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Good Monday morning and moadim lesimcha! 

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine a deadly missile strike in Haifa and the importance of accessible bomb shelters. We get the inside story on a $20 million naming gift to JCC Chicago from the Hecktman family, and speak with Canadian Jewish communal leaders about the struggles facing Jews in the Great White North. We feature an opinion piece by Rafael Medoff calling for full use of the law in responding to gallery exhibits and public works with antisemitic imagery and messages; Adam S. Ferziger addresses a philanthropic dilemma highlighted in the latest issue of Yeshiva University’s Torah To-Go series; and Rabbi Dan Ross identifies six “rabbinic personae” to guide toward the leadership pipeline. Also in this issue: Andres Spokoiny, Michael J. Feuer and Josh Kramer.

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Israeli search-and-rescue workers pulled four bodies — a couple in their 80s, their son in his 40s and a woman in her mid-30s — from the rubble of a building in the northern port city of Haifa this morning after it was struck by an Iranian missile, Magen David Adom medics said.

Initial reports indicate that the four people had taken shelter in the six-story building’s stairwell when the air-raid sirens sounded, unable to make it to the public shelter nearby due to the couple’s age. The devastating strike, which largely destroyed the building despite the missile’s warhead apparently not detonating, yet again highlighted the importance of bomb shelters and the deadly cost that comes from people not being able to reach them, particularly those who are elderly or disabled. 

As the war against Iran and Hezbollah enters its sixth week, and missiles and rockets continue to rain down on Israeli cities and towns, organizations that advocate for people with disabilities are calling for the government to address this long-standing issue. 

“In every attack, every round of fighting, every war, the number of people with disabilities who are wounded is above their representation in the population because they are the most vulnerable — like the couple today [in Haifa] and the carer who was killed in Tel Aviv [on the first day of the war] because she stayed with her client,” Idit Saragusti, the director of policy implementation at the disability advocacy nonprofit Bizchut, told eJewishPhilanthropy today. “The problem has been known for years and years and years.”

Throughout the war, the Knesset has held multiple committee hearings on the subject, though these have yet to lead to substantive changes on the ground. “For years, we have been asking [for help], and yet no formal plan to address this issue has been created,” Yuval Wagner, the founder and chair of the disability nonprofit Accessibility Israel, said in such a Knesset hearing last month. 

As is often the case, the issue can be traced to arguments over who is responsible for addressing it. In Israel, the Welfare Ministry is largely tasked with supporting Israelis with disabilities. While the ministry acknowledges its responsibility to ensure access to bomb shelters for people living in the facilities it oversees, it does not believe that it must do so for Israelis with disabilities who live at home or are otherwise not under its direct oversight. According to the ministry, providing accessible protection for that population is the responsibility of the local government, which is broadly responsible for building and maintaining public shelters.

The problem, of course, is funding. “The local governments don’t have the ability to do this alone. That is, unless they get the resources to address it,” Saragusti said. 

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

According to those who study the ins and outs of fundraising, small donors can eventually become large donors, but a recent $20 million naming gift from the Hecktman Family Foundation to JCC Chicago shows that the seeds for large donations can be planted years before a cent is given, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher. 

Staking a claim: The Hecktmans had no connection to JCC, until a chance meeting in 2019 at Morton's The Steakhouse, the Chicago-born chain, where Addie Goodman, president and CEO of JCC Chicago, was having drinks with a JCC lay leader, who bumped into his friend, Jeffrey Hecktman, the founder of the financial services firm Hilco Global. That introduction planted the seed for a long friendship between Goodman and Hecktman, one that would include many more meetings at Chicago eateries, including in February 2022, when Hecktman brought along his daughter, Hillary, who was taking a leadership role in the family foundation. Within two months, the Hecktmans gave their first gift to JCC Chicago, a $1 million, three-year commitment to help establish a day camp for kids with cancer. 

Read the full report here.

As Canadian Jewish families began celebrating the holiday of Passover, many found the ancient narrative colliding with a modern reality of rising fear at home amid a wave of antisemitic attacks, highlighting what Jewish leaders describe as “systemic” Jew-hatred in Canada. And it is even leading some Jewish Canadians to consider their own kind of exodus from their country, with one communal leader telling Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider that "the promise" that Jews could practice their faith openly in the country "has been broken."

‘Systemic failure’: Canada has experienced some of the most severe manifestations of the global surge in antisemitism since Oct. 7. — with higher rates of antisemitic incidents than other countries but lower conviction rates. “There has been a systemic failure across jurisdictions to face antisemitism,” said Richard Marceau, senior vice president of strategic initiatives and general counsel at CIJA, an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada. Marceau asserted that Canadian society has “a complete misunderstanding" of what antisemitism is, whether it stems from “the far left, far right [or] Islamic circles.”

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

“‘Drawings Against Genocide’ was the title of a recent gallery exhibit in the seaside town of Margate, Kent, featuring illustrations by British artist Matthew Collings. ‘Drawings For Genocide’ would have been more like it,” writes Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. 

See no evil: “The exhibit at Joseph Wales Studios — which was removed from the local council's tourism website in response to public outcry — included illustrations of Jews with devil horns, Jews eating babies and Jews with skulls and swastikas, blood dripping from their mouths, with captions such as ‘We love death.’ … So far, it appears, the British authorities in this case have decided to err on the side of the antisemite. … From England to Toronto to Denver, the artists who are employing their skills in the service of hate appear to be oblivious to the possible consequences of their incitement.”

Read the full piece here.

“For decades, the strategic map of Jewish philanthropy in North America was built on a stable, if unspoken, binary: Israel was the destination for historical advocacy, but the Diaspora was the site of primary institutional investment,” writes historian and author Adam S. Ferziger, of Bar-Ilan University in Israel, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “However, the April 2026 edition of Yeshiva University’s Torah To-Go series, titled ‘Diaspora Judaism at a Crossroads,’ suggests a major shift in the Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist consciousness.”

Launchpad vs. destination: “Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, who is currently preparing to lead a new community in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, suggests that Diaspora institutions must be analyzed not as destinations, but as launchpads. ... This raises a critical question for philanthropists: Should resources fund the ‘Goshen model’ — sending leaders ahead to establish infrastructure for future immigrants — or prioritize ensuring current Diaspora communities remain sustainable?”

Read the full piece here.

“‘I think Dan is going to be a rabbi.’ It was 20 years ago, the night of the second Seder during my first year of college, and I decided to come home at the last minute to be with my family. That night was different from all other nights because for the first time, I took the head of the table to lead us through the Haggadah,” writes Rabbi Dan Ross, director of alumni engagement at Hebrew Union College, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “After dinner, as my parents were doing the dishes, I heard my mom say those words that changed my life. To my dad, and not to me. I thank God every day that I just happened to overhear them.”

Your encouragement matters: “To prevent the rabbinic pipeline from drying up, we have a communal imperative to be on the lookout for the rabbis hiding in plain sight. Because the next generation of rabbis is already out there — performing, teaching, learning, campaigning, comforting and convening. They just need to hear someone say, ‘I think you could become a rabbi.’”

Read the full piece here.

At What Cost?: In his Substack, “Notes from a Liminal Time,” Andres Spokoiny warns that Israelis’ apparent “resilience” may be holding them back. “The resilience of regular Israelis is probably one of the most inspiring sights in the world. The Tel Aviv cafés that reopen the next morning, the wedding in a bomb shelter, the farmer who harvests his crop under fire — they all fill me with pride in being part of the Jewish people. … And yet, I have a nagging feeling these days: that there is a dark side to resilience. … What I am saying is this: there is a difference between resilience and numbness. From the outside, they can look identical. Both allow life to continue. But one is a healthy adaptation; the other is dissociation — a systematic suppression of the signal that something is genuinely, catastrophically wrong.” [NotesfromaLiminalTime]

Not So Simple: In his Substack “Evidence Matters,” Michael J. Feuer looks at the historical treatment of the death penalty both in Judaism and the Jewish state, placing the present discussion of a proposed death penalty law for Palestinian terrorists into a larger philosophical context. “I don’t raise [these questions] to score points in arguments about the 2026 law. But I do wish that our esteemed punditrocracy would take a deep breath before rushing to judgment about its origins, symbolism, and realities. Ditto for those who quickly rush to the Knesset’s defense without more nuance. … In the light of a complicated history dealing with enemies whose determination to annihilate the Jewish people is again on wide public display, I respectfully offer a short guide for the continuing discourse. In the spirit of Passover, here are four questions I find myself asking as I try to untangle my ambivalence.” [EvidenceMatters]

A Matter of Trust: In The Times of Israel, Steven Windmueller proposes a new angle of approach to Jewish community relations. “Jewish public affairs in this country historically operated through elite relationships, bipartisan access, and coalitional politics and was constructed around shared policy goals. … In moving forward, the emerging political organizing principles will be aligned with ‘relational legitimacy’ and ‘grassroots credibility’ namely, what can Jewish leaders create on the ground through their personal and community-based connections? The emerging model will tend to be less focused on ‘who one knows’ and more on ‘who one trusts’ and how that trust can evolve. What we have learned is that when trust is no longer present, ‘transactional coalitions’ falter.  In their place, it is essential to construct long-term relationship infrastructures, built on promoting “thick relationships” that are bound together not by joint statements but rather by a deeper commitment to shared causes and issues embraced without preconditions.” [TOI]

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The New York Times examines the rise of 501(c)(4) organizations, which are increasingly being used by wealthy Americans to make political donations anonymously… 

The Trump administration’s 2027 top-line budget request to Congress calls for $1.3 billion in cuts to non-disaster grant programs at FEMA, a category which includes the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

San Francisco Hillel, which was vandalized in 2024 and set on fire last year, broke ground on long-planned building renovations yesterday, after raising $9.3 million, some $700,000 more than its initial goal…

A judge in New York ruled that the holding company owned by David Nahmad must restitute an Amedeo Modigliani painting to the descendants of a French Jewish antiques dealer who owned the work before it was confiscated by the Nazis during World War II…

Pepsi announced it will withdraw its sponsorship of this summer’s Wireless Festival as organizers face backlash over the decision to tap Kanye West to headline the festival’s three nights…

Authorities in the Netherlands are investigating a small explosion outside a pro-Israel center run by a group called Christians for Israel in the city of Nijkerk…

Authorities in London arrested four men in connection with the arson attack last month that destroyed several Hatzola ambulances in the heavily Jewish suburb of Golders Green; three of the arrests were made last week, while a fourth suspect was arrested while attending a court hearing for the first three…

Former Israeli lawmaker and Holocaust restitution advocate Colette Avital, 86, sustained a head wound after she was reportedly shoved to the ground by a police officer during an anti-government demonstration over the weekend… 

The Times of Israel examines how Israeli real estate developers are tailoring their offerings to new immigrants from English-speaking countries…

In The Conversation, Miriam Eve Mora, managing director of the University of Michigan’s Raoul Wallenberg Institute, does a deep dive into the prevalence of antisemitism in the “manosphere” movement…

Speaking on the “Intersections” podcast, Mark Cuban said that he didn’t regret selling his stake in the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, but he did regret selling it to Dr. Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law, Las Vegas Sands CEO Patrick Dumont…

Politico spoke with former employees of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum about the changes that the institutions made to its programs — removing resources about American racism and canceling a workshop related to strengthening democracy — to avoid confrontations with the White House…

Actress and author Ali Stroker will receive the 2026 Spotlight Award at the upcoming ReelAbilities Film Festival in New York… 

Israeli writer and poet Tzruya ‘Suki’ Lahav, who briefly played violin with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, died at 74…

Edwin Ira “Ed” Peskowitz, a Washington-area philanthropist who co-founded United Communications Group and later focused his charitable work on education initiatives, Middle East peace and kidney donation advocacy, died on Feb. 22 at 81…

Suzanne Louise Dagurt, a Baltimore-based fundraiser who supported medical research and other philanthropic causes, died on March 5 at 87…

Jewish Federations of North America has allocated some $30 million in emergency grants to Israeli causes related to the ongoing war with Iran and Hezbollah; this includes more than $8 million from UJA-Federation of New York…

JCC Global’s board of directors approved the nomination of Gary E. Jacobs as the organization’s next president…

The York (Pa.) Jewish Community Center announced the departure of its CEO, Terri Travers, after state regulators did not renew the license for one of its childcare centers…

Dena Schoenfeld announced that she is stepping down after six years as chief program officer of Leading Edge and joining Branlyn Partners…

Rabbi David Wolpe is joining The Dispatch as a contributing writer…

Josh Kramer, director of the American Jewish Committee's New York regional office since 2021, was hired as the next CEO of Ohio Jewish Communities, effective June 1…

Friends of Israel Sci-Tech Schools appointed Stuart N. Brotman to its board of directors…

Camp Yavneh, a Jewish overnight camp in New England, hired Josh Micley as its next camp director…

COURTESY

Andy Yosinoff, the head coach of the Boston-based Emmanuel College women's basketball team (second from left), receives the Bruce Pearl Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday at the 2026 Jewish Coaches Association’s Men's Final Four Breakfast. 

Yosinoff stands with (from left) Jason Belzer, founder of Global Athlete Management Enterprises, Inc; Pearl, who most recently coached at Auburn University; Scott Garson, associate head coach at University of Las Vegas; and JCA Executive Director Matt Elkin.

MICHAEL LOCCISANO/GETTY IMAGES

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