Your Daily Phil: Study: Post-Oct. 7 PTSD to cost Israel more than $50 billion
Good Thursday morning.
Ed. note: The next edition of Your Daily Phil will arrive in your inbox on Monday, Aug. 19, as eJewishPhilanthropy shifts to a four-day schedule for the month of August. Shabbat shalom!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on a new economic study estimating that post-traumatic stress disorder from the Oct. 7 attacks will cost Israel more than $50 billion in the coming years and on an initiative in South Florida to provide support to IDF veterans who live in the area. We also look at preparations to provide emergency food supplies to people in northern Israel if war breaks out, and feature an opinion piece by Dan Smokler and Rabbi Shuli Passow about the need for synagogues to prepare for an influx of new faces at this year’s High Holy Day services. We’ll start with the relaunch of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s dialogue initiative Voice of the People.
Nearly a year and a half ago, at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in Tel Aviv in April 2023, Israeli President Isaac Herzog unveiled a new dialogue initiative — Kol Ha’Am (Voice of the People) — to address the growing rifts within the global Jewish community amid the bitter turmoil over the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plans and general tensions between Diaspora Jewry and the State of Israel, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
That summer, Herzog’s team started organizing “strategic labs” around the world, bringing together leaders and significant figures from a variety of Jewish communities to discuss and dissect the pressing issues facing the Jewish people in order to develop work plans to address them.
And then came Oct. 7. “Everything that was planned was irrelevant,” said Shirel Dagan-Levy, the CEO of the Israeli nonprofit that was formed to execute the initiative, Voice of the People, in a virtual press briefing yesterday. “For six months [after Oct. 7] nothing was done with regards to Voice of the People, and we had lots of thoughts of ‘How do we re-initiate this thing?’”
This week, Herzog, Dagan-Levy and her team relaunched the Voice of the People initiative in a similar but updated format from the original plan. As with the initial concept, the goal is to identify and address global challenges facing the Jewish people and cultivate the leaders needed to do so.
To start, the organization created an open survey — offered in six languages — asking the respondents to list “the most pressing challenges facing the Jewish people today,” to select the top five most significant challenges out of a list of 10 and describe how “recent events” have made an impact on their Jewish identity and sense of community.
Next month, the group will begin hosting virtual salons to discuss these topics and it will also begin a process of recruiting a 150-member council to lead the effort. The international committee, which will meet monthly, would comprise 50 representatives from Israel, 50 from North America and 50 from the rest of the world. Every two years the council members would change. The organization plans to announce its inaugural cohort by the beginning of next year.
The organization said it will also select 10 young people — ages 20-30 — to serve as fellows, who will be “cultivated to assume leadership roles” and will assist the council. In addition, a small number of “mentors” will be selected by Herzog to “bolster the council’s activities,” according to Voice of the People.
“We are currently engaged in safeguarding the State of Israel and reinforcing the strength of the Jewish people amid a challenging war and rising antisemitism. Simultaneously, we face critical issues that demand our attention,” Herzog said in a statement. “In response, we are establishing the Voice of the People council, which will focus on ensuring the Jewish people’s ability to thrive in a changing world. The survey we are launching today will shape the council, and therefore shape the discussions impacting the future of the Jewish people. I encourage everyone to participate and contribute to help build our collective future.”
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Study estimates post-traumatic stress disorder cases from Oct. 7 to cost Israel more than $50 billion over next 5 years
The increased levels of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the Oct. 7 massacres and the ongoing fighting in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border, is estimated to cost the Israeli economy over $50 billion over the next five years, according to a new study by the Social Finance Israel Group and the psychedelics research group MAPS Israel, as part of the latter’s HealingOct7 initiative, which supports research into the use of psychedelic-assisted therapies for survivors of the Hamas attacks, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
An economic argument: The economic analysis was based on models used in other countries but has never before been performed in Israel. “It is meant to change the discussion from a moral one to an economic one,” Yaron Neudorfer, CEO and founder of SFI Group, told eJP. “The number is so huge that it encourages everybody to find new ways to treat PTSD symptoms,” said Neudorfer, whose organization looks to use financial tools to address societal issues.
Mind-altering substances: For MAPS Israel, this study is meant to raise awareness about the need to develop treatments for PTSD, including psychedelic-assisted therapies, which emerging research indicates are more effective than most current options for PTSD. (While early studies show great promise for psychedelic treatments, advocates experienced a significant setback this week when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that the evidence was insufficient at this stage to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for wider use and requested further research.)
Getting it covered: Eyal Gura, one of the founders of HealingOct7, said the groups hope that the strength of this research, coupled with the urgency demonstrated by the economic study with SFI Group, will encourage the Health Ministry to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for wider use and include it in the “basket” of services that are covered by national insurance. If that doesn’t happen, Gura said that HealingOct7 and SFI Group could use the findings of this economic study create a “social impact bond” in order to cover the costs of PTSD treatment, referring to an investment vehicle in which backers fund solutions to problems and get a return on their investments from the money saved. “But that’s years down the line,” Gura said.
FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS
In South Florida, new initiative offers support for U.S.-based IDF vets struggling with trauma
When American-Israeli Aharon Rose, who now lives in Florida, was called to perform reserve duty after Oct. 7 and enter Gaza with his combat reserve unit — the paratroopers’ 551st Brigade — he didn’t hesitate. He fought on the front lines for four months. Although it wasn’t his first experience in battle, Rose found that returning to South Florida, the war had changed him in ways no one back home could understand. Rose’s experience prompted the nonprofit Yedidim USA to create a center for U.S.-based IDF veterans like him, reports Efrat Lachter for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Grassroots growth: Rose wrote a post about his feelings and asked his friend and mentor Eran Hazan, the founder and CEO of Yedidim USA, which maintains a volunteer base of over 800 people, to share it on his viral social account. “Fifteen people responded,” Rose said. “We met, and the conversation was electrifying. We started meeting regularly, and that became the foundation of our support group.”
Warrior’s home: The center will be modeled after the Israeli “Beit Halochem” (Warrior’s Home) organization — a club where former soldiers with various injuries can meet and participate in activities together, from fitness and enrichment classes to workshops offering practical tools for life post-service. It will open its doors this weekend and already has a list of about 100 IDF veterans who want to join.
BETTER SAFE
Colel Chabad, IFCJ prepare to distribute emergency food supplies in Israel’s north in case of war
The Colel Chabad food bank’s National Food Security Initiative has finalized and begun rolling out an emergency plan to ensure that people in the north of Israel are provided with cooked meals and emergency staples in the event of a large-scale war, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Group effort: The plan is based on a similar initiative that was launched in southern Israel in the beginning of the war in Gaza. The effort is being led by Colel Chabad, the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews and the relevant local and regional authorities, according to a statement from the groups that are involved. The current effort is being planned for the cities of Safed, Nahariya, Hatzor Glilit, Akko, Tiberias, Karmiel and Ma’alot-Tarshiha, among others.
Just in case: More than 10,000 ICE (In Case of Emergency) boxes of dry goods and basic food items have been sent to distribution centers in the north, with another 10,000 ICE boxes ready to go if needed. “We are living in a period of deep uncertainty, and this demands that we have everything possible in place to prepare for all types of scenarios,” said Rabbi Mendy Blau, Israel director of Colel Chabad. “Our mandate is to be sure we are addressing the needs, and should the situation change, we can immediately implement a plan, even as we hope and pray that none of this will be necessary.”
Ready for anything: “The past ten months have taught us the importance of being prepared for every possible scenario and ensuring that when people need our help we can quickly, effectively and efficiently be there for them,” Yael Eckstein, president of IFCJ, said in a statement. “Food security is a critical need at all times, but even more so during times of instability and tension. Having the infrastructure on the ground, ready, is crucial for those who rely upon us for their basic needs.”
A COMMUNITY EFFORT
Be ready to greet ‘The Surge’
“While we can expect a lot of High Holiday sermons this year to grapple with the fraught new realities of Jewish life in America, there is a more important message that congregational leaders, professional and lay, should embrace: Now is the time to grow our communities,” write Dan Smokler, CEO of Assembly, and Rabbi Shuli Passow, director of community engagement at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Demographic trends: “Growth might be the last thing on people’s minds right now as security and activism vie for attention, but the reawakened antisemitism on campuses and in cities across the country arrived at a moment when Jews were already looking for community. Weary from the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes it wrought in workplace culture, Jews in their 20s, 30s and 40s are more isolated than previous generations. Yearning for a deeper sense of connection, they began showing up in a trickle at synagogues after the pandemic; since Oct. 7, however, that trickle has grown to a torrent, as documented by a recent JFNA study. This cohort of Jews is hungry for Jewish life and meaning.”
Looking ahead: “Less than two months from now, when the High Holidays begin, we should expect even greater numbers at synagogues like BJ and others around the country. Many of us will want to design a glossy brochure of exciting program offerings and send well-crafted emails promoting all our congregations have to offer, but relying solely on these approaches will miss the moment. We suggest a bolder approach, one that runs counter to prevailing institutional culture. Instead of allocating most of our time and money into programming to win over prospective members, let’s redirect our investment to what community is really about: people.”
Roles for everyone: “We must challenge congregants to reimagine what it means to participate in a community. This goes far beyond being warm and welcoming. All of us must stretch and learn some new practices if we are to not only welcome newcomers but also expand the depth and breadth of our communities for a generation to come.”
Worthy Reads
Laying Down the Law: Recent legislation aiming to increase transparency in giving by foreign philanthropists can boost the credibility of nonprofit organizations and institutions, writes Craig Kennedy in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. “Does it make a difference if China supports American environmental groups or Qatar is providing millions of dollars to universities and other institutions? If the level of media and congressional interest reflects public concern, the answer would seem to be yes. The American Donor Privacy and Foreign Funding Transparency Act would require all nonprofits to disclose the ‘total combined amount of funding received from foreign sources, the citizenship of these sources, and the total amount of donations from each country.’ The names of specific donors would not be publicly disclosed. This doesn’t seem like an onerous requirement. Donors would have to check a box if they were not American citizens and then indicate their nationality. It’s hard to imagine that one additional question would undermine the trust of donors, as some suggest. Instead, this simple step could increase contributor confidence by letting donors know who else is funding their favorite charity. Since the 1960s, universities have operated with disclosure requirements about foreign donors. Rather than lose donor trust, higher education has set fundraising records. And, if contributions to those institutions now decline because of concerns over foreign influence, would that not be evidence for the value to donors of more disclosure?” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Under Water: In The New York Times, Rick Rojas conveys the heartbreak and desperation that many New Orleans-area residents of Habitat for Humanity housing are experiencing as they find themselves unexpectedly struggling to keep their homes. Rising property insurance costs due to extreme weather events associated with climate change are, in some cases, tripling the size of their monthly payment plans to the organization. “At one point, Habitat’s leaders said it was one of the busiest homebuilders in the city, having constructed hundreds of homes in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina ravaged much of the affordable housing stock in 2005. Now, what seemed a dream outcome for many of the homeowners has been upended, becoming yet another casualty of Louisiana’s property insurance crisis. Habitat has already started foreclosure proceedings against 15 homeowners over the past year… The concept behind Habitat for Humanity is often misconstrued as giving volunteer-built homes to needy families, [New Orleans executive director Marguerite] Oestreicher said. In reality, she said, ‘It’s a hand up, not a handout.’… The homeowners make a monthly payment to Habitat that includes the principal on an interest-free loan, real estate taxes, property insurance and termite extermination, but the single biggest driver of the increased payments has been insurance, nonprofit officials said.” [NYT]
Around the Web
A new study by Candid found that the gender gap in CEO compensation at large nonprofits has widened, with female chief executives earning 78 cents for every dollar that a male one does in 2022, compared to 82 cents in 2012…
American, Egyptian, Qatari and Israeli officials are meeting in Doha, Qatar, today for the latest round of talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which some analysts also see as key to preventing a wider war between Israel and Iran…
Nearly 100 American rabbis and cantors from across the Jewish community urged the negotiators to finalize the cease-fire deal in order to bring back the hostages being held in Gaza and “bring much-needed relief to those suffering”…
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $150 million investment in its Data for Health Initiative — as well as a $40 million investment from the Gates Foundation — to assist organizations and governments in low- and middle-income countries gather public health data…
The Times of Israel spotlights the Mevo’ot HaHermon Treatment and Rehabilitation Campus in Israel’s Galilee, a center for children with disabilities, which has been closed since Oct. 8 and was damaged in a recent Hezbollah rocket attack…
U.S.-born Israel Defense Forces “lone soldier” Jordan Cooper, a 26-year-old who returned to Israel after Oct. 7 as a reservist, died on Monday of an allergic reaction; as his family could not make it to Israel from America in time for the burial, the public was invited to the service and thousands of people attended the funeral last night…
Haaretz examines an ongoing feud in Tel Aviv over public prayer after the city council decided to withhold official permits for all services ahead of the High Holy Days in an effort to prevent the fights over gender-separated prayers that were seen last year…
A New York Times photo series spotlights some of the Israeli hostages who have been freed from Hamas captivity…
Police in Montgomery County, Md., are investigating after antisemitic graffiti was discovered at a Bethesda synagogue…
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa, Canada, will not participate in the Canadian capital’s Pride parade this year after organizers released a statement that condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks but also accused Israel of “slaughter[ing]” Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank…
Jewish Insider looks into the stalled state of antisemitism-related legislation in the Senate…
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will publish a book next February, Antisemitism in America: A Warning, about his experience as the nation’s highest-ranking Jewish politician…
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced her resignation yesterday, just before the start of the academic year, which she said was due to the “turmoil” at the school last year over anti-Israel encampments…
Pic of the Day
More than 100 nursing and pregnant women participated in IsraAid’s “Walk for Breastfeeding” last week in Guatemala, part of the Israeli relief organization’s effort to raise awareness about the value of breastfeeding in child health during World Breastfeeding Week.
Birthdays
Founder and chairman of the executive committee of Limmud FSU, Chaim Chesler…
Founder of Slim-Fast and prominent Democratic donor, S. Daniel Abraham… Philadelphia resident, Irvin Farber… Retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Stephen Breyer… Investment banker, economist and historian, Lewis Lehrman… Former CFO of The Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg… Economist, CPA, investment advisor and founding member of wealth advisor RVW Investing LLC, Selwyn Gerber… Artist and avid mountain biker, William Crary (“Bill”) Weidman… Chairman of Benj. E. Sherman & Sons, he is the chair of Israel Policy Forum, David A. Sherman… Co-founding rabbi of Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia, Rabbi Mario Karpuj… Emmy Award-winning actress, she played Grace Adler on the 11-season sitcom “Will & Grace,” Debra Messing… National campaign director for the Birthright Israel Foundation, Margot (Atlas) Ettlinger… U.S. senator (D-PA) since 2023, John Fetterman… Co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate, Benjamin Noah Silverman… Associate justice of the California Supreme Court since 2019, Joshua Paul Groban… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-VA) for four years ending in 2023, Elaine Goodman Luria… Real estate and business law attorney in the Baltimore law firm of Rosen Neuberger Lehmann, Meir Neuberger… Senior manager at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Raz Meirman-Baruch… National college football reporter for ESPN, Adam Rittenberg… L.A.-based venture capitalist, Rachel Sterne Haot… Computer scientist at MIT and podcaster with 717 million YouTube views, Lex Fridman… Staff therapist at Brandeis University’s counseling center, Rachel Spekman… Former member of the Alaska House of Representatives until 2023, Grier Hayden Hopkins… VP of communications for Lemonade, Yael Wissner-Levy… Contemporary jazz and classical recorder player, vocalist, composer and educator, Tali Rubinstein… Co-founder of Irenic Capital Management, Adam Jason Katz… Freelance designer, Talia Siegel… MLB pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 and 2016, he played for Team Israel in the 2020 Summer Olympics, Jon Moscot… VP of technology policy at Retail Industry Leaders Association, Justin Goldberger… Director of product management at Publicis Sapient, Ezra Mosseri… Joe Farry… David Summer…
