In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we speak with Sarah Abramson, CEO of the Shabbat meal-focused nonprofit OneTable, about new data showing a decrease in Americans hosting people in their homes. We cover the friction inside Israeli President Isaac Herzog's Voice of the People initiative as it recruits its second cohort, and report on Democratic governors mulling the new federal education tax credit program. We feature an opinion piece by Rabbi Yaffa Epstein on the meaning of Simchat Torah in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks, and one by psychotherapist Emma Sunshaw on the centrality of personal relationships in trauma care. Also in this issue: Shanie Reichman, Howard Schultz and Ari Bloom.

Shabbat shalom and chag sameach!

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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: While others pivot away, new donor collective Har Initiative doubles down on combating antisemitism; Sunkist says it will bring back beloved Fruit Gems after national outcry following eJP report; and Inside New York magazine’s anti-Israel shift — and the Jewish staffers left behind. Print the latest edition here.

What We're Watching

The Treasury Department released guidelines yesterday for the Education Freedom Tax Credit, an income tax credit for donations to scholarship-granting organizations; the move, which could give up to a $3,400 credit to couples, is expected to help decrease the costs for Jewish day schools and other educational expenses. More on this below.

Simchat Torah begins in Israel this evening at sundown, marking the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks, according to the Hebrew calendar.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD FROM eJP'S JUDAH ARI GROSS

Working in a chicken wing joint in Tel Aviv, fresh out of the army, I was invited by a friend to Shabbat dinner at her place with a few of her friends. Upon hearing that I had studied journalism and was looking to break into the field, one of them, whom I vaguely knew at the time and has since become a good friend, mentioned that her news outlet was hiring. And thus, a Shabbat meal led to my first full-time job in journalism. 

But new data, first published this week by journalist Derek Thompson, show that such meals are becoming fewer and farther between — in the United States, at least. Once a normal facet of American life, the percentage of Americans who have hosted friends and family at home has dropped steadily over the past 50 years. In 1975, 16% of Americans said they hosted a dinner party at least once a month, and 42% said that they entertained at home; today, that’s 5% and 19%, respectively. 

In the Jewish world, the nonprofit OneTable has been fighting to stem this tide, offering microgrants and informational resources to Jewish adults to help them host Shabbat meals. The group has seen a rise in engagement over the past three years, though Sarah Abramson, the group’s CEO, said it has been an uphill battle. “The inherent desire to [host meals] was much stronger when we started [in 2014], and the ways in which we help people see themselves as hosts have become even more important,” Abramson told eJP yesterday. “Our work is not to give up.”

Read the rest of 'What You Should Know' →

News

BIG TENT TEST

Launched in 2024, Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Voice of the People initiative created a council of 150 representatives from Israel and the Diaspora with a two-year term in which they could use their diverse backgrounds as a launchpad to respectfully and collaboratively discuss the issues facing the Jewish People and develop concrete plans to address them. As the first cohort is beginning to wrap up and recruitment is underway for the next — with thousands of people already applying — several council members told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet that the initiative has struggled to reach its lofty goals. Instead of a paragon of constructive, civil discourse by a diverse array of global Jewish leaders, several members said that the initiative has fallen prey to the very divisions roiling the Jewish world that led to its creation in the first place.

Devoted to the mission: In interviews with six council members, several lauded the president’s initiative for putting together a truly diverse panel of Jewish figures from around the world and attributed the struggles to a fledgling, overly ambitious organization that had taken on more than it could handle. A spokesperson said that the organization remains devoted to its original mission. “We bring together Jews from different countries, communities and backgrounds to build trusted relationships and turn shared concerns into collaborative action,” the official said.

Read the full report →

SCHOOL CHOICE

With the publication of regulations yesterday for the new federal educational tax credit program, governors now have until the end of the year to decide whether to opt their states into the program, reports Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider. 

Public vs. private: Blue-state governors have been caught between cross-pressures from Jewish community groups and other advocates that support the program and teachers’ unions, which vehemently oppose it. Spokespeople for the governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois, as well as the District of Columbia government all said that they are still reviewing the new guidelines, with an eye toward protecting and supporting public schools.

Read the full story and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff→

Opinion

SEASONS MEANINGS

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Rabba Yaffa Epstein reflects on the significance of Simchat Torah, a holiday that was created by Diaspora Jewry and has taken on additional meaning following the Oct. 7 terror attacks, which took place on the holiday.

“We all need to come back to Bereishit each year, and we all need to come back to one another. We dance and sing and experience the joy of reclaiming Torah. Simchat Torah charges us to opt into the project of peoplehood, pick up our own rightful portion of Torah, and return to the Torah again and again. In joy, in love.”

Read the full piece →

READER RESPONDS

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, psychotherapist Emma Sunshaw responds to a recent eJP op-ed about the importance of relationships in Jewish programming (“When we make space for relational work, our community flourishes,” Sept. 30), stressing its centrality in treating trauma as well. 

“It was the volunteer who remembered someone’s name. It was the neighbor who came back the next day, and the day after that. It was the one person who noticed someone had gone quiet and went to find them. Programs mattered, absolutely. But it was the relationships underneath them that held the weight, made them work, and brought them through such trauma alive.”

Read the full piece →

Worthy Reads

Loyal Opposition: In Haaretz, young generation correspondent Grace Gilson explores how Israel Policy Forum's Atid young professionals network is building a home for young Jews who feel connected to Israel but critical of its government. "The Jewish community institutionally has moved a bit to the right, and American Jews have moved a bit to the left,’ [IPF’s Atid director, Shanie Reichman,] said. ‘That worries me…it's critical to me that Jewish community organizations institutionally reflect American Jewish voices in the broader public, not just the donor class.’”

AI’s Spiritual Advisors: In The New York Times, national religious correspondent Elizabeth Dias reports on Anthropic's confidential sessions with religious thinkers, including Israeli Orthodox Rabbi Mois Navon, which sought their help shaping the ethics of its Claude AI models while pressing the possibility that the models are conscious. “We keep finding things that are mysterious, even unsettling,’ Christopher Olah, one of Anthropic’s billionaire co-founders said. ‘We find structures that mirror results from human neuroscience. We find evidence of introspection. We find internal states that functionally mirror joy, satisfaction, fear, grief and unease.’”

Leading Roles

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Major Gifts

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz’s Schultz Family Foundation signed on as an anchor investor in the New Work Foundation, a venture from former Salesforce and Meta executive Clara Shih that aims to help young people find a footing in an AI-disrupted job market…

Transitions

Janet Shatz was named national board president of the American Technion Society, the U.S. fundraising arm of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology…

American Jewish University appointed Wise Sons Jewish Deli co-founder Ari Bloom to chair the board of its 2050 Institute, the university’s next-generation leadership hub…

Z3 Institute named Jewish Insider senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov and author Kara Jesella as adjunct fellows… 

Ari Geller is joining the Israel Policy Forum as its new chief communications officer effective Oct. 12…

Haaretz hired Simone Saidmehr as its New York correspondent, focusing on the city's politics, culture and Jewish communities…

The Center for Jewish History in Manhattan promoted Gabriel Sanders to chief partnerships and engagement officer… 

Word on the Street

Balad party leader Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew from Israel's Oct. 27 Knesset election after the Supreme Court signaled it would likely uphold his disqualification over an article he published that was seen as supporting the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas…

At the same time, the court overturned the Central Election Committee’s disqualification of four Arab political parties and candidate Ofer Cassif — as expected… 

None of the 40 leading U.S. art museums evaluated by the Anti-Defamation League includes Jewish identity in its diversity commitments, according to a new report the group released yesterday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports; the findings were announced at the ADL’s “State of the Arts” event last night at New York’s Jewish Museum, which featured actor Selma Blair, artist Zoë Buckman and author Alyssa Rosenheck…

None of the 40 leading U.S. art museums evaluated by the Anti-Defamation League includes Jewish identity in its diversity commitments, according to a new report the group released yesterday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Golden Gate University has entered into negotiations to acquire the shuttered Contemporary Jewish Museum's San Francisco building…

The Canada Revenue Agency suspended a Montreal Hasidic congregation's donation-receipt privileges over an unresolved $10.7 million related-party loan and stripped two other Jewish nonprofits of charitable status over filing problems…

The Times of Israel spotlights “Voices from the Gaza Border Communities,” an exhibit at Jaffa's Amiad Center showcasing work by 75 Western Negev artists, including several killed on or after Oct. 7, 2023…

Inside Philanthropy reports that six months into its pledge to commit $1 billion in a year, the OpenAI Foundation has approved more than $750 million in grants and paid out nearly $200 million…

Lox & Loaded, a Jewish shooting club that grew out of free firearm lessons after Oct. 7, will open its 64th chapter in Coventry, R.I., next month…

A Microsoft report found that only the U.S. faced more cyberattacks than Israel over the past year, and Iranian-linked hackers aimed 39% of their attacks at Israel…

Photo of the Day

CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90

Haredi Jews from the Toldos Aharon Hasidic community hold lulavs and etrogs today during Hoshana Rabbah prayers in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Birthdays

MELINA PIZANO/GETTY IMAGES

Lindsay Gottlieb, head coach of women's basketball at USC, she was an assistant coach in the NBA, turns 49 on Friday

FRIDAY

Richard Manekin, partner in Baltimore's Workshop Development and leading commercial real estate broker

Diana Ely Epstein, co-chair of external relations at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, Md.)

Martin E. Hellman, professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Stanford and an inventor of public key cryptography, turns 81

Samuel Kaplan, Bethesda, Md., resident

Donna Karan, fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels, born Donna Ivy Faske, turns 78

Annie Leibovitz, portrait photographer whose work has been used on numerous album covers and magazines, turns 77

Douglas Norman Cotler, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and composer, focused on Jewish music, turns 77

Yitzhak Cohen, former longtime member of the Knesset for the Shas party, turns 75

Omer Bar-Lev, Israel's former minister of public security, he is the son of former IDF chief of staff and Minister of Police Haim Bar-Lev, turns 73

Scott Hochberg, former member of the Texas House of Representatives, turns 73

Idan Ofer, Israeli entrepreneur with interests in shipping, drilling, mining and soccer, turns 71

Paula Pretlow, chair and trustee of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

Bruce Blakeman, executive since 2022 of Nassau County, N.Y., and GOP candidate for governor of New York, turns 71

Bruce Sholk, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of The Jewish Agency for Israel

Gary Tuchman, former national correspondent for CNN, turns 66

Mark Pelavin, former chief program officer of the Union for Reform Judaism

Alexander Karp, co-founder and CEO of the software firm Palantir Technologies, turns 59

Andrew Weinstein, managing partner of the Fort Lauderdale-based Weinstein Law Firm, he is a major Democratic bundler in Florida

Scott Schoeneweis, former MLB left-handed pitcher with more MLB appearances than any other Jewish pitcher, turns 53

Michael "Mordechai" Gottlieb, insurance agent at Herman E. Wealcatch Inc.

Michelle Sara King, U.S. government official at the International Trade Administration, she serves on the American Jewish Committee's regional board

Marek Ariel Schulman, filmmaker and actor, turns 45

Kobi Yakob Arad, award-winning jazz pianist, composer and music producer, turns 45

Jena Griswold, secretary of state of Colorado since 2019, turns 42

Diana Diner, director of community affairs at Israel Bonds

Alex Fullman, associate attorney at Cooley LLP

Benjamin Lasky, rapper and record producer known by his stage name Quadeca, turns 26

Saturday & Sunday birthdays will be posted on the web version — have a great weekend. See this weekend's birthdays →

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