Good Friday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran last night and the reactions among Jewish communal organizations outside Israel, including concern about potential Iran-backed attacks on Diaspora communities. We also spotlight how Israeli civil society is responding to this new stage of the ongoing conflict. We feature an opinion piece by Jon A. Levisohn proposing a set of principles for Jewish civic education in America. Also in this issue: Karen L. Berman, Jordan Schnitzer and Avraham Groll.
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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: With new CEO on the horizon, Reconstructing Judaism grapples with Israel: Is the movement becoming more inclusive or pushing out Zionists?; Shabbat, style and soul at Chabad in the West Village; and At 103, former Dallas federation exec Walter Levy has a positive outlook for the Jewish community despite ‘current antisemitic situation.’ Print the latest edition here.
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Across Israel, events and gatherings — including Tel Aviv’s Pride parade — were canceled in the wakr of the attack in Iran. Israel’s chief rabbis instructed against congregating at synagogues for Shabbat prayers. The country remains on high alert, with Homefront Command having issued guidelines canceling school and non-essential work across the country.
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In Washington, the Nova music festival exhibition is slated to open this weekend. At a special opening event this evening, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, former hostages Noa Argamani and Omer Shem-Tov, and Nova survivor Ofir Amir are slated to speak. Organizers have not yet said how or if the opening events will be affected by the Israeli strike and Iranian retaliation.
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A QUICK WORD WITH EJP'S JUDAH ARI GROSS |
After years of planning and threats, the Israel Defense Forces launched a massive, multifaceted preemptive strike against Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities and military leadership, in a predawn operation today dubbed in English “Rising Lion.”
The attack, which was carried out by some 200 aircraft, a secret drone base established within Iranian territory by the Mossad intelligence service and other, unspecified means, is believed to have killed many Iranian senior officers from both the country’s normal military and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as top scientists from the country’s nuclear program. Several atomic and conventional military facilities
were also targeted in the strikes. Read eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider’s coverage of the strike here.
Israeli officials described the strike not as a one-off attack but as the opening salvo of a war, which they told Israeli media may last at least several weeks.
International Jewish groups have almost universally expressed solidarity with Israel and its people in the wake of the preemptive strike, and security-focused organizations have warned Jewish communities around the world to go on high alert in light of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ history of targeting Jewish and Israeli sites abroad. Read more about Jewish security groups’ warnings and Jewish communal responses below.
The response in Congress was mixed, with Republican lawmakers largely hailing the Israeli campaign, as some Democrats warned of a wider conflict. The White House, which has been working to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program, both applauded the strikes and distanced itself from them, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio noting in a statement they were a “unilateral” Israeli action.
Iran’s military has vowed to retaliate, saying that Israel had “crossed all red lines” and that there would be “no limits in responding to this crime.” A state of emergency was declared in Israel, and Israelis were instructed to remain in close proximity to bomb shelters or other fortified areas. Israeli airspace was also closed to commercial flights. More on the Israeli home front’s preparations below.
A few hours after the attack began, the Israeli military said that roughly 100 armed drones, as well as ballistic missiles, had been launched from Iran toward Israel. Soon after, the IDF said that it had “control over the situation” and that it had intercepted incoming missiles and drones. The Jordan military also said that it had intercepted several unmanned aerial vehicles in its airspace.
Following this initial wave, the IDF Home Front Command instructed Israelis that they no longer had to stay near bomb shelters. However, most other safety directives, namely the closure of nonessential businesses and a ban on public gatherings, remained in effect. In accordance with military directives, the country’s chief rabbis have directed synagogues to forgo Shabbat services. |
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Jewish groups warn of potential Iran-backed attacks on Diaspora Jewry, express solidarity after Israeli preemptive strike |
MOSTAFA ALKHAROUF/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES |
After Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program and military top brass last night, Jewish groups in the United States and around the world expressed solidarity with Israel and called for heightened awareness within Diaspora Jewish communities amid fears of Iran-backed attacks, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
Safety first: With the community already on edge following recent attacks in Washington and Boulder, Colo., Jewish security groups are warning that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has a history of supporting and facilitating attacks on Diaspora Jewish communities, may again attempt such an assault. The Community Security Service and Secure Community Network both called for Jewish communities to ramp up their security measures, even as they were not yet aware of specific threats. The New York Police Department also said that it was “deploying additional resources” to Jewish and Israeli sites
throughout New York City. “Our safety can be impacted not only by domestic extremism like we saw in DC and Boulder, but by global events thousands of miles away,” Richard Priem, CEO of CSS, said in an email. “The situation is dynamic and can change at any time. Jews in America cannot afford to be complacent.”
Thoughts and prayers: Jewish communal organizations from around the world and across the political spectrum — from the BBYO youth group and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity to Agudath Israel of America and the European Jewish Congress — weighed in on the Israeli strike. Some voiced full-throated support for the operation, while others focused primarily on prayers and expressions of support for Israeli citizens, who are expected to face retaliatory Iranian
attacks.
Read the full report here. |
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Israeli home front, civil society go on alert after predawn strike on Iran |
ILIA YEFIMOVICH/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES |
After Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program and military top brass last night, Jewish groups in the United States and around the world expressed solidarity with Israel and called for heightened awareness within Diaspora Jewish communities amid fears of Iran-backed attacks, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
Safety first: With the community already on edge following recent attacks in Washington and Boulder, Colo., Jewish security groups are warning that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has a history of supporting and facilitating attacks on Diaspora Jewish communities, may again attempt such an assault. The Community Security Service and Secure Community Network both called for Jewish communities to ramp up their security measures, even as they were not yet aware of specific threats. The New York Police Department also said that it was “deploying additional resources” to Jewish and Israeli sites
throughout New York City. “Our safety can be impacted not only by domestic extremism like we saw in DC and Boulder, but by global events thousands of miles away,” Richard Priem, CEO of CSS, said in an email. “The situation is dynamic and can change at any time. Jews in America cannot afford to be complacent.”
Thoughts and prayers: Jewish communal organizations from around the world and across the political spectrum — from the BBYO youth group and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity to Agudath Israel of America and the European Jewish Congress — weighed in on the Israeli strike. Some voiced full-throated support for the operation, while others focused primarily on prayers and expressions of support for Israeli citizens, who are expected to face retaliatory Iranian
attacks.
Read the full report here. |
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Taking our students to the window: American Jewish civic education in an age of democratic fragility
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“Franklin Foer wrote last summer in The Atlantic that ‘The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending.’ For some, Foer’s categorical judgment combined romanticism about the past with hyperbolic pessimism about the present. But less than a year later, he seems not to have been pessimistic enough. How should Jewish education respond?” writes Jon A. Levisohn, director of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
A distinctly Jewish civics education: “Some will argue that Jewish educators and Jewish educational institutions should continue to do what they have always done, helping students to situate themselves within the Jewish tradition, fostering ownership and creativity. There is surely wisdom in maintaining steadfast focus on these foundations. But as Erica Brown has written, Jewish educators today are like teachers trying to teach in a classroom while a storm rages outside. ‘We are in that storm,’ she warns. ‘We need to take our students to that window and talk about the storm.’... [U]nderstanding antisemitism is not enough. This moment demands an aspirational effort to renew America's democratic ethos, including within the Jewish community… Jewish education must prepare students to help rebuild and renew the civic and moral frameworks that have sustained American Jewish life, on the basis of principles drawn from the Jewish tradition.”
Read the full piece here. |
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A Guide to Not Giving Up: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Jim Rendon interviews Sarah Jaquette Ray, chair of environmental studies at Cal Poly Humboldt and the author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet. “As she taught students about the ravages of climate change, the complicity of wealthy Americans as its worst offenders, and the deeply rooted inequities driving the crisis, she was surprised by their reactions. They did not respond with a fiery need to challenge these big, powerful forces. Instead, many of them buckled under the overwhelming
weight of the problem. Students were skipping class or leaving the major… [The resulting book] is loaded with tips that can help anyone struggling to work effectively in an age when everyone is overwhelmed. Ray draws from social science and psychological research, decades of wisdom gained from veterans of social justice movements, and religion. In her quest to help her students develop the practices and mindset necessary to face climate change with the resilience needed to work day in and out on such a daunting problem, Ray has discovered approaches to work and life that can help every nonprofit leader who faces overwhelming odds with dwindling resources.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Invest in the Future: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Tom Kalil and Anna McKelvey encourage donors to consider “thesis-driven philanthropic funds,” offering a historical analogy. “The parallels to the early venture capital industry are striking. In the 1950s, early-stage technical startups struggled to attract investment from institutional investors which lacked the technical expertise and bandwidth to vet small, highly technical opportunities. Pioneering venture capital firms like ARDC and Kleiner Perkins solved this problem by raising money from large limited partners (LPs) and then backing game-changing companies like Fairchild Semiconductor, developer of the first commercially viable integrated circuits. Today's nonprofit
ecosystem faces similar challenges — universities today can easily secure nine-figure gifts, but high-potential early-stage initiatives often struggle to get on donors’ radar. We believe philanthropic funds, led by field leaders, organized around an ambitious thesis, and backed by donors acting as the equivalent to LPs, can fill that gap.” [SSIR]
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Lead with purpose and confidence. Applications for the 19th cohort of the Spertus Institute’s Certificate in Jewish Leadership, offered in partnership with Northwestern University, are now open! Gain tools to navigate challenges, inspire action, and make a difference in your organization. Fall cohort will be online only. Find out more.
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Be featured: Email us to sponsor content with the eJP readership of your upcoming event, job opening or other communication. |
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Haaretz reports that an internal audit by the Israeli emergency service Zaka, which disposes of human remains in accordance with Jewish law, found that millions of dollars that were donated to the organization in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks are unaccounted for…
The World Jewish Congress condemned the cancellation of the Conference of European Rabbis meeting in Sarajevo scheduled for June 16-18 after pressure from Bosnian Federal Minister Adnan Del, calling it a “shameful act of antisemitism” and an insult to the city’s legacy as the “Jerusalem of the Balkans”... U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe, also condemned the cancellation, calling it antisemitism disguised as Gaza war opposition. He said Sarajevo officials "have no moral clarity"...
A Maryland man armed with a pocketknife was arrested outside the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, following a scuffle with the school’s security; the man, identified as Joseph Amr Khairy Abdalla, had been observed circling the school parking lot and refused to exit the car or identify himself to officials… Ahead of World Blood Donor Day tomorrow, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service reports that over the past year, it collected 271,036 units of blood, including 12,750 units of whole blood supplied to hospitals and the Israeli military…
Houston Public Media looks at the history of Jewish Russian immigration through the Galveston, Texas, port with the Galveston Movement…
Israel’s Ynet news site examines a recent study by Johns Hopkins and New York University looking at the effects of psilocybin — the active compound in so-called hallucinogenic mushrooms — on religious figures, including five rabbis…
Haaretz highlights the inaugural Latin-Jewish Film Festival held in Los Angles in partnership with the Jewish Federation Los Angeles and the San Francisco-based Jewish Film Institute and the activities of its organizer, the Jewtina y Co nonprofit…
San Antonio police are investigating an attempted knife attack on Jewish worshippers walking home from the Congregation Rodfei Sholom Starr Family Campus prayer last Friday. The incident follows an FBI and Department of Homeland Security warning about heightened threats to the Jewish community after deadly attacks in Washington and Boulder, Colo…
Former deputy chief executive of Jewish Care Scotland, Catherine Bell, who also acted as the Jewish charity’s director for social care, has confessed to embezzling over £50,000 from the charity’s hardship fund…
A new leadership program named after the late Lt. Col. Salman Habaka, who was killed in Gaza on Nov. 2 after taking part in the battle to defend Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, is supporting fully funded higher education for
Arab Druze students, especially women, in collaboration with The Idan and Batia Ofer Family Foundation and Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships…
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United Hatzalah raised over $18 million at its Manhattan gala on Wednesday night…
Pacific Northwest real estate developer Jordan Schnitzer donated $2.1 million to the Oregon Health & Science University center through his family’s foundation to establish the Harold Schnitzer Diabetes Health Center, which is named for his father, who had the disease…
The British Jewish disabilities nonprofit Kisharon Langdon raised $1.39 million in a 36-hour fundraising drive earlier this week… |
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American Friends of Sheba Medical Center has hired Karen L. Berman as its next CEO…
Evan Hochberg has been appointed the next CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Northern New Jersey…
Avraham Groll has been named the next executive director of the Hebrew Free Burial Association. Groll, who also serves as a vice president at New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, succeeds Amy Koplow, who has held the role for 25 years… |
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COURTESY/GENESIS PRIZE FOUNDATION |
Israeli President Isaac Herzog (right) applauds Argentine President Javier Milei yesterday alongside Stan Polovets, co-founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, after the Latin American leader received the award in recognition of his support for Israel and his country’s Jewish community.
As all other Genesis Prize recipients have done, Milei waived his $1 million financial award and directed it toward a new initiative, dubbed the Isaac Accords, which are meant to boost ties between Israel and Latin American countries. |
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JOHN LAMPARSKI/GETTY IMAGES |
Former head speechwriter former first lady Michelle Obama and author of a 2019 book Here All Along and an upcoming book As a Jew, Sarah Hurwitz...
FRIDAY: Existential psychiatrist, he is a professor emeritus of psychiatry at Stanford University, Irvin David Yalom... Professor emeritus at UCLA, he played an influential role in the development of the ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet, Leonard Kleinrock... London-born, now living in Gstaad, Switzerland, founder of Graff Diamonds, Laurence Graff... Former official in the
Johnson, Nixon, Clinton and Obama administrations, Morton Halperin turns 87... Chairman and CEO of Oppenheimer & Co., then chancellor of Brown University and now CEO of Source of Hope Foundation, Stephen Robert... Member of Congress (D-NY) since 1992 and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Nadler... Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, he was previously
Attorney General of Israel, Elyakim Rubinstein... Assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of retina surgery at Franklin Square Hospital, Michael J. Elman, MD... National political correspondent for National Public Radio and a contributor at the Fox News Channel, Mara Liasson...
Chief Jewish education officer of the Jewish Federation of Broward County, Fla., Rabbi Arnie Samlan … Co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, Benjamin Abraham "Ben" Horowitz... Founder and CEO of Overtime, Daniel Porter... Yoga instructor, Jenny Eisen Verdery... Founder and CEO of Peninsula Group, Micah Lakin Avni... Family court judge of the City of New York, serving in Brooklyn, Judge Erik S. Pitchal... White House and foreign affairs correspondent at Politico, Eli Stokols... Founder and CEO of NYC-based JDS Development Group, Michael Stern... Chief external affairs officer at BSE Global, Marissa Shorenstein... Actor, the son of Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving, Max Samuel Spielberg... Actress, known professionally as Kat Dennings, she starred in the CBS sitcom "Two Broke Girls," Katherine Litwack... Fashion blogger and creator of Something Navy apparel stores, Arielle Noa Nachmani Charnas... Contributor at Real Clear Investigations, Benjamin H. Weingarten... Retired NFL football player after four seasons, he is the COO at Jones Soda, Gabe Carimi... Policy advocate at Protect Democracy, Ariela Rosenberg... Speed skater who represented the USA at the Winter Olympics in 2014, 2018 and 2022, Emery Lehman...
SATURDAY: Retired Soviet nuclear scientist, now writing from Skokie on Jewish intellectual spirituality, Vladimir Minkov, Ph.D.... Retired U.S. district judge for the District of Maryland, Marvin Joseph Garbis... Former vice chair of the board of the Jewish Federation-Council of Greater Los Angeles, Dr. Beryl A. Geber… 45th and 47th president of the
United States, Donald J. Trump... Former French diplomat and advisor to former French Presidents Chirac and Sarkozy, Jean-David Levitte... Television sportscaster and journalist, Len Berman... Writer, critic, philosopher and magazine editor, Leon Wieseltier... Chairman and chief investment officer of Duquesne Family Office, Stanley Druckenmiller... Businessman and philanthropist, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for services to philanthropy, Sir Leonard "Len" Blavatnik... Political activist, Pamela Geller... Co-founder of
Virunga Mountain Spirits, a distillery in Rwanda, William Benjamin ("Bill") Wasserman... President of Blue Diamond HR LLC, Michelle "Shel" Grossman... President of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., Maud S. Mandel... Senior advisor to Tollbit, Campbell Brown... Singer-songwriter with ten studio albums, Joshua Radin... Co-founder of Kelp, now a part of Signal AI where he is a senior vice president, Daniel M. Gaynor... Australian fashion model, author, philanthropist and businesswoman, Kathryn Eisman... New York City-based businessman, Pavel Khodorkovsky... Deputy assistant secretary at HUD and then senior advisor at OMB in the Trump 45 administration, Paige Esterkin Bronitsky... Director of public affairs at San Francisco's District Attorney’s office, Lilly Rapson... Actor, Daryl Sabara... and his fraternal twin brother, also an actor, Evan Sabara... Digital manager at the Republican National Committee, Julia Cohen... Associate attorney at Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester, Jacob Ellenhorn... Vienna-based European editor for Moment Magazine, Liam Hoare…
SUNDAY: Iranian-born British billionaire, he was knighted in 1989 and made a life peer in 2004, Baron David Alliance... Former president of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, Stuart C. Turgel... Former president of the National Rifle Association, Sandra S. (Sandy) Froman... Ethicist and professor at the University of Chicago
Divinity School, Laurie Zoloth... Internationally recognized authority on Yiddish folk and theater music, Zalmen Mlotek... Entrepreneur, currently living in Estonia, vice president of the Eurasian Jewish Congress, he rebuilt a synagogue and a community center in Estonia, Alexander Bronstein... President and CEO of the PR firm Edelman, founded by his father Daniel Edelman in 1952, Richard Winston Edelman... Chicago-based political commentator, Art Friedson … Chief Rabbi of Poland, Rabbi Michael Schudrich... Israeli Druze politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud, Fateen Mulla... Novelist, screenwriter, teacher and freelance journalist, Jill Eisenstadt... First woman certified by the NFLPA as a player agent, she is now general counsel for USA Lacrosse, Ellen Marsha Zavian... Director at Citrin Cooperman Advisors, Reuben Rutman... Los Angeles-based attorney, Daniel Brett Lacesa... Regional director of the ADL based in
Los Angeles, Jeffrey I. Abrams... Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, now deputy managing editor at The New York Times, Clifford J. Levy... Chief political correspondent for CNN, born Dana Ruth Schwartz, Dana Bash... Retired news anchor for Israel Public Broadcasting, wife of Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Geula Even-Saar... Ethiopian-born Israeli marathon runner, he represented Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Zohar Zimro... Co-anchor of a CNN global news show, Bianna Golodryga... Political staffer, Adam Jentleson... Co-founder of Evergreen Strategy Group and former director of speechwriting
for Hillary Clinton, Daniel Baum Schwerin... Director of corporate communications and public affairs at Google, Rebecca Michelle Ginsberg Rutkoff... Chief advancement officer at Birthright Israel Foundation, Jaclyn "Jackie" Saxe Soleimani... Senior recruiter at The Carlyle Group, Victoria Edelman Klapper... Correspondent with the “PBS NewsHour” and “PBS News Weekend,” Ali S. Weinberg Rogin... Associate at Blackstone, Elli Sweet... Jimmy Ritter... Joel Winton… A former member of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration and Democratic nominee
for Sheriff of Bucks County, Pa., Danny Ceisler …
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