View this email in your browser 

Good Tuesday morning! 

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we interview Maya Natan, CEO of Keshet Donor-Advised Fund, about her organization’s activities over the past year and the changing face of Israeli philanthropy. We report on a new partnership between Repair the World and the Israeli volunteering nonprofit Yahel, and spotlight a new documentary about Yale professors visiting Israel and grappling with academic boycotts. We feature opinion pieces by Stephen Smith, Rabbi Jen Gubitz and Rabbi Ben Berger with lessons and advice inspired by the Passover holiday. Also in this issue: Nathan Kirsh, Betsy Berns Korn and Matthew Bronfman and Fadi Hamdan.

Ed. note: In observance of Passover, which begins tomorrow night, the next edition of Your Daily Phil will arrive on Monday, April 6. Chag sameach and Shabbat shalom!

Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇

Domestic Israeli philanthropy is still a relatively new phenomenon. After early decades with a struggling economy, coupled with a socialist belief in the need for the government, not private donors, to provide for the country’s citizens, it is only relatively recently that Israelis consider it their responsibility to give back not only of themselves through service, but financially as well. 

This shift can be seen in the emergence of alternative charitable giving options in Israel, such as donor-advised funds, which only became available in 2020. Keshet, which pioneered the practice in Israel, recently released its 2025 year in review report, showing a major expansion, with NIS 420 million ($132.7 million) deposited last year for a total of NIS 1.3 billion ($410.7 million) since the fund launched. 

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross spoke recently with Maya Natan, Keshet’s CEO and the former director of the Israel office of the Jewish Funders Network, about her organization’s work in 2025 and how the field of Israeli philanthropy is developing. 

JAG: I was looking over Keshet’s 2025 year in review, and this is coming out as there is growing talk in Israel about philanthropy, following the $32 billion sale of the cybersecurity firm Wiz and the decision by its owners, notably CEO Assaf Rappaport, to donate 1% of the company’s stock to charity. Donor-advised funds are a massive industry in the U.S., but they are still getting their footing here in Israel. So, broadly speaking, what have you seen in the past year, and where do things seem to be going? 

MN: First, I would say that donor-advised funds become massive as an outcome of returns, which means that the longer they exist, the bigger they become. And so the reason that donor-advised funds in Israel are not yet massive is that the first one, which is Keshet, was established only six years ago — really five years ago — unlike donor-advised funds in the U.S., where some of them are a hundred years old.

But [since the creation of donor-advised funds], the donation of shares has finally become a thing. … The more people do it, the more Israelis choose to do it. And I think that the Wiz choice came as a result of many years of practice that showed that it really is the right timing. This is how big it becomes when you do it at the right time. And it has to be a part of a conversation, during a deal, any deal. Whether it's a “secondary,” whether it's an exit, whether it's an IPO — there always has to be a component that talks about philanthropy, not as a nice thing to do, but as the right thing to do.

Read the full interview here.

Yahel and Repair the World, two leading volunteer service organizations — the former based in Israel and the latter in the United States — are set to become “sister movements,” representatives told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim, with the goal of developing a global Jewish service movement and strengthening connections between young American Jews and Israelis. 

Giving spirit: The partnership will aim to “meet pressing needs in Israel, to build connections between Israelis and Americans, and to strengthen the work of bringing international volunteers to Israel overall,” Cindy Greenberg, president and CEO of Repair the World, told eJP. Before the war, Yahel, based in Israel, hosted roughly 600 volunteers annually, said Dana Talmi, the organization’s executive director. Now, even as overall travel to Israel has decreased, Yahel has about 2,200 volunteers — “a huge jump,” said Talmi — driven in part by a growing sense among visitors that they should volunteer while in the country. “Since Oct. 7, it's very strange for people to come here and not volunteer.”

Read the full report here.

In March 2024, 25 Yale academics — doctors, researchers, lawyers and political scientists — trekked to Israel for a five-day whirlwind tour, meeting with peers and visiting the ruins of the Oct 7 massacres. Afterward, author and Yale professor Roya Hakakian directed a 17-minute documentary about the experience, “Indivisible: The Israeli Academy after October 7th,” with the hope that the footage would ignite deeper discussions about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and how it imperils Israeli professors and medical staff, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.

Accidental documentary: When the participants originally went on the trip, the plan was not to make a documentary, but Hakakian, who has worked as a journalist for “60 Minutes” and ABC, realized that their journey could be used as more than a visual diary and “transcend the circle of our own people and use and make an appeal to other people.” Topics in the documentary include the feminist movement’s reaction to sexual violence against women during the Oct. 7 massacres, comparisons between the BDS movement and Nazi boycotts and the impact of the boycotts on individual professors and students.

Read the full report here.

“Over the last few months, I have been privileged to conduct 100 interviews for Our Jewish Story,” writes Stephen D. Smith, co-founder of Our Jewish Story and executive director emeritus of the USC Shoah Foundation, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Some 70% of interviewees spontaneously talked about Passover during their interview, with 29% identifying it as their favorite holiday.” 

Why Passover resonates: “I can say with some authority that not one person cited craving matzah. We did, however, learn of five ways Jews do talk about Passover: as a family gathering, theatrical production, living document, Holocaust memory and — perhaps most significantly — vehicle of transmission. … Jewish philanthropic investment in memory and storytelling is not about archives or nostalgia, but the kind of story that connects Jews to where they come from and engenders belonging for future generations.”

Read the full piece here.

“I was an exuberant young rabbinical student, excited for the chance to teach second grade at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, when I made the sort of mistake you only make once,” writes Rabbi Jen Gubitz, founder of Modern Jewish Couples and a rabbi at Temple Shalom of Newton in Newton, Mass., in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

How we ask matters: “A longtime camp person but inexperienced with formal classroom management, I asked my charges a question with only two possible answers: ‘Do you want to go work on your Hebrew?’ The classroom of equally exuberant 8-year-olds, who had already spent their whole day at school, all shouted ‘NO!’ — the kind of no that trailed on until they fell onto the carpet in a pile of giggles. I learned that day that how we ask a question can yield answers quite limiting or boundlessly expansive.”

Read the full piece here.

“In at least one respect, Pesach is the Thanksgiving of the Jewish calendar: for many families, it is the holiday when dreaded fault-line conversations surface around a table crowded with opinions (and often a bit too much wine). At their best, both holidays bring us together to eat and to tell the stories that shaped us. At their worst, they devolve into scenes of tension and polarization,” writes Rabbi Ben Berger, senior vice president of Jewish education, community and culture at Hillel International, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

The Four Sons: “The Haggadah anticipates this. ... It assumes that the story it is telling will not be received uniformly or easily. Some will lean in with curiosity and mastery. Others will need simplicity, patience, or encouragement. And others will push back, distancing themselves from the collective ‘we’ altogether. The Seder does not imagine a seamless handoff from one generation to the next. It anticipates the anxiety of that handoff and requires us to rehearse it anyway...”

Read the full piece here.

Doing What Feels Right: In The New York Times, billionaire philanthropist Craig Newmark responds to politically driven critiques of the Giving Pledge. “When I started Craigslist in the mid-1990s I never thought I’d become rich. But I did. A lot of people in tech around that time also got lucky. Millions — even billions — were made simply by being in the right place at the right time. That’s too much money for anyone to have, so I’m giving most of it away to people and causes that need it. … It’s bizarre to me that the pledge has now come under attack by some tech billionaires who say we’re giving our money away foolishly, or complain that the money is going to left-wing nonprofits. The truth is that pledge signers can give their money to whichever charitable causes they want. … Making money isn’t proof to me that I know something any better than someone else. Wealthy people who believe that they do aren’t as smart as they think.” [NYTimes]

Holocaust Education at a Crossroads: In the latest issue of Sources, Daniel Greene challenges the idea that today’s surging antisemitism proves that the Holocaust education of the past half a century was a failed enterprise. “To grasp how we have reached this moment of such profound doubts about Holocaust education, we need to understand its history. It is especially important to recognize that the ways we teach this subject continue to be shaped in large measure by the optimism of the 1990s, when many American Jews thought the lessons of the Holocaust had been communicated clearly and the risk of violent antisemitism in the United States had passed. Reflecting on how we got here might help us untangle the complex mess of political and moral burdens that have been placed on Holocaust education today. It will also allow us to chart a path forward that recognizes contemporary challenges and responds to them in sensible ways.” [Sources]

Look to the Future: Lisa Kay Solomon, Suzette Brooks Masters and Becca Leviss created a free Haggadah supplement for all interested in pivoting their Seder table discussions from focusing solely on the past to also imagining the Jewish future. “This year, more than ever, we believe that Passover is a moment to not only reflect on the story that explains our Exodus out of Egypt and bondage, but also actively imagine and engage with stories yet to unfold. … At this time of threat and uncertainty for the Jewish people amid rapid technological, demographic, geopolitical and climatic change, it’s important to nurture aspirations beyond mere survival. We should push boundaries to boldly imagine the Jewish people and the human and more-than-human world thriving for millennia to come.” [AFuturistHagadahSupplement]

Earn your master’s degree while serving your community. Spertus Institute's MA in Jewish Professional Studies lets you pursue your graduate degree through a flexible part-time program designed to fit a Jewish professional’s schedule. Substantial scholarships available. Find out more.

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

Two new polls show that most American Jews are opposed to U.S. military action against Iran… 

The Knesset passed a controversial law on Monday allowing — and in some cases requiring — courts to impose the death penalty on terrorists found guilty of murder. Opponents swiftly challenged the legislation in court, with appeals arguing that its designations are vague and discriminatory, reports Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov…

Philanthropist Nathan Kirsh has sold his Restaurant Depot food service for $29 billion…

The FBI determined that the attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit was “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

The American Jewish Committee and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity launched a new partnership to combat antisemitism on college campuses…

The Jewish Future Promise announced that it has reached 180,000 signatories … 

A federal grand jury indicted six people on hate crime charges in connection with the 2024 assault of a Jewish student at the University of Pittsburgh…

A Canadian court sentenced a member of the neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen Division to 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years for threats he made to the Jewish, Muslim and Black communities… 

An AI-generated Instagram account, which featured a fake Orthodox rabbi spreading antisemitic conspiracies to its more than 1.4 million followers, was taken offline over the weekend following major backlash from Jewish groups and one Democratic lawmaker — yet several similar, hate-peddling accounts have emerged with little to no public action from Meta, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Israeli-American comedian Modi Rosenfeld, known simply as “Modi,” pulled out of a Passover-themed benefit last night after his manager said that the entertainer had been “blindsided” with the news that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani would participate in the Lower Manhattan event, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports…

Edward Kaplan, the former longtime head of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission and a longtime contributor to local Jewish causes, died last week at 87…

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is distributing roughly NIS 45 million ($14.2 million) worth of aid to 200,000 Israelis ahead of Passover…

Betsy Berns Korn was nominated to serve a second yearlong term as chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, effective June 1; Matthew Bronfman was nominated to be the Conference’s chair-elect…

COURTESY/MDA

Paramedic Fadi Hamdan from the Magen David Adom ambulance service carries a baby to safety today after an Iranian ballistic missile struck the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva, injuring eight people and setting fire to a number of cars. 

“During the searches, I noticed a woman holding a baby near vehicles that had caught fire,” Hamdan said in a statement. “She was very distressed and had difficulty holding the baby. She handed the baby to me, and I helped them get out of the area and away from the danger of the thick smoke. We took them into an MDA ambulance, and after medical checks, they did not require further medical treatment.”

STEPHANE ALLAMAN/ALEA/GETTY IMAGES

Equestrian and 10-time American Grand Prix Association Rider of the Year, she is a 2009 inductee into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Margie Goldstein-Engle turns 68… 

Music producer, band leader of the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert turns 91... New York Times best-selling novelist, poet and social activist, Marge Piercy turns 90... Democratic congressman from Massachusetts for 32 years, named co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, Barnett "Barney" Frank turns 86... Former syndicated talk radio host on 400-plus stations and conservative political commentator under the name Michael Savage, Michael Alan Weiner turns 84... Comedian, actor and professional poker player, he played the named teacher in the 1970s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter," Gabe Kaplan turns 81... Retired professor of special education at Long Island University, Joel E. Mittler... Emmy Award-winning movie and television actress, best known for her role in the sitcom “Cheers” for 11 seasons, Rhea Jo Perlman turns 78... Russian ice dancing coach and former competitive ice dancer, now living in Stamford, Conn., Natalia Dubova turns 78... Chairman of Apple, Inc. since 2011 and CEO of Calico (an Alphabet R&D biotech venture), Arthur D. Levinson turns 76... New Jersey attorney, Steven L. Sacks-Wilner... Scottsdale resident, David L. Freedman... Chairman of Danaher Corporation, he owns a 20% stake in the NBA's Indiana Pacers, Steven M. Rales turns 75... Israeli singer and songwriter, Ehud Banai turns 73... Former deputy chairman at the Jewish Agency for Israel, David Breakstone, Ph.D. turns 73... Author and advertising executive, Joseph Alden Reiman turns 73... President at the Detroit-based Nemer Property Group, Larry Nemer... Rabbi of Kehillas Ohr Somayach and lecturer at Ohr Somayach Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz turns 72... Founding director of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and national campaign director of the West Coast and Mountain States for the Jewish National Fund, Rick Hirschhaut turns 66... Emmy Award-winning writer and producer (“24,” "Homeland" and "Tyrant"), Howard Gordon turns 65... Consultant for synagogues and teacher at Bruriah High School in Elizabeth, N.J., Judah E. Isaacs... Two-term mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn., until 2021, he is now administrator of the Rural Utilities Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Andy Berke turns 58... Former child actor, now an attorney and celebrity brand consultant, Josh Saviano turns 50... Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Turkey, Menachem Mendel Chitrik turns 49... Chief legal correspondent at MS NOW, Ari Naftali Melber turns 46... Former footballer for Beitar Jerusalem, who has also played for Chelsea, Manchester City and West Ham United in the English Premier League, Tal Ben Haim turns 44... Internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder and former CMO of Tinder, Justin Mateen turns 40... British-French journalist and author, he was a political advisor to the U.K. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Ben Judah turns 38… Jerusalem-born, 2010 contestant on “America's Next Top Model,” she went on to join the IDF, Esther Petrack turns 34... Agency partnerships lead at Samsung, Howie Keenan... Ice hockey defenseman for the Washington Capitals, Jakob Chychrun turns 28... Talmudic scholar, Avigdor Neuberger... John Jacobson...