Your Daily Phil: Worlds, not words, collide in rare interdenominational Tel Aviv gathering
Add EJP on GoogleIn today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we speak with Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick about her organization’s efforts to engage with teachers’ unions to address antisemitism. We cover a rare gathering at Tel Aviv’s Anu Museum that brought together non-Orthodox Diaspora rabbis and Israeli religious Zionist leaders, and spotlight YadinKaufmann’s efforts to transform tech leaders into philanthropists through Tmura and A Good Option. We feature an opinion piece by Mina Rush about The iCenter’s legacy for the field of Israel education, a piece by Marina Rosenberg reflecting on the 32nd anniversary tomorrow of the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires and a piece by Rabbi Abi Dauber Sterne about what it takes to meaningfully engage with the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Also in this issue: Daniel Lubetzky, Michael Koplow and Rabbi David Bashevkin.
Have a tip? Email us here.
Shabbat shalom!
What We’re Watching
American Friends of Soroka Medical Center is hosting a Shabbat dinner tonight at Fifth Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan to raise support for the hospital.
Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick will join a fireside chat on Saturday at the American Federation of Teachers Convention, hosted by AFT President Randi Weingarten, alongside educator Debbie Almontaser on countering antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate and division. More on this below.
The Jerusalem Film Festival concludes on Sunday.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
As some organizations, institutions and movements have become increasingly anti-Zionist and alienating for Jews in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and the war against Hamas in Gaza, two distinct approaches have emerged in response: one (call it Circle the Wagons) called out their leaders and, in some cases, cut all ties with them; the other (call it Seat at the Table) engaged with them, encouraging them to see the error of their ways.
That latter strategy scored a victory this month, getting the National Education Association — the country’s largest labor union — to adopt new rules ahead of its convention last week to prevent a repeat of last year’s event, in which members voted to cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League. In addition to preventing measures that would alienate Jewish members, at this year’s convention, members also passed resolutions that were “good for the Jews,” including one that recognized Jews as a protected ethnic minority, according to Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which worked closely with NEA and its Jewish caucus over the past year and spearheaded the effort to change the rules and pass the new resolutions.
“We need to offer solutions that incentivize and help leaders do the right thing,” Spitalnick told eJewishPhilanthropy this week. “Beating union and other leaders over the head just hasn’t worked. Not only has it not worked, it’s just made it harder.”
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
News
TISHA B’AV PREPARATION
In rare gathering, non-Orthodox Diaspora rabbis, Israeli religious Zionist leaders share post-Oct. 7 experiences
In an all-too-rare occurrence, roughly a dozen American non-Orthodox rabbis and a similar number of figures from Israel’s religious Zionist community gathered on Thursday night at Tel Aviv’s Anu Museum of the Jewish People to share their lived experiences and worldviews ahead of next week’s Tisha B’Av fast, when Jews mourn, among other things, the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem because of sinat hinam, baseless hatred, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross from the event.
Quiet understanding: At any point, their conversations could have turned into a debate, even a nonconfrontational one — about who is responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians or whether Diaspora Jews are justified in feeling alienated from Israel — but they didn’t. Instead, they just listened to each other. “We were sharing our lived experiences,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of New York City’s Park Avenue Synagogue told eJP after the event. “No one was confrontational.”
ISRAELI PHILANTHROPY
The long game: Yadin Kaufmann’s 24-year bet on tomorrow’s tech philanthropists
Israeli tech founders, the conventional wisdom has it, are cash poor but potentially equity rich. Inside that simple truism, Yadin Kaufmann found a model for how the drivers of wealth in the Startup Nation could also become philanthropists and spread some of that wealth: Instead of asking a startup founder for money from his own wallet, Tmura asked for a sliver of equity from startups while it was still cheap enough — and abstract enough — to give away. If the company eventually exits, then the proceeds from the liquidated equity gets donated to Israeli nonprofits, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet.
Going global: Twenty-four years later, 978 companies have donated equity, 200 companies had “exits”, and Israeli nonprofits have collected $37.8 million in philanthropic funds. And Kaufmann didn’t stop with Israeli tech founders. Two years ago, he founded an American version of Tmura — A Good Option — in his hometown of New York City, where he grew up before making aliyah in 1985. Now, the nonprofit has attracted 10 companies that have already donated equity.
Opinion
HAKARAT HATOV
The iCenter’s legacy is measured in the field’s educators
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Mina Rush, executive director of classroom education for StandWithUs — and creator of the IsraelLINK interactive Israel education platform, a project supported by The iCenter — looks back on The iCenter’s formative impact on the field of Israel education as we know it today.
“When The iCenter was founded nearly 18 years ago, Israel education occupied a very different place within Jewish education. Israel was often taught through isolated historical events, current events or celebrations. Educators cared deeply about Israel, but few had opportunities to study Israel education as a discipline or to develop a sophisticated pedagogical approach for helping learners build meaningful, enduring relationships with Israel. The iCenter recognized this need long before much of the field did.”
ZACHOR AND MORE
The AMIA tragedy does not belong to the past
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy,one day before the 32nd anniversary of the suicide bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded more than 300, Marina Rosenberg, senior vice president for international affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, notes that the Argentine Jewish community, like others in the Diaspora, has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 attacks.
“Violence never appears out of nowhere. First come words that dehumanize, then conspiracy theories that erode public trust and narratives that turn the ‘other’ into a threat. That violence finds fertile ground when the lessons of history, from the Holocaust to the AMIA attack itself, are no longer passed on with the force they demand.”
SWEAT EQUITY
Complexity doesn’t just need to be embraced — we need the muscles to carry it
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Rabbi Abi Dauber Sterne, co-director of For the Sake of Argument and a member of the Field Advisory Committee for the Reimagining Israel Education framework, observes that Israel education must help students develop the capacity to engage with complexity, not just expose them to it
“A student can learn that Israel contains multiple narratives and still emerge with a simplistic way of thinking. In the Reimagining Israel Education framework, complexity is not merely the recognition that an issue has many sides. It is the willingness to hold competing truths in tension, to remain open to ambiguity, to question one’s assumptions and to revise one’s views when confronted with new evidence.”
Worthy Reads
Peace Tank: In a post on X, philanthropist Daniel Lubetzky warns against growing calls discouraging cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. “Real progress comes from building bridges, not burning them. Lasting peace is built through dialogue, cooperation, and the courage to see one another’s humanity, not through division or extremism.”
Reset Nation: In Israel Policy Forum’s “Koplow Column,” the organization’s chief policy officer, Michael Koplow, argues that beneath the political chaos in Israel and the U.S. the potential political shake-up could lead to somewhere better. “A reset is coming… If policymakers who want to right the ship and Israeli and American Jewish leaders who want to build a more enduring partnership focus on the structural realities that extend beyond the tenure of any given government, then the current moment can be one of hope rather than despair.”
Shomer Shabbat: In The Wall Street Journal, Rabbi David Bashevkin explains why a weekly “digital detox” is insufficient for improving our collective attention spans. “The answer isn’t simply that we’re addicted to our phones. It’s that unplugging isn’t enough. A Sabbath isn’t merely the absence of technology. It is the presence of something richer.”
Voucher Blind Spot: In ProPublica, Jennifer Smith Richards, Megan O’Matz, Mollie Simon and Jennifer Berry Hawes report that states are pouring public funds into private-school voucher programs while doing little to vet who operates them, monitor curricula or track student welfare. “And while the majority of American students still attend public schools and the largest share of funding goes to public districts, EdChoice estimated that last year alone, states allocated $10.6 billion to programs that can be used to pay for private schools — a 29% increase over the previous year.”
Major Gifts
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and Israel’s Ministry of Defense have signed an agreement to build Israel’s first rehabilitation center dedicated solely to IDF veterans with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries. FIDF is contributing $10 million to the project, which is slated to open by 2030…
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation unveiled a five-year, $100 million initiative funding independent groups tackling AI, biotechnology and quantum computing security risks…
Transitions
William Foster was selected to serve as the next president and CEO of the Pew Charitable Trusts…
Word on the Street
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Israeli President Isaac Herzog described peace with Saudi Arabia as his ultimate aspiration while warning that Iran’s repeated violation of agreements makes deals with Tehran untenable…
Maccabi USA announced that its 900-member delegation returned from the 2026 Maccabiah Games in Israel with over 300 medals, led by Minnesota swimmer and Female MVP Isla George‘s eight medals, Louisiana’s Gavriella Smith sweeping three tennis golds and New York’s Brendan Miller setting three Junior Maccabiah records in swimming…
The Jewish News spotlights “Nabatele,” an inflatable synagogue hovering above the Venice Lagoon that its creator, Jewish Ukrainian artist and architect Anna Kamyshan, said is modeled on the wooden shtetl synagogues of Europe but is airborne to evoke the centuries when Jews had no nation of their own on which to build…
CBS News reports that a federal grand jury in New York is criminally investigating Neville Roy Singham, husband of Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans, over potential foreign-agent registration violations and tax fraud linked to nonprofits under his control…
Former U.S. National Security Council coordinator Brett McGurk will release his book “Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages” in October…
Judith Myers Langenthal, a longtime Baltimore Jewish community leader who was a founding member of the Jewish Women’s Giving Foundation and served as president of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, died on July 14 at 90…
Pic of the Day
A new heart-lung machine is inaugurated on Wednesday at the National Heart Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. The $200,000 machine, which is expected to double the number of children treated locally for heart conditions, was provided by the Israeli nonprofit Save a Child’s Heart and the American Jewish Committee.
The event was attended by AJC’s Wayne Sussman, SACH Executive Director Simon Fisher, Israeli Ambassador to Zambia Ofra Sarig, Dr. Chabwela Shumba, senior medical superintendent at the National Heart Hospital, along with senior Zambian health officials.
Birthdays
Ian Seidenfeld, para table tennis player, he won medals at the 2020 (gold) and 2024 (bronze) Summer Paralympics, turns 25
FRIDAY
Joyce Goldstein, chef and two-time James Beard Foundation Award winner, now a consultant to the restaurant and food industries, turns 91
Harry Hauser, retired executive director of the North American Association of Synagogue Executives, turns 83
Shlomo Ben-Ami, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv U, he served as a member of Knesset, minister of foreign affairs and ambassador to Spain, turns 83
Charley Steiner, Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer on radio for the Los Angeles Dodgers, turns 77
Rabbi Moshe Waldoks, co-editor of the classic The Big Book of Jewish Humor, turns 77
Peter J. Neufeld, civil rights and criminal defense attorney, he is the co-founder with Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, turns 76
Robert K. Yass, former chairman of the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, he is now a lecturer at UConn law school
Lance Jonathan Sussman, Ph.D., rabbi emeritus at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pa., turns 72
Nechemia “Chemi” J. Peres, managing GP and co-founder of Pitango Venture Capital, he serves as chairman of The Peres Center for Peace & Innovation, turns 68
Stacy Helen Schusterman, CEO of Samson Energy Company, co-founder of Granite Properties and chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
Steven Lebowitz, business development team lead at Quorum
Joshua Seftel, television and film director, turns 58
Elizabeth Natalie “Bitty” Schram, actor best known for playing Sharona in the television series “Monk,” turns 58
Rabbi Shalom Axelrod, rabbi of the Young Israel of Woodmere (Nassau County, N.Y.), turns 57
David A. Steinberg, founder and CEO of Zeta Global, turns 57
Gary Gulman, stand-up comedian, he was a finalist on the NBC reality-talent show “Last Comic Standing” in two seasons, turns 56
Joshua Anthony “Josh” Frydenberg, treasurer of Australia until 2022, now chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia and New Zealand, turns 55
Cory Efram Doctorow, blogger, journalist and science fiction author, turns 55
Simon Amiel, executive vice president of North America at Birthright Israel
Naomi Knopf, chief impact officer at the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey
Matthew E. Berger, president and CEO of Mashber Strategies, developing campaigns to fight antisemitism and respond to different types of hate
Shannan Butler Adler, public television host
Boaz Toporovsky, former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, turns 46
Brett Goldstein, Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, podcaster and writer, turns 46
Josh Nathan-Kazis, news director at Jewish Currents, previously at Barron’s and the Forward
Jared Sorhaindo, senior account manager at Red Banyan
Melanie Ettleson, growth strategy and operations lead and executive director at JPMorgan Chase
Arabella Rose Kushner, daughter of Jared and Ivanka, turns 15
SATURDAY
Jonas Alster, Israeli nuclear physicist and professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University, turns 93
Roald Hoffmann, theoretical chemist, 1981 Nobel laureate in chemistry, he has also published plays and poetry, born Roald Safran, turns 89
Jan Meisels Allen, president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County, Calif.
Stephen Mandel, former three-term mayor of Edmonton, Alberta, turns 81
Yehude Simon Munaro, former prime minister of Peru, turns 79
Donald Fehr, longtime executive director of the MLB Players Association and then the NHL Players Association, turns 78
Felisa Bluwal Pivko, Beverly Hills resident
Leonard Grunstein, finance, real estate and nursing home executive, turns 74
Mark Weitzman, antisemitism scholar and one of the authors of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, he is the COO of the World Jewish Restitution Organization
Elihu Ben-Onn, former Israeli Police spokesman, he is now a senior national radio broadcaster in Israel and an international talk-show host, turns 72
Elihu Rubin, Seattle-area consultant
Elliott B. Broidy, former finance chairman of the RNC, turns 69
Martin Peled-Flax, former minister for congressional affairs at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, he was previously the Israeli ambassador to Belarus, turns 68
Philip Wagman, partner at Clifford Chance
Yitz Woolf, CEO and co-founder at Let’s Bench, a publisher of customized keepsake prayer books and benchers
Jeffrey Michael Kosseff, associate professor of cybersecurity law at the U.S. Naval Academy and formerly an attorney at Covington & Burling, turns 48
David Kamin, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council until 2022, now a professor at NYU law school
Rabbi Joui Hessel, wellness specialist at the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Alexander Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, turns 43
Gadi Schwartz, reporter for “NBC Nightly News” and “Today,” turns 43
Molly Tolsky, editorial director for culture and lifestyle at 70 Faces Media
Lauren Friedlander, freelance graphic designer
Shuli Karkowsky, CEO of Moving Traditions
Julia Krieger, senior spokesperson at the U.S. Treasury until 2023, now the head of U.S. public affairs at Coinbase
Philip Rosenstein, deputy editor for crypto at SoFi
Jacqueline Dubrovich, foil fencer who competed for the U.S. at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympic Games, she won a team gold medal at the 2024 games, turns 32
Yosef Tarshish, freelance Jewish education consultant for BBYO
Izi Doenyas, Istanbul, Turkey, resident
Ted Rosenberg
SUNDAY
Uri Bar-Lev, retired Israeli airline pilot, he successfully thwarted an in-flight hijacking by Leila Khaled in 1970, turns 95
Edwin Arthur “Ed” Schlossberg, interactive designer, author and artist, in 1986 he married Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late JFK, turns 81
Uriel “Uri” Rosenthal, retired professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University, he served in the Dutch Senate and then as the minister of foreign affairs of the Netherlands, turns 81
Ian Schrager, hotelier and real estate developer, the creator of the boutique hotel concept, he was the co-founder of NYC’s Studio 54 in 1977, turns 80
Sandra F. Cahn, co-founder of Limmud FSU, she co-founded UJA-Federation of New York’s Women’s Executive Circle
Linda Meyer Russ, Jewish communal activist in Connecticut
Jayson Stark, sportswriter for The Athletic and author of three books on baseball, turns 75
Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, he owned the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics from 2001 to 2006, turns 73
Deenie Silow, retired judicial assistant at the Montgomery County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas
Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger, rabbi of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, N.J., and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University in NYC, turns 71
Edward Scott “Eddie” Lampert, former chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings (owner of retailers Sears and Kmart), turns 64
Ronen Pinchas Hoffman, Israel’s ambassador to Canada until 2023, turns 63
Eric Lichtblau, Pulitzer Prize-winning NY Times reporter until 2017 and author of The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men, turns 61
Yael Abecassis, Israeli actor, model and film producer, turns 59
Ofir Gendelman, spokesperson to the Arab media in the Israel Prime Minister’s Office, turns 55
Raja Krishnamoorthi, member of Congress (D-IL-8), turns 53
Shai Stern, co-chairman and CEO of CheckAlt, an independent provider of treasury and lockbox solutions
Ramona Leor Shelburne, senior writer and NBA Insider for ESPN, turns 47
Chad Prince, former soccer star at the University of Virginia, now working in the healthcare industry, turns 47
Shai Abuhatsira, former deputy mayor of the city of Haifa, now a real estate developer, turns 46
Oz Pearlman, ultra-marathon runner, he performs as a mentalist and magician, turns 44
Alexis Blair Wolfer, associate partner at McKinsey & Company
Ezra David Beren, CEO of Clever Bee Academy in Hewlett, N.Y.
Tamara Zieve, Israel editor at Jewish Insider, turns 41
Yanky Schorr, director of operations at Tide Realty Capital
Isaac Arnsdorf, White House bureau chief at The Washington Post
Caroline Mendelsohn Lawrence, venue coordinator at JW3 London, a U.K.-based charity engaged in Jewish arts, culture and community
Jacob Steinmetz, first-ever Orthodox Jewish player selected in the MLB Draft, picked No. 77 overall in 2021, now on the minor league injured list, turns 23
Dr. George Ban, former EVP and CEO of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation
Zach Houghton
