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Good Monday morning!

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on a hearing in the Knesset today about rising emigration from Israel over the past two years, on a new $2 million matching grant for Ben-Gurion University and on the American Jewish Committee’s warning about New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. In the latest installment of eJP’s exclusive opinion column “The 501(C) Suite,” Mark Charendoff identifies critical opportunities for funders to shape the next chapter of American Jewish life; and Sara Fredman Aeder urges the Jewish community not to abandon the families still advocating for the return of their loved ones’ bodies from Gaza. Also in this issue: The Wilf family, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Robert Kraft.

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The State of Israel is a country made up overwhelmingly of immigrants, and Jewish immigration to Israel, or aliyah, remains a central tenet of Zionism. And while aliyah has continued through the past two years of war, during this time — and in the months preceding it — Israel has become a state of emigration, with more people leaving the country than moving to it, according to fresh data released today by the Knesset’s Research and Information Center.

The center found that emigration rates surged in 2022, up 44% from the previous year, jumped again by 39% in 2023 — particularly in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks — and remained at this elevated rate in the first eight months of 2024 (the last months for which data were available). The growing number of Israelis leaving the country for extended periods is also compounded by a shrinking number of Israelis living abroad returning to Israel. From January 2022 to August 2024, roughly 125,000 more people left the country than arrived, according to the survey.

The statistics were published ahead of a discussion on the topic this morning in the parliament’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, led by Labor MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv. “Tens of thousands of Israelis have chosen to leave Israel in the past two years. This is not a ‘wave’ of emigration but rather a ‘tsunami’ of Israelis opting to leave the country,” Kariv said, promising to have his committee continue to track the matter.

The issue of emigration has become a highly politicized issue within Israel, serving as something of a Rorschach test. To those more critical of the government, those tens of thousands of people leaving the country are proof that the current leadership is making the country unlivable, while to supporters of the government, the criticism is directed primarily at the people leaving (most of whom appear to be more secular and therefore less likely to support the coalition). Many of the people leaving the country appear to have been part of the wave of immigration from Russia and Ukraine in the wake of Moscow’s war against Kyiv and its domestic crackdowns. This too is in the eye of the beholder, with some using this as a reason to restrict immigration and prevent people from receiving Israeli citizenship “just in case,” while others see the phenomenon as a failure of the government to sufficiently integrate these recent arrivals into Israeli society.

The committee hearing highlighted a dearth of information about those émigrés — namely who they are and why they are leaving — and a lack of governmental responsibility for addressing the phenomenon.

A key unanswered question from the hearing dealt with the fears of a “brain drain” from Israel, with unsubstantiated anecdotal reports indicating that a disproportionate number of Israeli academics are leaving the country. A representative from Israel’s Council of Higher Education said that not only does the body not know how many people with advanced degrees have left the country, it also does not have an estimate for how many academics employed by Israeli institutes of higher education have left the country. 

“The people choosing to leave the country are the kinds of people who can have a profound impact on the Israeli economy, and their emigration causes damage in the billions of shekels,” Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak said at the hearing. “A clear policy must be devised to keep the best of our children in Israel.”

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

NIRA DAYANIM/EJEWISHPHILANTHROPY

At a Manhattan benefit for Americans for Ben-Gurion University last night, the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation announced a $2 million matching grant to support the university’s recovery from the Israel-Hamas war, including the Iranian missile strike that damaged academic facilities in June, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim from the event.

CEO search: The event came as A4BGU’s CEO, Doug Seserman, announced that he will be stepping down from his role as CEO, for retirement, or rather “re-wirement,” as he described it in a speech at the event. Starting next month, Ian Benjamin, A4BGU’s current interim CFO, will become interim CEO, as the nonprofit begins the search for Seserman’s permanent successor. 

Read the full report here.

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The American Jewish Committee raised alarms on Friday about Zohran Mamdani’s “continued use of problematic rhetoric as it relates to Israel and Jews” and called on the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City to “change course” as he prepares for the Nov. 4 election, reports Matthew Kassel for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.

AJC’s argument: In a lengthy statement, the nonpartisan organization cited, among other things, Mamdani’s repeated claim that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, which the AJC called “unequivocally false and dangerous.” The charge “has not been proven in any international court” and “gives fodder to those who continue to use Israel’s self-defensive actions as an excuse to threaten and attack Jews,” the group said. The AJC also criticized Mamdani’s refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, saying that he is upholding an “unacceptable double standard” in his assessment of the region. “Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries,” the group wrote, “yet Mamdani does not continuously suggest that any of those nations should not exist as they are.”

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

Rabbinic reprobation: Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Conservative Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan said in an address to the Reform Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn on Saturday: “Mamdani’s distinction between accepting Jews and denying a Jewish state is not merely a rhetorical sleight of hand or political naïveté — though it is to be clear both of those — his doing so is to traffic in the most dangerous of tropes.”

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“Israelis will begin to work toward a postwar reality: to rebuild, to identify new leadership and to heal. American Jews, too, must turn the page. Not to forget, but to advance. The question is not whether Jewish life in America will change, but how — and how we can shape that change with courage and clarity,” writes Mark Charendoff, president of Maimonides Fund,  in the latest installment of eJewishPhilanthropy’s exclusive opinion column, “The 501(C) Suite.” 

For example: “Libelous narratives about Israel and the Jews have gained a shocking amount of traction in the last two years. … Schools, academics, social media figures, nonprofit leaders and cultural creatives have also lost the plot. We need to develop a 10-year, $1 billion plan to recover lost ground and reshape how young Americans think about Israel. That means serious investment, not just slogans. Israel can and should play a role in this work. But just as Diaspora Jews should approach funding change in Israel with humility — because we don’t live there and don’t fully understand it — the Israeli government needs that same dose of humility before attempting to shape American attitudes.”

Read the full piece here.

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“Yes, we should be thrilled about the return of the living hostages. We should celebrate every reunion, every embrace, every family made whole again. But our joy cannot come at the cost of forgetting those who cannot embrace their families, who cannot speak for themselves, whose only hope lies in us refusing to move on until they too come home,” writes Sara Fredman Aeder, vice president of Israel and Jewish affairs for the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

A special mitzvah: “In Jewish tradition, caring for the dead and ensuring proper burial stands above almost all other commandments because the deceased cannot thank you. There is no expectation of reciprocity, no possibility of reward. It is kindness in its purest form. In one week, we will mark seven years since the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, when 11 Jews were murdered while at prayer in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. As we commemorate this anniversary, the heroism of the chevra kadisha, the Jewish burial society, during those dark October days in 2018 serves as a stark reminder of what remains to be done for the hostages in Gaza.”

Read the full piece here.

Generosity’s Worth: Writing on her philanthropy platform, Yield Giving, MacKenzie Scott highlights the importance of charity in times of polarization. “It’s easy to focus on the methods of civic participation that make news, and hard to imagine the importance of the things we do each day with our own minds and hearts. Who nurtured a child in the kitchen; who was kind to a stranger in line at a grocery store; who gave fifty dollars to a local food shelter: these are not news stories. But all of it matters. … The potential of peaceful, non-transactional contribution has long been underestimated, often on the basis that it is not financially self-sustaining, or that some of its benefits are hard to track. But what if these imagined liabilities are actually assets? … What if care is a way for all of us to make a difference in leading and shaping our countries? Votes are not the only way to show what we’d like to see more of in our societies. There are many ways to influence how we move through the world, and where we land.” [YieldGiving]

Purchasing Power: Some funders need reminding that philanthropy should be a tool to sustain communities, not correct or control them, writes Laurene Powell Jobs in The Wall Street Journal. “That’s the quiet corruption corroding modern philanthropy: the ability to give as a license to impose one’s will. It’s a kind of moral laundering, where so-called benevolence masks self-interest. The cost reaches far beyond any single donor’s ego. When giving becomes a spectacle, it distorts the very idea of civic responsibility. Public institutions bend toward the priorities of the wealthy, and communities begin to measure worth in proximity to power. The generosity that was meant to bind us together instead becomes a means of control — a way to shape policy by applause rather than by consent.” [WSJ]

Good Stewardship: In a post on the website of the American Enterprise Institute, Daniel Stid argues that funders should reconsider their approach to influencing U.S. public policy.  “Across a range of issues — e.g., criminal justice, education, the environment, immigration, political economy, racial justice, etc. — philanthropy underwrites efforts to influence public policy. Unfortunately, it does so in ways that have come to accelerate polarization and produce a multi-faceted tragedy of the commons in our public life. … [P]hilanthropists have a stake in the health of the liberal democracy in which they operate; they bear no small responsibility for its legitimacy and sustainability.” [AEI]

Watershed Moment: In Devex, Ina Jamuna Breuer shares takeaways from the recent Innovations in International Philanthropy Symposium. “Over the course of history, we’ve experienced rare but defining moments in which an aperture for dramatic, generational change is opened. … [A]mid adversity, polarization, and a rapidly changing landscape, developing sustainable and effective solutions for the future will take time, experimentation, and perhaps most importantly, citizen engagement and dialogue. It will require rapid coordination and deep patience on multiple fronts — between citizens, business, governments, and donors, across countries and geographies, ideally inclusive of sometimes opposing ideologies. It will also require donors, who have historically often sought to support project, program, or institution-based opportunities, to undertake a seismic shift in approach.” [Devex]

The Bronfman Fellowship announces applications are open for its 40th cohort of Jewish 11th-graders

The Natan Fund has opened applications for the 2026/27 grant cycle. They are excited to hear your ideas! Please note that its Israel RFP will go live on Thursday. Apply now!

Be featured: Email us to sponsor content with the eJP readership of your upcoming event, job opening or other communication.

The Wilf family — brothers Mark and Zygi and cousin Leonard — is purchasing a 29% stake in the Maccabbee Tel Aviv basketball team from minority owner the Federman family…

Hadassah Magazine interviews Rachel Goldberg-Polin about her reactions following the release of the last living hostages from Gaza and her plans for the future…

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump sent condolences to the Orthodox Union following the passing last week of OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer, calling him a “man of deep faith, wisdom and compassion whose life reflected an unwavering devotion to the Almighty, to his family, and to the Jewish community”…

Authorities in Louisiana arrested a Gazan man who federal officials said lied about his participation in terrorist activities on his visa application; an unsealed FBI complaint said that Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and led a group into Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks…

The left-leaning Nexus Project released a plan to combat antisemitism, the Shofar Report, as a progressive response to the conservative Project Esther initiative…

Ofcom, the U.K.’s communications regulator, found that a documentary that aired on the BBC and featured a teenage boy in Gaza — but did not note that the boy was the son of Hamas’ deputy minister of agriculture — was “materially misleading”...

Tova Ben-Dov, the former president and honorary life president of the World Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO), died last week at 88…

Yehuda 'Idek' Friedman, a Holocaust survivor who was part of the Nakam group that tried to hunt down Nazis after World War II, died recently at 105…

The Reuben Foundation awarded a £30 million ($40 million) grant to the Courtauld Institute of Art in London…

The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund launched a $10 million Play to Thrive initiative that uses sports to “improve youth mental health outcomes, expand access for underserved communities, and promote equity” primarily in New York City…

B’nai Brith Canada appointed Simon Wolle as its next CEO… 

Rabbi Mindie Snyder was named the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix …

SELÇUK ACAR/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES

Philanthropist and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft holds the 2025 Happy Warrior Award last Thursday, which he received at the 80th annual Al Smith Dinner in New York City. 

Kraft, who wore a bright red yarmulke at the event hosted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York City’s archbishop, noted the importance of interfaith work in his speech. “You realize, we’re all in the same business, just different management… The responsibility to others is what bonds us all together,” Kraft said.

SCREENSHOT/MISHKANOT SHE’ANANIM

Former rabbi of the Ramban Synagogue in Jerusalem's Katamon area and a leading figure at the Israel Democracy Institute, Rabbi Binyamin (Benny) Lau turns 64... 

Economist who earned the nickname "Dr. Doom" during his tenure as the chief economist at Salomon Brothers, Henry Kaufman, Ph.D. turns 98... Former poet laureate of the U.S., he is a professor emeritus at Boston University, Robert Pinsky turns 85... Professor emerita at Ben-Gurion University, she is the daughter of former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres, Tsvia Walden turns 79... One of two grand rebbes of Satmar, Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum turns 78... Miami Beach-based real estate developer, Russell W. Galbut turns 73... Actress and director of film and television, Melanie Mayron turns 73... Former longtime House Budget Committee staff director, now an adjunct professorial lecturer at American University, Thomas Kahn... Music composer for many films, winner of six Grammys and an Emmy Award, Thomas Newman turns 70… Managing director and partner at Beacon Pointe Advisors, Jordan Heller… Russian TV and radio journalist, Vladimir Solovyov turns 62... 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris turns 61... U.S. senator (D-HI), Brian Schatz... and his identical twin brother, the executive director of the University of Hawaii's P-20 programs, Stephen Schatz, both turn 53... Israeli actress, Hilla Vidor turns 50... Classical violinist, she is a 2008 winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship, Leila Josefowicz turns 48... Film and television writer, David Caspe turns 47... Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CA-49), Mike Levin turns 47... Long Island regional director at AJC Global, Eric Post... Israeli born actress, she was a recurring character on CBS' “Seal Team,” Alona Tal turns 42... Fashion designer, best known for her eponymous line of women's ready-to-wear, Misha Nonoo turns 38... Director of fundraising and events for the National Association of Realtors' political action committee, Michael Clark... Partner in the New York City office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Evan G. Zuckerman... Twins from Ra’anana, Israel, and avid Jewish Insider readers, Avi and Rafi Granoff turn 21...