Your Daily Phil: Summer camp offers respite to Ukrainian Jewish kids
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we interview the new president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and feature an opinion piece by Ben Vorspan about what nonprofits and fundraisers can learn from NBC’s Olympics broadcast. Also in this newsletter: Tom Reuveny, Ariel Bibas and Courtney Tessler. We’ll start with the Ramah Yachad summer camp in Sunny Valley, Ukraine.
Ariel Oberfeld, 17, recalled watching his 8-year-old campers dance, sing and laugh at a recent “Camp Disco Night.” The experience sounded typical, one that thousands of children and teenagers enjoy annually at overnight camp. But then came a “scary sound” in one of the songs, Oberfeld said. The next thing he knew, he said, “during the disco they started crying,” reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.
Though Oberfeld is from Deerfield, Ill., his campers come from across Ukraine, including some of the country’s hardest-hit cities. “These kids have [experienced] trauma,” he said.
Oberfeld, the son of two Ukrainian emigrants to the U.S., returned to his parents’ war-torn birth country this summer to volunteer as a counselor at Camp Ramah Yachad in Sunny Valley, near Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. He is the first American volunteer counselor since the war broke out.
“I tried to convince him not to come,” Rabbi Irina Gritsevskaya, the camp’s director, told eJP before the camp started. “I made a very convincing speech about why it can be dangerous and complex, but he tried so hard to convince me to let him do it and about how it’s important for him that I could not say no.”
Last year, Oberfeld’s love for camp led him to fundraise from the U.S. for two children to be able to attend Ramah Yachad. But more than two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Oberfeld decided he would dedicate his summer before senior year to helping children on the ground. “I didn’t want to just sit back and give money this year,” he said. “I’m very involved with my Jewish community back home and I want to share that with kids where my family is from.” Camp creates such a meaningful connection, and this camp being centered on Judaism strengthens kids’ Judaism. I saw how that helped me and want to give that experience to these kids. If my parents didn’t leave for America, I could have been one of these kids.”
“The kids are very passionate about their Judaism,” he told eJP in a phone interview from Ukraine during a short break between water sports and dinner. “They are very happy to be here and this is their safe haven from their stressful lives at war.”
This is the third year that the camp is operating since the Russian invasion. Several aspects are different this year, including the harsh reality that many fathers have chosen not to drop off or pick up their kids at camp for fear of being snatched off the street by Ukraine’s authorities and pressed into military service. With many of Ukraine’s soldiers killed or injured, the government in May stepped up its efforts to mobilize more men — with conscription officers on the hunt for those between 25-60 who did not register.
But there are also positive changes to camp this year. For the first time, Camp Ramah Yachad has collaborated with Maccabi USA and Maccabi Ukraine, under the leadership of Arnie Fielkow, to bring some 20 Ukrainian campers from Maccabi Ukraine. Under the partnership, the camp will host its first sports day, called Maccabiah, for the campers. (Maccabi also sent 16 children to Ramah Galim in Northern California.)
The idea to bring Maccabi USA to camp in Ukraine was personal to Fielkow because of his ties to the country and to Ramah through his daughters, whom he and his wife adopted from Ukraine in 2007, the vice president of Maccabi USA and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, told eJP. When war broke out in 2022, “it made me want to do something… to help the youth of Ukraine, especially the youth that are part of Maccabi Ukraine,” he recalled.
The camp also has a psychologist and two doctors on staff to help with the children’s trauma, which can show itself even on Disco Night. “But mostly we really believe that arts activities, sports and human connections, that’s the way to deal with it,” Gritsevskaya told eJP. “[We’re] allowing the kids two weeks of normal life, normal childhood.”
Q&A
At 38, Philip Rosenberg takes helm of 264-year-old Board of Deputies of British Jews
Philip Rosenberg is an unlikely new president for the Board of Deputies, the 264-year-old organization that represents the bulk of British Jewry. Not because he lacks credentials or experience. The London-born, Oxford-educated Rosenberg, is a senior director at a strategy organization that helps its clients advocate for change, he’s served as a leader in his London synagogue and even worked previously for the BOD as the director of public affairs, among other eminent qualifications. What sets Rosenberg apart from the usual profile of a Board of Deputies president, however, is his age. At 38, he is almost half the age of most past board leaders, notes Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash for eJewishPhilanthropy, who interviewed him last week during the annual Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy conference in Oxford, England.
Ruth Marks Eglash: What is the most pressing challenge facing Jews in the U.K.?
Philip Rosenberg: We have seen a really alarming rise in antisemitism, which started the week after Oct. 7… In terms of what we’re looking to do, we’ve proposed a Commission on Antisemitism that will ensure focus on the issue and make recommendations to tackle the issue at its root.
The commission will have four key strands: A comprehensive review of hate crime legislation, policing and prosecution, to ensure we have the toughest framework in place for offenders; an in-depth review, sector by sector, of what’s happened in civil society, whether the media, social media, universities, professional workplaces, trade unions, arts, culture, sports, because so many of these spaces have failed us; tackling all types of extremism from all angles; and expanding our interfaith education and training so that we can inoculate people against the virus of antisemitism before it takes root.
DONOR ENGAGEMENT
Storytelling gold: How nonprofits can learn from Olympic broadcasts
“If you’re like me, you’ve learned a lot from the Paris Olympics: It turns out the world’s elite athletes don’t like sleeping on cardboard beds; $1.5 billion can clean a river, as long as it doesn’t rain two days before you want to swim in it; and it is possible to recover from the twisties,” writes Ben Vorspan, author of The Nonprofit Imagineers and director of marketing and communications for Hebrew at the Center, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “But for all the lessons we can learn from the successes and failures of the host country, the International Olympic Committee and the athletes themselves, I believe the greatest lessons we nonprofit professionals can learn are from NBC’s extraordinary work in covering the games — a broadcast 64 years in the making.”
A little history: “In 1960, ABC won the rights to broadcast college football, a sport with exceptionally low ratings. Producer Roone Arledge had a vision that would revitalize the college football market and ultimately forever change how sports are broadcast. He believed that in addition to adding new on-screen graphics and better camera angles, the way to make the audience truly care about the sport was to provide them with context — to humanize the players and form a connection between the viewers and the schools themselves. In other words, he wanted to tell stories.”
Powerful when used properly: “The use of stories is nothing new to marketing or fundraising, whether it be in sports or nonprofit work. We’ve all seen late-night commercials telling the story of a starving child that we can help with just a few cents per day. Jewish federations across the country use the stories of their community members to encourage participation and contributions. Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger created an entire virtual museum to tell the story of hunger throughout history. The challenge that many of us face, especially those of us without full marketing teams, is in using storytelling properly. Let’s take a look at some of the things that NBC is doing right, and how we can apply those principles to our nonprofit work.”
Worthy Reads
Life Support: In the Jewish Journal, Brian Fishbach spotlights the work of OneFamily, an Israeli nonprofit founded by philanthropists Marc and Chantal Belzberg in 2001 to help survivors and the families of terror victims with the process of moving forward with their lives. “They estimate that at least 25,000 people in Israel have lost a parent, child, spouse, or sibling in the past year due to the Oct. 7 attacks and the aftermath. It’s a continuous collective shiva. OneFamily is already hard at work providing relief for victims of last Saturday’s Hezbollah attack on a soccer field in the Golan Heights where 12 children and teens were murdered and at least 42 were injured… Marc emphasized that ‘OneFamily provides equal treatment to every single victim of terror acts in Israel — no matter what the race or religion, whether they’re Arabs, whether they’re foreign workers, whether they’re Christians, whatever it happens to be, OneFamily is nondenominational.’ OneFamily’s programming draws on elements from several other prominent relief charities in the U.S: It’s partly a victims compensation fund (like the 9/11 Victims Compensation fund), it provides lodging assistance for families needing a home near a hospital where a loved one is getting long-term treatment (similar to the Ronald McDonald House), they do trauma healing retreats (like so many rehabilitation organizations). And some of OneFamily’s programming is reminiscent of the Make-A Wish Foundation — but for Israelis of all ages, not just children.” [JewishJournal]
A Healthy Choice: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Albert Stumm interviews researchers about the impacts of volunteering on physical and mental health. “Eric S. Kim, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia Vancouver, said his research has found a connection between volunteering and more positive emotions, less loneliness and more social support. ‘These things have downstream effects, such as increased healthy behaviors, as well as increased healthier biological function such as reduced inflammation,’ Kim said. It’s not just older adults who benefit, though they are the most-studied group. There are indications that volunteering helps high school students too. [Developmental health psychologist Jacquelyn] Stephens noted that some types of volunteer opportunities, like loading boxes at a food bank, include physical activity. But the work doesn’t have to be physical to be beneficial, she said. ‘It’s kind of like exercise, that the best kind of volunteering is the one you’ll actually do,’ she said, noting that the only risk is overcommitting, which would negate health benefits. ‘It’s not good to be stressed out about your volunteer commitment.’” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Around the Web
Israeli windsurfer Tom Reuveny secured Israel’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics; Israeli athletes have so far won six medals in total (one gold, four silver and one bronze)…
Israelis and supporters around the world today marked the fifth birthday of Ariel Bibas, who is still being held captive in Gaza along with his parents, Yarden and Shiri, and his 1-year-old brother, Kfir. “The world around us continues to turn, but time seems to have frozen without you. You’ve grown a year older, but there’s no celebration,” his grandmother, Pnina Bibas, wrote in a letter shared with the Daily Mail…
Due to a shortage of mental health-care professionals, Israel’s Education Ministry is rolling out a pilot program using artificial intelligence bots to provide initial, basic treatment to teachers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder…
The New York Times spotlights an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York that allows visitors to virtually interact with Holocaust survivors via prerecorded video clips about their experiences…
The CEO of the LGBTQ advocacy nonprofit GLAAD is facing scrutiny for allegedly lavishly spending the organization’s funding in a potential violation of IRS rules…
The New York Times examines the fraying relationship between Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and the effects that it is having on the world of philanthropy…
Boston magazine profiles Josh Kraft, son of businessman and megadonor Robert Kraft, who expresses a desire to move on from his post overseeing the Patriots Foundation (the philanthropic arm of his family’s football team) and find “a more challenging way to serve”…
Jewish schools and houses of worship are among the 85 nonprofit institutions to benefit from $4.75 million in security grant funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the funding is intended to help faith-based institutions protect themselves from “hate crimes and terror attacks”…
The Minneapolis Foundation has pledged $50,000 toward a new fund to provide additional security to local Jewish institutions…
The Jewish Museum in London has postponed a number of planned activities at a local library this month because of security concerns, stemming from both the tensions in Israel and the Middle East and the recent deadly stabbing at a dance class in the British town of Southport in which three girls were murdered…
Israel’s Ynet news outlet interviews Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs about — among other things — a rise in Reform conversions to Judaism in the United States after Oct. 7…
South Carolina’s Greenville News interviews the head of the local Jewish federation, Courtney Tessler, about her organization’s role in the community…
The Early Learning Center at the JCC of Youngstown received $32,000 from the Penner Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, and more than $6,500 from the M. Fisher Memorial Fund…
In The Jerusalem Post, Danielle Segal, executive director of Honeycomb, writes about cultivating the youth philanthropy sector in Israel in the wake of Oct. 7…
The Walder Foundation announced $2.4 million in 12 unrestricted grants of $200,000 to Chicago-area performing artists through its inaugural Platform Awards…
Inside Philanthropy profiles the Myra Reinhard Family Foundation, including its support for Jewish organizations in Israel and the United States…
Drexel University reached an agreement with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to “respond more effectively to antisemitism”…
The local ABC affiliate in Scott Township, Pa., outside Pittsburgh, highlights the recent performance by Shufuni, a band from southern Israel, part of a tour sponsored by the JCC Association of North America…
Time magazine looks at the state of feminist philanthropy in the wake of Melinda French Gates’ decision to break out on her own…
Artist, philanthropist and environmental advocate Daphne Warburg Astor died at 74…
Pic of the Day
Attendees wait outside the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center for a sold-out screening of Sheryl Sandberg’s “Screams Before Silence,” a documentary film that chronicles evidence of sexual violence committed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The screening was hosted July 28 by I Believe Israeli Women, a joint initiative of Jewish Women International and Seed the Dream Foundation.
Following the film, a discussion of the evidence of sexual assault on Oct. 7 was led by Marcy Gringlas, Seed the Dream Foundation co-founder and president; Remo Salman El-Hozayel, Bedouin Israeli Muslim police officer and Oct. 7 eyewitness; and Alexi Meyers, director of anti-trafficking policy at Sanctuary for Families.
Birthdays
President of the Center for Jewish History in NYC and professor at Fairfield University, Gavriel David Rosenfeld…
Former New York State senator for 34 years, now of counsel at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, Manfred Ohrenstein… Chairman of Delphi Capital Management, Robert Rosenkranz… Former Israeli ambassador to France following seven years as a member of the Knesset, Yael German… Author of 25 nonfiction books, including The Portable Curmudgeon, Zen to Go and Advice to Writers, Jon Winokur… Historian, Nazi-hunter and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff… Banker, once known as “Austria’s woman on Wall Street” and founder of Bank Medici in 1994, Sonja Kohn… Former Soviet Refusenik, he served as Speaker of the Knesset for seven years, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein… Intellectual property and entertainment attorney based in Ithaca, New York, Howard Leib… Member of the British House of Lords, he was chief executive of the Office of the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and then chief executive of the United Jewish Israel Appeal, Baron Jonathan Andrew Kestenbaum… Songwriter, author, political columnist and noted baseball memorabilia collector, Seth Swirsky… Murray Huberfeld… Chair of the Department of Jewish History at Baltimore’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, Neil Rubin, Ph.D. … Actor who starred in “Weekend at Bernie’s,” his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Jonathan Elihu Silverman… President at ConservAmerica, Jeffrey Kupfer… Former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party, Roy Folkman… Director of the Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution, Natan Sachs… Investment and foundation manager at Denver-based Race Street Management and a board member of JFNA, Cintra Pollack… VP of government affairs at WISPA – the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, Matt Mandel… Chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Gregg (A.G.) Sulzberger… Former director of responsible innovation at Meta/Facebook, Zvika Krieger… Member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir, Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz… Long-time member of the Israeli national soccer team who also played in Europe’s UEFA Champions League, Gil Vermouth… Senior manager of validation at Menlo Labs, Lila Cohn… Front end engineer at Platform.sh, Abby Milberg… Fellow at NYC’s Corporation Counsel, Michael E. Snow… Senior advisor for implementation at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Lisa Geller… Leslie Saunders… Program manager of antisemitism, Holocaust and genocide education at the Anti-Defamation League, Anyu Silverman…
