Your Daily Phil: ‘Who shall live and who shall die?’

Good Friday morning.

For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider stories, including: Investor Daniel Loeb launches ‘Simchat Torah Challenge’ to get 10,000 Jews to study Bible to commemorate Oct. 7 attacks; With a new $220,000 grant, Israeli researchers look to teach rabbis the latest science of forgiveness; and Oct. 7 victims, artists offer messages of light and unity as families grieve together in Tel Aviv. Print the latest edition here.

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on a new archive project led by the Blavatnik Family Foundation dedicated to the Refuseniks and the movement to save Soviet Jewry and an initiative to provide prayer books for people with visual impairments. We feature an opinion piece by Rabbi David Stav calling on all of us to break the cycle symbolized by the sin of the sale of Joseph; and one by Menachem Z. Rosensaft on a newly released book reflecting on being Jewish in a post-Oct. 7 world. Also in this newsletter: Sammy Roth, MacKenzie Scott and Deni Avdija.We’ll start with a thought about the subtle but profound influence that tragedies can have on Jewish life ahead of Yom Kippur.

You probably know of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer even if you don’t know that’s what it’s called. It is one of the prayers of the High Holy Days, recited twice on Rosh Hashanah and once on Yom Kippur, reflecting on “who shall live and who shall die” in the coming year and what we can do to mitigate the severity of God’s decree (repentance, prayer and charity). It’s the prayer that inspired Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire,” writes eJewishPhilanthropy Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross.

And when Unetaneh Tokef is recited in synagogues and prayer spaces around the world tomorrow, it will overwhelmingly be recited to the same tune. It’s a sweeping cantorial tune, with some parts said in a rapid-fire cadence and others with a slow ache. Some of the more theatrical elements of the prayer are repeated for effect: “The great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin voice will be heard” and “On Rosh Hashanah [our fate] will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur it will be sealed.”

The tune is used in congregations around the world of all types: Orthodox synagogues and Reform ones, in Sephardi synagogues and Ashkenazi ones, American ones and Israeli ones, and everything in between. Though the prayer is believed to have been written nearly 1,000 years ago by Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, in what is now Germany, the tune is a decidedly modern one, written some 34 years ago by a secular Israeli composer for a secular kibbutz, Beit Hashita.

Beit Hashita, located next to the northeastern Israeli town of Beit Shean, lost 11 members in the Yom Kippur War, making it the town with the largest number of residents killed in the war per capita. For the small community, it was an unimaginable loss. (The tragedy also inspired kibbutz resident Dorit Tzameret in 1974 to write the song “HaChita Tzomachat Shuv” (The Wheat Grows Again) about how everything changes after a loss but life somehow goes on — another song that has taken on greater meeting post-Oct. 7.) In 1990, Yair Rosenblum, who is better known for writing the music for classic Israeli songs such as “Shir LaShalom” and “Ammunition Hill,” was living on the kibbutz and was tasked with writing a song for the community’s annual memorial service for the 11 fallen members. Looking for inspiration, Rosenblum considered Yom Kippur liturgy and chose the powerful Unetaneh Tokef.

It was first performed the day before Yom Kippur at the kibbutz for a memorial service and was broadcast nationally the following year. From there, the tune spread so widely and quickly that few people today know its origins — not as a prayer per se, but as a memorial song — and today it is used in religious settings without consideration for its secular origin. It is ubiquitous, and yet its tragic origins are rarely discussed (though they have occasionally been revisited in articles and podcasts).

What will be the Unetaneh Tokef of the Oct. 7 massacres? What will be the relic of these horrific attacks that stays with Jewry for generations to come, becoming so widespread and common that their connections to the tragedy fade and they are instead seen simply as how things are done? 

Rosenblum’s Unetaneh Tokef is a prayer, but other tragedies in Jewish history have spurred movements, organizations and ideologies. 

Since Oct. 7, 2023, eJewishPhilanthropy has been watching and reporting on the groups, leaders and initiatives that have come out in response to the massacres. Which of these will rise to prominence and ubiquity? Along with our fate for the year to come — a painfully non-trivial matter these days — this is what we will be thinking about when we recite, “Who will rest and who will wander? Who will live in quietude and who will be tormented? Who will enjoy tranquility and who will be distressed? Who will be impoverished and who will be enriched? Who will be degraded and who will be exalted?”

Gmar hatima tova and shabbat shalom!

LET MY PEOPLE KNOW

Blavatnik Family Foundation spearheads archive to shed light on history of the Refuseniks and Save Soviet Jewry movement

A section of New York’s Jewish community carrying a banner reading ‘Free Soviet Jews’ during the Solidarity Sunday for Soviet Jewry demonstration in protest at the Soviet Union’s treatment of Jewish people, in New York City, on April 13, 1975. Peter Keegan/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Perhaps the last time that the entire Jewish community came together as one was during the height of the Cold War, when Jews from around the world called on the Soviet Union to “Let my people go!” And yet this history has largely been forgotten. The Blavatnik Family Foundation, joined by the Arcadia Fund and the David Berg Foundation, is working to change that, funding a new digital archive — Refuseniks & Activists — that is dedicated to the Soviet Jewry movement and the Refuseniks, those Soviet Jews whose applications for exit visas were refused and who were then forced into horrid conditions for the sins of being Jewish and Zionist, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.

A family matter: For the Blavatniks, the topic is personal. “Our family came to the States in 1979… and we were direct benefits of this effort. It was quite an effort. It didn’t happen by itself,” Alex Blavatnik told eJP last month. “There was an effort for many years that took place in the U.S. at all levels — political, religious… — and there were just a lot of people involved that took it upon themselves to get the Soviet Jews out, people like us,” he said. “I had no idea there was something going on outside to allow us to get out of the Soviet Union and come to the States. But there was a huge effort.”

Teaming up: The Blavatnik Archive team came up with the idea for the Refuseniks project, recognizing that the collections about this period in history were scattered among many institutions around the world, according to Julie Chervinsky, the director of the Blavatnik Archive, whose family was refused exit visas and only emigrated after the fall of the Soviet Union. “This is a long-term evolution of the Blavatnik Archive with the ideas of what we’ve always been drawn to, historical events or medium types that are not necessarily captured by other institutions. And so we’ve created this incredible digital infrastructure to really allow scholarships to go deep into material,” Chervinsky said. 

Read the full report here.

ACCESSIBLE ATONEMENT

JBI offers prayer materials and more for visually impaired to make High Holy Days open to all

A young girl using braille to chant her Torah portion. Courtesy/JBI

Throughout the months of Elul and Tishrei leading up to Yom Kippur, which begins tonight, congregations recite Selichot — prayers for forgiveness. For visually impaired congregants, relying on written materials can make participation and feeling connected a challenge. But this High Holy Day season, the nonprofit JBI — founded as the Jewish Braille Institute in 1931 — has expanded a number of services to create custom accessible materials in Braille, audio and large-print formats in materials for the holidays. It is also offering several in-person and virtual programs centered around the holidays throughout the fall, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.

Creating opportunities: “It’s not enough just to create accessible materials, but we also want to make sure that we are creating opportunities for people who might otherwise be isolated,” Livia Thompson, JBI executive director, told eJewishPhilanthropy, referring to its inaugural Judaism 101 series. Offerings included two events in September, “Intro to Rosh Hashanah,” led by JBI’s Rabbi Andrew Goodman and “Tastes & Sounds of Rosh Hashanah,” led by chef Lana Flame. Book Clubs, offered in both English and Russian, discussing texts related to the High Holy Days are running throughout the holiday season. 

Read the full report here.

THE ‘SALE OF JOSEPH’ CHALLENGE

This Yom Kippur must be different

Pict Rider/Getty Images

“One of the holiest days of the year, Yom Kippur grants the Jewish people a time to actively engage in introspection and prayer,” writes Rabbi David Stav, founder of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

The traditional backstory: “At its core, the sacred day embodies the concept of repentance. From the Temple service to today’s liturgy, the holiday hearkens back to a pivotal moment in Jewish history: the sin of the golden calf. According to tradition, the sin was committed on the 17th of Tammuz and we were granted atonement for it on Yom Kippur; and ever since, Yom Kippur has become known as a day of repentance and forgiveness.”

Another angle: “A lesser-known teaching espouses that the sale of Joseph to the nomads who took him down to Egypt also took place on Yom Kippur. Based on this teaching, we are urged to treat Yom Kippur as a day to repent for the modern-day ‘sale of Joseph,’ which continues to exist in every generation: the prevalence of hostility between brothers, people of the same families or communities suspecting others of wrongdoing, a phenomenon that translates into estrangement, enmity, and even sometimes, tragically, violence. As we know in the case of Joseph, the extent of hatred between the brothers was so intense that it resulted in their decision to sell him to traveling nomads. While this specific event took place thousands of years ago, our sages teach that it is an action that continues to impact our world today.”

Breaking the cycle: “Last Yom Kippur, we were still immersed in what we thought would be the toughest of times for Israeli society. Social discord had reached dangerous heights and antagonism threatened to burst into outright violence or even civil war. But just days later, we were thrust into an altogether different reality. Following the worst attack on our people in the history of modern Israel, we were shocked into a situation where national solidarity and unity became not just an option but essential to our people’s very survival. The challenge — and it presents itself on a daily if not hourly basis — is how to preserve that unity. How do we ensure that the national spirit of volunteerism and caring for one another prevails in times of greater peace and harmony?”

Read the full piece here.

NOW READING

On being Jewish in the shadow of Oct. 7

University of Southern California students attend an evening vigil on campus in support of Israel after the Oct. 7 terror attacks, on Oct. 10, 2023. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

“In the shadow of the Oct. 7, 2023 pogrom perpetrated by Hamas terrorists, it may be even more important for non-Jews who interact with Jews, and especially with Jewish students in college and secular high schools, to read For Such a Time as This from cover to cover,” writes Menachem Z. Rosensaft, an author and adjunct professor at Cornell Law School, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy on Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s new book.

‘Genesis Jews’ and ‘Exodus Jews’: “Cosgrove distinguishes between two basic types of Jewish identity: a ‘Genesis identity,’ expressed through voluntary acts of positive Jewish identification; and an ‘Exodus identity,’ a negative identity ascribed to Jews by others. ‘Prior to Oct. 7,’ he writes, ‘most American Jews understood themselves to be Genesis Jews. The degree to which we observed Jewish life, affiliated with community, gave philanthropically, identified with Israel — these were all voluntary choices we made as individuals, as families and as communities […] On Oct. 7, however, these same American Jews found themselves abruptly, jarringly, forced to transition ‘from a life as Genesis Jews to Exodus Jews.’ Hamas’ savagery and the disappointing failure on the part of far too many erstwhile friends and allies to recognize its full import, Cosgrove explains, ‘activated a world of “us versus them,” triggering a long-dormant sense of global Jewish peoplehood.’”

Caught surprised, not antisemitic: “Cosgrove posits that the utterly inadequate reaction to Oct. 7 on the part of many secular educators was not evidence of antisemitism on their part but rather a product of their confusion at Jewish kids and parents who had never before made much of being Jewish suddenly insisting on having their pain, anger and loss be acknowledged and treated with at least the same prominence and respect as the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Cosgrove writes that the principals and heads of New York City private schools with whom he spoke ‘were flummoxed, trying to get their heads around a new phenomenon in their schools — Jewish families who were suddenly assertive in their identity, publicly affirming in their Zionist commitments, and now perceived themselves to be persecuted. These school administrators would never have described these same parents and students in this way prior to Oct. 7.’”

Read the full piece here.

Worthy Reads

Be a Dor BinyanIn the Detroit Jewish News, Rabbi Aaron Bergman offers words of chizuk (encouragement) relevant to Jews on the eve of Yom Kippur. “Leonard Cohen wrote, ‘There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.’ Our hearts are broken, our assumptions are shattered, but there is light within us waiting to get out, to unite with each other and to create a world where we are safe and free. Our ancestors never gave up. We will never give up. We will never give in to hate. We will never forget who we are. Let us hold each other up. It is really hard to always try to do the right thing, to show compassion when none is offered us, to give of our gifts when they are not appreciated, to stand with others when they abandon us. There are things we can do. Support organizations you believe in. Support politicians who reflect your values. Go to Israel if you love it. Go to Israel if you don’t. You might be very surprised. Go to services, even if it is just to be together… When the world feels like a dor chorban, a generation of destruction, we can be a dor binyan, a generation that builds for the future. We may never see the outcomes of our decisions in our lifetimes, but I know they will make the world better for those who come after us.” [DetroitJewishNews]

What Would Saba Do?: In The Los Angeles Times, Sammy Roth considers what his saba, his Reform rabbi grandfather, would have to say about what he sees as the Jewish community’s lackluster response to the climate crisis. “The Jewish concept of ‘tikkun olam’ — repairing the world — certainly came to mind as I reported on hurricanes intensifying more quickly, heat waves growing hotter and deadlier, and wildfires burning bigger than ever. But it didn’t occur to me that my family’s Jewish heritage had helped lead me down this path. Recently, though, I’ve started to wonder… In a line that feels like it was written for fossil fuel divestment campaigners nearly 60 years later, Saba noted [in a 1965 Yom Kippur sermon] that in humanitarian causes, Jews ‘can point to a [consistently] enlightened attitude in the areas of philanthropy’… Here’s the thing: When it comes to fossil fuel divestment, Jewish institutions are behind the times… I realize some of you probably think divestment sounds pointless… That we should be realistic, not radical… I can hear Saba’s answer: Legislation isn’t enough. Moderate steps are inadequate. We need zeal and passion. ‘There are times when we feel overwhelmed by the malevolent forces of evil in the world,’ Saba said in his Yom Kippur sermon in 1965. ‘We sometimes forget that the most effective manner of combating darkness is through the principle of light. Let us in our own lives meet the challenges of evil and darkness by lighting a candle.’ This Yom Kippur, let’s continue to choose light — and life.” [LATimes]

Re-redefining the Sector: Sponsored by organizations representing the fundraising industry and composed of foundation and nonprofit leaders, the Generosity Commission was tasked with examining why the share of Americans giving and volunteering has declined during the past 20 years, writes Leslie Lenkowsky in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. “[F]or all its concern about falling rates of giving and volunteering, the commission concludes that ‘everyday generosity’ in America is alive and well. Increasing numbers of Americans, it contends, engage in crowd-funding campaigns, giving circles, mutual aid networks, person-to-person assistance, informal volunteering, political action, and additional ways of helping others… The commission’s embrace of an ‘ecosystem of generosity’ is actually a return to an earlier understanding of philanthropy. In Middlemarch, a great 19th-century novel about philanthropy, George Eliot writes of her protagonists: ‘The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.’ And when Alexis de Tocqueville sang the praises of civic associations in Democracy in America, he did not have formal organizations in mind. The Generosity Commission’s report recalls this older meaning of philanthropy, while showing its continuing relevance. The question now is what it will mean for the future of the formal organizations that have powered the sector for decades.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]

Word on the Street

Jewish communities in Florida are adjusting their Yom Kippur arrangements in the face of Hurricane Milton

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a group comprised of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs that advocates against the use of nuclear weapons…

Israel’s Channel 12 interviewed Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin — the parents of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin — ahead of Yom Kippur about, among other things, the concept of teshuva (repentance)…

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $7 million to Jewish Vocational Service Boston, one of relatively few donations that she has made to Jewish organizations…

A new study by Bank of America on wealthy Americans examines differences in charitable giving across generations and genders…

The Samueli Foundation donated $3 million to Chapman University to endow a Holocaust writing competition, which will be named the Sala and Aron Samueli Art & Writing Contest, in honor of donor Henry Samueli’s parents, who were both Holocaust survivors…

Rabbi Katja Vehlow was hired as the first Jewish chaplain of Fordham University, one of the largest Catholic educational institutions in New York City…

The World Health Organization spotlights the work of an interfaith mental health resilience nonprofit in Israel called Mosaica that aims to promote interfaith dialogue and cooperation to strengthen resilience and recovery…

Philanthropy has made efforts to address the escalating mental health crisis in America, but it still falls short of what is needed, according to a recently published report, “Mental Health at the Center: U.S. Funding Landscape”…

Tzofim North America launched its first chapter in Colorado, Shevet Sheleg (Snow Tribe) based in the Denver-Boulder area…

Israeli basketball player Deni Avdija, a forward for the Portland Trail Blazers, announced in a post on X that he will not participate in the team’s first preseason game because it falls on Yom Kippur out of respect for Jewish tradition…

The Joseph Slifka Center at Yale is still looking for a replacement for Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, who resigned as the head of the organization earlier this year to serve as executive director of Harvard Hillel

A new agreement with the University of Pennsylvania, which went into effect this summer, allows donations to Penn Hillel to be made through the school’s official donations website and to consider them as gifts to the university…

The Jewish Journal profiles Rabbi Micah Miller, assistant director of Israel education for the Los Angeles Jewish Federation, who helps bring 20 Catholic educators to Israel for a 10-day experience as a joint project of the federation and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Writer and mikveh nonprofit founder Anita Diamant speaks with her daughter, Emilia Diamant, chief program officer at Avodah, on WBUR’s Radio Boston about the generational and political divides that have emerged in the Jewish community over the past year… 

Pop singer Taylor Swift made a $5 million donation to Feeding America toward hurricane relief efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Milton and Helene

Pic of the Day

Courtesy/AJC

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch (left) stands with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon on Tuesday as the investment banker was awarded the organization’s Herbert H. Lehman Human Relations Award. 

“It’s not enough to condemn antisemitism,” Solomon said at the gala, which raised $6.3 million for AJC. “We must condemn all bias and all hate, whether it’s directed against Jews, Asians, Muslims, Hispanics, the Black community, the LGBTQ community. It simply has no place in our society.”

Birthdays

Jonathan S. Lavine, co-managing partner and chief investment officer of Bain Capital Credit
Israel Defense Forces

Taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 and rescued by the IDF in June 2024, Noa Argamani celebrates her birthday on Saturday…

FRIDAY: Professor emeritus of history at UCLA, winner of both a Pulitzer Prize and the Israel Prize, Saul Friedländer… Former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted then VPOTUS Spiro T. Agnew in 1974, he is the author of four novels, Ronald S. Liebman… Israeli novelist and documentary filmmaker, Amos Gitai… U.S. senator (D-WA), Patty Murray… Senior circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Barry G. Silverman… Past president and then board chair of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., Helane Leibowitz Goldstein… Israeli ambassador to Germany, he has also been Israel’s ambassador to both the U.K. and the U.N., Ron Prosor… NYC-based philanthropist, Shari L. Aronson… Former EVP at JFNA, now CEO at the Vancouver, B.C.-based Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, Mark Gurvis… Owner of Sababa Travel, Sharon Kleiman Rockman… Los Angeles-based real estate agent, Peter Turman… President and CEO of NYC-based real estate firm Tishman Speyer, Rob Speyer… Chief commercial officer at Vienna, Va.-based 10Pearls, Asher Epstein… Former chief executive at the U.K.-based Anglo-Israel Association, now a Substack writer about kosher wines, Joshua E. London… Executive director of the StandWithUs Israel office in Jerusalem, Michael Dickson… Member of the Council of the District of Columbia, Brianne Nadeau… Podcast host, opinion commentator and satirist, Jamie Weinstein… Actress and model, Michelle Trachtenberg …

SATURDAY: Long-time baseball reporter for The New York Times, he is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Murray Chass… U.S. ambassador to Italy during the Trump administration, he is a co-founder of private equity firm Granite Capital International, Lewis Eisenberg… Longtime Fox News anchor, more recently at CNN, Chris Wallace… Retired CEO of Wakefield, Mass.-based CAST, a nonprofit whose mission is to transform education for students with disabilities, Linda Gerstle… Pediatrician and medical ethicist, John D. Lantos, MD… Dermatologist in Los Angeles, Lamar Albert Nelson, MD… First female rabbi ordained in Conservative Judaism, Amy Eilberg… Co-founder of both Apollo Global Management and Ares Management, he is the owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, Tony Ressler… Deputy director of the White House’s National Economic Council until 2022, now a distinguished professor at Northeastern University, Seth D. Harris… Former executive director of Startup Nation Central until 2022, now a strategic adviser to Israeli startups, Wendy Singer… Editor of The Wall Street Journal‘s Weekend Review section, Gary Rosen… Managing director at Goldman Sachs, he completed 31 years there earlier this year and is now a part-time advisory director, Raanan Agus… Los Angeles-based trial attorney for many high-profile clients, Babak “Bobby” Samini… Producer, actress and screenwriter, Alexandra Brandy Smothers… Former member of the Knesset, she now serves as the co-chair of the Green Movement of Israel, Yael Cohen Paran… Computer programmer, creator of the BitTorrent protocol and founder of Chia cryptocurrency, Bram Cohen… Only son of the current rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Aharon Mordechai Rokeach… Israeli actress, model and television anchor, Miri Bohadana… Reporter and host of “The Daily” at The New York TimesMichael Barbaro… Minority leader of the Florida Senate, Lauren Book… Freelance journalist, Rosie Gray… Argentine fashion model and artist, Naomi Preizler… Pitcher for Team Israel in the 2020 Olympics and 2023 World Baseball Classic, he is the founder of Stadium Custom Kicks, Alex Katz… 

SUNDAY: Former deputy assistant secretary at the USDA, he retired earlier this year as an attorney working on organic food law, Richard D. Siegel… Musician, singer, songwriter, best known for his lead role in the Simon & Garfunkel duo, Paul Simon… Immediate past chair of the Anti-Defamation League, Esta Gordon Epstein… Founder of PublicAffairs Books, an imprint of Perseus Books at Hachette Book Group, Peter L.W. Osnos… Author of 12 cookbooks, Mollie Katzen… U.S. senator (D-WA), Maria Cantwell… Former White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, now a media consultant and Fox News contributor, Ari Fleischer… Partner at FGS Global until earlier this year, Jack Krumholtz… Second gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff… Former AP bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian Territories, now a home builder in the Indian state of Goa, Steven Gutkin… Co-chairman of Disney Entertainment where she is responsible for television and streaming, Dana Freedman Walden… Richard Lamke… Attorney general for England and Wales for parts of 2021 and 2022, he was a member of the U.K. Parliament for 14 years until this past May, Michael Ellis… Emmy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter, Amy J. Berg… Award winning actor, comedian and screenwriter, Sacha Baron Cohen… Israeli fashion model, Shiraz Tal… Adjunct professor of Jewish studies at Ohio University and director of member engagement at the Academic Engagement Network, Sarah Livingston… E-bookstore owner and author, Emily Gould… Pentagon correspondent for CNN, Oren Liebermann… Land use attorney at Seattle-based firm of Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson, Joshua E. Friedmann… Political reporter for NBC News, Rebecca Shabad… Film director, producer and screenwriter, Jordan David “J.D.” Lifshitz