Good Friday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine a new study on donor-advised funds and the outsized roles they play in times of financial crisis. We report on Jewish groups' efforts to send aid, funds and teams to the storm-battered Caribbean after Hurricane Melissa, and look at the Kennedy Center’s pivot to combating antisemitism by highlighting Jewish and Israeli art. We feature an opinion piece by Aya Shechter with words of hizuk (encouragement) after the 39th World Zionist Congress this week in Jerusalem, and one by Nicole Caine focused on millennial and Gen Z giving; plus Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny
spotlights a conference focused on taking congregational tefillah off autopilot. Also in this issue: Jody Levison-Johnson, Rabbi Meyer May and Na Tang.
Shabbat shalom! Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 |
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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: The highest ideals and pettiest politics of the World Zionist Congress; Federal SNAP benefits to expire on Nov. 1, leaving philanthropy scrambling to feed the hungry; and Ackman sees Gaza truce easing Saudi path to Abraham Accords. Print the latest edition here.
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We are continuing to monitor the World Zionist Congress coalition negotiations, after a proposed power-sharing arrangement between the center-left and center-right blocs collapsed earlier this week. A new arrangement has been proposed that would bring World Zionist Organization Chair Yaakov Hagoel, who had been excluded from the initial deal, back into the fold, though a WZO official told eJewishPhilanthropy today that it has not yet been finalized or signed.
- The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit kicks off today in Las Vegas.
- The Jewish Agency Board of Governors meeting convenes on Sunday in Jerusalem, running until Tuesday.
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In Detroit, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah is hosting its annual dinner on Sunday evening. This year’s featured speakers are Detroit Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
- A new Chabad Center for Jewish Life is opening on Sunday at the University of Kansas.
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A QUICK WORD WITH EJP'S JAY DEITCHER |
Over the last two decades, donor-advised funds have skyrocketed in popularity, offering donors a more convenient vehicle for charitable giving than more traditional offerings. But a new study released this week by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and the CCS Fundraising consulting firm finds that DAFs are also playing an outsized role in sustaining nonprofits, particularly small ones.
According to the report, “Do Donor-Advised Funds Respond to Nonprofit Financial Distress? Insights from the 2022 Economic Slowdown,” which examined data from 2018 to 2023, DAFs supported nonprofits at a larger scale than overall charitable giving, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 economic slowdown.
DAFs have the potential for “countercyclical giving,” which occurs during periods when the economy slows and nonprofits need more funds but donors have less to give, Jon Bergdoll, interim director of data and research partnerships at the Lilly School, told eJewishPhilanthropy. This is because, with DAFs, donors have money already allocated and set aside that they can dip into when others may be reluctant.
The study was prompted by past research that showed increased giving from DAFs during the Great Recession from December 2007 to June 2009. The new research echoed that trend, finding that during the 2020 pandemic, DAF giving was 20% higher than overall charitable giving. In 2022, during the economic slowdown, inflation was high, consumer confidence was low, markets were in decline and giving went down, causing many nonprofits to struggle. Despite this, DAF giving increased during this period — modestly overall but more significantly for organizations with less than $5 million in assets, which had a DAF boost of 31% compared to overall giving.
The research shows that donors are more likely to help organizations when they “understand the story,” Kate Villa, managing director of CCS Fundraising, told eJP. The study “shows donors are looking for ways to make a difference and responding to simple, powerful cues. Generosity doesn’t need a headline, just awareness.”
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here. |
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Jewish groups send teams, supplies, funds to Jamaica in wake of Hurricane Melissa |
RICARDO MAKYN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES |
Jewish and Israeli groups are scrambling to send aid and resources to the storm-rocked Caribbean after Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm, tore through the area after making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim. Stateside, several Jewish organizations have created emergency disaster relief funds, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Miami, which is home to a large Jamaican expat population, and the Jewish Federations of North America.
On the scene: The Israeli relief group IsraAid has one person on the ground in Jamaica already, with a full team en route, including experts in mental health, psychosocial support and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), the latter being of particular importance as floodwaters can contaminate the water supply and spread disease. SmartAid, a relief group that provides technological infrastructure in crisis-torn areas, already has three team members in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and will soon distribute micro electric grids, solar energy equipment and batteries to provide power to shelters, hospitals and clinics and support first responders, Shachar Zahavi, the organization’s founding director, told eJP.
Read the full report here. |
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Overhauled Kennedy Center takes on the mantle of combating antisemitism |
Artist and curator Josef Palermo has lived in Washington for nearly two decades, but he wasn’t aware that the Kennedy Center had an Israeli lounge until he joined the venerable cultural institution as its curator of visual arts and special programming this summer. Yitzhak Rabin, then Israel’s ambassador to the United States, dedicated the lounge — a small room designed to visually tell the history of Jewish and Israeli music — as Israel’s gift to the United States in 1971, when it opened its doors alongside the Potomac River. Now, the walls of the Israeli Lounge are covered with paintings by American-Israeli artist Marc Provisor, whose son survived the Nova music festival massacre, as part of a special monthlong exhibit commemorating the Oct. 7 terror attacks, reports Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
A new direction: The exhibit marks the beginning of what Kennedy Center leaders say is an institutional commitment to combating antisemitism through the arts, first and foremost by spotlighting the works and contributions of Jewish artists. The Kennedy Center has been under fire from many in the art world this year amid President Donald Trump’s takeover of the institution. He removed all of former President Joe Biden’s appointees from the board and fired the center’s president, who held the role during the first Trump administration. The Kennedy Center has since faced censure from liberal critics, with some going so far as to boycott the institution.
Read the full story here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here. |
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When the system is broken, it’s time to roll up our sleeves |
JUDAH ARI GROSS/EJEWISHPHILANTHROPY |
“Last night, as the plenary of the 39th World Zionist Congress unfolded in Jerusalem, many delegates left the hall shaken,” writes Aya Shechter, chief programming officer of the Israeli-American Council, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Reports surfaced that Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s son, was being nominated for a senior executive role within the World Zionist Organization — a position carrying the salary, perks and influence of a minister. It was a moment that crystallized everything many of us have worried about: that our Zionist institutions — the very ones founded to build the Jewish future — are tools of political
convenience rather than platforms of purpose.”
Be the change you want to see: “[F]or Jews in the Diaspora, the World Zionist Congress is one of the few global tables where they can speak passionately and freely about Israel and Zionism without worrying about political correctness or local communal decorum. It is a rare space that belongs to all of us. A space where values, not just votes, are supposed to drive the agenda. And that is precisely why it must not be abandoned to cynicism, careerism or complacency. When we give up on shared institutions because they disappoint us, we leave the field open to those who see them only as ladders, not as missions. Institutions don’t change when good people leave. They change when good people insist on staying.”
Read the full piece here. |
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The next generations are already giving in their own ways. Is your Jewish organization meeting them where they are? |
JEWISH FEDERATION OF DETROIT/FACEBOOK |
“For too long, Jewish philanthropy has spoken about millennials and Gen Z as ‘the next generation’ of donors, implying that their time for giving is yet to come. The reality is, this group of adults ranging in age from 13 to their mid-40s are already giving, already showing up and already committed,” writes Nicole Caine, a consultant for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life & Legacy Project, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
What they’re looking for: ‘One of the greatest challenges — and opportunities — for Jewish organizations is ensuring that Jewish young adults choose to give within the Jewish community. To do this, engagement must feel accessible, authentic and inclusive. … That means lowering barriers to entry for membership and involvement and creating flexible giving options, such as monthly contributions and small-scale legacy commitments. It can also mean creative alternatives.” Read the full piece here. |
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Jewish worship: It's time for some creative disruption |
“For the past eight years, my home synagogue, Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles, has hosted Kol Tefilla, a radically heimish shabbaton and conference focused on innovative tefillah experiences,” writes Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “At Kol Tefilla, our scholars and musicians challenge participants to rethink every contour of tefillah. The conference is a launchpad for renewal, sending participants back home asking, ‘What’s next?’ for their prayer experiences.”
Why it matters: “Jewish customs have a way of getting stuck. The longer we have been doing something a given way, the less likely we are to examine how ritually effective it is. We lean on the power of precedent — sometimes calling it ‘tradition’ — rather than the power of disruption. But we need disruption in our spiritual lives.”
Read the full piece here. |
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What’s in a Name: In Inside Philanthropy, Jody Levison-Johnson questions the wisdom and challenges the appropriateness of the nonprofit sector’s appellation. “For decades, the organizations that power community wellbeing, deliver essential services and drive social innovation have been defined by a single, limiting word: ‘nonprofit.’ That label doesn’t just distort perception; it distorts funding. It signals scarcity, not strength, and that in turn affects how capital flows, how policymakers design programs, and how funders set priorities. It’s a word
that tells the public what we are not, rather than what we are. And in doing so, it undermines the full value of a sector that represents 5.2% of U.S. GDP, $1.4 trillion in economic activity, and 10% of the American workforce.” [InsidePhilanthropy]
Food for Thought: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Shannon Campion and David Coman-Hidy spotlight the phenomenon of funders focusing their resources on addressing issues around intensive animal agriculture. “Long overlooked and underfunded, this cause is increasingly attracting donors eager to address the largest social issues of our time. ... Uniting these funders, including many from younger generations, is an understanding that giving to create a more ethical and resilient food system is, dollar for dollar, one of the highest-impact opportunities in philanthropy and that collaboration can help maximize every precious cent.” [SSIR]
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Jewish conservatives, including the CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, condemned the Heritage Foundation and its president, Kevin Roberts, for Roberts’ defense of his “close friend” Tucker Carlson amid criticism of Carlson’s friendly interview with neo-Nazi
influencer Nick Fuentes and his general antisemitic and anti-Israel turn…
UJA-Federation of New York warns that some 74,000 Jewish households are set to lose food assistance when the federal SNAP benefits expire tomorrow because of the government shutdown. Read eJP’s coverage on how Jewish nonprofits are preparing for this here…
Hamas returned the remains of Israeli hostages Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch; both men, residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Be’eri, respectively, were alive when taken hostage and died in captivity…
Several hundred thousand Haredi demonstrators in Jerusalem protested efforts to enforce a Haredi draft law that attempted to enlist some 80,000 members of the Haredi community…
The Chronicle of Philanthropy unpacks trends in year-end philanthropic giving, including reduced giving by bigger donors…
One of Belarus’ oldest synagogues, the Kobryn Synagogue, a 19th-century building in the city of the same name, has been put up for public auction after plans to convert it into a cultural landmark fell through…
Taiwanese singer Na Tang, a co-founder, with her husband, of the Jeffrey D. Schwartz NaTang Jewish Taiwan Cultural Association, died at 59… |
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The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington raised more than $2 million at its annual gala last night, making it the most successful fundraiser in the organization’s history, the group told eJewishPhilanthropy… The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust awarded a $10 million grant to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, also known as Ichilov Hospital, for a new state-of-the-art underground emergency hospital in its rehabilitation tower… |
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Rabbi Meyer May is joining Aish Global as executive vice president after 47 years as the executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center; May will remain on as a special counsel to the CEO of the SWC…
Joshua Nason, a former lobbyist at AIPAC, is moving to Jewish Federations of North America, where he will serve as senior director of political affairs… |
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Dozens of Australian Jewish medical professionals attend an aliyah fair this week in Melbourne, Australia. The event, which was geared toward medical professionals, was organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh, in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, Health Ministry, Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, and in cooperation with the Jewish Agency.
The fair, one of several held in Australia in recent days, is meant to encourage doctors and nurses to immigrate to Israel as part of a national effort to address the country’s growing medical personnel shortage.
“We are working to encourage Jewish people, especially now, to make aliyah, be a part of Israel’s growth and success, and contribute to its future,” Ofir Sofer, Israel’s minister of immigration and absorption, said in a statement. “The reforms we’ve implemented in the Ministry and the progress of our many initiatives are already being felt within the Australian community as well. I sincerely hope to hear of more families and young people taking this courageous step and fulfilling the Zionist vision.”
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Philanthropist and Canadian real estate developer living in Israel, Sylvan Adams turns 67 on Saturday...
FRIDAY: Actor with a lengthy career in film, television and theater, Ron Rifkin turns 86... British historian, born in Baghdad, emeritus professor of International Relations at Oxford, Avraham "Avi" Shlaim turns 80... CEO of Feld Entertainment, which operates the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Disney on Ice, Kenneth Feld turns 77... Co-founder and co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, James L. Halperin turns 73... Author, historian and writer-at-large for the U.K.-based Prospect Magazine, Sam Tanenhaus turns 70... Staff writer for The New Yorker, her 1998 book was made into the award-winning movie “Adaptation,” Susan Orlean turns 70... Managing partner of Arel Capital, Richard G. Leibovitch turns 62... PAC director at AIPAC, Marilyn Rosenthal... British lawyer who has served as CEO of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and COO of World ORT, Marc Jonathan (Jon) Benjamin turns 61... Former MLB pitcher, now a managing director at Rockefeller Capital Management in Boca Raton, Fla., Steven Allen Rosenberg turns 61... Founding partner at Lanx Management, former president of AIPAC and past chairman of the Orthodox Union, Howard E. (Tzvi) Friedman turns 60... Director of development for Foundation for Jewish Camp until this past April, he defined his role as a "gelt-shlepper," Corey Cutler... Chief brand and innovation officer of Ralph Lauren, David Lauren turns 54... Founder and CEO of MercadoLibre, the eBay and Amazon of Latin America, Marcos Eduardo Galperin turns 54... Film, television and theater actor, Assaf Cohen turns 53... Film and television director and producer, Ruben Fleischer turns 51... Professor, attorney, author, political columnist and poet, Seth Abramson turns 49...Member of the California State Assembly since 2016, Marc Berman turns 45... Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas turns 45... CEO at Clarasight, he is the founder of Pencils of Promise, Adam Braun... Rabbi and outreach coordinator at the Leffell Lower School in White
Plains, N.Y., she is the founder of Midrash Manicures, combining Jewish education and creative nail art, Yael Buechler turns 40... Global strategy and capability development contractor at PwC, Spencer Herbst... Director of institutional advancement at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, Masha Shollar... Wheelchair basketball player and social media personality, Peter Berry turns 24…
SATURDAY: French economic and social theorist, he is the author of The Economic History of the Jewish People, Jacques Attali turns 82... Rabbi-in-residence of Baltimore's 3,500-member Beth Tfiloh Congregation, after more than 43 years as senior rabbi, Mitchell Wohlberg turns 81... Pioneering investor in the personal computing industry, founder of Lotus and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mitch Kapor turns 75... Founding rabbi, now emeritus, at Beit T'Shuvah, a nonprofit Jewish addiction treatment center and synagogue community in Los Angeles, Mark Borovitz turns 74... Retired management analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy, Les Novitsky... Serial entrepreneur, Warren B. Kanders turns 68... Special assistant to New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Pinchus Hikind... President of an eponymous auctioneering firm specializing in the appraisal and sale of antique Judaica, Jonathan Greenstein turns 58... CEO at AIPAC, Elliot Brandt... Actress, best known
for her roles on “All My Children” and “General Hospital,” Alla Korot turns 55... Principal at Calabasas, California-based CRC-Commercial Realty Consultants, Brian Weisberg... Israeli director, screenwriter and actress, Dikla Elkaslassy turns 46... Member of the Knesset, she is the first Ethiopian-born woman to hold a Knesset seat and the first to serve as a government minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata turns 44... Associate in the Washington office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Clare F. Steinberg... Israeli video blogger, journalist and business executive, Idan Matalon turns 37... Chief advancement officer at The Leffell School in Westchester County (N.Y.), Annie Peck Watman... Reporter for CNN, Marshall J. Cohen... Associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman, Mitchell Caminer... Pitcher for Team Israel, Gabe Cramer turns 31... Derek Brody... Actor since childhood, Max Burkholder turns 28... E.R. Novick…
SUNDAY: Former NASA astronaut who made five flights in the space shuttle and is currently a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, he was one of NASA's first two Jewish astronauts, Jeffrey A. Hoffman turns 81... County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland, Marc Elrich turns 76... Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink turns 73... Former chair of the Maryland Democratic
Party and vice chair of the DNC, Susan Wolf Turnbull turns 73... Professor emerita of Jewish studies at the University of Virginia, Vanessa L. Ochs turns 72... Research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Alan D. Abbey... CNN special correspondent, Jamie Sue Gangel turns 70... Former head of school for 29 years at Weizmann Day School in Los Angeles, Lisa Feldman... Professor of Jewish history at UCLA and immediate past president of the board of the New Israel Fund, David N. Myers turns 65... Deputy commissioner of Maine's Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Joan F. Cohen turns 63... Financial planner at Grant Arthur & Associates Wealth Services, he is the author of a book on the complicity of Lithuania in the Holocaust, Grant Arthur Gochin... President of global content at Viva Creative, Thomas Joseph (Joe) Talbott... Marc Solomon... Head of U.S. public policy at Workday, John Sampson turns 59... Actor, director and producer, best known for playing Ross Geller in the sitcom "Friends," David Schwimmer turns 59... Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at USDOJ during the Trump administration, now a partner at Latham & Watkins, Makan Delrahim turns 56... Professor of economics at MIT, she won a MacArthur "Genius" fellowship in 2018, Amy Nadya Finkelstein turns 52... Founder and CEO of Spring Hills Senior Communities, Alexander C. Markowits... Journalist and bestselling author, he is the publisher of The Lever and a columnist at The Guardian, David Sirota turns 50... U.S. Executive Vice President of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, Michael Cohen... Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Alexander Kushnir turns 47... Deputy editor of The Morning Newsletter at The New York Times, Adam B. Kushner turns 45... President and CEO of Birthright Israel Foundation, Elias Saratovsky
turns 45… Marc B. Rosen… Former director of government relations at the Israel Policy Forum, now a staffer on Capitol Hill, Aaron Weinberg... Senior test engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., Noah Taylor… Two-time Emmy award-winning video producer, now working as a messaging editor for The New York Times, Celeste B. Lavin turns 35...
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