Your Daily Phil: The Stella D’oro Effect: Can a cookie save Sunkist Fruit Gems?
Add EJP on GoogleGood Friday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine Israel’s preelection disqualification efforts against Arab parties. We report on a new eruv in North Brooklyn and on investor Leon Black’s alleged struggles to give away his foundation’s money because of his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. We feature an opinion piece by Randy Spiegel that spotlights several advantages of donor-advised funds as sources of charitable capital and a piece by Sara Fredman Aeder responding to yesterday’s news story in eJP about Sunkist Fruit Gems with precedents for saving them yet. Also in this issue: Elizabeth Stein, Lenny Silberman and Michael Moritz.
Shabbat shalom and chag sameach!
Today’s Your Daily Phil was curated by eJP Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross, Israel Editor Justin Hayet and Opinion Editor Rachel Kohn. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
Tonight marks the start of Sukkot.
This evening, the 2026 Detroit Jewish Expat Reception, honoring journalist Rebecca Blumenstein, will be held at the Chabad of Greater Downtown Detroit.
The North American premiere of the controversial Israeli documentary “NAZA,” which accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza, takes place on Saturday at Lincoln Center in New York, as part of the New York Film Festival. The Israeli-American Council and other Jewish groups are planning to protest outside the screening.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
A piece of political theater — mostly but probably not entirely pointless — played out in Israel this week, as it does ahead of every national election: the disqualification of political parties. In this case, the parties in question were the four Arab ones, Hadash, Ta’al, Balad and Ra’am, as well as specific candidates.
With one notable exception, these disqualifications are a meaningless rhetorical gesture as they will almost all be overturned by the Supreme Court — as they nearly always are.
But according to Tani Frank, the director of the Judaism and State Policy Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, these disqualifications and the process through which they happen are also part of a larger struggle within Israel about the balance of power between the judiciary and elected officials. Though he recognized the complexity of the issue, Frank argued that a Supreme Court disqualification of Abu Shehadeh could — perhaps counterintuitively — strengthen Israeli democracy, even if it makes liberal and progressive supporters of Israel uncomfortable.
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
News
SETTING BOUNDARIES
In a high-wire act of faith, Greenpoint Shul establishes eruv for North Brooklyn
Many congregants at Brooklyn’s Greenpoint Shul were confused when their rabbi, Isaiah Rothstein, arrived at Purim services earlier this year dressed as an eruv checker with his wife beside him, dressed as an eruv, the ritual string boundary around a geographic area that allows observant Jews within it to carry belongings outside their homes on Shabbat, eJewishPhilathropy’s Jay Deitcher reports. The costumes sparked a conversation about creating an eruv for the growing community; the following month, a campaign was launched, and last week the eruv was completed, allowing congregants to carry siddurim and tallit bags and push strollers to Shabbat services — in compliance with halacha — for the first time.
All are welcome: “What’s so cool about the Greenpoint Shul is that it is an Orthodox institution with a community of people who come from all backgrounds and denominations, and we really strive to make sure everyone feels included and welcome and a part of things,” Rothstein told eJP. “This is a big gesture of inclusivity for those who are observant in this way, and it’ll make it easier for people to come to services.”
FADE TO BLACK
Investor Leon Black can’t give his money because of Epstein ties, biographer says
Leon Black, the Apollo Global Management co-founder who fell from grace amid revelations about his long-standing, close relationship with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, cannot find organizations to accept money from his sizable family foundation, William D. Cohan, the author of a new book about Black, said earlier this month in an onstage interview at the 92NY, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. “He’s got a billion dollars in his foundation that he’s having trouble giving it away because people don’t want it,” Cohan said, citing conversations that he had with Black for the book, Money to Burn.
Epstein effect: The issue of the Epstein case and the close ties that many prominent Jewish figures had to him — most notably Les Wexner, but also Thomas Pritzker and others — has riled the Jewish community since details began emerging more than a decade ago.
Opinion
FUNDRAISING STRATEGY
Donor-advised funds: An essential source of funding for Canadian charities
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Randy Spiegel, CEO of Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan University, encourages more Canadian organizations to familiarize themselves with how donor-advised funds, an increasingly popular vehicle for giving, work.
“Donor-advised funds offer smaller charities an opportunity to compete more effectively. Unlike many institutional grant programs, DAF grants are typically initiated by individual donors. Existing supporters who hold donor-advised funds can recommend grants with relatively little administrative burden. In most cases, charities do not need to complete lengthy applications or participate in competitive grant processes. Rather, success depends on donor stewardship and relationship building.”
READER RESPONDS
Save the Fruit Gems
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Sara Fredman Aeder, executive vice president of programming at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, responds to eJP’s report yesterday on Sunkist Fruit Gems being discontinued with examples of food items that were saved by public campaigns to keep them kosher or keep them in production, arguing that a similar effort could save the simcha staple.
“Call Ferrara and email them. Rabbis, write the letters, as your predecessors did for Stella D’oro. If your synagogue office or volunteer group orders candy by the pound, tell Ferrara why the order stopped. Post your best candy-throwing photos and tag the company. And until Fruit Gems come back, save what you have left and aim for the bar or bat mitzvah kid’s shins, not their head.”
Worthy Reads
Sweet Sorrow: In J. Jewish News of Northern California, following eJewishPhilanthropy’s story on Sunkist Fruit Gems being discontinued, David Wilensky speaks with rabbis and communal leaders about what — if anything — can replace them. “Local rabbis I spoke with are genuinely distraught — and some are springing into action, buying up remaining stock in bulk orders. … But what happens when that stockpile runs out? Are there other candies that fit the bill?”
Gifts That Endure: In Time magazine, Indian businesswoman and Reliance Foundation Chair Nita M. Ambani argues that philanthropy’s highest purpose is to build lasting institutions — schools, hospitals, universities and cultural centers — but rather than to deliver one-off acts of charity, and that its true measure is the futures it makes possible. “Building institutions demands patience. Institutions are gifts to those who inherit them; in time, they might create things their founders never imagined.”
Strength in Numbers: In a new Milken Institute report based on interviews with 36 funders, Giselle Leung, John Schellhase and Shiva Inalsingh urge large private foundations and corporate philanthropies to join forces, arguing that pairing one side’s patience and expertise with the other’s speed and business savvy can stretch philanthropic dollars further. “If it is worth doing alone, we should strive to do it together.”
Major Gifts
Jewish Life at Duke raised $2.5 million from six donor families to endow its full-time campus rabbi post, anchored by an anonymous alumni couple’s $1.25 million gift that sparked a broader $5 million endowment drive…
The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation is donating a circa-1936 Adolph Gottlieb oil painting of a Gloucester, Mass., pier to the Cape Ann Museum…
The LeFrak and Simon families’ Newport Associates awarded $2 million to 40 Jersey City nonprofits…
The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati will give up to $25,000 in matching funds to the Horizon Community Foundation‘s Home for All Fund, which works to ease northern Kentucky’s housing shortage.double its TRUST program, which provides unrestricted cash to low-income single mothers…
Transitions
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame appointed Lenny Silberman as its CEO…
The UCLA’s Nazarian Center for Israel Studies named Elizabeth Stein as its deputy director…
Rachel Spinner joined the Orthodox Union as the regional director of its Teach Coalition initiative…
Adam Maslia was promoted at the Jewish Federation of San Diego to the role of senior director of secure and resilient communities…
Oren Marmorstein left his role as Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson to head the ministry’s European bureau. Michal Maayan was named as his replacement…as the first-ever Jewish president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America…
Word on the Street
A federal court ruled that a Jewish charter school in Oklahoma can operate amid an ongoing legal battle with the state’s charter school board that had rejected the institution’s application earlier this year. Read eJP’s coverage about the charter school here…
Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, investor Josh Wolfe and warfare expert John Spencer were spotted at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech yesterday to the U.N. General Assembly…
The Canadian Broadcasting Company benched veteran producer Neil Herland after he filmed and shared a video of protesters heckling Yom Kippur worshippers at his synagogue in Toronto…
A Department of Education advisory panel voted 7-4 to recommend suspending the American Psychological Association‘s accreditation authority over alleged antisemitism in the programs it oversees, Marc Rod reports in eJewishPhilanthropy‘s sister publication Jewish Insider…
Jewish advocacy groups are cheering new Department of Health and Human Services guidance on antisemitism in medicine, though attorneys at an American Jewish Medical Association webinar said its effectiveness hinges on whether patients report bias and regulators follow through, Matthew Shea reports in eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider…
Former Israeli hostages Ohad Ben Ami, Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim celebrated at the wedding of Ben Ami’s daughter on Thursday night; also in attendance were former hostages Bar Kupershtein and Segev Kalfon, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal…
Alex Soros attended a breakfast hosted by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on Wednesday titled “Building an Economy for the Many” that featured an address from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez…
Speaking to the “Invest Like The Best” podcast, Sequoia Capital Chairman Michael Moritz reflected on his family’s journey fleeing Nazi Germany saying, “That’s the lesson that I took away from my family history… that you can never have enough passports.”
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is in advanced talks to sell a 20% stake in Formula 1‘s Miami Grand Prix to private equity firm Otro Capital…
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the University of Texas lawfully suspended former student Ammer Qaddumi for his role in leading an April 2024 pro-Palestinian campus protest, rejecting his First Amendment challenge…
The University of California, Berkeley will honor its long-delayed agreement to rehire an Israeli dance professor whom it declined to reappoint over her nationality…
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is facing criticism for not holding one-on-one meetings with major Jewish organizations over the past year despite a wave of antisemitic attacks in the city…
Maryland’s congressional delegation announced $8.6 million in federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to bolster security at 49 religious institutions and community centers across the state, including numerous Jewish organizations…
Pic of the Day
Several men shop yesterday for the “Four Species” — lulav, etrog, hadas and arava — that are ceremonially used during the weeklong Sukkot festival, at a pop-up market in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona. The annual market was forced to close for the past two years due to attacks by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Birthdays
Gary Torgow, chairman of Huntington National Bank, he is also the chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, turns 70 on Saturday
Vivien Stern, former member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, turns 85
Yehuda Lancry, former member of Knesset, he also served as Israel’s ambassador to France and then the United Nations, turns 79
Dvora Millstone, Lakewood Ranch, Fla., resident, turns 78
Yardena Arazi, Israeli television anchor and popular singer, turns 75
Ruth Calderon, founder of ALMA, which seeks to acquaint secular Israelis with Hebrew culture, she served as a member of Knesset for Yesh Atid from 2013 to 2015, turns 65
Boaz Levy, chairman and former CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, turns 65
Marc Benioff, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, he acquired Time magazine in 2018, turns 62
Marissa Levin, best-selling author and serial entrepreneur
David Friedman, director and co-creator of the award-winning HBO series “Game of Thrones,” known professionally as David Benioff (Benioff is his mother’s maiden name), turns 56
Rabbi Pinchas Eliezer “Pini” Dunner, son and grandson of leading British rabbis, he is the senior rabbi at the Beverly Hills Synagogue, turns 56
Inbal Gavrieli, former member of the Knesset for Likud, she has appeared on multiple Israeli reality television shows, turns 51
Tamara Keith, White House correspondent for NPR, turns 47
Jesse Gabriel, member of the California State Assembly where he serves as chair of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, turns 45
Carmiel Arbit, nonresident senior fellow for Middle East programs and the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council
Lila Shapiro, features writer at New York magazine and its culture magazine Vulture
Zach Woods, actor and comedian, best known for his role as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom “The Office,” turns 42
Mitch Malasky, former videographer for the State Department
Daniel Yadron, assistant appellate federal defender at Federal Defenders of San Diego
Jacob Greer Cohen, former center and power forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague, turns 36
Yanky Rodman, asset manager for Capital Realty Group
Destiny Albritton, creative director at BZ Media
Adam Basciano, strategic director at Laurel Strategies
SATURDAY
Jonathan Goldsmith, stage, film and television actor, he is best known as “The Most Interesting Man in the World” appearing in Dos Equis beer commercials, turns 88
Robin Rosenblatt, CEO of Israel Longhorn Project, dedicated to bringing Texas Longhorn Cattle to Israel, turns 78
Barry Mandel, Five Towns (N.Y.) resident
Patrick Kron, former chairman and CEO of the French engineering conglomerate Alstom, he is the son of Holocaust survivors, turns 73
Doug Sosnik, senior political advisor to President Bill Clinton during his second term and co-author of a New York Times best-seller on the future of politics in the U.S., turns 70
Paul Lustiger, Teaneck resident with a Jersey City dental practice
Robert Kagan, historian, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, turns 68
Mark Isakowitz, chief of staff to Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), turns 60
Josh Arieh, professional poker player with seven World Series of Poker bracelets, turns 52
Josh Pastner, men’s basketball head coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, he was the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year, turns 49
David G. Greenfield, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a major charity in NYC, turns 48
Risa Beth Heller, former communications director for N.Y. Gov. Paterson, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jane Harman, she now heads a NYC-based PR firm, turns 47
Yaniv “Nev” Schulman, television host and producer, in 2020 he finished second on “Dancing with the Stars,” turns 42
Henry Seltzer, NYC-based editor at Bloomberg LP
Joshua Nason, senior director of political affairs at the Jewish Federations of North America
Joanna Weiss DiMarco turns 36
Alec Deer, senior director of development at Tamid Group
Marvel Joseph, director of strategic initiatives at the National Black Empowerment Council
SUNDAY
Arthur Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, turns 84
Stephen J. Landes, of counsel at the Jaszczuk law firm, turns 81
Ellen Sandler, board member of the Milken Family Foundation
Ralph Toledano, former chairman of the Victoria Beckham fashion brand, turns 75
Dan Raviv, longtime Washington correspondent, he is the author of books on Israel’s defense, intelligence and diplomatic services, turns 72
Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond until 2017, he was a chair of the Richmond Jewish Foundation, turns 71
Jeffrey Birnbaum, president of public relations firm BGR (Barbour, Griffith & Rogers), turns 70
Frank Hornstein, former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, he is married to a Minneapolis rabbi, turns 67
Marc Maron, comedian and author, turns 63
Rabbi Haïm Korsia, chief rabbi of France since 2014, turns 63
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005, she was chairperson of the Democratic National Committee until 2016, turns 60
Judy Tashbook-Safern, literary and film publicist based in Israel, she is also the publisher of Intelligentsia Books
Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, turns 60
Rebecca Blumenstein, president of NBC News Editorial, turns 60
Elliotte Friedman, hockey reporter for Sportsnet and as an insider for the NHL Network, turns 56
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, now a candidate of the Amcha Yisrael party, turns 53
Joseph Braude, author of four books on North Africa and the Middle East and president of The Center for Peace Communications
Carrie Rachel Brownstein, musician, actor, writer, director and comedian, turns 52
Josh Mandel, state treasurer of Ohio from 2011 until 2019, turns 49
Marc Kushner, architect, entrepreneur and author, turns 49
Daniel Isaac Helmer, member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the D.C. suburbs, turns 45
Rabbi Rori Picker Neiss, SVP and rabbi-in-residence at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Alexa Wertman, advisory manager for cyber and strategic risk at Deloitte, she was previously a Hebrew teacher and coordinator of Jewish programs at Zeta Beta Tau
Sam Lerner, actor best known for his role as Geoff Schwartz in 161 episodes of ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” turns 34
