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Good Friday morning.

Ed. note: In observance of Memorial Day, the next edition of Your Daily Phil will arrive on Tuesday, May 27.

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we interview Ron Halber, CEO of the JCRC of Greater Washington, about the community’s needs in the wake of this week’s deadly shooting in the city and report on 42 Jewish groups’ call for $1 billion in federal nonprofit security grants. We look into how Jewish immigration groups are reacting to the White House’s contentious decision to designate white South Africans as refugees, and speak with friends and colleagues of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, the victims of Wednesday’s terror attack. We feature an opinion piece by Mikhala Stein Kotlyar on the financial obstacles that middle-class families face in sending their kids to Jewish day schools, and another by Cindy Greenberg and Dana Talmi about how service learning can create and strengthen bonds between American Jews and Israelis. Also in this issue: Rabbis Lauren Holtzblatt and Aaron Alexander, Ely Winkler and Moshe Kantor.

Shabbat shalom!

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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: Israel launches first-of-its-kind Institute for the Study of Hope at Hebrew University; With fresh funding, For the Sake of Argument pivots from pilot to permanent; and Cuomo faces hurdles to winning over Orthodox Jewish voters in mayoral race. Print the latest edition here.

As Jewish communal institutions remain on high alert following the slaying of a young Jewish couple, soon to be engaged, outside of an American Jewish Committee event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim spoke to Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, about the shooting and the Jewish community’s security needs. 

The killings, which are being investigated as both hate crimes and acts of terrorism, come amid a global wave of antisemitic incidents. In September 2024, FBI statistics found that anti-Jewish hate crimes in the United States increased by 63% since the year prior, making up 15% of all hate crimes. 

On Thursday, in response to the incident, the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League, Secure Community Network, Community Security Service, and 37 other national and local Jewish organizations, released a joint statement urging the federal government to step up security in the Jewish community, including a list of recommendations for Jewish events moving forward. More on this below. 

According to Halber, the gravity of the incident calls for the federal government to increase funding for the Jewish community’s security. “To increase the perimeter [around Jewish institutions] even more so that we can extend and provide more security is going to cost more money than state and local governments can afford,” said Halber. “Only the federal government has the money to make that happen.”

The AJC had hired security for the Wednesday night event at the Capital Jewish Museum, he said. With antisemitism continually increasing, and as security needs increase beyond what’s feasible for any one communal institution to provide, said Halber, the federal government should step in. 

“The first responsibility of the government is to protect its citizens. If they don't, they have failed the social fabric and the social contract with citizens. The American Jewish Committee is a very professionally well-run organization,” said Halber. “There’s nothing they could have done better. They had security. At some point when you walk out of the security envelope of an event, there's a risk, that’s maybe the only thing we may have learned. This could have happened anywhere.”

Jewish life is already expensive, said Halber. And the cost of security required to protect Jewish communities should not be placed on private philanthropy, or the Jewish community overall, he added. “You send your kids to day school, you send your kids to camp, you send your kids to preschool, it's expensive. And of course, people are willing to pay out of their pockets a reasonable amount to ensure that security is in place, so that whenever Jews live, work or gather, we are safe.” said Halber. “And you know what? It's not the responsibility of private funding here. It's the responsibility of the government.”

ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES

A coalition of 42 Jewish organizations issued a joint statement on Thursday urging additional action from the federal government to address antisemitism in the United States following the killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, and particularly expanded funding for a variety of programs to protect the Jewish community. “The rising level of anti-Jewish incitement, which inevitably leads to violent acts like the one in Washington, DC yesterday, requires governmental action commensurate with the level of danger,” the letter reads. The demands include a call to massively expand funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion, from its current level of $274.5 million, reports Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider. 

Help wanted: The letter further said the NSGP process should be “made more flexible and accessible,” describing it currently as “cumbersome and lack[ing] transparency.” The groups also called for additional funding for security at Jewish institutions, for the FBI to expand its intelligence operations and counter-domestic terrorism operations and for local law enforcement to be empowered to protect Jewish establishments. “The demands on local and state law enforcement far outpace their capacity to meet the need, which disproportionately affects targeted communities like the American Jewish community,” the letter says, of the need for additional funding for state and local law enforcement.

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

SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Last Monday, 59 white South Africans entered the United States after being fast-tracked for receiving refugee status by the Trump administration, which had contentiously declared that they were being subjected to a “genocide.” Four days later, thousands of Afghanis in California who had been allowed to temporarily settle in the country for fear that they would be persecuted by the Taliban for their support for the U.S. during the war were ordered to leave within a week. This juxtaposition — letting in refugees from one country on at least questionable grounds while expelling others — was the latest development in a wider campaign by the White House to limit immigration to the United States and slash grants for related programs; the moves are upending the refugee resettlement sector, including many Jewish organizations, which have had to make major staffing cuts as a result, reports Jay Deitcher for eJewishPhilanthropy.

A distraction: While HIAS and some of its affiliates have helped resettle a handful of the South African refugees — including one who has espoused antisemitic beliefs — other human service agencies and religious groups that work with immigrants have declined to work with the Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority who ruled South Africa during apartheid. In general, the feeling within the refugee resettlement community is that this debate is a distraction from the real issues facing the sector, according to Robin Mencher, CEO of Jewish Family and Community Services East Bay, who referred to it dismissively as “the stunt of Afrikaners,” when she spoke with eJP about the matter. “It just feeds all of the rest of this craziness, and it doesn't help our clients,” Mencher said. The organization works with refugees, including the ones from Afghanistan, in Alameda and Contra Costa counties in Northern California.

Read the full report here.

TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES

“The perfect diplomat.” That’s how a former colleague and friend of Yaron Lischinsky remembered him on Thursday, the day after the Israeli Embassy staff member was shot dead alongside his girlfriend, Sarah Lynn Milgrim, outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington as the couple was leaving an event for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee. “He was diligent and went to D.C. to pursue his dream,” Klil, who interned with Lischinsky, 29, at the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel, in 2020 and requested to be identified only by her first name, told Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen. 

Cherry blossoms: Klil and Lischinsky’s mutual interest in Japan kept the two connected via social media, where they would share cherry blossom photos: Lischinsky’s came from the Japanese trees on the Tidal Basin in Washington; Klil shared hers from London, where she was living after the internship. “We had a shared experience around that,” she said. Recently, Lischinsky’s Instagram posts featured more than cherry blossoms. Klil took note of the photos he had been posting, posing together with Milgrim. The couple met while both working at the embassy. 

Remembering Milgrim: Milgrim, 26, was remembered by a former colleague and friend as “bright, helpful, smart and passionate.” “Sarah was committed to working towards peace,” said Jake Shapiro, who worked with Milgrim in 2022-23 at Teach2Peace, an organization dedicated to building peace between Palestinians and Israelis. “One small bright spot in all of this is seeing both Israelis and Palestinians that knew Sarah sending their condolences and remembering her together,” Shapiro told JI. That gives him hope that a “more peaceful reality is possible.” 

Read the full report here.

From the heartland: The New York Times speaks with members of the Kansas City Jewish community about Milgrim, who grew up and developed her Jewish identity there… 

My friend Yaron: Mariam Wahba, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, eulogizes Lischinsky, her attentive and thoughtful friend, in The Free Press…

ASHOK SINHA/ADOBE STOCK

“Jewish day schools are the most powerful continuity tool we have. ... And yet, middle-class families are being priced out of all this. … I know this because I am one of them. My professional life is dedicated to advancing Jewish values and impact, but my own family is struggling to afford the very Jewish education that helps instill those same values in our children. This is not for lack of commitment; it is purely a matter of cost.,” writes Mikhala Stein Kotlyar, a Jewish nonprofit strategist, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

A matter of priorities: “Efforts are being made. Federations have launched pilot programs. Prizmah and the Orthodox Union are working on tuition strategy. But these remain fragmented and small in scale. They don’t meet the needs of middle-class families who face the same uncertainty each year. The American Jewish community is among the most philanthropically generous in the United States… and yet Jewish day school affordability has not become a top communal priority. … If we can fund Birthright and build university endowments, we can build one that supports Jewish day school families — not just for one year, but for the long haul.”

Read the full piece here.

COURTESY

“In the post-Oct. 7 landscape, we often ask ourselves: How can we strengthen the relationships between Israelis and American Jews? How might we work together to build a stronger future for both of our communities? And what will it take to show up for each other, anchored in openness and possibility? For us, two Jewish leaders based in the U.S. and Israel, the answers live in acts of service,” write Cindy Greenberg, president and CEO of Repair the World, and Dana Talmi, executive director of Yahel - Israel Service Learning, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Calloused hands, opened hearts: “Last month, we co-led the inaugural week-long Jewish Service Alliance Israel Service Seminar — a delegation co-organized by Repair the World and Yahel that brought together 24 leaders from the Jewish Service Alliance to volunteer on the ground in Israel. Together, we rolled up our sleeves to engage in meaningful learning and tangible projects: We painted murals at a center for at-risk families. We assembled furniture for seniors. We gathered 140 leaders at the first-ever Service Matters: Israel Summit to shape the future of international service in Israel. … With calloused hands, expanded minds, and our hearts wide open, volunteering in Israel reaffirmed what we know to be true: Service is among the most meaningful ways to strengthen the bond between Israelis and American Jews. As importantly, service can be a bridge for Israelis and North American Jews to write the next chapters for Israel and the Jewish people — together.”

Read the full piece here.

This Land Isn’t Your Land: In The Times of Israel, Mijal Bitton reflects on how the concept of Shemitta, a sabbatical year, which is introduced in this week’s Torah portion, forces us to see past the American two-party system. “Every seven years, farmers in the land of Israel were commanded to stop working their land. Fields lay fallow. Fences came down. Possession was relinquished. Land became, quite literally, ownerless. This wasn’t utopian fantasy — it was law. And its logic wasn’t economic or political. It was theological: ‘The land is Mine; you are but strangers and residents with Me.’ (Leviticus 25:23) … In the American political system, economic arguments tend to mirror the partisan divide: On one side, the traditional Republican worldview: capitalism, private property, tax cuts, minimal state interference. … On the other side, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party: redistributive policies, debt cancellation, expanded public programs, and suspicion of private wealth. … But Shemitta doesn’t fit either frame. Judaism isn’t capitalist. It isn’t socialist. It isn’t left or right. It starts not with what’s mine or what’s yours — but with what belongs to God. … Property is not holy. People are. Wealth may be earned, but it must be shared. Land may be held, but it cannot be hoarded. That’s not an ideology that fits into our politics. It transcends them.” [TOI]

Live Out Loud: In Haaretz, Rabbis Lauren Holtzblatt and Aaron Alexander of Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation insist on the need for a strong Jewish identity in the wake of the deadly shooting attack in the city this week. “In times of brokenness we continually turn to the wisdom of Rabbi Akiva. … In the Talmud, he relays a story after experiencing the death of 24,000 of his students in the Bar Kokhba revolt. Knowing how dangerous it is to study and teach Torah out in the open under the Roman Empire, Rabbi Akiva continued to do so. When asked why Rabbi Akiva practiced Judaism, despite the threat, he spoke of a fox and a fish. The fox, watching the fish fleeing from a net, invited him to seek refuge on dry land. The fish responded: ‘If we are afraid in the water, our natural habitat which gives us life, then in a habitat that causes our death, all the more so.’ This teaching from the Talmud is a reminder to us in tragic times that we must continue to live out loud as Jews. The fear from antisemitism is so real and often overwhelming, but our lifeblood and our home here in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States, where Jews have contributed and flourished for hundreds of years, is stronger and more potent than fear. We cannot and will not relinquish our pride and passion and purpose.” [Haaretz]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: In The Atlantic, Arthur C. Brooks advocates seeking out “moral beauty” to make us happier, healthier and improve the world. “Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and Franciscan friar who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 for hiding Jews and publishing anti-Nazi tracts, then sent to Auschwitz. He might have survived the camp and the war had he looked out for himself. Instead, he volunteered to take the place of a man randomly selected to be starved to death in retribution for another prisoner’s escape. … His story lives on, in no small part because the man whose place Kolbe took, Franciszek Gajowniczek, did survive the camp. In the decades after the war, his account of Kolbe’s self-abnegation came to inspire millions of people, of all faiths and no faith. This is an example of how an act of moral beauty — visible in any form of charity, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, courage, or self-sacrifice — can acquire an extraordinary power. … We know that consuming news about crime can raise fear and lead people to overestimate the danger of being a victim of crime. By analogy, treating moral ugliness as a form of entertainment may almost certainly arrest and even reverse the effects of moral beauty in your life. Instead of achieving elevation, expect depression. But choose what’s morally beautiful, and you will be rewarded.” [TheAtlantic]

Looking for tools to address antisemitism? Join the next cohort of Spertus Institute’s Leadership Certificate in Combating Antisemitism for Lay Leaders. This program empowers board members and trustees to respond to growing challenges with confidence and clarity. Learn from experts, connect with peers, and gain concrete skills to build a stronger Jewish community. Learn more and apply today! 

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Elias Rodriguez, the suspected gunman in the deadly shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim in Washington on Wednesday night, was charged with two counts of murder and other federal crimes. Interim U.S. Attorney in Washington Jeanine Pirro said investigators are continuing to investigate the attack as a hate crime and terrorism and additional charges may be brought…

The New York Times drew parallels between Wednesday night’s killing of Lischinsky and Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy employees, and another murder of an Israeli diplomat in the Washington area in 1973, a case which was never solved…

The Supreme Court, in a 4-4 decision, rejected an Oklahoma Catholic school's bid to receive public funds as a religious charter school; the ruling lets stand an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision barring the creation of such a charter school. The Orthodox Union had filed a brief in support of the school and said that a favorable ruling would make Jewish education more accessible…

Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports on a town hall event for New York City Democratic mayoral candidates that was hosted by UJA-Federation of New York and JCRC-NY…

President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated its clash with Harvard University by barring all foreign students, a move that will also affect over 150 Israeli students who now must face transferring schools or losing their visas. Harvard is expected to pursue legal action in response…

The Leichtag Foundation’s philanthropy team, Impact Cubed, will rejoin the Jewish Community Foundation San Diego — where it first was first launched 60 years ago — as the organization begins to sunset. Jeremy Pearl will remain CEO of JCF, while Charlene Seidle will join the organization as president and chief philanthropy officer, while retaining her role as president and CEO of the Leichtag Foundation during its wind-down phase…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed IDF Maj. Gen. David Zini as the next chief of the Shin Bet internal security service yesterday evening, despite a court ruling that his firing of the previous chief, Ronen Bar, and the determination of the attorney general that the move represented a conflict of interest in light of the agency’s ongoing investigation into Netanyahu’s aides’s ties to Qatar…

In the Religion News Service, Ely Winkler, director of advancement for the Jewish LGBTQ group Eshel, urges the Jewish community — especially in Jewish Orthodox circles — to take proactive steps to provide safe spaces and support and advocate for LGBTQ Jews as surveys reveal they are facing increasing antisemitism within queer spaces…

Russian oligarch Moshe Kantor was elected to his fifth term as president of the European Jewish Congress at its general assembly held in Jerusalem this week; this comes after the European Union removed the sanctions against him in March, which were put in place in 2022 due to his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin…

Allegations of election fraud continue in the World Zionist Congress elections, with more than 15,000 ballots now expected to be discarded — up from the roughly 10,000 ballots that were deemed suspect when polls closed earlier this month…

The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation will present its “Fighting Hatred Award” to commentator and racial justice activist Van Jones at its June 11 gala in Manhattan, in honor of his efforts to promote tolerance, unite communities and combat hatred…

Sasha Vasilyuk’s debut novel “Your Presence is Mandatory,” set in worn-torn Ukraine, was awarded the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature…

Inside Philanthropy profiles the philanthropy of Joseph Neubauer and Jeanette Lerman Neubauer, recent recipients of a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy…

COURTESY/FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMP

Hundreds of camp counselors from over 60 Jewish camps participate in a program this week at the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s four-day Cornerstone Fellowship Seminar at Capital Camps in Waynesboro, Pa. The foundation says that nearly 200,000 campers are expected to attend the more than 300 Jewish camps that are located across North America this summer.

COURTESY/UC BERKELEY

Businessman, optometrist, inventor and philanthropist, known for his signature red hat, Dr. Herbert A. Wertheim... 

FRIDAY: Emeritus professor of physics and the history of science at Harvard, Gerald James Holton... Businessman and attorney, he acquired and rebuilt The Forge restaurant in Miami Beach, Alvin Malnik... Former dean of the Yale School of Architecture and founder of an eponymous architecture firm, Robert A. M. Stern... Founder and chairman of law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, leading DC super-lobbyist but based in Denver and long-time proponent of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Norman Brownstein... British fashion retailer and promoter of tennis in Israel, he is the founder, chairman and CEO of three international clothing lines including the French Connection, Great Plains and Toast brands, Stephen Marks... Senior counsel at Cozen O'Connor, focused on election law, he was in the inaugural class of Yeshiva University's Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Jerry H. Goldfeder... Award-winning television writer and playwright, Stephanie Liss... Israeli diplomat, he served as Israel's ambassador to Nigeria and as consul general of Israel to Philadelphia, Uriel Palti... Editor-in-chief of a book on end-of-life stories, she is a special events advisor to The Israel Project, Catherine Zacks Gildenhorn... Israeli businessman with holdings in real estate, construction, energy, hotels and media, Ofer Nimrodi... President of Newton, Mass.-based Liberty Companies, Andrew M. Cable... Best-selling author and journalist, whose works include "Tuesdays with Morrie," he has sold over 42 million books, Mitch Albom... Resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Reuel Marc Gerecht... Chairman of the board of the Irvine, Calif.-based Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook... Actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician, H. Jon Benjamin... Former ski instructor, ordained by HUC-JIR in 1998, now rabbi of the Community Synagogue of Rye (N.Y.), Daniel B. Gropper... Film and television director, Nanette Burstein... Australian cosmetics entrepreneur, now living in NYC, she is known as the "Lipstick Queen," Poppy Cybele King... Prominent New York City matrimonial law attorney, she is the daughter of TV journalist Jeff Greenfield, Casey Greenfield... Member of the Knesset for the New Hope party, she previously served as Israel's minister of education, Yifat Shasha-Biton... Retired attorney, now a YouTuber, David Freiheit... Executive director of the Singer Family Charitable Foundation, Dylan Tatz... Tech, cyber and disinformation reporter for Haaretz, Omer Benjakob... Professional golfer on the LPGA Tour, Morgan Pressel... Senior manager of brand and product strategy at GLG, Andrea M. Hiller Tenenboym…

SATURDAY: Co-founder of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, he is featured in Malcolm Gladwell’s book "Outliers," Herbert Wachtell... Professor emeritus of statistics and biomedical data science at Stanford, Bradley Efron... Biographer of religious, business and political figures, Deborah Hart Strober... Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, his Hebrew name is Shabsi Zissel, he is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of his generation, Bob Dylan... Social media and Internet marketing consultant, Israel Sushman... Member of Congress since 2007 (D-TN-9), he is Tennessee's first Jewish congressman, Steve Cohen... Former director of planned giving at American Society for Yad Vashem, Robert Christopher Morton... Former Mexican secretary of foreign affairs, he is the author of more than a dozen books, Jorge Castañeda Gutman... President of the Israel ParaSport Center in Ramat Gan and vice chair of Birthright Israel Foundation, Lori Ann Komisar... First-ever Jewish member of the parliament in Finland, he was elected in 1979 and continues to serve, Ben Zyskowicz... Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer, Michael Chabon... U.S. ambassador to Singapore during the Obama administration, he is now the managing director and general counsel of KraneShares, David Adelman... Senior advisor at the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, Debby Goldberg... Ukrainian businessman, patron of the Jewish community in Ukraine, collector of modern and contemporary art, Gennadii Korban... Film director, in 2019 he became the second-ever Israeli to win an Academy Award, Guy Nattiv... Swedish criminal defense lawyer, author and fashion model, Jens Jacob Lapidus... Actor, who starred in the HBO original series "How to Make It in America," Bryan Greenberg... Emmy Award-winning host of "Serving Up Science" at PBS Digital Studios, Sheril Kirshenbaum... Executive vice president and chief of staff at The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, Benjamin E. Milakofsky... Synchronized swimmer who represented Israel at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal... Travel blogger who has visited 197 countries, Drew "Binsky" Goldberg... Member of the Iowa House of Representatives since 2023, Adam Zabner... Social media influencer and activist, Emily Austin …

SUNDAY: Academy Award-winning film producer and director, responsible for 58 major motion pictures, Irwin Winkler... Holocaust survivor as a young child, he is a professor emeritus of physics and chemistry at Brooklyn College, Micha Tomkiewicz... Co-founder of the clothing manufacturer, Calvin Klein Inc., which he formed with his childhood friend Calvin Klein, he is also a former horse racing industry executive, Barry K. Schwartz... Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1986, he is now on senior status, Douglas H. Ginsburg... British journalist, editor and author, he is a past vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Alex Brummer... Of counsel in the Chicago office of Saul Ewing, Joel M. Hurwitz... Screenwriter, producer and film director, best known for his work on the "Back to the Future" franchise, Bob Gale... Los Angeles-area resident, Robin Myrne Kramer... Retired CEO of Denver's Rose Medical Center after 21 years, he is now the CEO of Velocity Healthcare Consultants, Kenneth Feiler... Israeli actress, Rachel "Chelli" Goldenberg... Actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian sometimes referred to as "Yid Vicious," Bobby Slayton … Professor of history at Fordham University, Doron Ben-Atar... President of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Ralph Friedländer... Senior government relations counsel in the D.C. office of Kelley Drye & Warren, Laurie Rubiner... Israel's ambassador to Lithuania from 2020 until 2022, Yossi Avni-Levy... Actor, producer, director and writer, Joseph D. Reitman... Cape Town, South Africa, native, tech entrepreneur and investor, he was the original COO of PayPal and founder/CEO of Yammer, David Oliver Sacks... Member of the Australian Parliament since 2016, Julian Leeser... Former Minister of Diaspora Affairs, she is the first Haredi woman to serve as an Israeli cabinet minister, Omer Yankelevich... Senior political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Greg Bluestein... COO at Maryland-based HealthSource Distributors, Marc D. Loeb... Comedian, actor and writer, Barry Rothbart … One of the U.S.’ first radiology extenders at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Orli Novick… Senior communications manager at Kaplan, Inc., Alison Kurtzman... Former MLB pitcher, he had two effective appearances for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifiers, Ryan Sherriff... Olympic Gold medalist in gymnastics at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Alexandra Rose "Aly" Raisman... Laura Goldman...