Your Daily Phil: Still under threat, northern Israeli businesses get another boost
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on a new partnership between the American Jewish Committee and Jewish on Campus. We feature an opinion piece by Rabbi Jay Henry Moses highlighting the power of collaborative projects to forge meaningful Israel-Diaspora relationships; and one by Jonathan Golden about crafting Oct. 7 commemorations that serve to do more than “just” remember. Also in this issue: Ami Dadaon, Beatrice Gurwitz and Amir Tibon. We’ll start with a new $2.67 million emergency loan fund for businesses in northern Israel.
When their community in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanon border was evacuated on Oct. 7, Aviva and Yoel Auerbach were forced to close their pizza restaurant — their family’s sole source of income.
They were among hundreds of businesses in Israel who turned to the philanthropic-social venture SparkIL for help in the form of no-interest loans, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky.
In the first chaotic days of the war, the venture saved their family from going under until government funding became available, according to Yoel Auerbach. “At that point in time, the loan was like oxygen that enabled us to breathe and survive, until the government started to also help us with our situation,” he said in a statement.
Now, as the war in the north continues to escalate with no end in sight, the peer-to-peer lending platform has expanded its support for Israel’s small business owners by launching an additional NIS 10 million ($2.67 million) emergency loan fund for businesses based in the north.
While much of the focus has been on southern Israel where the biggest tragedy occurred, especially at the start of the war, Israelis evacuated from in the north have also been struggling to maintain their livelihoods and continue to do so even as people are beginning to return to communities near the Gaza border, according to SparkIL CEO Na’ama Ore.
“We understood at a certain point that the businesses and people in the north were hardly getting any assistance from anywhere — not from the government or from anywhere else,” Ore told eJP. “They’re in total despair because they have no idea when things are going to come back and when and where they are going to be able to work and their businesses are [floundering.]”
Home to between 90,000 of the 660,000 small- and medium-sized businesses across the country, the north has long been overlooked as a crucial contributor to Israel’s economic vitality, SparkIL maintains. The small businesses in that region employ 500,000 people, some of whom have been evacuated from their homes. Thousands of businesses on the northern border have been abandoned for the last eleven months, she said.
Two months after the Oct. 7 attacks, SparkIL launched its first NIS 10 million ($2.67 million) emergency loan fund for all small businesses in Israel that were affected by the war. To date, that effort has rallied more than 2,000 microlenders from around the world to contribute a total of about $5.5 million to over 300 businesses, according to the platform. Through the newly announced fund specifically dedicated to assisting businesses in the increasingly beleaguered north, business owners or other self-employed individuals in that region are now eligible for an immediate, interest-free loan of up to NIS 100,000 ($26,700) per business.
“We saw for quite a few months that we were getting more and more requests from people in the north who needed help. Some of them because their businesses are closed and though they have the way to pay back loans they need a way to survive, and some who are reopening a business or trying to reopen a business more in the center [of the country] because they’re evacuated and they don’t know when they’ll come back. So we decided that they’re the ones that now need the support,” Ore said.
SparkIL’s loan fund for businesses in the north is supported by partners in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors, including the Jewish Federations of North America, the U.K.-based UJIA, Payoneer and KLA. “We also got grants from corporate America, which was amazing. It is super exciting for us to understand that people, corporations — not Israeli corporations — reached out to us and are helping us with their foundations,” said Ore.
EXCLUSIVE
AJC, Jewish on Campus launch initiative to support high schoolers, recent college grads
With dramatic images and stories of pro-Hamas rallies, of Jews being questioned and excluded from parts of campuses and of Hillel buildings being targeted, the American Jewish community has been focused primarily on combating the unprecedented rise in antisemitism at universities over the past 11 months. But mounting Jew-hatred is also affecting young Jews in their years before and after college. To address this, on Monday, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Jewish on Campus announced a new partnership that will support Jewish high schoolers and young professionals, in addition to college students, by offering young Jews of various ages opportunities to network together, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen has learned.
Campus pipeline: According to the groups, the agreement comes with three primary components: connecting high school students involved in AJC’s Leaders for Tomorrow program with Jewish on Campus students in advance of starting college; equipping college students with advocacy skills; and offering a space to Jewish on Campus alums, specifically through AJC’s young professional division, ACCESS Global. AJC will also hold an annual training for Jewish on Campus students on engaging government officials and diplomats.
Not alone: Ted Deutch, AJC CEO, said in a statement that Jewish students, whether in high school or college, “need to know that not only are they supported by the larger Jewish community but also their peers across the country.” Julia Jassey, co-founder and CEO of Jewish on Campus, added: “Our collaboration with AJC will provide more opportunities for Jewish students to lead as they head to campus and after they graduate.”
‘WIN-WIN CONNECTIONS’
Project24 and Pelotonia: A triumph of the spirit
“I met Daniel [Gradus] in 1995 when I was the program director at URJ Goldman Union Camp and he was a squirrelly Israeli 17-year-old working there as a camp counselor,” writes Rabbi Jay Henry Moses, vice president of the Wexner Foundation, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Decades later, we reconnected, and I learned that Daniel was in the business of creating meaningful, win-win connections between Israeli startup founders and North American Jewish business leaders.”
Shifting gears: “In response to Oct. 7, Daniel dropped everything, took what he learned from his previous endeavor and, with some partners, poured all that experience, knowledge and energy into creating projects to give North American Jews meaningful ways to help suffering Israelis. Project24’s initiatives focus on shared interests and passions and creating personal connections. Diaspora Jews get to help Israelis in a far more targeted and creative way than merely writing a check; and Israelis are never mere recipients of charity, but rather partners in a mutually beneficial process of healing and relationship-building.”
That magic moment: “I invited Daniel and his team to visit Columbus in March during their swing through the U.S. to raise awareness and create partnerships. Project24’s method inspired a group of key local Jewish leaders, planting the seed for them to be ready to help when the right project came along. That opportunity came during a Zoom call in May between Project24 staff and stakeholders. ‘We have a group of cyclists from the Gaza border area,’ said Project24 co-founder Aviv Hochbaum. ‘We are hoping to arrange for them to visit the U.S. Anyone into cycling?’”
MORE THAN A MEMORIAL
Remembering Oct. 7 with our hearts, heads and hands
“How should we choose to remember Oct. 7 with our school communities?” writes Jonathan Golden, founder of HeartStance Education Consulting, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “The question speaks to the heart of the mission of a school and its relationship to Israel and the Jewish people.”
A trusty model: “Perhaps fittingly, I drafted these thoughts in the early hours of Tisha B’Av, a day meant to mark and feel the collective tragedy and pain of seminal moments in Jewish history. In writing these words, I felt transported back to the first 48 hours after Oct. 7, wrestling sleeplessly with how best to support fellow educators in my work. On Oct. 9, I shared with colleagues the ‘Heart-Head-Hand’ model that I had used for years in my teaching at Gann Academy as a way to process the trauma and feelings, pose important questions and identify action that flows naturally from the feelings and questions. The paradigm seemed resonant in the field, and I return to the Heart-Head-Hand model as a guide for Oct. 7 and the new school year.”
Worthy Reads
Channeling Heartbreak Into Action: In The Times of Israel, Mijal Bitton shares her reaction to her 4-year-old daughter’s earnest inquiry after hearing about the recent murder of six Israeli hostages in Gaza: Is God on the Jewish people’s team? “My heart broke as I realized that my daughter was asking her own version of ‘why?’ How could this happen? How could a people who loved each other so deeply be experiencing this? My daughter asked the same question we are all crying out right now — the question at the core of our pain… I dare not offer up answers while the latest graves are fresh, while 101 hostages are still in Gaza. The pain is too raw. We dare not lean into platitudes when all we can do is sit with our grief and embrace the silence that follows such loss. We must explain nothing and instead focus on where we can be of service, channeling our heartbreak into action — supporting the hostage families, advocating, and strengthening the bonds that unite the Jewish people. Now is the time to build trust and hold each other close. Our enemies are still at our door.” [TOI]
Why Not Both?: Both companies and nonprofits can prosper when they make sustainable, social and environmental impact central to their missions, write Leonard L. Berry, Lerzan Aksoy and Tracey Danaher in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. “[Q]uestions about the authenticity of corporate social responsibility and environment, social and governance commitments have been the subject of much debate over the past decade, with the pendulum swinging from one side to another… The three of us are marketing scholars who teamed up with two other professors to examine whether organizations can and should go further than CSR and ESG approaches. We also wanted to see whether it’s worth withstanding the inevitable political backlash to try to meaningfully address the quality-of-life challenges of modern society: climate change, poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, wars, pandemics and more… We found that the opportunity to do good socially and well financially is real for these companies and nonprofits. By seeking to do right by the public and the planet, reputations are strengthened, employees are energized, external relationships are enhanced, new competencies are created – and society benefits.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Dear Brown Letter: In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Joseph Edelman explains his decision to resign from the board of trustees of Brown University. “I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, much less that it will be held — especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust… I don’t wish to imply that any real principles informed Brown’s decision to hold a divestment vote: It was made not based on facts or values but based on weakness toward student activists… Brown’s leadership admits the looming divestment vote is designed to buy good behavior from pro-Hamas activists, many of whom are adherents of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which seeks the destruction of the Jewish state through political and economic warfare… How can Brown lend credence to these antisemitic voices, who notably began protesting in support of violence against Jews before Israel had even responded to the Oct. 7 attack? It’s as if the Brown board has agreed to vote on whether Israel has a right to defend itself, whether Israel has a right to exist, and even whether Jews have a right to exist.” [WSJ]
Around the Web
The San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund is upping funding by 40% to five Hillels in Northern California universities including in San Francisco, Davis/Sacramento and Sonoma County, as well as at UC Berkeley and Stanford after a year of protests and tensions after Oct. 7…
The U.S. and Canada jointly foiled an attack on New York’s Jewish community by a Pakistani citizen residing in Canada, who allegedly planned to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by “slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible,” according to Attorney General Merrick Garland…
Israeli swimmer Ami Dadaon won the bronze medal in the men’s 50-meter freestyle S4 competition on Friday, earning his fourth medal in five events, and Israel’s 10th medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics…
Community Board 9 in Crown Heights, N.Y., will vote to co-name President Street and Brooklyn Avenue as “Lubavitcher Rebbe Way” to honor Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who lived there from the 1950s until his death in 1994…
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog did not attend last week’s vigil at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., after organizers denied him a speaking slot, underscoring tensions between hostage families and the Israeli government…
Beatrice Gurwitz has been appointed executive director of the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and will assume her new role on Sept. 23…
Amir Tibon, Israeli journalist and a survivor of the massacre at Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, talks in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about life, hope and betrayal after the massacre, and his forthcoming new book, The Gates of Gaza…
CNN’s Jake Tapper accused anti-Israel protesters who have targeted his Jewish colleague Dana Bash of antisemitism…
The Ark Synagogue in London said its twin satellite congregations in the communities of Lviv and Lutsk in Ukraine are “distressed but safe” following Russian airstrikes last week…
The Secure Community Network will join the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Public-Private Analytic Exchange Program to combat increasing threats of antisemitic attacks; it is one of two nonprofits in a program that is usually reserved for Fortune 500 companies…
William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, outlines steps that universities must take to protect Jewish students in a Jerusalem Post opinion piece…
Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman threw out the ceremonial first pitch at yesterday’s New York Mets-Cincinnati Reds game…
Fordham University’s first Jewish chaplain and director of Jewish life, Rabbi Katja Vehlow, talks about her new role as part of the Bronx, N.Y., university’s multifaith expansion in Campus Ministry, which is also welcoming its first campus imam and director of Muslim life, Imam Ammar Abdul Rahman, this year…
Jack H. Pechter, a philanthropist and real estate developer who survived the Holocaust, died on Aug. 24 at 90…
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Nochum Schapiro, president of the Rabbinic Council of Australia, blows a shofar yesterday next to the finalists — representing 57 schools from 15 Australian communities — in the JewQ Australia competition, a Chabad-run Torah contest, in front of the Sydney Opera House.
Birthdays
Actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer and musician, famous for “The Chanukah Song,” Adam Sandler…
Beverly Hills resident, Barbara Schechter… Former president of Israel, Reuven “Ruvi” Rivlin… Real estate investor and manager, he operates seven hotels, resorts and retreats with 6,300 rooms in the Orlando metropolitan area, Harris Rosen… Senior fellow emeritus in the foreign policy program at The Brookings Institution, Kenneth G. Lieberthal… Former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Donald M. Berwick… President of the Middle East Forum and publisher of its Middle East Quarterly journal, Daniel Pipes… President emeritus of Yeshiva University, Richard M. Joel… A founder of the Shas party, he served in the Knesset for 16 years, Nissim Mordechai Ze’ev… Founding president of Shalem College in Jerusalem, Martin Kramer… Brooklyn educator, Steven Elworth… Retired editorial director of Schocken Books (the Judaica imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, which is part of Penguin Random House), Altie Karper… Israeli businesswoman and philanthropist, Shari Arison… Israeli businessman, based in Monaco, he is the president of Limmud FSU, Aaron G. Frenkel… Suzanna Stone… D.C.-based communications strategist and tactician, Jeffrey Weintraub… Crisis management consultant, author and founder of D.C.-based PR firm Dezenhall Resources, Eric B. Dezenhall… Founder and managing member of Alternative Asset CFO Services, Lloyd Eric Appel… U.S. senator (D-DE), Chris Coons… Professional golfer formerly on both the PGA Tour and then on the Champions Tour, Jules Ira “Skip” Kendall… Author and senior national correspondent at HuffPost, Jonathan Cohn… Former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Dov Lipman… Former partner and associate director at Boston Consulting Group, now an independent consultant, Sacha Frédéric Litman… New York City-based freelance journalist, David Freedlander… Israeli entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of Lightricks, Zeev Farbman… Global head of financial innovation and digital assets at Amazon Web Services, Michael B. Greenwald… Program specialist at USC’s school of architecture, Carla Hashley… Former head of Google Cuba, now an investor and strategist, Brett Perlmutter… Managing director at Alums for Campus Fairness, he is also the D.C. chair of B’nai B’rith Connect, Trey Meehan… Co-founder of International Hummus Day in 2012, now an angel investor, Ben Lang… Fourth overall pick by the New Jersey Devils in the 2021 NHL draft, he is the son of hockey star Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, Luke Hughes…
