profit-hungry investors are sniffing around the 305.” [Town&Country]
Beating Burnout: In the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Laura Stein calls for improvements to rabbinic and cantorial training programs to prevent burnout among clergy. “It seems simple to me: to prepare rabbis and cantors to thrive in their roles, graduate-level theological education needs to catch up by grounding clergy training in intentional formation and practical skill-building, both central to preventing these trends and promoting long-term success. It’s time to move to action. We need to enact evidence-based practices that support clergy during their education and beyond, helping them to build resilience, not just master content or complete degree requirements.” [JTA]
Word on the Street
Politico examines efforts by leaders in artificial intelligence to leverage political contributions to oppose candidates who hope to regulate the field…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has declined to comment on Jewish Insider’s findings that his wife, First Lady Rama Duwaji, had liked Instagram posts that justified and even glorified the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel…
The Wall Street Journal looks into the trust-based philanthropy of MacKenzie Scott, whose charitable giving is far larger and less closely monitored than most other donors…
The Chabad-affiliated Aleph Institute is asking the Pentagon to prevent Messianic military chaplains from donning Jewish apparel, which the group said serves as a form of dishonest proselytizing…
German Jewish leaders are criticizing a local leftist newspaper, Die Tageszeitung, for publishing an opinion piece telling Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, to “shut up” following his statements in support of the war against Iran…
The New York Times reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency used a simplified ChatGPT prompt to identify and cut diversity, equity and inclusion-related National Endowment for the Humanities grants, which included things like a documentary about Jewish women’s slave labor during the Holocaust and infrastructure improvements at an Indigenous languages archive in Alaska…
The New York Post spotlights Camp Lev, a program by Chai Lifeline to provide camp-style programming for children in the hospital awaiting heart transplants…
Major Gifts
Pic of the Day
Participants in the Kibbutz Movement’s Halutz pre-military programs in the Gaza border-adjacent Kibbutz Mefalsim and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai help repair homes that were damaged in last week’s Iranian missile strike in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh.
The initiative, which is supported by the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund and in cooperation with the Halutz Organization, included clearing broken glass, removing damaged windows and frames, and sealing openings with plastic sheeting to keep out the elements until the homes could be properly repaired.
“Upon our arrival in the neighborhoods, we saw residents at a loss and chaos caused by the physical damage from the missiles in older buildings, many of which were already in poor condition,” Shir Goren, the Kibbutz Movement’s director of community engagement and volunteer infrastructure, said in a statement. “Clearing the damaged items — glass, windows, and rubble — was particularly difficult because many buildings lacked elevators. … Every home tells a story, and we felt that we were acting with purpose and meaning for the residents of Beit Shemesh and for Israeli society as a whole.”
Birthdays
First-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, now playing for the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Ozzy Wiesblatt turns 24…
President at Adelson Family Foundation since 2007 and a board member of Prizmah, Michael Bohnen turns 79… Sag Harbor, L.I.,-based painter, sculptor and printmaker, Eric Fischl turns 78… Host of Public Radio International’s “Science Friday,” Ira Flatow turns 77… Rhodes scholar, Harvard Law graduate, author and political journalist, Michael Kinsley turns 75… Member of the Knesset from 1989-2021, he has served in many cabinet roles and as chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries, Amir Peretz turns 74… President and CEO of New York City’s flagship public TV station WNET, Neal Shapiro turns 68… Professor emeritus of economics at NYU, nicknamed “Dr. Doom,” Nouriel Roubini turns 68… Susan Liebman… New York City-based attorney, Gordon Platt… Private equity and venture capital investor, Howie Fialkov… Founder and head of the Chabad house at Harvard University, Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi… Former Canadian minister of mental health and addictions, Ya’ara Saks turns 53… 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… Former CEO of the Trevor Project, now CEO of the Malnutrition Advocacy Fund, Amit Paley… 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 turns 43… News editor in the U.S. bureau of Jewish News Syndicate, 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 turns 42… Senior advisor to North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, 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 turns 34… Founding partner of Mothership Strategies, Jacob “Jake” Austin Lipsett… Manager of education and outreach at inSIGHT Through Education, Marla Topiol… Stephen Lent…
