Your Daily Phil |
AUGUST 6, 2026
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on Jewish Federations of North America cutting consultant Matthew Berger over controversy concerning a leaked slide encouraging the use of terms besides ‘Zionism,’ despite it aligning with its own messaging strategy, and spotlight Atlanta’s Dupree Center’s bid to create ‘Jewish thriving’ through adult education. We feature an opinion piece by David Zalik framing investment in Jewish summer camp and day school as mutually necessary ways to support a Jewish future, and a piece by Rabbi Joshua Rabin argues that there is a problem with the evolution of investment in synagogues since the aughts. Also in this issue: Yona Yahav, Dan Gilber and Jack Smorgon.
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What We're Watching
The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s annual National Jewish Retreat kicked off last night and runs through Sunday in Miami.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP'S JUDAH ARI GROSS
There is a saying that every driver in Israel is familiar with: You can be right, or you can be smart.
That choice — between standing on principle and adapting to an unfair reality (a car forcibly merging despite my having the right of way) — is increasingly playing out in American Jewish communal organizations over the use of the term “Zionism.” This week, that fraught debate claimed a “victim,” as a communications consultant for Jewish Federations of North America had his contract ended abruptly in light of blowback over a presentation that advocated avoiding the word “Zionism” in favor of less misunderstood terms. More on this below.
For some in the Jewish world, the fact that the word Zionism has taken on this negative connotation as a result of a coordinated, persistent campaign is a sufficient reason to fight for the term. For them, the word “Zionism” — the right word for Jewish self-determination — should be used loudly, proudly and widely. To others, the word “Zionism” is just a word, and Jewish communal focus should be on the idea that it represents, even if that means strategically — in their minds’ smartly — forfeiting the term in some cases.
However Jewish communal organizations proceed — doing what is right or what is smart — they should do so confidently, clearly and consistently.
News
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
JFNA cuts PR consultant after blowback for messaging plan recommending terms other than ‘Zionism’
Jewish Federations of North America abruptly cut the contract of Matthew Berger, a communications professional, on Wednesday after facing blowback for a seminar about a new messaging strategy about Israel that recommended using “terms that have broader appeal” besides Zionism during a National Young Leadership Cabinet retreat this week, JFNA confirmed to eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. The termination was first reported on Wednesday by the Jerusalem News Syndicate.
Social distancing: In its statement, JFNA distanced itself from Berger’s presentation, saying that it “was not prepared by Jewish Federations of North America, but by a Project Halo consultant, and does not represent our approach to Zionism.” However, Berger’s advice to shy away from the word “Zionism” in favor of other terms is, in fact, in line with Project Halo’s recommendations, which have been adopted by JFNA. Neither Project Halo nor JFNA advocates abandoning the term “Zionism” entirely, nor did Berger in his presentation.
YOU, ME AND DUPREE
A Sapir essay imagined ‘Jewish thriving.’ Atlanta's Dupree Center built it a home.
In his 2023 Sapir essay “Three Falsehoods About Antisemitism—and One Truth,” Bret Stephens drew a distinction between Jews who succeed as individuals and the collective flourishing that he coined “Jewish thriving.” At Atlanta's new Jewish education hub, the Dupree Center, that idea is coming to life, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet.
Continuing education: The early evidence is in the turnout. Dupree's board braced for a slow start, but the community responded in full force, drawing 4,347 community members to 120 programs so far this year, the center told eJP. Months into her new role, founding executive director Dana Sender-Mulla frames the stakes plainly, making the case that deep adult education is how Jewish identity gets built and passed on. “Jewish identity won't carry itself forward on inertia alone. It has to be chosen, cultivated, and built — in real places, by real communities," she said.
Opinion
BREADTH VS. DEPTH
The false choice between funding camp and day school
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, David Zalik, co-founder of the Zalik Foundation, encourages funders to approach day school and Jewish camp not as separate programs but as mutually critical parts of one ecosystem.
“No single funder can underwrite an entire civilization, and concentration is a fair strategy when resources are scarce. But even on a tight budget, the trap is treating breadth and depth as rivals for the same dollar. A funder who cannot do both alone can still build the partnerships — with other funders, and with affordability programs like One Happy Camper grants and day school tuition subsidies — that keep both functions alive.”
BLIND SPOT
Why do we ignore the synagogue?
In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Rabbi Joshua Rabin, rabbi of the Astoria Center of Israel in Queens, N.Y., and author of “Moneyball Judaism” on Substack, argues that while synagogues have been painted as decreasingly central to Jewish communal life over the past quarter-century, it is a mistake for Jewish philanthropy to treat them as poor investments.
“Synagogues already exist in hundreds of communities across North America, accompanying Jews across every stage of life — from welcoming newborns to burying the dead. Camps, day schools, Hillels, Israel programs and countless other institutions each play indispensable roles, but all serve narrower populations or specific moments in the Jewish lifecycle. None possesses the synagogue's geographic reach or its capacity to engage Jews over a lifetime.”
Worthy Reads
A Litmus Test: In the Jewish Journal, Eran Shayshon argues that growing divisions within the Republican Party over Israel have little to do with Israel’s actual policies. “To defend Israel is increasingly coded by one part of the right as submission to neoconservatives, donors, globalists, liberal empire or corrupted theology; to attack Israel is presented as proof of independence, authenticity, anti-elitism and civilizational clarity. What looks like a foreign-policy debate is actually an internal argument over who rules the right.”
Open Invitation: In The Times, Haifa's Mayor Yona Yahav urges newly-elected Hackney, U.K., mayor Zoë Garbett to visit his city before ending their nearly six-decade twinning agreement, defending Haifa as a longstanding model of coexistence among Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bahá'ís. “The world does not need more cities severing ties with one another. It needs more cities that choose, every day, to bring people together. This is not a utopia. This is Haifa.”
Running on Authenticity: In a LinkedIn post, Jodi Geddes contends that the unscripted, self-shot jogging videos that Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray posts on social media show where executive communication is heading — toward raw authenticity over polished studio content. “That's the whole game now. Not whether you used AI. Whether what's left is still unmistakably you.”
Community Comms
Major Gifts
The Israeli Embassy in Kenya donated medicines, surgical supplies, lab reagents and reading glasses to Nairobi's Faith Evangelistic Ministry to stock free medical camps serving underserved communities across the country…
Bank Hapoalim pledged NIS 5 million ($1.66 million) toward Rimon Farms' NIS 30 million ($10 million) project to build therapeutic agricultural farms in Nahal Oz and Holit for western Negev communities affected by the Oct. 7 attacks, a spokesperson for the bank told eJewishPhilanthropy…
Transitions
Amir Gissin, the former CEO of Maccabi World Union, joined Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University as its first president of the foundation and endowments…
The Bay Area’s Oshman Family Jewish Community Center announced new members of its board of directors: Dror Berman, Hillary Frank, Nina Keebler Frank, Andrea Persily, Jing Tian and Rachel Vazquez-Reina…
Noach Hacker started a new role as vice president at the Israel Democracy Institute…
Scott Stavin joined World ORT as its interim chief financial officer…
Ashley Inbar was hired by the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine as its chief development and engagement officer…
The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
Word on the Street
A new Israel Democracy Institute survey found that 72% of Jewish Israelis and 58.5% of Arab Israelis see a threat to the integrity of Israel's elections, with the public divided over how to handle Iran and broadly opposed to the laws pushed through before the Knesset's dissolution…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights Detroit-based businessman and philanthropist Dan Gilbert’s efforts to revitalize the Motor City…
Israel's Health Ministry issued a directive regulating cooperation between Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah mandating that emergency teams be dispatched by proximity and training regardless of organizational affiliation. The move integrates United Hatzalah volunteers into Magen David Adom’s national dispatch system, despite ongoing feuds between the two organizations.
A new study commissioned by The Eddie and Jules Trump Family Foundation and authored by Ofra Inbar-Lourie and Adam Asad, found that English functions as high-tech's actual working language, with the real gap facing Israeli graduates lying in real-time speaking and interaction rather than reading, writing or technical vocabulary…
The State of New York approved the first Cholov Yisroel infant formula for its WIC program, ending a three-year Met Council campaign to help low-income Orthodox families access kosher-compliant formula…
USA Today spotlights Camp Simcha, the Chai Lifeline overnight camp that gives some 430 children with chronic illnesses, disabilities and cancer a full camp experience alongside around-the-clock medical care at no cost to the families…
AIPAC is weighing an unprecedented push to back Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's fall Senate race after its super PAC spent $32 million failing to defeat Abdul El-Sayed in the state's Democratic primary…
The New York Times examines the recent terminations of several New School professors as part of a trend of higher education institutions finding ways to fire tenured faculty…
In the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, attorney David J. Butler argues that courts weighing lawsuits against race-limited private scholarships should ask whether eligibility rules genuinely serve a charitable mission before treating them as unlawful…
Jack Smorgon, the Australian philanthropist who chaired United Israel Appeal's campaign from 1994 to 2006, has died at 89…
Photo of the Day
CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90
A shroud is placed over the coffins of Shimon Leib and Rivka Herzl, the grandparents of Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, whose remains were reinterred yesterday in Jerusalem’s Mt. Herzl National Cemetery.
“In his will, Theodor Herzl wrote that he wished for his remains and those of his immediate family to be brought for burial in the Jewish state once it was established. Today, we complete the fulfillment of that wish,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said at the ceremony. “But his true, greater will — building the Jewish state — continues still, and a great and weighty task remains ours to complete.”
Birthdays
AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES FOR NETFLIX
Max Kellerman, Yiddish-speaking former boxing commentator and host of ESPN's "This Just In," turns 53
Daniel J. Jaffe, retired founding partner of the Jaffe Family Law Group, turns 89
Lyle Berman, esports executive and casino owner, he is a three-time bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker, turns 85
Malka Elisheva Schaps, professor emerita and former dean at Bar Ilan University, turns 78
Brian Michael Levant, film director, television director, producer and screenwriter, turns 74
Martin Schlaff, Austrian businessman with many U.S., Israeli and Eastern European investments, turns 73
Jody Moses Wagner, former state treasurer of Virginia and then state secretary of finance, she is now a gourmet popcorn manufacturer, turns 71
Tara D. Sonenshine, professor of public diplomacy at The Fletcher School of Tufts University, she was formerly undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, turns 67
Alan J. Lipman, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The George Washington University Medical Center, turns 66
Alon Pinkas, Israeli diplomat, he served as Israel's consul general in NYC between 2000 and 2004, turns 65
Gregory Chamitoff, NASA astronaut who spent 198 days in space, turns 64
Joel M. Cohen, chair of White & Case's white collar practice group
Jonathan Riskind, executive director of public affairs and policy communications at the American Council on Education
Melanie Roth Gorelick, CEO of Elluminate (formerly known as the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York)
Susie Sorkin, vice chair of Jewish California and a board member of JFNA and JCRC Bay Area
Mike Greenberg, television and radio sports anchor on ESPN and ABC, he was one-half of the "Mike & Mike" team but now hosts his own ESPN morning program, turns 59
Gad Levanon, Ph.D., chief economist at The Burning Glass Institute
David Blankfein-Tabachnick, law professor and associate dean at Michigan State University College of Law, turns 55
Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of Uber, turns 50
Soleil Moon Frye, actor, director, producer and screenwriter, turns 50
Nitzan Pelman, founder and CEO at Climb Together which helps prepare people from low-income backgrounds for entry level jobs
Joshua Ian Schwartz, screenwriter and television producer, he is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama "The O.C.,", turns 50
Jeffrey Lerner, former comms director for Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral general election campaign
Rachel Gogel, creative director and visual strategist
Simcha Eichenstein, member of the New York State Assembly, turns 43
Garrett Weber-Gale, winner of two gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he is now CEO of Gather Campgrounds north of Austin, turns 41
Corey A. Jacobson, director of strategy and policy at K2 Space Corporation, he is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council
Elizabeth Teitz, reporter at San Antonio Express-News
Hunter Pollack, special advisor at the Department of Homeland Security and former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, turns 29
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