Good Thursday morning!

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s new strategic plan released today and feature an interview with Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), chair of the House antisemitism task force. An opinion piece by Lena Perez lays out a growth-oriented donor pipeline framework, and Jay Solomon highlights a shift in approach for campus engagement post-Oct. 7. Also in this issue: Joel Engel, Maureen and Doug Cohn and Scott Braswell.

Today’s Your Daily Phil was curated by eJP Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross, Opinion Editor Rachel Kohn and Israel Editor Justin Hayet. Have a tip? Email us here.

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Building on the success of last year’s record-setting summer camp attendance, the Foundation for Jewish Camp has a road map for the years ahead.  

Today the organization released its 2026-2030 strategic plan, which includes increased emphasis on research, leadership initiatives and scholarships, with newly created roles at the agency to meet the needs of today’s campers. The plan stems from a listening tour held last year, conducted by the strategic planning company ABW Partners, that involved conversations with over 100 stakeholders — funders, camp directors, partner organizations, parents and young adults. 

The strategic plan aims to ensure camp is available to everyone who wants to attend and to accommodate them by making “bold moves,” FJC CEO Jamie Simon told eJewishPhilanthropy, including “breakthrough investments designed to dramatically expand access to Jewish camp.” 

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

The Jewish community needs non-Jewish allies to help fight antisemitism: that was the message Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), chair of the House antisemitism task force, emphasized in an interview with Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider on Wednesday. They spoke following a press conference introducing the Jewish American Security Act, a bipartisan and bicameral package aimed at addressing attacks on Jewish institutions, campus antisemitism and online antisemitism.

A broader tent: “It’s really important that we gain and bolster allies from outside the Jewish community, because ultimately antisemitism is hate, and hate is easily transferable, and history has taught us that,” Goldman told JI. Though some in the Jewish community feel that they’ve been abandoned by longtime allies since the Oct. 7 attacks, Goldman argued that it’s important to continue to reach out to and cultivate allies in the fight against antisemitism, in part because the “Jewish community is too small to do it ourselves.”

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

“Jewish nonprofits rarely struggle because they lack passion, meaningful programs or dedicated staff,” writes marketing strategist and consultant Lena Perez in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “The challenge is that marketing, fundraising, programming, events and community engagement often operate as separate activities rather than as part of one intentional growth system.”

A deeper look: “Most nonprofits are operating without a clear system designed to move someone from first interaction to long-term supporter. There is no intentional pathway guiding people from awareness, to engagement, to trust, to giving, to deeper involvement over time. In the for-profit world, this would be unthinkable. Businesses understand that sustainable growth depends on a carefully designed funnel. … The same principles apply in the nonprofit sector because the same rules of human behavior still exist: People do not become deeply invested in an organization overnight. Trust is built gradually. Emotional connection compounds through repeated, intentional interaction.”

Read the full piece here.

“The future of Jewish campus life will belong to organizations that understand this simple truth: that engagement no longer begins by asking students to go deeper. It begins by helping them want to come closer,” writes Jay Solomon, chief advancement officer of Hillel Ontario, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

From participation to connection: “Social programming is sometimes treated as secondary to ‘real’ engagement. Metrics like attendance and reach are occasionally viewed with suspicion, as though breadth somehow comes at the expense of meaning. But this misunderstands the moment we are in. … For years, many engagement models assumed intimacy created participation. Increasingly, participation is what creates openness to deeper connection. That does not make the work shallower. It makes the front door wider.”

Read the full piece here.

No Backsies: In The Wall Street Journal, Joel Engel identifies a through line in the perennial problem of antisemitism after reflecting on the bullying he witnessed as a child. “Is there a more fitting metaphor — or more incisive explanation — for antisemitism than ‘Jews have the cooties’? None of the grandiloquent exegeses on antisemitism ever cuts to the heart of the matter the way ‘Jews have the cooties’ does. Some people in the ancient world decided Jews were infected, and their decree reached critical mass, then rolled over through the ages the way Charles’s cooties followed him to a new school.” [WSJ]

Don’t Wait for Perfect Data: In The Pulse, Brooks Wallace argues that data optimization is a continuous journey. “The organizations that get the most out of their data … have a strategy around data, and just like a strategic plan, it is not static. It evolves as new technology, new processes, and better ways of working emerge... Too many organizations are falling behind because they are waiting for perfect data. Unfortunately, the market, our competitors, and decisions that need to be made, aren’t standing still while we wait.” [ThePulse]

The Ledger and the Legacy: In Cleveland[dot]com, Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv J. Shah traces the organization’s "big bets" philosophy back to its roots in John D. Rockefeller’s early Cleveland philanthropy. “John D. Rockefeller built his fortune in Cleveland during one of the most disruptive periods in American history, a moment defined by rapid industrialization, widening inequality, and profound uncertainty about what the changing economy would mean for ordinary people… he chose to bet big that those challenges were solvable. We are still working to solve them today, but the billions of lives The Rockefeller Foundation and our partners have saved and improved since 1913 are proof that the old minister’s advice still holds. When you give wisely, the results will speak for themselves.” [Cleveland[dot]com] 

The Illusion of a Deal: In the Free Press, Haviv Rettig Gur argues that Israel-Iran clashes are chapters of a single, 20-year war that ceasefires cannot resolve, as Iran's resistance ideology rejects conventional diplomacy. “What changes the equation, if anything does, is not a deal, not a ceasefire, not an American administration cycling through. It will be the regime’s internal exhaustion and the Iranian people’s eventual ability to force a reckoning with what has been done to their country. That’s a long game, measured in decades, not news cycles.” [FreePress] 

Engage in pressing issues together with your board! This fall, Spertus Institute is offering its Leadership Certificate in Combating Antisemitism for both professionals and board members in the Jewish community. Two cohorts with intentional shared learning opportunities for strategic engagement!  Learn more and apply by August 3.

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

Maureen and Doug Cohn have donated $1 million to the Tampa Museum of Art to establish a new contemporary art gallery…

Dana Sender Mulla was named executive director of the Dupree Conference and Education Center…

Scott Braswell is joining the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation as a program manager for the foundation’s U.S. Jewish community portfolio; he will assume the role next month… 

Sammy Kanter is stepping down from this role as director of Jewish life at the Marlene Meyerson JCC…   

The Jewish Agency for Israel hired Royi Bercovici as its director of global impact…

Ilana Kaufman is joining the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management as its scholar-in-residence for its summer session…

The board of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund approved a 100 million NIS ($34 million) allocation to develop the Lower Kishon River Park as a step toward phasing out polluting industries and transitioning the region toward a green economy. The board also greenlit a 4 million NIS ($1.3 million) budget allocation to enhance the Nova Memorial Site and the Iron Swords Forest…

Camp Ramah announced that the Ramah Day Camp in Elkins Park (Pa.) will permanently close after the 2026 season due to a decade of declining enrollment and rising deficits. This decision does not impact Camp Ramah in the Poconos, and leadership plans to use the final summer to celebrate the camp’s 30-year legacy…

Argentine President Javier Milei addressed a crowd of 1,800 people gathered in Buenos Aires to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson…

Israeli actor Ben Perry and his family have gone viral for Instagram videos that show them humorously choreographing their dashes into their home bomb shelter during missile alerts…

The Tel Aviv Municipality has unveiled a multimillion-shekel initiative to combat severe teacher shortages by offering educators unprecedented local perks, including fully funded master's degrees and access to all 550 city-owned apartments for deeply subsidized rent…

CBS News spotlights Kvishtish, a newly opened burger restaurant in northern Israel that continues to operate and serve the local community despite facing constant cross-border rocket fire…

Teva is laying off 250 employees in Israel as part of a broader corporate restructuring after failing to sell its $1.5 billion global operations division… 

The family of Kamran Hekmati, a Jewish New Yorker with bladder cancer imprisoned in Iran, is urgently calling on President Donald Trump to negotiate his release as part of any upcoming peace agreement…

A Texas philanthropist is suing a Kentucky park for $800,000 after it allegedly violated a contract by failing to name a new water attraction after her deceased son…

An immigration judge ordered the deportation of Columbia University anti-Israel activist Mohsen Mahdawi to Jordan earlier this month…

SCREENSHOT

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin accepts the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation’s Fighting Hatred Award at its annual gala last night. She was honored for her role in expanding Holocaust education, digital literacy and antisemitism prevention programs that reached more than 25,000 New York City public school students during the 2025-2026 school year.

BENZION Z KLATZKO/FACEBOOK

Founder of Shabbat[dot]com, he also serves as the national educational director for Olami Worldwide, Rabbi Benzion Zvi Klatzko... 

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