In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we look at what the Democratic midterm sweep means for American Jews, report on Jewish National Fund-USA’s $192 million year and CEO Russell Robinson’s big bet on upbeat fundraising, and cover the split among Jewish groups over President Donald Trump and outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to end U.S. aid to Israel by year’s end. We feature an opinion piece by Heitor Castro about supporting responsible recovery from business setbacks and one by Orna Siegel focused on data from Project Prism on alumni of Jewish early childhood education programs. Also in this issue: Shawn Brokos, Rick and Jan Cohen and Alex Karp.

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What We're Watching

We’re awaiting results of the final races to be called after yesterday’s midterm elections, which saw Democrats handily retake the House and Senate as polls closed last night. More on this below.

Israeli Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs Israel’s Central Elections Committee, handed President Isaac Herzog the official results of the 26th Knesset election earlier today at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. The committee had determined that widespread fraud in the Arab community had not taken place during last week’s election, rejecting allegations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies.

Israel is marking 31 years since then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated.

JewishColorado will award veteran Denver philanthropist Debra Weinstein with its 2027 Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award today at the Jewish federation’s Women’s Philanthropy Lion Luncheon.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD FROM eJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS

As Democrats routed the GOP in yesterday’s midterm election, giving them control of both the House and the Senate — along with the governorships of several large states — the American Jewish community will have cause to celebrate and cause for concern in the years to come.

An NBC News exit poll found that, nationally, some two-thirds of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Democratic candidates — an indication that the party remains the main political home of the American Jewish community. Issues like immigration, reproductive rights and civil rights still appear to bind the Jewish community to the Democratic Party, even as there is growing disagreement over Israel and how to respond to soaring antisemitism.

While the American election season is now winding down, Israel remains in the thick of its political reshuffling. Earlier today, President Isaac Herzog received the verified results from last week’s elections, and this afternoon, he will start meeting with the various parties to hear their endorsements for Israel’s next prime minister.

Read the rest of 'What You Should Know' →

News

CAPITAL Z ZIONISM

Bucking a big-giver trend, Jewish National Fund-USA raised $192 million in fiscal year 2026, which ended Sept. 30, pushing its three-year total past $700 million as the organization's post-Oct. 7 momentum continues. The fundraising figure for this year represents a modest decline from the previous two years, while still approaching double the amount that the group raised in the years preceding the Oct. 7 terror attacks. JNF-USA CEO Russell Robinson credits the organization's fundraising stamina with a clear, positive message. “We don't do oy vey here,” he told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet. “We talk Zionism with a big Z.”

Big spotlight on Zionism: Asked whether his message risks sounding too rosy, Robinson pointed to billion-dollar superhero movie openings as an indicator that people “want to be part of great adventures,” he said. “We have forgotten that.”

Read the full report →

AID AFTERSHOCKS

Jewish and pro-Israel groups offered mixed reactions on Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s Election Day announcement that the U.S. and Israel had agreed months ago to wind down U.S. aid by the end of the year, with several expressing concerns or reservations about the premature termination of the 10-year memorandum of understanding on U.S. aid to Israel, reports Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.

What’s next?: AIPAC said in a statement on Tuesday that it continues to support the current U.S.-Israel MOU, indicating that the pro-Israel group — for which supporting aid to Israel is a central policy goal — is not in favor of terminating the agreement early. “As negotiations continue, we support the current MOU, which is set to expire next year. By working closely together, the two democratic allies help keep each nation secure, promote regional peace and stability, and grow both economies,” AIPAC said in a statement.

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

Opinion

RESPONSIBLE RECOVERY

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Brazilian investor and entrepreneur Heitor Castro writes that while no failure is cost-free and accountability is critical, Jewish philanthropy can do more to help people rebuild after business setbacks.

“A foundation could begin with a small pilot in partnership with a community lending organization and qualified legal advisors. The program could provide early financial counseling, support negotiated settlements and help eligible borrowers navigate formal insolvency procedures. Its results should be measured: how many participants reach workable settlements, how much creditors recover and how many regain access to sustainable employment or entrepreneurship.”

Read the full piece →

BACK TO THE START

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Orna Siegel, executive director of ElevateEd, notes that while only 23% of participants in Project Prism — a recent national study of Jewish young adults commissioned by the Jim Joseph Foundation — attended an early childhood Jewish education program, they accounted for 78% of respondents who attended a Jewish K-8 school and 84% of those who attended a Jewish high school, 60% of those who were active in teen youth organizations and 45% of those who joined Jewish organizations on their college campus.

“It is worth being precise about what this data proves and what it does not. … The study does not support a causal chain running from early childhood education to camp to youth group to campus involvement. But what the study does indicate is that ECJE is disproportionately represented in the backgrounds of people who go on to engage deeply.”

Read the full piece →

Worthy Reads

Polls Apart: In The Times of Israel, David Bryfman, CEO of The Jewish Education Project, lays out five lessons educators can draw from Israel’s election, from its messy democracy to its Arab citizens, and urges teachers to let students wrestle with hard questions themselves. “Israel education cannot promise easy answers or a version of Israel that always reflects our students’ values. It can offer something more enduring: the knowledge to understand, the courage to question, the capacity to disagree and the opportunity to remain in a meaningful relationship with Israel and the Jewish people.”

For Donors, Vandy is Dandy: In The New York Times, reporter Alan Blinder examines how schools like Vanderbilt are winning over billionaires with no ties to them, many of them disillusioned with their own alma maters. “The sustainability of fund-raising that relies so significantly on unaffiliated donors is uncertain. There can be philanthropic droughts, and political winds can change. And big contributors may adjust, again, their own priorities.”

Community Comms

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Transitions

Shawn Brokos, the former FBI agent who oversaw the Tree of Life shooting investigation before becoming the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s security director in 2020, will retire Jan. 29, 2027, after leading training for some 50,000 community members…

Word on the Street

Conservative Supreme Court Justices appeared sympathetic Tuesday to Catholic parishes challenging Colorado’s preschool nondiscrimination rule with the Orthodox Union’s Nathan Diament saying a 6-3 ruling for them would not surprise him, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The dollar rose against the shekel to 3.17, its highest amount in seven months, following an inconclusive election and the prospect of a drawn-out caretaker government prompting foreign investors to demand extra compensation for holding Israeli assets…

Masorti on Campus, which used microgrants, gatherings and guidance to help college students build Conservative Jewish communities at North American Universities after the movement’s Koach initiative went on hiatus in 2013, announced that it too is closing…

Inside Philanthropy profiles Rick and Jan Cohen, low-profile billionaires behind a roughly $20 billion grocery and automation fortune and asks whether Jan Cohen’s Holocaust education work or their children could spur bigger giving in the future…

Palantir CEO Alex Karp visited Chabad’s Brooklyn headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway before stopping at the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens…

The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation launched a $50 million initiative offering grants of $500,000 to $2 million to groups helping city governments use AI to improve public services…

A London exhibition at JW3 revives prewar Jewish Lithuania through family photos and letters, inspired by co-curator Dani Jaff Klein’s return to her ancestors’ summer home…

Yale University’s endowment hit a record $54.5 billion and 26.3% in the fiscal year ended June 30 as the university faces a roughly $900 million bill under the expanded federal endowment tax…

Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., the Chicago spiritual leader and Michelle Obama cousin who became the first Black member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, died Monday at 74…

Professor Ruth A. Bevan, the Yeshiva University political scientist who founded and directed its Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, has died…

Texas tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their two young children were among nine people killed when their private jet crashed into a Palm Beach County, Fla., neighborhood…

Photo of the Day

STUDIO YAC

Local leaders of the Shaar Hanegev region of southern Israel — one of the hardest-hit areas in the Oct. 7 terror attacks — applaud the ceremonial laying of a cornerstone yesterday for a new “rehabilitation village,” dubbed Asif (a Hebrew word for harvest). The 13.6-acre property, which is being developed with a $31.6 million public-private investment, will be the first center of its kind to combine advanced rehabilitative care with communal life, the Shaar Hanegev regional council said. The first building is due to be completed by the end of 2027.

“On Oct. 7, [2023,] we experienced a deep crisis, but from it we decided to rise and build,” Shaar Hanegev Mayor Ori Epstein said at the event. “[This new center] will provide treatment and support for all residents of the Western Negev; in addition, it will become a national center of knowledge that will help strengthen the resilience of the entire Israeli society.”

Birthdays

ISRAEL ON CAMPUS COALITION/INSTAGRAM

Dorothy Tananbaum, board member of Jewish Funders Network and a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency

Daniel Sperber, professor emeritus of Talmudic studies at Bar-Ilan University, turns 86

Edward Luttwak, authors who has published works on grand strategy, military history and international relations, turns 84

John Yarmuth, member of Congress and chair of the House Budget Committee until 2023, he was Kentucky’s first Jewish congressman, turns 79

Shaul Mofaz, Tehran-born former chief of the general staff of the IDF, then defense minister and member of Knesset for Kadima, turns 78

Ricardo Ehrlich, Uruguayan biologist, he served as mayor of Montevideo and then education minister, turns 78

James Neuberger, professor of medicine at England’s University of Birmingham and a leading British authority on organ donation and transplantation, turns 77

Robert L. Kern, marketing and communications consultant focused on Israel advocacy and the Jewish community

David Julius, professor at UCSF and winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in medicine, turns 71

Richard Irwin Harrington, baron of Watford, U.K. politician who served as a Conservative party MP, he was chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel, turns 69

Kenneth I. Gordon, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2013, turns 67

Kenneth R. “Ken” Weinstein, retired president and CEO of the Hudson Institute where he is now the Japan chair, turns 65

Annabelle Gurwitch, author of six books, comedic actor and television host, turns 65

Claire Elise Katz, professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University, she is known for her expertise on feminist theory and modern Jewish thought, turns 62

Scott Rechler, CEO and chairman of RXR, he also serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Board of Directors, turns 59

Eran Kolirin, Israeli screenwriter and film director, turns 53

Jeremy Chwat, general partner at Paragon Strategic Insights, a consulting firm for nonprofits

Benjamin Eli “Ben” Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, he was previously a media columnist for The New York Times, turns 50

John William Grabow, MLB pitcher who appeared in 506 games over his nine-year career, turns 48

Max Gleischman, global head of communications at McKinsey & Company

Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark and an anchor at MS NOW, turns 42

Maggie Goodlander, member of Congress representing New Hampshire’s 2nd District, turns 40

Jared Kleinstein, founder and CEO at Denver-based Fresh Tape Media

Yael Cohen, co-founder of a health organization working for early detection and prevention of cancer, turns 40

Addar Weintraub Levi, deputy general counsel at Lazard, formerly acting general counsel at the Treasury Department

Julie Brinn Siegel, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, turns 39

Avrahm “Avi” Berkowitz, former White House special representative for international negotiations and senior aide to Jared Kushner

Yoni Zigelboum, recording artist, songwriter and entertainer known as Yoni Z, turns 35

Alon Day, Israeli professional stock car racing driver, he is the first Israeli to compete in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series, turns 35

Amanda Eisenberg, consultant for healthcare organizations, she was the founding editor of Healthcare Brew, a vertical of Morning Brew

Bob Rubin

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