Your Daily Phil: Two WZC slates under scrutiny for suspected voter fraud
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on an investigation of suspected mass voter fraud in the World Zionist Congress election and recap the second WZC election debate. We feature an opinion piece by Ben Vorspan encouraging Jewish communal professionals to embrace creative ideas for creating moments of Jewish joy, and one by Rabbi Mendel Teldon urging the Jewish community to break free of its “addiction” to antisemitism. Also in this newsletter: Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, Cochav Elkayam-Levy and Dennis Gaitsgory.
What We’re Watching
eJewishPhilanthropy will host the last of three World Zionist Congress election debates tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. Sign up here. More below on yesterday’s second debate.
Dozens of Long Island high school students spent months working with local Holocaust survivors to create UJA-Federation of New York’s “Witness Project,” an art exhibition and film exploring survivors’ stories of war, loss, trauma and resilience premiering today at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale, N.Y.
Matthew Nouriel, Tal Oran, Celine Rouben and Abraham Hamra — four Jewish digital activists and content creators of Mizrahi descent — are participating in a panel discussion tomorrow evening in San Francisco’s Mission District, organized by Malka Productions, where they will share ways to apply lessons learned from antisemitic persecution in Islamic countries to what is happening in the United States today; explore the dialogue tactics they are using online to gain more allies; and discuss their respective Syrian, Iraqi and Persian Diasporic experiences and challenges facing Mizrahi advocates in the Jewish activism space.
What You Should Know
In the second installment of eJewishPhilanthropy’s three-night debate series, representatives from six slates running for seats in the World Zionist Congress convened on Zoom last night for a 90-minute discussion. As they did on Sunday, representatives discussed the best path forward for American Jewry and the $5 billion question: What is the best use of the funds the congress controls? But Monday night’s debate was more contentious, with more shots across the bow and heated back-and-forth.
The second debate featured Rabbi Josh Weinberg, representing Vote Reform; Roei Eisenberg for ANU (A New Union); Liz Berney for ZOA Coalition; Rabbi David Gedzelman for The Jewish Future; Dan Kaskel for Herut; and Rabbi Aryeh Katzin for Beyachad. Rachel Kohn, eJP’s opinion editor, moderated the debate.
ZOA Coalition’s decision to include Betar — the right-wing organization categorized as an extremist group by the Anti-Defamation League in February — in its ranks; differing views about viability or even desirability of a two-state solution post-Oct. 7; and views on the contributions of different sectors of Israeli society to the ongoing war effort were subjects that elicited intense responses. (There were also lighter moments, including a cameo appearance by a particularly charismatic baby.)
ZOA Coalition’s Berney critiqued Vote Reform’s stances on the West Bank, and its alleged boycotts of Israeli settlements there. And Berney denounced the slate for protesting Israel’s Constitution Law and MK Simcha Rothman’s presence on the sidelines of a WZC event in 2023. At the same time, she also called for ahavat Yisrael. “We have to stop demonization, particularly the demonization of people who are living peaceful lives in Judea and Samaria,” she said, using a Biblical term for the West Bank.
Pressed by multiple participants about her slate’s inclusion of Betar and the group’s practices, Berney stood firm, praising the organization. “I know it to be a very important, very important organization for the Jewish community, which defends Jews who are being attacked, and we should all appreciate them and appreciate what they do,” she said. She encouraged anyone with negative encounters to report to be in touch with her directly outside the forum of the debate.
Early in Monday’s debate, Vote Reform, Herut and The Jewish Future each highlighted the importance of facilitating and supporting programming that enables mifgashim (encounters) between North American and Israeli Jewry.
Representing The Jewish Future, which dubs itself a centrist slate, Gedzelman called for a public education campaign about Zionism; measures to combat antisemitism; for Hebrew to be offered as a foreign language option in public schools; for the WZC to abstain from weighing in on Israeli policy; and for a concrete criteria through which U.S. organizations can receive grants from the WZC funding pool.
Eisenberg, representing ANU, called for an online national library of Israel, communal unity and “breaking down silos.” ANU positions itself as a pluralistic and policy-focused slate, aligned with the Israel Policy Forum.
“We are doing something that has been incredibly hard to do in this current atmosphere, which is breaking down silos and bringing people together even when our disagreements and the friction within them lead to what I always remind people is a very spicy group chat for our slate,” said Eisenberg. “But the truth is, that’s what we need.”
Herut’s Kaskel emphasized the slate’s position as an organization consisting of volunteers. He called for funding for education focused on shared elements of Jewish heritage, like Hebrew language; subsidized Israel education experiences, including shlichim (emissaries); and for funds to be allocated to Holocaust survivors to assist them in their “golden years.”
Speaking on behalf of Beyachad, which represents Russian communities across the country, Katzin called for leadership programming.
“One of the most important programs would be a program to teach leaders, leadership programs, people who feel passionate about the Jewish people, about Jewish unity standing for Israel. They will inspire other leaders of our nation into the future,” he said.
Tonight’s debate will feature: Rabbi Yehuda HaKohen representing VISION; Rabbi Doron Perez for Orthodox Israel Coalition – Mizrachi; Kenneth Bob for Hatikvah; Elan Carr for the Israeli-American Council; and Edwin Black for Americans4Israel. Register here.
Recordings of all of the debates will be posted online later this week.
Ed. note: Due to an editing error, the following paragraph was inadvertently omitted from yesterday’s recap of the previous night’s debate: “During the Sunday evening debate, Ran Fuchs, the representative for Kol Israel, critiqued the other slates for focusing on areas outside of the World Zionist Congress’ purview. “It is not in the scope of the World Zionist Congress… Every single person around who is going to be voting needs to vote because they are confident that the slate that they are electing… are going to be able to put aside our political differences because if we start debating the political issues that have been brought up today, we will implode. But what we can do and what we can agree on are the core ethos of Kol Israel, which is standing together in a wide tent, true diversification, true inclusion.”
SCOOP
World Zionist Congress investigating indications of mass voter fraud
The World Zionist Congress election is experiencing record-breaking voter turnout, but new allegations of misconduct are being investigated following the discovery of a large swath of votes featuring a range of irregularities, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
Two slates under scrutiny: According to internal communications acquired by eJP, two slates received all of the suspect votes, which were linked to a combination of prepaid cards and other non-personalized methods of payment. Of the nearly 2,000 votes in question, 1,000 were tied to variations of about 50 email addresses and six locations — yeshivas across New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Of those, 430 registrations were tied to a K-8 yeshiva day school in Brooklyn. In response to the incident, the committee overseeing the election has asked the slates that received the votes to respond with an explanation by the end of business today. “We have no comment while the matter is under investigation,” Herbert Block, the American Zionist Movement’s executive director, told eJP. “AZM is dedicated to ensuring a fair and transparent election and vigilant in identifying and stopping any fraudulent behavior.”
JEWISH JOY
When chocolate isn’t a gimmick but a gateway
“Let’s get this out of the way: Yes, I know a Chocolate Seder sounds a little ridiculous,” writes Ben Vorspan, author of the The Nonprofit Imagineers and The Chocolate Seder Haggadah, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “You dip green apple slices into melted chocolate. You remove gummy worms from a bowl to represent each of the Ten Plagues. You build a matzah sandwich with dark chocolate and cocoa-based charoset. This is not your grandfather’s Seder. In fact, if your grandfather walked into a room where people were blessing cups of hot cocoa and belting out a chocolate-themed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ parody he might walk right back out. And yet, behind the playfulness, the cocoa and the candy, something very real is happening.”
Getting creative is Jewish tradition: “As Jewish professionals, we often feel the pressure to make our programming deep, serious, text-based and, well, ‘authentic.’ But authentic doesn’t have to mean heavy, and joy is not the opposite of meaning. Passover itself is proof of that. We tell the story of liberation through food, song and symbols. We encourage children to ask questions. We ask adults to recline like royalty. The Haggadah reminds us that ritual should be embodied, participatory and layered… To be clear, the Chocolate Seder is not intended to replace the traditional Seder. It’s a supplemental ritual — a tool educators, clergy and parents can use to draw people in. It’s a pre-Passover classroom activity, a family engagement event, a conversation starter… It’s about scaffolding: offering an entry point that is joyful, experiential and rooted in meaning so that people want to take the next step. That’s what good Jewish education does. That’s what great ritual design makes possible.”
FREE YOUR MIND
Can we please stop talking about antisemitism?
“The statistics are in: Antisemitism is up by 360% since Oct. 7, 2023. And I don’t care,” writes Rabbi Mendel Teldon of Chabad of Mid-Suffolk in Commack, N.Y., in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “We have allowed antisemites and antisemitism to become our addiction and our identity.”
Shackled to one narrative: “We know the script by heart: Jews, the eternal scapegoat — always hunted, always hated — yet still here, still standing. It’s a story of resilience and survival. We point to inquisitions, blood libels, pogroms, expulsions, the Holocaust and now Oct. 7 as proof. We quote statistics, build museums, hold conferences and protests, flood social media and cry out to the world about rising antisemitism. And it is all true. But here’s the truer truth: this narrative isn’t ours. It’s a story written for us by others. Clinging to it keeps us in their grip — always reacting, always haunted. When we scream, ‘Would you have hidden us in your attic?’ or ‘Why is the world silent?’ or ‘Did you see the twisted BBC headline?,’ we speak from a place of disempowerment, yearning for validation… Perhaps the reason antisemitism brings out such passion is because it’s our own desperate cry. If the hate disappeared, would our identity fade with it?”
Worthy Reads
Not So Simple: In the days leading up to Passover, Sharon Weiss-Greenberg finds herself rethinking how she relates to one of the Four Sons of the Hagaddah. “This year, I can’t stop thinking about the She’eino yodea lishol — the one who doesn’t know how to ask. I spend much of my days asking questions — probing ones, nuanced ones, difficult ones, and ‘so what?’ questions. I’ve had many field days doing this throughout my educational career and beyond. We also generally have a Jewish tradition of asking questions and yearning to learn and know more… But there are also the questions I cannot ask — the ones that catch in my throat and paralyze my mind. The unknown is terrifying, excruciating, and — God help me — awful. And sometimes I wonder: Is knowing worse? The She’eino yodea lishol isn’t dumb. They’re not naïve. They are overwhelmed. Silenced. Grieving. Sometimes, they are afraid that asking will destroy them. And maybe this year, so many of us are that child. Maybe this child’s lesson is not about encouraging them to ask, but simply about showing up for them, sitting beside them, holding space for silence, and holding their hand until they are ready to ask — or simply ready to be asked.” [TOI]
Feeling At Odds: In The Jerusalem Post, Eden Kojdan, who was born in Israel but grew up in Montreal and lives there today, writes about a shift she has observed in how strangers and even friends treat her since Oct. 7. “In my everyday life, interactions quickly turn awkward when people discover I was born in Israel, a birthplace I didn’t choose but suddenly felt pressured to hide. Once people know I’m Israeli, conversations end abruptly, friendships become strained, and communities I used to feel at home in start to exclude me. Since last summer, spaces I once loved frequenting, like queer venues, punk bars, and community gatherings, have increasingly harbored anti-Israel sentiments. There’s now an unspoken assumption that standing with Palestinians means rejecting Israelis like me. Everything escalated after Oct. 7, 2023. A tragic event thousands of miles away somehow reshaped my life here. Visiting family in Israel in June 2024 made me the target of suspicion. Friends started talking about Israelis and Jews in ways beyond cruelty, as if merely connecting with my family and heritage made me the scapegoat for their grievances… Every day, I confront an impossible choice: hide my Israeli roots and deny that part of myself, or risk alienation and exclusion simply by being honest. Sometimes, I consider moving to Israel — an active war zone at the moment — just to escape the suffocating isolation I feel in my hometown.” [JPost]
You’re an Influencer: In Entrepreneur, Andreas Jones offers leaders strategies for dealing with stress in a healthy way. “Leaders cast long shadows across their organizations, with their behaviors and emotional states reverberating through every level of the company. Their influence on organizational cultures is profound and far-reaching, as employees naturally look to their leaders as behavioral role models. This psychological mirroring effect means that leader stress can quickly become institutionalized, creating a cycle of tension that impacts collective performance and innovation capacity… [B]y implementing strategic stress management approaches, leaders can not only safeguard their own well-being but also create a positive ripple effect that enhances employee satisfaction and organizational success.” [Entrepreneur]
Word on the Street
The German news network RTL featured the work being done by Herzog Medical Center helping Israelis deal with trauma since the Israel-Hamas war started. The RTL Foundation also made a significant donation and organized a telethon to raise funds to benefit the hospital…
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews will provide 36 million shekels ($9.5 million) in food and support to 150,000 Israeli families this holiday season, the largest single distribution in IFCJ’s history…
New U.S. tariffs could cost up to 26,000 Israeli jobs and slash exports by $2.3 billion, posing a major threat to key industries like high-tech, biotech, plastics and electronics, according to an economic analysis presented to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Manufacturers Association of Israel ahead of his trip to the U.S. on Sunday. If tariffs are expanded to include pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, losses could reach $3 billion…
Residents of Franklin, Mass., gathered for an interfaith vigil in response to two acts of vandalism against the town’s only synagogue, Temple Etz Chaim…
The Simon Wiesenthal Center‘s pop-up Mobile Museum of Tolerance, in partnership with the Buffalo Jewish Federation, offered Buffalo Sabres ice hockey fans two interactive workshops on Anne Frank and the role of ordinary people during the Holocaust, promoting education and action against hate before Sunday’s game…
Cochav Elkayam-Levy was awarded the Women of Reform Judaism’s highest honor, the Dr. Jane Evans “Pursuit of Justice” Award, for her leadership in advancing human rights and founding the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children, which documents and seeks justice for gender-based violence during the Oct. 7 attacks…
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency profiles Israeli American Dennis Gaitsgory, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, who was announced over the weekend as a winner of the $3 million Breakthrough Prize…
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai will sign a new twin cities partnership in Berlin on May 5 as part of a series of events celebrating 60 years of Israel-Germany diplomatic relations and the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation…
The Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana has announced its new board leadership, effective Jan. 1. Bob Brickman has been elected president, joined by Executive Vice President Mark S. Stein; Vice Presidents Jill Israel and Morris F. Mintz; Treasurer Edward L. Soll; Secretary Mara Baumgarten Force; and at-large member Leon H. Rittenberg III. Outgoing president Alan Franco will remain on the board as immediate past president. Newly elected directors include Chad Berg, Kendall Scales Glade, G. Bradley Gottsegen, Susan Green, Jonathan R. Katz and John A. Lovett. In addition, appointed directors joining the board include Michele D. Allen-Hart, David Israel and Debbie Pesses…
Journalist Marty Gold writes in the Winnipeg Sun about Winnipeg’s “Skokie moment,” when demonstrators protested in front of the Rady Centre Jewish community center against a scheduled speaking appearance by several Israeli soldiers even before the venue had been made public…
In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, columnist Lynn Schmidt warns that the rise in antisemitism threatens everyone, not just the Jewish community…
The German Jewish newspaper Juedische-Allgemeine interviews four Jewish Americans about choosing to live in Germany…
Pic of the Day
Israeli American Todd Golden, coach of the University of Florida Gators, celebrates after his team’s 65-63 victory over the University of Houston Cougars in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game last night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Golden is wearing the net he cut from the basketball hoop around his neck; it’s a tradition in college basketball to cut down the net after winning a championship, conference tournament or regional title to commemorate the victory and have a piece of the court as a keepsake.
Birthdays
Director of advocacy at UN Watch, Daniel E. Smith…
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and political writer, longtime contributor to The New Yorker magazine on national security matters, Seymour Myron “Sy” Hersh… French actor who has appeared in over 60 movies during a career spanning six decades, Jean Benguigui… U.S. senator (R-WI), Ron Johnson… Socialite and political fundraiser, Joy Silverman… Bassist for the rock band Grand Funk Railroad, Melvin George “Mel” Schacher… Longtime college and NBA basketball coach, as recently as 2019 he served as an assistant coach of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Larry Shyatt… Russian-born businessman, he emigrated to Israel in 1972 and was appointed in 2005 as president of the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities of Russia, Arcadi Gaydamak… Member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 2014-2022, he was previously the regional executive director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, David Birnbaum… Leading U.K. pensions expert and a member of the House of Lords, Baroness Rosalind Miriam Altmann… President of Wesleyan University since 2007, Michael S. Roth… Member of Knesset since 2015 for the Likud party, David Bitan… Beverly Hills resident, Shahnaz Mossazadeh… Associate professor of pediatric anesthesia and intensive care at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, Albert Gyllencreutz Castellheim… Justice of the Supreme Court of Maryland since 2019, Jonathan Biran… Financial advisor in the Cedarhurst, N.Y., office of Citigroup Global Markets, Jeffrey Kramer… Author of the national bestselling book 24/6: Giving up Screens One Day a Week, Tiffany Shlain… Partner at consulting firm Democracy Partners, Joel M. Rubin… Television journalist, he was the chief political analyst for NBC News until this past January, Charles David “Chuck” Todd… Minor league pitching coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Matthew Lee “Matt” Ford… Israeli actor, entertainer, model and TV host, Ofer Shechter… NYC-based head of investor relations for the Israeli Ministry of Finance, focused on global debt capital markets, Jason Reinin… Television personality and entertainer, best known for starring on the first season of the reality TV series “Beauty and the Geek,” Richard Rubin… Climate and environment editor of The Washington Post, Zachary A. Goldfarb… Lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Vampire Weekend, Ezra Michael Koenig… Member of the Canadian Parliament since 2021, she is the first Jewish woman ever elected as a Conservative MP, Melissa Lantsman… Composer and singer, Naftali Kempeh… Israeli musician, singer, actress and poet, Yael Eisenberg… Film, television and voice actress, Shelby Young… Janet Goldstein…
