Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the producer, businessman and philanthropist who stood behind “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer as he criticized Israel at Sunday night’s Oscars, is refraining from commenting on the speech, but a spokesperson for his office noted his “long-standing support” for Israel to eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.

Is he part of we?: During the speech, Glazer appeared to include Blavatnik in his denunciation of Israel, saying — with Blavatnik and the film’s other producer, Jim Wilson, next to him — that “We stand here as men who refute [sic] their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza — all the victims of this dehumanization.”

No comment: Asked if Blavatnik had been made aware of the speech’s content beforehand and if he shared Glazer’s belief, a spokesperson for the Blavatnik Family Foundation told eJP that the philanthropist “is not commenting on the Oscars but you’re welcome to reflect that he is extremely proud of ‘The Zone of Interest’ and the acclaim it has received. His long-standing support of Israel is unwavering and well-documented.”

Survivors respond: The Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation USA denounced Glazer for his remarks yesterday, writing in a letter that it is “disgraceful for [him] to presume to speak for the six million Jews, including one and a half million children, who were murdered solely because of their Jewish identity.” 

A macabre type of tourism has defined the trips of many visitors to Israel since Oct. 7. While some struggle with the concept of visiting the sites of the Hamas massacres, wary of invading the privacy of the victims, especially when the grief is still so raw, the act of bearing witness, showing solidarity and support and fundraising are among the key reasons why thousands of people have visited the affected Gaza border communities since security restrictions were lifted for civilians who wish to travel to the area, reports Tamara Zieve in eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.

What it was like: A Jewish Federations of North America spokesperson told JI that these trips are part of the reason that the umbrella organization has managed to raise over $783 million in emergency fund allocations for Israel, $360 million of which has been allocated to supporting the affected communities, helping provide food, housing, mental health services and special needs. “Those [visiting the Gaza border area] are often significant donors… and also people whose job is to go back and tell their communities what they saw,” the spokesperson said. “So certainly people come and it inspires them to donate but also people go back home to their communities and they can say, ‘I was in Be’eri, this is what it was like, this is the help that they need, this is where the money is going.’ It makes such a difference for people to understand the specifics of it.”

Ammunition for the other war: Mark Medin, executive vice president of UJA-Federation of New York, has led some of these trips, one of which was attended by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last October, just weeks after the Hamas attack. “I think bearing witness and understanding the scope of what happened and having people be able to serve as ambassadors to tell the story, I think is an essential component of diaspora Jewish responsibility right now,” he told JI. “There are two wars going on. There’s a physical war that 9 million Israelis are in the middle of and hundreds of thousands of Israeli young boys and girls, young men and women are fighting on the front lines every day. And [there’s] an information war for the Jewish world that the diaspora Jewish community has to fight as well, in order to help support the physical war that’s happening on the ground.”

Read the full piece here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.

Sefaria, a free digital library of Jewish texts, has introduced Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz’s commentaries on Tanakh and Mishneh Torah to its collection, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.

Let my people know: The commentaries by Steinsaltz, who was known for making Jewish text more accessible around the globe — and his mantra “let my people know” —  is part of Sefaria’s new Jack Nash and Ludwig Bravmann Collection. The Nash-Bravmann Collection was made possible by a donation to the Steinsaltz Center from the Pershing Square Foundation in honor of Jack Nash and Ludwig (Lou) Bravmann, two Jewish philanthropists who supported Steinsaltz.

The rest is commentary: “Rabbi Steinsaltz actually met with Sefaria’s co-founders over a decade ago and expressed his deep understanding and appreciation for the importance of a free, digital Jewish library, Daniel Septimus, CEO of Sefaria, said in a statement. “To add even more of his commentaries to our library, and to link them with other digital texts, will both deepen and expand the learning experience for anyone who uses Sefaria.”

More to come: “In the coming years, we will add even more of Rabbi Steinsaltz’s texts,” said Sara Wolkenfeld, Sefaria’s chief learning officer. “Upcoming additions to the Collection include commentaries on the Mishnah and the Tanya, among others we’re excited to share with the Sefaria community.”

Happy 10th: Sefaria held an evening gala at the New York Public Library last week to celebrate its 10th anniversary and to fundraise for its $44 million campaign. It was the digital library’s first in-person event since 2017. 

“After the devastating attacks on Oct. 7, IsraAid, the humanitarian aid organization I lead, was faced with a huge decision. After 22 years of using Israeli humanitarian, technical and mental health expertise abroad, we decided for the first time to launch a large-scale response at home,” writes IsraAid CEO Yotam Polizer in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Tackling logistical challenges: “With so many organizations on the ground, IsraAid immediately began working to coordinate aid efforts and create technological solutions to ensure that materials, support and people arrived where they were needed most, and to avoid duplicating efforts. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, IsraAid established the Tulcea Humanitarian Logistics Hub in Romania, coordinating aid deliveries throughout the south and east of Ukraine and establishing the first secure aid corridor to that part of the country. During the pandemic, we established a national control room in the Kingdom of Eswatini to manage the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Those experiences taught us how to create computerized systems, like the ‘control room’ we developed for Kibbutz Be’eri, to track volunteers and donations and coordinate between dozens of different organizations.

School’s wartime role: “Another important challenge in Israel has been restoring access to education. IsraAid worked with partners and local authorities to establish field schools for evacuated communities in the first months of the war, because we know how much stability and support a school can bring. In Guatemala, where we work in the rural primarily indigenous region of Alta Verapaz, we learned that schools can be holistic centers for the whole community. In Israel, that experience guided us to help establish schools as quickly as possible to create that communal resource and make sure that psychologists were integrated into school staff.”

Read the full piece here.

“As a parent who worries about the safety of my children, I understand how counterintuitive it may seem for parents to send their children to Israel right now. However, just as we have worked to strengthen our communal security infrastructure in response to the surge in antisemitism, so too must we spiritually fortify our young people,” writes Rabbi Jonah Zinn in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Front-row seat: “Working with Jewish students every day as executive director of the University of Florida Hillel, I see how the past few months have left many Jewish students feeling isolated and alone. They see videos of Jewish students attacked on other campuses and wonder: Am I next? Should I take down the mezuzah I hung proudly on my dorm room door only months ago? Is it safe to be seen going to Hillel on Friday night? How should I respond in class when the professor or my fellow students speak against Israel? What should I do in the face of protests on campus demonizing Israel and the Jewish people in the most grotesque terms? The pressure of campus life and the ways Jewish students have been targeted, excluded and marginalized has impacted student well-being.”

Transformative perspectives: “When I was recently in Israel with Hillel educators from across the country… [it] was shocking to hear that many [Israelis] were more concerned about the safety of Jewish students on campus than they were about their own safety. Our conversations there reinforced the powerful connection of Jewish peoplehood, one that young people can benefit from experiencing firsthand. My personal experience in Israel also helped me understand that while Israelis are still mourning and struggling with the trauma of Oct. 7, they also insist on regaining a degree of normalcy. It can serve as an example to young Jews in the U.S. who are navigating fears around expressing their Jewish identity publicly. In Israel, they will see people living whole and meaningful lives despite existential threats, which makes these moments of joy even more profound and meaningful.”

Read the full piece here.