Your Daily Phil: Yeshiva U. announces major gifts at Hanukkah Dinner
Good Monday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on Yeshiva University’s Hanukkah Dinner in New York City last night and on the Rabbinical Assembly’s recent convention in Jerusalem. We feature an opinion piece by Andrew Keene about the meaningful impact you can make with your Hanukkah shopping. Also in this newsletter: Rabbi Shalom Tzvi Davidowitz, Mary Hyman and Barbi Weinberg.
What We’re Watching
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are hosting their final Hanukkah reception at the White House tonight.
The American Jewish Committee is hosting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in conversation with AJC CEO Ted Deutch, at the 80th anniversary celebration of its Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey office.
What You Should Know
In a year filled with darkness, the light of Hanukkah illuminated New York City’s Cipriani ballroom on Sunday evening as more than 500 supporters of Yeshiva University gathered to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Hanukkah Dinner, reports Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A number of major gifts — some of which will go toward the Orthodox institution’s new health sciences building in Midtown Manhattan — were announced during the dinner by Rabbi Ari Berman, the president of the university. These include $36 million from the Wilf family, members of which were presented with the Centennial Medallion award for their longtime support of the university; $11 million from Zahava and Moshael Straus; $6 million from the Safra family (Chella Safra, member of the Yeshiva University Board of Trustees and chair of the Moise Y. Safra Philanthropic Foundation — named for her late husband — received an honorary doctorate at the dinner), as well as millions from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has criticized his alma mater, Harvard University, (and withheld donations to it) over its handling of antisemitism and other diversity-related issues.
The centennial dinner came as Jews worldwide continue to reel 14 months after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and as American Jews, particularly those on college campuses, face record-high levels of antisemitism.
“We stand at an inflection point in history. For the Jewish people, for America and for humanity,” Berman said in a speech. “This moment is being played out on many stages, but none more prominent or enduring than the world of higher education… Campuses have become battlegrounds that too often target Jewish students. As we have seen time and again in Jewish history, the seeds of redemption are sown in times of darkness.” While anti-Israel demonstrations have roiled college campuses nationwide since Oct. 7, the number of transfer students to YU increased by 75% last spring semester, according to university officials.
On the menu was classic and modern Hanukkah fare including both sweet and savory sufganiyot and a selection of latkes that ranged in flavor from sweet potato to eggs benedict topped with smoked salmon and avocado. Philanthropists Daniel Loeb, Mitchell Julis and Anita Zucker were the event chairs, while Ingeborg and Ira Rennert served as honorary chairs. Shari Redstone, Harry Adjmi, Terry Kassel and Paul Singer were honorary co-chairs.
Loeb, an investor who launched the “Simchat Torah Challenge” in honor of the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks, said that YU stands apart from other universities amid unprecedented campus antisemitism. “Jews need YU more than they need Harvard,” he said as the crowd erupted in applause.
Jewish leaders and VIPs spotted feasting and schmoozing included: New York Times columnist Bret Stephens; Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon; Malcolm Hoenlein, former executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Hadassah Lieberman, the widow of former Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT); Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, who leads Manhattan’s congregation Shearith Israel; and tech entrepreneur Joe Teplow.
CONSERVATIVE CONVENTIONS
For first time in years, Rabbinical Assembly meets in Israel, looking to support war-weary Israeli rabbis
In many ways, the Rabbinical Assembly’s convention in Israel resembled the countless solidarity missions that Jewish groups have organized since the Oct. 7 terror attacks, meeting affected communities, speaking with hostage families and learning about nonprofits’ efforts to support and rebuild the country. But the roughly 250 members of the Conservative movement’s rabbinic arm who came to Israel for the conference last week — its first held in the Holy Land in 15 years — were primarily focused not on how the country as a whole has been faring in the past 14 months of war but on their Israeli rabbi colleagues, organizers and attendees told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Extreme conditions: “We wanted to come here and show them support. The work they’ve been doing to support their communities from a pastoral perspective has been heroic. So we want to now be there for them,” Rabbi Aaron Brusso, the senior rabbi of Bet Torah in Mount Kisco, N.Y., and the treasurer of the Rabbinical Assembly, told eJP. “[That means listening] to what it’s been like for them to work — sometimes nonstop — to do that while a spouse is in miluim, to do that while a child is in active duty, to do that while their home is under threat of rocket attack,” he said, using the Hebrew word for reserve duty. “It’s hard enough to do this work under normal conditions, but they’ve been doing it under extreme [conditions] for 14 months.”
A HANUKKAH APPEAL
Empowering Israel through small business: The ESEK model
“Small businesses are the backbone of Israel’s economy and culture, accounting for over half of GDP and providing critical employment in communities across the country,” writes ESEK founder Andrew Keene in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Yet today, these businesses face a trifecta of challenges: the loss of tourist revenue, disruptions caused by reserve duty requirements, and difficulty accessing global markets.”
Compassionate consumption: “While grassroots efforts have encouraged Jewish communities around the world to buy from Israel, these campaigns often lack the infrastructure, visibility and curated approach needed to sustain meaningful support for small businesses over the long term… As Hannukah approaches, I ask everyone who says they stand with Israel to turn that sentiment into action. Supporting Israel is not just about resilience; it’s about opportunity. When you purchase from an Israeli small business, you’re not just buying a product — you’re participating in a story, empowering a family and strengthening an economy.”
Worthy Reads
If I Am Not for Me: Jonathan Boyd, executive director of the British Institute for Jewish Policy Research, describes the findings of a recent survey of Jewish philanthropy in the United Kingdom on the organization’s website. “Major current crises affect our charitable giving priorities, as they should. When people are in acute difficulty or need, our instincts to support them ought to kick in… Most recently, donations to the Community Security Trust rose from £7.8m [$9.87 million] for calendar year 2022 to £10.1m [$12.8 million] for 2023, which, of course, included the October 7 attacks in Israel and the subsequent rise in antisemitism in the UK. They described their 2023 results as ‘a level of charitable income far above any previously experienced by CST’… [Our] recent survey examining British Jewish responses to the October 7 attacks suggests that our giving priorities have changed over the past year in subtle but important ways… ‘Jewish charities in the UK’ appear to have taken the most significant hit… Israel needs more charitable support now than it has for some time. Work involved in combating antisemitism and providing security to the community has also become an increased priority. But at the same time, Jews predominantly live their Jewish lives locally and continue to need local welfare, educational and religious services as much as ever, perhaps even more so… [If] Jews don’t prioritise them, it’s really not clear who else will.” [JPR]
Career Shift: In J. The Jewish Weekly of Northern California, Bari Goldojarb describes her decision to quit her job at a progressive nonprofit and seek out the Jewish community, while remaining committed to her ideals. “As someone who has dedicated her career to helping others, I thought I was doing good work with like-minded people who wanted to leverage their expertise to create a more inclusive, equitable and positive community. In fact, my previous professional role — working as a mental health clinician at a Silicon Valley chapter of a national nonprofit dedicated to eliminating racism and empowering women — was supposed to accomplish just that. Then Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and I quickly realized that Jews were excluded from my nonprofit’s mission… It was then I realized that I not only needed a new job — I needed to find a new community altogether… Looking back, I sometimes reflect on why I believe my former employer was devoid of empathy. The only conclusion I can come to is the one that worries me the most: antisemitism… Striving for an anti-racist society is valid. Let’s make sure Jews are included in that quest.” [J.]
How a Movement Ends: In The New York Times, David French considers how and why the #MeToo movement failed. “There’s an easy answer for understanding the end of #MeToo, one that has the benefit of being largely true: American society (including the American church) is still rife with misogyny… But misogyny was never a complete explanation… My wife’s story helped me understand. When she was 12 years old, a vacation Bible schoolteacher abused her in her own home… The abuser was never held accountable — either by church leaders or law enforcement… [His] father was a powerful person in the church and in Nancy’s small town. Confronting his son carried a cost, and the simple fact is that very few people were willing to bear that cost, including people who were very close to Nancy. Not even their love for her could overcome their fear of the social risk. Yes, people want justice. They want abuse to stop, but they also don’t want to poison their relationships with friends and colleagues or undermine their social status.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
The independent Jewish Braid Theater Company opened a new venue in Los Angeles over the weekend…
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland raised a record $38 million for its 2025 Campaign for Jewish Needs, which concluded last week. For the campaign, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation matched new gifts dollar for dollar and matched every additional dollar when existing gifts grew by 10% or more…
The Chabad-run European Jewish Youth Congress held a conference in Berlin this weekend for Jewish teenagers from across the continent, including a pride rally at the German capital’s Brandenburg Gate…
The Baltimore Jewish community media company JMore is creating a nonprofit and will expand its focus to include preparing students for careers in Jewish journalism…
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pledged to personally contribute $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how tech entrepreneur Michael Dell has adapted his eponymous company to become a key player in the AI boom…
The Israeli city of Herzliya named a street after Conservative Rabbi Shalom Tzvi Davidowitz, who contributed to Israel’s Declaration of Independence…
Davidowitz’s grandson, Danny Maseng, writes fondly about his grandfather in an opinion piece in The Times of Israel, calling him “my angel, and a blessing to all of Israel”…
London’s historic Bevis Marks synagogue, built in 1701, survived another attempt to have it knocked down to make room for a large multi-story building, after the British capital’s planning committee voted down the proposal…
King Charles II accepted an invitation to travel to Auschwitz for International Holocaust Remembrance Day next month…
Israel’s cabinet unanimously approved a $11 million proposal to double the population of the Israeli communities on the Golan Heights…
The American Friends of Magen David Adom raised $4.5 million at its gala event in Miami last Wednesday…
The Times of Israel profiles a new school, which runs entirely on solar power, that was set up by the Arava Institute, in partnership with Shamsuna, the Atid educational network and the Israel-Jewish Charitable Association, in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Alfoura in southern Israel…
Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Debra Messing’s “October H8te,” which it will distribute next year under the title “October 8,” about the rise in antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks…
The New York Times examines how some universities are creating dialogue groups on campus in an effort to deescalate tensions on hot-button issues, including the Israel-Hamas war…
The University of Virginia reached an out-of-court settlement with an Israeli student who alleged he faced “virulent antisemitism,” including physical violence, on the campus…
The Baltimore Sun spotlights Mary Hyman, a Loyola University professor and secret philanthropist, who died in September at 97 and anonymously gave millions to charity over the years, including to The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore…
Barbi Weinberg, who became the first woman to lead a major city’s Jewish federation when she was selected to lead the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles in 1973 and later founded the Washington Institute for Near East Studies and played key roles in AIPAC, died last week at 95…
Oscar Feldman, a longtime minority owner of the Detroit Pistons NBA team and mainstay of the Detroit Jewish community, died last month at 103…
Pic of the Day
Contrails in the shapes of ribbons — similar to those worn in solidarity with the 100 Israeli hostages still in captivity in Gaza — are seen in the skies over Israel early Monday morning.
The ribbon-shaped contrails, which were seen over multiple cities and towns in the country, were created by Israeli Air Force pilots during what the military called “routine operational activity.”
Birthdays
CBS News journalist who has won 13 Emmy Awards, she has reported for CBS’s “60 Minutes” since 1991, Lesley Stahl…
Numismatist specializing in ancient Jewish and Biblical coins and their archaeology, David Bruce Hendin… British chemist and research professor at the University of Nottingham, Sir Martyn Poliakoff… Attorney, professor and author, she was the first woman to serve as president of the Harvard Law Review, Susan Estrich… Litigator in Denver, Craig Alan Silverman… Novelist, journalist and lecturer, Allen Kurzweil… President and co-founder of The New Agenda and general partner of Causeway Investments, Amy Siskind… First OMB director in the Obama administration, now CEO of Lazard, Peter R. Orszag… Astrophysicist and professor at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute, he was a winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Adam Guy Riess… Senior official at AIPAC until recently, now a consultant for the Anti-Defamation League, Rabbi Eric Stark… Director of public affairs at Charles Schwab, Adam Bromberg… Mexican singer, she has toured individually and in bands in Central America, the U.S. and Europe, Alix Bauer Tapuach… Activist, writer, farmer and punk rock musician, Sascha Altman DuBrul… Director of lifelong learning at Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany, N.Y., Shara Siegfeld… Principal at Elm City Strategies, Melissa Wisner… Chief of staff for U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Matthew Bennett Klapper… Middle East analyst at Christians United For Israel, Kasim Hafeez… Founder of Punchbowl News, Jake Sherman… Actress best known for her role on The CW’s teen drama “Gossip Girl” and more recently ABC’s General Hospital, Amanda Setton… Congressional reporter at Bloomberg Tax, Zachary C. Cohen… Senior technology consultant at the Ignyte Group, Drew Liquerman…
