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Good Tuesday morning!

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on an Israeli Supreme Court decision allowing women to take the state’s rabbinic exams and on the Foundation for Jewish Camp board’s selection of interim CEO Jamie Simon to serve as the organization’s permanent chief executive. We look at a letter signed by hundreds of Jewish groups about their concerns over the National Education Association’s decision to bar member-teachers from using materials created by the Anti-Defamation League. We feature an opinion piece by Rabbi Marc Israel reflecting on making space and taking time for grief and self-care as a Jewish communal professional; and one by Rabbi Julia Appel with insights for empowering congregants to take an active role in communal chesed. Also in this issue: Theodore Sasson and Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis, Eugene Brusilovskiy and Jonathan Polin.

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Progressive Orthodoxy scored a rare victory in Israel on Monday as the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Chief Rabbinate must allow women to take rabbinic exams alongside men, ending a six-year legal saga, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.

The ruling does not mean that the Chief Rabbinate will begin recognizing female rabbis, but they will be permitted to receive the same credentials as men for the purposes of employment. The case hinged on the fact that rabbinic exams are used as a qualification for certain positions or pay increases in the public sector. By denying women the right to sit for the exams, the state was effectively discriminating against them financially, the court ruled unanimously.

Rabbi Seth Farber, the head of the Israeli religion nonprofit Itim — one of the three organizations behind the petition — told eJP this morning that while the petition specifically dealt with six women who were demonstrably serious scholars and were unable to take the rabbinate’s exams, the ramifications were far wider. “It’s not only about the six women, it's about the field and enabling the field [of female scholarship] to grow,” he said. The religious women’s group Kolech and Bar-Ilan University’s Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women's Status also backed the petition.

Under the previous Israeli government, a number of steps were taken by then-Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana to advance the status of women in the Israeli state religious framework, among other reforms. This included naming a number of women to head local religious councils. Since this government was sworn in, the current religious services minister, Michael Malchieli, of the Sephardi Haredi Shas party, has rolled back many of those changes. 

In the ruling, Solberg acknowledged the significance of the decision as part of the wider debate within Judaism, particularly Orthodox Jewry, about the role of women. “In this petition before us, we can see another expression of this trend, of women who are asking to take part in ‘the toil of Torah,’ that ‘anyone who wishes to partake may come and partake,’” he wrote, quoting the Talmudict tract Avot deRabbi Natan.

The Chief Rabbinate has yet to comment on the ruling as of Tuesday. The decision was met with opposition in the Haredi press. The Yated Ne’eman newspaper, which is affiliated with the Haredi United Torah Judaism party, included an article about the ruling on its front page with the headline “The judicial authority against the Torah: Forcing rabbinic examinations for women.”

Farber said it is not yet clear how the Chief Rabbinate will react to the ruling, if it will indeed allow women to take the examination or find a legal maneuver to circumvent the court’s decision. In the meantime, Itim is looking to register women for the next possible exams. 

“Exams are supposed to be given in Av, but the registration for those is already closed,” Farber said, referring to the upcoming Hebrew month. “I told the staff, ‘Go figure out when the next exams are in Tishrei [the Hebrew month starting on Sept. 23], and get the women signed up because the registration is open.’ And on the registration, it asks you, ‘Are you male or female?’ And the women will say they’re female, and we’ll see what happens.” 

Read the full report here.

COURTESY/FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMP

The Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to hire interim CEO Jamie Simon to serve in the role in a permanent capacity beginning Tuesday, the organization told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. Simon has served in the interim role since the former longtime CEO, Jeremy Fingerman, stepped down in March. In addition to being the first female CEO, Simon will be the first leader of the organization to come from a camping background, having worked for 17 years at the Tawonga Jewish Community Corporation in California, which runs Camp Tawonga, including six years as its CEO.

Fits the bill: According to Jeffrey M. Solomon, chair of FJC’s selection committee, Simon’s extensive Jewish camping experience was a key factor in the board’s decision, particularly as the organization is developing its next five-year strategic plan, which includes a particular focus on integrating the concept of Jewish peoplehood into summer camps. “When we talk about our goals and objectives, it's really about enhancing, enriching and extending Jewish peoplehood,” he said. “We're doing that with a little more intentionality to ensure the place of Jewish camping in the pantheon of important Jewish pillars. … Having somebody [as CEO] who's been able to do that at both the camp level, at the movement level and now at the national level with an organization like ours, that's why Jamie makes so much sense to us.”

Read the full report here.

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES

Around 400 Jewish organizations and synagogues signed onto an Anti-Defamation League backed letter Monday expressing concern over the “growing level of antisemitic activity” within teachers’ unions, which recently escalated with the National Education Association’s adoption of a measure targeting the leading Jewish civil rights organization, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider. Signatories include the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, National Council of Jewish Women, Orthodox Union, Rabbinical Assembly and Union for Reform Judaism. 

What they said: The letter, addressed to Rebecca Pringle, president of the NEA — the largest teachers’ union in the U.S. — comes on the heels of a measure passed last week by the association that bars the union from using any teaching materials from the ADL. “The ADL has been a national leader in anti-hate education in K-12 schools for decades and is widely recognized as one of the country’s foremost experts on antisemitism,” the letter states, raising concern that, “although the measure does not explicitly say so, we understand that much of the underlying concern prompting this resolution is directed at ADL’s Holocaust education materials.” 

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

GRAEME SLOAN/SIPA VIA AP IMAGES

Concerns about antisemitism in the field of psychology have followed the American Psychological Association since soon after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. With 172,000 members, it is the largest body dedicated to the study of psychology in the world. The issue has become a flashpoint again in the run-up to the APA’s flagship annual conference, which will be held next month in Denver and is set to feature several lectures — including some offering continuing education credit — that offer sharply anti-Israel narratives, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports in a new investigation.

Exclusive psychology: Several leading Jewish psychologists told JI that the APA has repeatedly failed to respond to the concerns of its Jewish members, despite a stated commitment to promoting an “accessible, equitable and inclusive psychology that promotes human rights, fairness and dignity for all,” according to the organization’s diversity mission. They say the APA has avoided taking a stand against double standards and litmus tests applied to Jewish psychologists who are vilified for their support for Israel. Instead, the organization has been almost paralyzed in the aftermath of Oct. 7, seemingly afraid to take sides between the Jewish psychologists seeking support and an increasingly vocal contingent of anti-Israel voices in the field, some of whom have described Zionism as a pathology to root out.

Read the full investigation here.

COURTESY/RABBI MARC ISRAEL

“‘Grief is not a linear process,’ I often remind people after the loss of a loved one,” writes Rabbi Marc Israel, rabbi of congregation Tikvat Israel in Rockville, Md., in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “I remind people it’s not linear to allow them the space to know that unexpected and tremendously difficult moments of intense grief can happen at any time and often hit us out of the blue.”

A personal experience: “I had such a moment on the final leg of my flight last week… That’s when a several-week-old episode of ‘Identity Crisis’ with Yehuda Kurtzer came on, in which he announced and lamented that some of the Shalom Hartman Institute summer programs were canceled due to the Iran war. … [Hearing] Yehuda describe his sense of loss regarding the cancellation of the other programs broke me… In times of trouble, like most Jewish professionals, I focus on helping the community process these events. In doing so, I often forget to give myself the time or space I need for my own grieving. But now, sitting on that plane, I felt my eyes begin to well up with tears and suddenly the dam broke and all the pain I had been repressing came pouring out.”

Read the full piece here.

FLASHVECTOR/GETTY IMAGES

“[A]t the beginning of the 20th century, when our community members were overwhelmingly immigrants and often in financial need, Jewish communal institutions clothed, fed, sponsored, buried and wed our earlier generations. Mutual aid societies (landsmanschaften) were established across North America so that Jews could prop each other up, take care of each other and make sure no one had to live a life without dignity, care and basic welfare,” writes Rabbi Julia Appel, senior director of innovation at Clal - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. 

Fast forward: “[Today] most of our institutions are crafted — let’s be honest — more as consumer endeavors, with success measured by return customers. Synagogue staff in particular can begin to feel more like event planners than community-builders… Religious life has become much more of a spectator sport, with heavy professionalization of community tasks, especially in larger congregations. Our institutions rely on their members less… But how might we shift an institutional culture of consumer satisfaction to more covenantal, more demanding and, I would argue, more rewarding systems of lovingkindness delivery?”

Read the full piece here.

Stay Out of It: In INSS Insight, Theodore Sasson and Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis draw takeaways for the Israeli government from the divisions among American Jewry over the Trump administration’s strategy for combating antisemitism. “Concerned over backlash, liberal values, and political partisanship, many [American] Jews find themselves opposed to many of the actions that are ostensibly aimed at fighting antisemitism. Israeli officials in the Foreign Ministry, Diaspora Affairs Ministry, and the Prime Minister’s Office should consider the positions of establishment Jewish organizations, the major religious denominations, and rank-and-file Jews when crafting their responses to the Trump administration’s policies on antisemitism. And as the fight over campus antisemitism becomes intensely politicized and caught up in the broader battle over the trajectory of the American Republic, it is best, in our view, that Israel refrain as much as possible from appearing to support or encourage campus crackdowns done, at least in part, in its name.” [INSSInsight]

Blind Spot: In The Times of Israel, data scientist Eugene Brusilovskiy offers a meme on Facebook as an example of how AI falls short — at least for now — when it comes to reviewing content for antisemitism. “The meme, which has over 15,000 laugh reactions and more than a thousand shares, shows a sliced brisket with the caption: ‘Putting this brisket back in the oven.’ ... The image is a variation of the infamous ‘Happy Merchant,’ a Nazi-era caricature of Jews still widely used by white supremacists… [P]erhaps most chilling of all was the reaction from Meta’s own AI system, which proudly summarized the comments like this: ‘Commenters poke fun at the brisket’s prolonged oven time, joking it was “promised” to the oven 3000 years ago. Others appreciate the humor, noticing a pattern of clever wordplay.’ Clever wordplay. That’s how Meta’s artificial intelligence interprets Holocaust denial and genocidal rhetoric.” [TOI]

Know Your Audience: In The Conversation, Keri K. Stephens and Hamilton Bean write about the need to consider human behavior — foibles and all — in developing emergency messaging. “The key to effective emergency communication is to develop messages that resonate with specific audiences and build community networks that complement technological systems. … It’s also important to apply behavioral insights to the design of every level of communication warning systems. And it’s important to remember to test not just the technology but the entire end-to-end system, from threat identification to community response. Finally, maintaining true redundancy across multiple communication channels is an important strategy when trying to reach as many people as possible. Technology supports human decision-making, but it doesn’t replace it.” [TheConversation]

No Direction Home: In The Atlantic, Guy Ben-Aharon considers the challenges of his identity as an Israeli pacifist both at home and abroad. “In Israel, I’m hated for opposing a war that many say they don’t support but still fight in, defend, or explain away as necessary. Abroad, I’m no longer welcome among those who say that all Israelis are colonizers. I’m too Israeli to be a victim and too resistant to be a patriot. I’m in exile, even when I’m at home. … My own relatives question whether I belong in Israel, because I criticize the troops in Gaza for the killing and starvation of Palestinians. Abroad, a theater colleague once told me to ‘go back to where you came from’ — that I don’t belong in the land where I was born but in the lands where my ancestors faced pogroms and the Holocaust. Nuance has no currency in a world addicted to absolutes.” [TheAtlantic]

Looking for leadership tools to address antisemitism? Spertus Institute is offering two tracks of the Leadership Certificate in Combating Antisemitism this fall, for both professionals and lay leaders in the Jewish community. Learn to navigate the complexity of antisemitism today, in a cohort of your peers. Learn more at www.spertus.edu/lcca for professionals and www.spertus.edu/lcca-ll for lay leaders.

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A recently released report by the Board of Deputies of British Jews found that mounting antisemitic sentiment in the U.K. has created “hidden barriers” for Jews in the health service, unions and other professional bodies…

Inside Higher Ed looks at how universities are increasingly hiring staff to oversee compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act following a crackdown by the Trump administration on dozens of campuses over alleged violations…

In the U.S. News and World Report, a Jewish undergraduate student at Harvard opines about the university’s lackluster response to antisemitism — and critiques the Trump administration for weaponizing antisemitism to take down the university…

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Jonathan Polin, father of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, publicly rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for claiming credit for the return of his son’s remains last August…

Alex Edelman will perform his new show, “What Are You Going to Do,” at the New York Comedy Festival at Carnegie Hall in November; the show is a follow-up to his award-winning “Just For Us” one-man play about attending a white supremacist gathering…

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is calling for mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani “to reassure” Jewish New Yorkers “that he’s going to stand up for their safety and security,” after Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”... 

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The Jewish Telegraphic Agency spotlights an Orthodox Jewish music festival set to take place in Bethel, N.Y. — the original location of Woodstock — in early August…

Israeli-American writer Sol Stern died at 89…

COURTESY/JFNA

Gary Torgow, newly named Jewish Federations of North American board chair (left), presents a plaque to Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the President’s Residence in Jerusalem yesterday. The plaque is meant to thank Herzog for speaking at the organization’s 2024 General Assembly in Washington in November. 

AMY SUSSMAN/GETTY IMAGES FOR WOMEN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND

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