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Good Thursday morning!

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine the fallout from the centrist Yesh Atid party’s decision to drop out of the World Zionist Organization yesterday. We cover Tuesday night’s La’Aretz Foundation gala in New York City, report on a recent panel discussion looking at the inefficient efforts to address antisemitism and speak with key figures behind the American advocacy campaign on behalf of the hostages. We feature an opinion piece by Phil Siegel proposing “rules of the road” to help Jewish philanthropists model and enforce unity within the broad tent of the Jewish Zionist community, and Phil Loewy and Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus reflect on Shalom Austin’s emergency response to the devastating floods that swept through Central Texas in July. Also in this issue: Robert Tucker, Joseph Lubeck and Jeff Yass.

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The centrist Yesh Atid party’s sudden decision yesterday to drop out of the so-called “National Institutions” shocked and angered its center-left allies in the World Zionist Congress, with whom it had been working to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with the center-right parties. 

In a recorded video message, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid described the World Zionist Organization and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, which owns more than 10% of the land of Israel and controls a substantial budget to match, as irredeemably corrupt, which he said required his party to abandon them entirely. Lapid also called for the “immediate nationalization” of KKL-JNF’s land holdings and assets. Read more about Lapid’s announcement here.

Yesh Atid, as the largest party in Israel’s opposition, had been playing a lead role in the negotiations, with representatives from the party expected to serve as chairs of KKL-JNF and the WZO, which runs educational and civil programs around the world. “[Yesh Atid Chair Yair] Lapid is like a commander who abandons his soldiers in the field,” a political ally of Yesh Atid in the congress told eJewishPhilanthropy, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. 

The crux of Yesh Atid’s split with its center-left allies was not in Lapid’s diagnosis of the situation but in how he planned to address it. Speaking to eJP, Yesh Atid’s coalition allies did not dispute Lapid’s conclusion that WZO and KKL-JNF had become corrupt and excessive institutions, which often served as a mechanism for Israeli politicians to provide political allies and family members with lucrative jobs. Instead, they argued that walking away from the organizations both hampers efforts to reform them and serves only to leave control of these budgets and positions in the hands of the center-right bloc.

Steinhardt Foundation CEO Tova Dorfman, who serves as president of the WZO and is also a major Yesh Atid supporter, told eJP that after years of pushing for reform from within the organization, Lapid reached the conclusion that this was a lost cause. “The price that we felt we had to pay in terms of corruption was too high,” Dorfman said. 

In the short term, Lapid’s move throws the coalition negotiations back into turmoil. In the long term, Yesh Atid’s abandonment of the National Institutions may signify the beginning of their demise, ending a nearly 130-year-old institution that gave rank-and-file Diaspora Jews direct power over the goings-on in Israel. To some, this is what made these institutions anachronistic, no longer relevant or necessary after the creation of the state. To others, the institutions are what helped sustain the connection between world Jewry and the State of Israel, not through rhetoric and gestures but in practical terms of cold, hard cash and political leverage.

Dorfman stressed that Lapid and Yesh Atid still believe that world Jewry is a “strategic asset” for the State of Israel. She also clarified that the party’s issues are with WZO and KKL-JNF, not with the other two organizations that make up the National Institutions: the Jewish Agency for Israel and the international fundraiser Keren Hayesod, which she said Lapid greatly respected, particularly in their efforts following the Oct. 7 attacks.

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

OHAD KAB/DADA MEDIA

While most of New York City’s attention was turned to the mayoral election results on Tuesday night, some 150 philanthropists gathered to support a cause 5,000 miles away — raising $500,000 for the La’Aretz Foundation, a Brooklyn-based aid organization that provides cash directly to Israelis in need, reports Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy from the event. 

Perfect harmony: The third annual La’Aretz benefit was held at the Harmonie Club in midtown Manhattan, where attendees dined on acclaimed Israeli chef Eyal Shani’s stuffed pita and roasted sweet potato dishes. The evening included remarks from La’Aretz founders, husband-and-wife team Mike and Shelly Pitman; Ambassador Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul general in New York; Ben Carasso, a fifth-grader from Tel Aviv known as the “spokeskid of Israel”; and “N,” an injured Israeli reservist, who cannot be identified by his full name for security reasons.

Read the full report here.

ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES

As antisemitism rates show no signs of abating, even as the number of initiatives to address it balloons, along with budgets to support them, it forces the question: Are these efforts productive? That was one of the core issues that experts attempted to answer on Wednesday at a webinar titled “Fighting Smarter: The Playbook for Professionals and Data Driven Philanthropy.” Hosted by Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, resource development manager at Anu Museum of the Jewish People, and co-organized by Global Jewry, the event featured Eran Shayshon, founder of the Israel-based Atchalta think tank, and Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network. Shayshon and Spokoiny presented findings from recent studies their organizations conducted related to initiatives that are combating antisemitism, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.

Removing redundancies: Even before the Oct. 7 massacres, for over 10 years, Jewish funders and organizations have seen antisemitism as a priority. “The problem was precisely that there’s too much interest, and that interest is not matched by a strategic approach on how to fight this fight,” Spokoiny said at the webinar “When people tell you that [we need to unite], generally, what they are saying is everybody should follow me,” he said. “Maybe it’s OK to have 35 organizations calling out bad behavior, but it’s not OK for each of them to have their own IT operation and their own research area and their own infrastructure. Sharing infrastructure can definitely be a way to make the system much more efficient…There may be an AI tool that every content provider can use. They don’t have to develop it by themselves.”

Read the full report here.

COURTESY

When several dozen former hostages and family members of those still held in Gaza gathered at the Kennedy Center for a yoga class overlooking the Potomac River on Oct. 8, the class began with a practice familiar to anyone who regularly does yoga. “What do you do in yoga? You set your intention. You think about the release of the hostages,” recalled Matan Sivek, who until last month was director of the Hostage Families Forum’s U.S. operation. As soon as the class ended, a cacophony of cellphones began ringing as news broke about a possible deal. Sivek, and other key players in the campaign for the hostages, spoke with Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider last week to reflect on the two-year-long advocacy campaign — spearheaded by Sivek, his wife Bar Ben-Yaakov and leading Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

Behind the scenes: Within the Trump administration, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was working behind the scenes on behalf of the hostages. His wife, Allison, was the driving force behind his advocacy. “The two-year anniversary of Oct. 7 was a day of intense emotion, sadness, mourning and disbelief and horror that it’s been two years. And then the next day, Oct. 8, was this incredible elation. It just couldn’t have been more different,” Allison Lutnick said. “It was extraordinary to walk into Matan’s house later that night and celebrate with the families.” She and her husband arrived at the impromptu celebration with two bottles of champagne. Meanwhile, Lisa Eisen and Stacy Schusterman, the president and the chair of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, showed up with food for 30. “It was one of the most powerful, moving, beautiful moments. And I have to say, Matan and Bar, it wouldn’t happen without them. They were so tireless,” Eisen said.

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

PHOTOTECHNO/GETTY IMAGES

“Jewish philanthropists have always played a crucial role in shaping communal priorities, but at this moment, their responsibility is greater than ever,” writes entrepreneur, private equity investor and philanthropist Phil Siegel in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Philanthropists must help hold down the middle of Jewish life: anchoring it against the undertow of polarization, calming the loudest voices on both the left and right and ensuring that our institutions remain mission-focused rather than reactive and deliver on their promises to our community.”

An ‘internal ceasefire’ agreement: “We all know that there are deep-seated ideological disagreements within the American Jewish community about Israel’s government, about American politics — even about the future of Jewish identity itself. These debates are real and important and should not be minimized. But the most critical conclusion to draw from the past two years is that the shared resolve on questions of Zionism and Jewish Peoplehood must remain intact for the foreseeable future. To that end, we need our own ‘internal ceasefire’ among professionals, advocates, leaders and philanthropists. … Every ceasefire has rules that need to be followed, and philanthropists have a strong platform from which to model and enforce a new civility in our community.”

Read the full piece here.

COURTESY/SHALOM AUSTIN

“During the July Fourth weekend, when devastating floods hit Central Texas, thousands of local families were left without homes, belongings and, in some cases, hope,” write Shalom Austin CEO Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus and Board Chair Phil Loewy in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “As a rapidly growing Jewish community rooted in philanthropy, compassion and collective responsibility, we quickly saw we could play a vital role — and that included serving as a conduit for help from others.”

For instance: “Within 24 hours of the first reports of the disaster, we established a dedicated online and physical mailbox for donations and shared it widely: not only with synagogues and sister organizations in our own community, but with Jewish institutional partners nationally who were watching the harrowing event unfold in their news feeds and wanted to help. … In less than 24 hours, we received $70,500 from 21 states for Shalom Austin’s Flood Relief Campaign. By July 15, we reached more than $500,000 in donations from over 2,700 donors in 43 states. As of this fall, the Flood Relief Campaign has received nearly $850,000 from more than 3,000 donors across 46 states and Canada.”

Read the full piece here.

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Beyond Positive Feelings: In the latest issue of Prizmah’s HaYidion — dedicated in memory of deceased hostage Omer Neutra, a proud day school alum — Marc Wolf writes about developing a holistic approach to Israel education. “As the research proves, Jewish day schools and yeshivas in North America excel most at the affective aspect of Israel education — what we want them to feel about Israel. … But what do we want students to know when they graduate from our schools? Our approach to Israel education needs to reach beyond affective and behavioral goals to include cognitive goals as well. What should they know about the history of Zionism, the founding of the State of Israel, the multifaceted makeup of the peoples in and around the State of Israel? And given that Israel is taught across so many disciplines, what educational messages are students hearing in their Tanakh classes, their history classes, social studies, Hebrew or English literature?” [HaYidion]

Going Digital: Alison L. Joseph, director of digital scholarship at Gratz College outside Philadelphia, marks World Digital Preservation Day and the launch of the institution’s new Grayzel Digital Platform by highlighting the importance of digitization. “Digitization and digital publication make sources accessible to people all over the world — from their homes, libraries, and universities; digitization provides a wide variety of ways to preserve the original, physical object, while affording digital access to a broad audience. … Archival materials are often fragile and damaged; a single touch may further degrade them. Providing researchers with digital access will cause no further harm to the originals, and the use of digital surrogates will extend the life expectancy of important objects.” [Grayzel]

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Jewish institutions across the country have secured a total of more than $2 billion in posthumous commitments for endowments through the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life and Legacy program, the foundation told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim…

The body of Joshua Loitu Mollel, a Tanzanian citizen and agronomy student who was killed and kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, was returned to Israel by Hamas last night…  

The Community Security Service announced a new partnership with the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America and the National Museum of American Jewish Military History… 

Recently released hostage Rom Braslavski said he was sexually assaulted by his captors in Gaza, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13 “Hazinor” program…

A new sketch on the popular Israeli satire show “Eretz Nehederet” pokes fun at the current oft-despondent state of world Jewry, featuring an Israeli man fleeing Israel for New York City who runs into a Jewish woman fleeing New York City for Israel, with both thinking that the other is an idiot…

Jacob Frey, the Jewish Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, won reelection over Democratic Socialists of America-aligned state Sen. Omar Fateh… 

Jewish philanthropist and FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker resigned from the role yesterday, citing his Zionist beliefs, which he said would be at odds with the incoming administration… 

Soon after swastikas were painted on a Brooklyn Jewish day school, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged to increase security funding for Jewish schools by $20 million…

Rabbi Marc Schneier of the Hamptons Synagogue announced plans for a Jewish day school in the Hamptons, anticipating Jewish families leaving Manhattan in response to Zohran Mamdani winning the mayoral race…

An Afghan national was arrested in Denmark on Wednesday on suspicion of promising to acquire weapons for an Iranian-backed attack on Jewish targets in Germany…

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts apologized in a staff meeting on Wednesday for his video last week defending far-right commentator Tucker Carlson and refusing to “cancel” neo-Nazi leader Nick Fuentes, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Bulgaria launched a commission of inquiry into the activities of philanthropist George Soros, his family and Open Societies Foundation… 

Accountant and philanthropist Gary R. Gerson, who served on the boards of several Jewish organizations, died on Oct. 22 at 92…

Joseph Lubeck, an alumnus of Cornell University, donated $5 million to his alma mater for its Jewish studies program, endowing its director position…

Investor Jeff Yass donated $100 million to the University of Austin, whose founders include journalist Bari Weiss and venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale…

Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg pledged $31 million from their research foundation to UCLA to support biomedical research; this brings the couple’s total giving to UCLA to $60 million…

SIVAN SHACHOR/GPO

Ofir Sofer, Israel’s minister of immigration and absorption, speaks at a press conference today in Jerusalem announcing new tax breaks for people who make aliyah, or immigrate to Israel, in 2026. Under the plan, new immigrants would pay 0% income taxes in 2026 and 2027 — on annual incomes up to NIS 1 million ($307,000) — followed by lowered tax rate for the following three years. (Israeli income tax normally ranges from 10%-50% depending on salary level.) This is on top of the existing benefits offered to new immigrants.

“Aliyah holds profound Zionist, social, and economic significance for the State of Israel,” Sofer said. “It strengthens our social fabric, brings high-quality human capital, and boosts growth, innovation, and national development.”

COURTESY

Executive at Elliott Management, podcast host and author of Start-up Nation and The Genius of Israel, Dan Senor turns 54… 

Leading teacher in the Breslov Hasidic movement in Israel, Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter turns 95… Belgian theoretical physicist, a Holocaust survivor and 2013 Nobel Prize laureate, François Englert turns 93… Former president and CEO of American Jewish World Service until 2016, prior to that she served as the Manhattan borough president, Ruth Wyler Messinger turns 85… Former commissioner of the Social Security Administration until 2021, Andrew Saul turns 79… Former aide to President Bill Clinton and a longtime advisor to Hillary Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal turns 77… Research scientist at NYU's Langone Medical Center, Barbara Volsky turns 75… Senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, Joseph C. Shenker turns 69… Actress and cellist best known for her lead role in the 1984 film "Footloose" and the television series "Fame," Lori Singer… and her twin brother, violinist, composer and conductor, he is the founder and music director of the Manhattan Symphonie, Gregory Singer both turn 68… Managing director of the NFL Players Association for 15 years until he retired five months ago, Ira Fishman turns 68… Editorial page editor and Op-Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times until 2023, Nicholas Goldberg turns 67… Professional poker player from Las Vegas, he has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets and his total tournament winnings exceed $45.5 million, Erik Seidel turns 66… Founder of Nourish Snacks, she is the host of NBC's "Health & Happiness" and author of 15 New York Times best-sellers, Joy Bauer turns 62… Philanthropist, she is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute, Laurene Powell Jobs turns 62… Principal and COO at Douglass Winthrop Advisors, Andrew S. Weinberg… Senior vice president of investments in the Beverly Hills office of Raymond James, Seth A. Radow… Chairman at IDTFS Bank in Gibraltar, he is a partner in Covenant Winery, Geoffrey Rochwarger turns 55… Director of external affairs at the William Davidson Foundation, Kari Alterman… Film producer, together with her husband Robert Downey Jr., Susan Nicole Levin Downey turns 52… South Florida entrepreneur, Earl J. Campos-Devine… Head cantor of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City, Yaakov ("Yanky") Lemmer turns 42… and his younger brother, the first Hasidic Jew to sign a contract with a leading record label, Shulem Lemmer turns 36… Producer on the Ben Shapiro Show, Jake Pollack turns 30… Former baseball outfielder in the Orioles and Angels systems, he played for Team Israel in 2012 and is now a manager of business development at Robson Forensic, Robert Eric Widlansky turns 41… 

BIRTHWEEK: O. M. Taylor celebrated his birthday on Wednesday…