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Good Wednesday morning!

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we cover the inauguration of a new memorial forest in honor of the victims of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and resulting two years of war, and report on Adamah’s inaugural participation in last month’s Climate Week NYC. We feature an opinion piece by Warren H. Cohn responding to the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention’s public statement doubling down on their misuse of the Lemkin name, now as a fundraising tactic; and Sharon Freundel shares an educational experience that shaped her Jewish worldview. Also in this issue: Ron Shaich, Jon Medved and Leo Ullman.

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On the rolling, yellow hills just south of the homes being built on the devastated Kibbutz Beeri and just north of the site of the Nova Music Festival massacre, some 2,000 green and white flags mark where eucalyptus trees are being planted to serve as a memorial to the roughly same number of people killed in the Oct. 7 attacks and the resulting two years of war in Israel, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross from the inauguration ceremony.

The “Iron Swords Forest” — as the forest is known, at least for now — was inaugurated on Tuesday morning by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, which owns much of the undeveloped land in the area, with families of several victims planting some of the first trees, joined by representatives of organizations that support bereaved families and officials from the country’s security and emergency services. (Though the main sign for the forest was unveiled on Tuesday, the name of the forest may change as the government recently renamed the conflict “The Tekuma War,” or “War of Revival.”)

In the coming weeks, the families of the remaining victims are invited to plant saplings and hammer small markers next to the trees featuring their loved ones’ names, photos and other basic details, along with a QR code linking to their favorite song. “If there’s one thing that our history teaches us, it is that we know how to stand up, how to recover and how to grow anew,” Ifat Ovadia-Luski, KKL-JNF chair, said at the ceremony. “Planting this forest is a clear expression that we do not surrender, we are not leaving. We are planted here forever.”

Yesterday’s ceremony was originally scheduled nearly a year ago, around the tree-focused Tu B’Shevat holiday in early 2025, but the fighting in Gaza was raging at the time, so it was postponed to the summer. And then Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, sparking a 12-day conflict, which further delayed the inauguration. Though Ovadia-Luski noted that the war in Gaza was not yet fully over, with two soldiers killed in an RPG attack two days prior, the current armistice allowed the inauguration to go ahead.

“The Iron Swords Forest is not just another forest. It’s a forest of pain, but also of hope. It will stand here for generations, telling the stories of the heroes who died defending their nation, their lands and their homes,” Ovadia-Luski said in her speech at the ceremony.

Several of the speakers compared people to trees, including Eli Taher, who serves as chairman of the Israeli organization Yad L’Banim, which commemorates fallen soldiers and supports their families. Taher is triply bereaved, with a son, Yossi, who was killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, another son Roi, who died in an accident in 2001 during his military service, and a brother Yossi, whom his son was named for, who fell in battle in 1981.

“Every day when I wake up, I set for myself a hill to climb. I imagine my two boys sitting on that hill, with a bonfire and a bottle of beer. And every day, I climb that hill. I fall, I get hurt, I yell, I cry, I laugh, but at the end of every day, I drink that beer with my kids. Every day, I overcome that fracture and destruction,” Taher said. “Like a tree can grow, so can we, bereaved families, continue to grow despite the pain.” 

Read the full report here.

COURTESY/ADAMAH

There was a time when American chestnut trees blanketed over 8 million acres of America providing birds, deer and humans with the sweetest, butteriest nuts loaded with fiber and antioxidants. But in the early 20th century, an alien fungus infiltrated America, transported overseas on trade ships from Asia, destroying billions of the trees. Last month, on a near-perfect day — 71 degrees — a group of 40-plus volunteers gathered at the Science Museum of Long Island to help four new American chestnuts take root, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.

New year of the trees: Outside the museum, more than 170 native trees and shrubs were planted on Sept. 21, as part of “Rooted: A Jewish Day of Service for the Earth,” an event organized by Adamah NY, which was part of the larger Climate Week NYC. Over 1,100 participants brought in the Jewish New Year by cleaning, planting, weeding and clearing trails across New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. Although Climate Week NYC has run since 2009, this was Adamah’s inaugural event tied to the initiative because the group was waiting for the timing to be right. “It wasn't just about teaching people that caring for the earth is important and sacred,” Mindy Germain, the museum site captain, said. “It was giving that connection with their own hands.”

Read the full report here.

GETTY IMAGES

“Our task today — as Jewish professionals, philanthropists and advocates — is to ensure that the language of justice remains anchored in truth, not ideology. We must use our influence not only to promote causes but to protect meaning itself,” writes Warren H. Cohn, CEO and founder of Rocketship PR, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. 

A depraved doubling-down: “After we successfully drew widespread media attention to serious concerns about the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention’s misuse of the Lemkin name, the organization issued a public statement — one that cited every outlet we’d reached, from Fox News to The Jerusalem Post. In one sense, it was the perfect PR outcome. In another, it was a sobering reminder of how far we’ve drifted from the moral clarity we desperately need. Because what followed wasn’t introspection. It was fundraising. The institute’s statement wasn’t a course correction or apology; it was an appeal for money to ‘defend’ their right to use Raphael Lemkin’s name — the name of the Jewish international law expert who helped draft the Genocide Convention — while continuing to accuse Israel of genocide. To anyone who values truth and the moral vocabulary our people helped give the world, that should feel like a gut punch.”

Read the full piece here.

COURTESY

“Reading about Rabbi Ethan Daniel Davidson and his journey toward ordination was truly heartening (“Musician, author and philanthropist Ethan Daniel Davidson adds rabbi to his many hats,” eJewishPhilanthropy, Sept. 17),” writes Sharon Freundel, managing director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “One paragraph in particular prompted me to reflect and share a few thoughts.”

Life behind the labels: “What makes a Jew religious? Is it someone whose life is guided by Jewish values, whether derived from ancient texts or formed through a personal moral compass? Is it someone who feels a connection to God or a Higher Power? Or does it mean someone who strictly observes Shabbat and keeps kosher? And what constitutes Jewish practice? Does it include giving tzedakah and engaging in gemilut chassadim (acts of lovingkindness), or is it limited to ritual observance? If it’s only the latter, I believe we’re missing something essential.”

Read the full piece here.

It’s The Friction, Stupid: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Rasheeda Childress shares insights from this month’s Donor Experience Summit about the concept of “friction” and how it relates to philanthropy. “A common problem online is people not completing the checkout process — whether that’s buying a product or finishing a donation form. To help donors, or shoppers, complete the transaction, organizations try to remove things that make people pause the process, often called friction … Removing friction may feel like common sense, but it’s also behavioral science at work, several of the conference’s speakers explained. Behavioral science can’t make people do things, noted behavioral scientist Matt Wallaert, who gave the closing keynote. But behavioral science can help nonprofits nudge donors to do the things donors already want to do — the things they came to the charity’s website to consider doing in the first place.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]

Autism Agenda: In Nonprofit Quarterly, Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, talks with Matthew Rosza about the impact of budget cuts to Medicaid and misinformation about what causes autism spectrum disorder on nonprofits serving the autistic community. “Medicaid provides services to groups that require unique accommodations, and this includes autistic people, who make up one out of 31 children and one out of 45 adults in the United States. ‘While nonprofits may provide small grants to autistic people in financial need, many are not equipped to handle the expense of direct services without government funding,’ Gross said. … ‘We fought so fiercely for Medicaid because it is irreplaceable. Nonprofits cannot make up the difference.’ As a person on the autism spectrum myself, I can confidently say that without the assistance of allies like sympathetic nonprofits, millions will struggle to survive.” [NPQ]

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Israel received the bodies of Kibbutz Nir Oz residents Tamir Adar and Arie Zalmanowicz from Gaza; Adar was killed during the Oct. 7 attacks, while Zalmanowicz, one of the kibbutz’s founders, was injured when he was taken hostage, and is believed to have died in Hamas captivity in November 2023…

The body of Bipin Joshi, a Nepalese kibbutz worker who was taken hostage by Hamas and killed in captivity, was cremated in a funeral ceremony in Nepal after his remains were repatriated earlier this week after being turned over by the terror group in Gaza…

A law doubling the state budget for groups that support disabled soldiers and victims of terror attacks and wars passed its final two readings in the Knesset yesterday…

Paul Ingrassia announced on Tuesday he was withdrawing his embattled nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel amid growing GOP opposition to his recently unearthed antisemitic and racist text messages, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Matthew Shea report…

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo raised more than $375,000 — including donations from hundreds of donors in Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Upper West and Upper East Sides — in the 24 hours following New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ departure from the race last month…

In The Wall Street Journal, Elisha Wiesel raises concerns about what a potential victory by New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani next month could mean for the city’s Jewish community. Columnist Bret Stephens does the same in The New York Times…

The Trump administration is nearing an agreement with the University of Virginia — the first public university to settle with the federal government — after months of negotiations amid a broader crackdown by the White House on college campuses that included the removal of the school’s president earlier this year…

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency examines the case of Isabella Vinci, who converted to Judaism during the COVID-19 pandemic and whose conversion has been rejected by Israeli immigration officials, in part because her conversion course was conducted virtually…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, widely viewed as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, plans to publish a memoir early next year, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…

The Knesset’s Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs held a hearing on Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s controversial decision to invite far-right British activist Tommy Robinson to Israel against the expressed opposition of the U.K. Jewish community…

Coachella Valley (Calif.) hosted a large, televised memorial service last night for local philanthropist and arts patron Harold Matzner, who died last month at 88…

Dr. Jeffrey Medoff, the former president of the Greensboro (N.C.) Jewish Federation, died on Saturday at 73…

Michael Schaeffer, a former board member of the Columbus (Ohio) Jewish Federation, died on Sunday at 76…

Ron Shaich, the founder of Panera Bread, is donating $20 million to his alma mater, Clark University, through his family foundation in support of the school’s restructuring program; this is the largest-ever donation to the university…

The Bay Area-based Koret Foundation has awarded a five-year, $1.8 million grant to the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews for an expansion of its core exhibition and other improvements to its facilities…

OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved is transitioning to a new role as the company’s chair following his diagnosis of ALS…

Paul Abad was named the next philanthropy and planned giving officer of LGBTQ-focused Our Fund Foundation…

The National Council of Jewish Women has hired Rabbi Nora Feinstein as its next director of leadership development…

David Lega was named the next secretary-general of the European Jewish Association…

David Kraemer will step down from his role as the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary effective June 30, after serving in the role for 22 years…

Former Gaza Humanitarian Foundation head Rev. Johnnie Moore is joining Pepperdine University as its vice chancellor in Washington, D.C., and managing director of the school’s master of Middle East policy studies program in its school of public policy...

COURTESY/AUSCHWITZ JEWISH CENTER FOUNDATION

Twenty-eight New York high school students listen to Holocaust survivor Leo Ullman, who discusses his experience of surviving as a child in Amsterdam, blocks from Anne Frank’s hiding spot, at the Center for Jewish Life in New York City. The meeting was held after the students visited the museum’s Anne Frank exhibit as part of the New York City Council’s New Visions Combat Hate Fellowship, which is being run in partnership with the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation.

DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES FOR TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Australian philanthropist, real estate investor and longtime chairman of Westfield Corporation, Frank Lowy turns 95... 

Pioneer of the venture capital and private equity industries, he is chairperson and co-founder of Primetime Partners, Alan Patricof turns 91... Retired executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, he was previously chairman of NYC-based law firm Proskauer Rose, Allen Fagin... Professor of education at American Jewish University, Ron Wolfson, Ph.D.... Actor who starred in many high-grossing films such as “Jurassic Park,” “Independence Day” and sequels to both, Jeff Goldblum turns 73... Agent for artists, sculptors and photographers, he is a son of Lillian Vernon, David Hochberg... Retired vice-chair of SKDK, she was the longtime CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, Hilary Rosen turns 67... Composer and lyricist, he has won two Grammys, two Emmys and a Tony, Marc Shaiman turns 66... Author of two novels and three other books, Susan Jane Gilman... Former New York City commissioner for international affairs, Edward Alexander Mermelstein turns 58... Bethesda, Md., resident, Eric Matthew Fingerhut... President of Argentina since December 2023, Javier Milei turns 55... Chief of staff of The Associated Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Michelle Gordon... Director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, Albert Stankowski turns 54... Screenwriter and executive producer, Eric Guggenheim turns 52... Actor best known for playing D.J. Conner on the long-running series “Roseanne” and its spin-off show, “The Conners,” Michael Fishman turns 44... Partner at West End Strategy Team, Samantha Friedman Kupferman... Dana Max Tarley Sicherman... Sports radio talk show host and podcaster, Danny Parkins turns 39... Psychotherapist with a private practice in White Plains, Maayan Tregerman, LCSW-R... Journalist and author, Ross Barkan turns 36... Actor and producer, best known for his roles as a child actor starting at age 6, Jonathan Lipnicki turns 35... One of Israel's most popular singers, his YouTube channel has over 2.4 billion views, Omer Adam turns 32... Freelance reporter, Ryan Torok...