Your Daily Phil: Summer camps come to wintry Chicago
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on this week’s Jewish Camp Summit in Chicago and Jewish leaders’ outrage over anti-Israel speakers at a recent independent schools conference. We feature an opinion piece by Shuly Rubin Schwartz arguing that education consists of more than delivering discreet little parcels of content. Also in this newsletter: Khalil Ayoub, Danny Cohn and Kim M. Heiman.
What We’re Watching
Ma’aglei Nefesh, the Center for Mental Health, Community and Halacha, is holding its inaugural conference in Jerusalem today, bringing together halachic authorities, therapists and those dealing with mental health issues.
The Birthright Israel Foundation is hosting an event in New York City tonight to honor longtime supporter Jeffrey R. Solomon, president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, and present the inaugural Jeffrey R. Solomon Prize to antisemitism activist and Birthright trip leader Aviva Klompas.
What You Should Know
The temperature in Chicago may have been well below freezing, but summer was on the minds of the hundreds of Jewish professionals who came to the Windy City this week for a first-of-its-kind Jewish camp summit hosted by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s JCamp 180 and the Foundation for Jewish Camp, writes eJewishPhilanthropy Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross.
The summit — really two conferences crammed together — offered discussions, panels and networking opportunities for both sides of the Jewish camp industry, from the practitioners to the funders who support them. Bringing together the two events, which are normally held at different times of the year, apparently maximized the number of attendees, with record high numbers for each.
This all comes as Jewish sumer camps have seen significant growth, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers — driven perhaps by the precipitous drop in Israel travel this past summer, as well as “The Surge” in Jewish engagement post-Oct. 7.
For the camp directors, board members and other staff, the summit provided an opportunity to discuss the nitty-gritty details of running a Jewish summer camp, from better cooperation with a board and more effective fundraising to responding to the practical effects of climate change and how to use artificial intelligence and data collection, as well as more far-reaching topics like how to cultivate leadership and deepen Israel education.
For philanthropists, bringing hundreds of Jewish camp professionals under one roof allowed them to more easily understand the field and find ways to support it. (Read more about this below.)
For the other stakeholders, it was an opportunity to consider the role of Jewish summer camps in the context of the North American Jewish community and the Jewish people more generally. On Tuesday, for instance, Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America; and Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, president of the Wexner Foundation, discussed the role of Jewish summer camps in developing Jewish leadership.
Julie Platt, JFNA board chair and immediate past board chair of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, held an onstage discussion with her son, actor and podcast host, Jonah Platt, about the role that Jewish camp has played in their lives.
SUMMER LOVIN’
JCamp 180 and Foundation for Jewish Camp partner for Jewish Camp Summit, leading to record attendance
More than 900 Jewish camp professionals joined together on Monday to recite the Shehecheyanu. The prayer, signifying special occasions, marked a historical partnership between the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) and Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s JCamp 180 as the organizations partnered for a joint, four-day gathering, the Jewish Camp Summit, which ended yesterday, reports Jay Deitcher for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Under one roof: A larger summit also means more exposure for attendees to philanthropists, Andrea Wasserman, the founder and president of ABW Partners, who presented at the JCamp 180 Summit and whose firm leads the strategic planning process for FJC, told eJP. These philanthropists are hungry to invest in initiatives that allow Jews to “wear their Judaism proudly” and “move the needle on ensuring a vibrant, vital, cohesive Jewish community,” she said, especially spanning Israel and the Diaspora.
EDUCATION CONSTERNATION
Jewish leaders outraged after independent school confab features anti-Israel speakers
Jewish leaders expressed “deep concern” in a letter on Wednesday to the president of the National Association of Independent Schools — a group that counts more than 100 Jewish day schools as members — after the association held a recent conference where several speakers accused Israel of genocide and spread anti-Israel rhetoric, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider. At the NAIS People of Color Conference, held last week in Denver, “a Jewish student stated that he and his peers ‘felt so targeted, so unsafe, that we tucked our Magen Davids in our shirts and walked out as those around us glared and whispered,’” according to the letter, which was signed by Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL, Paul Bernstein of Prizmah, Ted Deutch of the AJC and Eric Fingerhut of JFNA.
Fix it, don’t leave: Despite this, Bernstein told JI that “NAIS is an important place that a lot of Jewish day schools want to be part of, [and] Prizmah encourages that.” He added: “What we would like to see is a successful antisemitism-free environment where Jewish day schools can be part of the wider independent school market and be part of the Prizmah network in order for us to work and learn together.” Bernstein emphasized the need to “strengthen the system” rather than leave the association altogether and “be in a position where Jews feel the only safe place is internal.”
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
A HIGHER ED
Investing in the future with one eye on the past
“We often speak nowadays about ‘content.’ In the age of the internet and social media, we valorize content providers as if content consists of a finite amount of information, sources, data or material that can be plugged into a website or course of study and delivered to users,” writes Shuly Rubin Schwartz, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A particular experience: “But, as all educators know, knowledge emerges not from passively receiving content, but from the give and take between student and teacher and between study partners… In this age of ‘truthiness,’ AI-generated content, deepfake scams and photo tampering, we must redouble our efforts to help students hone their skills in critical analysis, bias interrogation, clear communication and meaning-making. To achieve constructive dialogue with those whose views differ from our own, we need first to be confident in our knowledge and values as well as open to continued learning from others. I am pleased that JTS’ investment in this kind of education will continue to grow as we welcome a new professor for a new era.”
Worthy Reads
Eye on Canada: In The Free Press, Terry Glavin examines the roots and impact of the “explosion of Jew-hate” in Canada, where reported instances of antisemitism have skyrocketed by 670% in the past year. “Since last Oct. 7, there have been several drive-by shootings at Jewish schools in Montreal and Toronto. A coordinated bomb threat targeted more than 100 Jewish institutions from Halifax to Victoria. Synagogues in British Columbia and Quebec have been firebombed. One synagogue in Toronto, Kehillat Shaarei Torah, has been vandalized seven times since April… Heartbreaking is a word that well describes the way Canadian Jews see their predicament these days. ‘I have never seen in all my life such a thing, such expressions from people of all ages, such expressions of apprehension, of isolation, insecurity, foreboding, expressed in different ways,’ said [Irwin] Cotler, 84, [Canada’s former justice minister,] when we spoke last week… In part, that’s because antisemitism is no longer just some protest culture eccentricity. It’s going mainstream, from the bottom to the top.” [FreePress]
A Debt of Honor: In The Times of Israel, Khalil Ayoub, the director of Maoz Ha’Erez, a new pre-military preparatory academy, considers how programs like his can boost Israel’s Druze community. “How do we ensure that the young people of the community, who risk their lives for the country, receive the tools and opportunities to also thrive in civilian life? One of the keys to changing the face of this reality is military preparatory programs… These programs are not just a stop on the road to military service, but schools of values — resilience, leadership, and striving for excellence… Today, the great potential of the Druze population is still not fully realized… It is our time to repay a debt of honor. Not just in beautiful words or memorial events, but in creating real opportunities — in the military, in academia, and in the job market. Only in this way will we ensure that the devotion of the members of the Druze community is properly recognized, and that its members will be full and meaningful partners in Israeli society.” [TOI]
Word on the Street
Danny Cohn was selected to serve as the next CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, succeeding Brian Herstig, who stepped down earlier this year; for the past four years, Cohn has served as CEO of the Birmingham, Ala., Jewish Federation and Foundation…
The American Jewish Committee has created a new resource guide, Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition, to educate Catholic communities about antisemitism…
The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle interviews World Zionist Organization Vice Chair Yizhar Hess about the World Zionist Congress elections that are scheduled to take place next year…
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund as part of the tech mogul’s efforts to improve ties with the incoming administration…
The Jewish Agency for Israel – North American Council appointed Kim M. Heiman to be the next chair of its board of directors…
The Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem launched a new optometry program for French-speaking immigrants as part of an effort to make it easier for people from France to make aliyah…
CNN reports on an effort to recover and repatriate thousands of books looted by the Nazis from European Jewish communities during WWII…
Former Yankees pitcher David Cone celebrated his son’s bar mitzvah over the weekend…
A new report from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations found a spike in antisemitic hate crimes in 2023…
Steve Mensch, the president of Tyler Perry Studios and a board member at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, died in a plane crash on Friday at 62…
Korin Allal, an Israeli singer-songwriter, died today at 69…
David Bonderman, who co-founded the private-equity firm TPG, died yesterday at 82…
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Kenneth Brander (second from left), president and rosh yeshiva of the Ohr Torah Stone network, presents an award to Ben J. and Dorit Genet (center) on Saturday night, alongside Yinon Ahiman (left), the director-general of the organization, and Laurence Schreiber (right), chair of its North American board of directors, at the group’s annual dinner at the David Posnack JCC in Hollywood, Fla.
At the dinner, Ohr Torah Stone honored the memories of 56 members of the Ohr Torah Stone family — mainly former students, faculty members and their families — who were murdered or killed in battle since Oct. 7, 2023. The event also featured an onstage discussion between Brander and Eric Fingerhut, CEO of Jewish Federations of North America, about the challenges and opportunities facing North American Jewish communities and the State of Israel.
Birthdays
CEO at Chicago-based Next Realty, he is a member of JFNA’s domestic policy and government affairs council, Andrew S. Hochberg…
Attorney, political operative, lobbyist, author and television commentator, Lanny Davis… Chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists, Irving Azoff… Two-term congressman starting in 2007 (D-WI), he is a physician who founded four allergy clinics, Steven Leslie Kagen, M.D…. 2007 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, he is a professor at Harvard University, Eric Stark Maskin… Member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad from 2000 until last year, Bruce Kulick… Professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Richard J. Davidson… Associated Press science writer and adjunct professor at NYU’s academic center in Washington, Seth Borenstein… Israeli-born real estate developer active in Los Angeles, partner in Linear City Development, Yuval Bar-Zemer… Afternoon anchor on the Fox Business Network, Elizabeth Kate “Liz” Claman… Rabbi of the Bet Israel community in Zagreb, Croatia, Kotel Dadon… Israeli scientist and entrepreneur, he is the founder and chief technology officer at Vaxa Impact Nutrition, Isaac Berzin… Minnesota secretary of state, he was first elected in 2014 and then reelected in 2018 and 2022, Steve Simon… Israeli celebrity chef, Moshe Aharon “Moshik” Roth… Actress, game show host and neuroscientist, she played the role of neuroscientist Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” Mayim Chaya Bialik… MSW candidate at the University of Denver and freelance PR consultant, Sarah R. Horowitz… Freelance field producer for ABC News, Rebecca “Becky” Perlow… Professor of marketing at the University of Chicago’s Booth School, Abigail Sussman … One-half of the duo known for their YouTube channel h3h3Productions with 1.3 billion views, Hila Hakmon Klein… Israeli Olympic long-distance runner, she ran the marathon for Israel at the Paris Olympics last year, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter… Managing director at Narrative Strategies DC, David Pasch… Brazilian mixed martial artist, Neiman Gracie Stambowsky… Senior advisor for policy at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America program, Jeffrey S. Goldstein… Co-founder and senior advisor of The Next 50, Zak Malamed… Film and television actor, Lucas Jade Zumann … Founding national campaign director for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, he was a presidential appointee to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council from 2008-2013, Joseph Brodecki…
