Your Daily Phil: The Israeli kids are not all right, Taub Center survey shows
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine the latest “Picture of the Nation” report from the Israeli social policy-focused Taub Center, particularly its worrying findings about early childhood education in Israel, and report on the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust’s $29 million gift to the Weizmann Institute of Science. We feature an opinion piece by Seth Cohen on approaching hope as a discipline, and Noam Dromi spotlights short films as a vehicle for contemporary Jewish storytelling that warrants philanthropic investment. Also in this issue: Marc Bloch, Mark Berlin and Jill Smokler.
Today’s Your Daily Phil was curated by eJP Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross, Opinion Editor Rachel Kohn and Israel Editor Justin Hayet. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
French President Emmanuel Macron will induct Marc Bloch, a French Jewish historian and World War II resistance fighter who was executed by the Nazis, to the country’s Pantheon today in Paris.
The Association of Jewish Libraries is hosting its 2026 annual conference through tomorrow in Evanston, Ill., bringing together librarians, scholars and Jewish library advocates for programming, awards and professional development.
The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action is holding its 2026 annual meeting today in Boston honoring Rick Henken, the president of The Schochet Companies, for his leadership in affordable housing and community advocacy.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
The Taub Center, the Israeli social policy think tank, released its annual “Picture of the Nation” report today — and it is not a pretty picture for much of Israeli society.
One of the most worrying areas examined in the report deals with the country’s early childhood education. Coming as almost no surprise to anyone who knows Israeli reservist families, the surveys cited in the think tank’s report found that children with at least one parent who performed reserve duty experienced emotional and behavioral issues. Children ages 4-6 with at least one parent in the reserves were also found to be less prepared to enter elementary school than their peers, having more difficulty with basic arithmetic and reading.
Carmel Blank, a senior researcher at the Taub Center and at the Ruppin Academic Center, told eJewishPhilanthropy that while the situation is severe, with long-term ramifications, it is also reversible. “What happens to you in early childhood can have long-term effects for the rest of your life,” she said. “But on the other hand, because [young children] are more sensitive, it is also much easier for them to adapt when things improve.”
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
News
MAJOR GIFTS
Helmsley Charitable Trust donates $29M to help rebuild Weizmann campus
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a $29 million grant today to help repair the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Rehovot campus, the largest donation in the year since a direct-hit Iranian missile attack caused approximately $635 million in damage, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.
Brick by brick: The grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust is one of the largest contributions to rebuild the institution, alongside the $26 million donated by The Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation in September. The process will take years, and the grant will go towards rebuilding floors three through seven of the Wolfson Building for Biological Research, which is projected to reopen in 2027 with 17 labs and a new immunology research wing.
Opinion
MEETING THIS MOMENT
Why optimism about Israel’s future is an act of moral resistance
“Back when I was working at Schusterman, we had a phrase,” writes Seth Cohen, co-founder of Optimistic Labs and former senior director of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “We said it constantly, to each other and to ourselves, half mantra and half marching order. Make it happen.”
A discipline of possibility: “To me, it meant the gap between the way things are and the way things could be is not a wall; it is an assignment. … The present is hard — genuinely, no asterisk required. … But the future is open. Anyone who tells you it is closed is selling you the cheapest thing in the store: the comfort of being done. We aren’t done.”
Read the full piece here.s building franchise businesses and hospitality companies, I recognize a scalable model when I see one.”
THE STORIES WE TELL
Why short films should matter to Jewish funders
“There is a tendency in communal life to think about storytelling as a matter of representation: Are Jewish stories being told? Are they accurate? Are they positive? Are they reaching people? Those are important questions, but they are not enough. We also have to ask where new Jewish stories are allowed to begin,” writes Emmy Award-winning producer and writer Noam Dromi, managing director and executive producer of Reboot Studios, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Don’t sell them short: “For too long, shorts have been treated as stepping stones to ‘real’ work rather than as serious cultural investments in their own right. … Shorts offer an accessible entry point for new artists, a flexible format for urgent ideas and a relatively low-risk way to support creative work before it has to prove itself at a larger scale.”
Worthy Reads
Power of Presence: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Devontá Dickey argues that funders who embrace trust-based philanthropy must also commit to physical presence in the field. “Philanthropic evaluation tends to reward what can be counted, because counting is how we communicate decisions to boards, to donors, to the communities we serve. But it has also produced a particular kind of knowledge: precise about outputs, quieter about the fuller texture of change… But conditions alone don’t produce learning. Learning requires presence, and presence requires a different kind of intention than most grant-making structures are built to support.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Giving Isn’t Enough: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Save the Children Global Ventures’ Paul Ronalds makes the case for blended finance vehicles over pure philanthropy. “None of this means traditional philanthropy is obsolete… But for the more sophisticated funder of international development, the question should always be: Is there a way to make this capital go further? To be more catalytic? To attract development finance or private sector capital alongside my contribution? That question, asked honestly and answered with the right structures, is what will close the funding gaps that philanthropy alone never can.” [SSIR]
Major Gifts
Adam Theater, a Boston-based theater company for young audiences, has received $1.1 million in philanthropic support to expand school engagement, strengthen its infrastructure and fund its upcoming 2026-2027 season…
Transitions
Word on the Street
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his rhetorical assault on AIPAC on Monday, after Jewish groups over the weekend criticized him for referring to the organization’s supporters as “monsters,” which they argued evoked classic antisemitic tropes, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports…
Rabbi Zohar Atkins launched Yochai, an artificial intelligence-powered study companion built on over 1,000 primary Jewish texts, which he says is designed to guide learners toward their own insights rather than delivering information…
B’nai B’rith International and Ben-Gurion University‘s Azrieli Center for Israel Studies established a research partnership to study the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism…
The Atlantic examines whether Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch can survive President Donald Trump’s escalating pressure campaign to reshape the museum system’s treatment of American history…
Mark Berlin, a board member at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, resigned in protest over an upcoming exhibit about the displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, which he said presents a one-sided account that omits critical historical context and risks fueling antisemitism in Canada…
The Real Deal examines a wave of alleged real estate Ponzi schemes involving Ken Mattson, Josh Schuster and others, revealing how personal trust has become the most dangerous currency in investment fraud…
Jill Smokler, who built Scary Mommy into a community of millions, died yesterday at 48 after a battle with brain cancer…
Phyllis Heimowitz, co-founder of the Partners of Fallen IDF Soldiers, who dedicated her life to taking care of the non-spousal partners of fallen IDF soldiers, died at 87…
Pic of the Day
An Israeli boy checks the “heartbeat” of his stuffed elephant yesterday afternoon at the 13th annual Teddy Bear Hospital at Bar-Ilan University’s Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat. The yearly event, which is run by medical students and supported by the university and the Matat Foundation, is aimed at building the emotional resilience of children in northern Israel and making them more comfortable in medical settings.
“Teddy Bear Hospital combines the compassion and excellence of our students with the emotional needs of children in the region,” Dr. Orly Avni, dean of the medical school, said in a statement. “Beyond easing the natural anxieties associated with medical care, this year’s event also provides a space for relief, joy, and a renewed sense of security.”
Birthdays
Actor and comedian, best known for playing Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on CBS’ sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” Melissa Rauch turns 46…
Real estate developer and co-founder of Tishman Speyer, Jerry Speyer turns 86… Senior advisor at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, he is the author of 24 books on foreign affairs, global politics and travel, Robert D. Kaplan turns 74… Novelist and journalist, Roy Hoffman turns 73… Los Angeles-based socialite, restaurateur and breast cancer fundraiser, a 2008 Lifetime Television movie starring Renée Zellweger portrayed her cancer-fighting efforts, Lilly Tartikoff Karatz turns 73… Klezmer expert, violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer and playwright, Yale Strom turns 69… Senior director of health policy at the National Consumers League until 2024, Robin Strongin… President of the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, Dr. Jonathan Solomon Stamler turns 67… Sports memorabilia marketer, in 2009 his firm sold all of the seats, signs and lockers from the old Yankee Stadium, Brandon Steiner turns 67… Member of the Pennsylvania state Senate until 2020, now president of Cannabis GPO, Daylin Leach turns 65… Editorial director of Ben Yehuda Press, Lawrence Yudelson… Former teacher for 19 years at Golda Och Academy in West Orange, N.J., she is on Hadassah’s 2025 list of 18 American Zionist Women You Should Know, Stephanie Z. Bonder… Israeli-American professor, journalist and filmmaker, Boaz Dvir turns 59… Film and television actor, her Hebrew name is Bat-Sheva, Selma Blair Beitner turns 54… U.S. special envoy for hostage response, Adam Seth Boehler turns 53… EVP and general manager of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, Howie Roseman turns 51… President and COO of D1 Capital Partners, he was deputy director of the White House National Economic Council in the Trump 45 administration, Jeremy Katz… Founder of Innovation Africa, which uses Israeli solar technology to bring electricity and solar-powered water pumps to impoverished African villages, Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari turns 48… Actor, singer and model, Marielle Jaffe turns 37… Executive assistant to the CEO at Jazz, Gila Bublick turns 37… Ethiopian-born Israeli model who won the title of Miss Israel in 2013, Yityish “Titi” Aynaw turns 35… Western regional major gifts director at United Hatzalah of Israel, Ely Benhamo… Recent MBA graduate at Columbia Business School, Josh Lauder… T.C. Gross…
