In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we dive deep into the slow, convoluted demise of Los Angeles’ Kadima Day School after years of struggling with a hefty debt owed to its largest donor. We examine a new proposal from Reut USA to revamp the federation system, and report on Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s call for political parties to consider world Jewry in their domestic squabbling. We feature an opinion piece by Mika Ahuvia about how to support the field of Jewish studies in today’s campus climate; one by Shira Hutt responding to eJewishPhilanthropy’s recent coverage of concerns about the Jewish Federations of North America's Frontline initiative; and one by Sara Fredman Aeder about a coalition of Jewish organizations in New York focused on building relationships with one another before, rather than in response to, the next crisis situation. Also in this issue: Amy Spitalnick, Talia Goldin and Nadav Shachmon.

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What We're Watching

Signal Group, an Israel-based think tank focused on Israel’s relationship with China and the Indo-Pacific, is hosting its annual conference today at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Brandeis University and Hillel at Brandeis will celebrate the groundbreaking for the Robert K. Kraft Family Center for Jewish Life and Leadership today on the Waltham, Mass., campus.

Join Jewish Insider on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET for a conversation for premium JI subscribers with Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar and senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov breaking down the results of the U.S. midterms and Israel’s elections. This online event is open to JI’s premium subscribers.

In Brooklyn, N.Y., Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick and former House Judiciary Committee staff director Amy Rutkin will sit in conversation tonight at Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim for a discussion about antisemitism and the U.S. elections.

Elsewhere in Brooklyn, the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries kicks off today and runs through the weekend.

In Los Angeles, former Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal and his brother, hostage advocate Gal Gilboa-Dalal, will appear at the Pico Union Project tonight for “Soundtrack to Survival,” an “MTV Unplugged”-style music and storytelling event focused on the brothers’ experiences during Guy’s captivity.

Ahead of Sunday’s Kristallnacht anniversary, senior law enforcement leaders from Germany, across Europe and the United States will gather tonight at Berlin’s New Synagogue to confront rising antisemitism and reaffirm their commitment to protecting Jewish communities.

What You Should Know

It was an offer that the Kadima Hebrew Academy couldn’t refuse. It was 2004, and the Los Angeles-based pluralistic Jewish day school was in a bind: The building in which the school was housed, an old surplus public school facility, was on a list of properties the Los Angeles Unified School District intended to reclaim. The cost of renting the property more than quadrupled, a sum the school couldn’t possibly afford, creating a sense of urgency. The school would be forced to move.

“And then the next thing I knew,” Barbara Gereboff, the head of school at the time, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim, “I got a phone call from Shawn Evenhaim.”

That phone call and the deal that Evenhaim — a prominent Israeli American real estate developer for whom Kadima’s campus is named — proposed for the purchase of a nearby property would eventually leave Kadima burdened with a debt that it never got out from under. Eventually, that debt reached some $15 million, roughly half of which is still owed back to Evenhaim, according to a draft of the settlement agreement reviewed by eJP.

This summer, 22 years after Kadima struck that deal, the school closed its doors after a more than 50-year run serving L.A.’s Jewish community, particularly its Israeli expat community. Interviews with 13 members of the Kadima community — including heads of school, finance directors, board members and parents — as well as several external figures and independent experts, and a review of IRS documents, property records and a draft of a debt settlement agreement paint a picture of a convoluted arrangement that left the school in debt to Evenhaim, even as he has long since recouped the money that he paid for the property.

The investigation also raised serious questions about the school’s governance practices and its oversight, particularly as it relates to its fiduciary responsibilities. Interviews with former board members and officials indicate that the board entered into multimillion-dollar agreements that it did not entirely understand and that left the school hampered with debt that it could not feasibly repay.

Read the full investigation →

News

MODEST PROPOSAL

In May, the research, strategy and leadership think tank Reut USA set a goal: enhancing the political influence of small Jewish communities. The inspiration: American Jewry has long concentrated its political power in Washington, while BDS and anti-Israel activists centered their politics hyper-locally, Gidi Grinstein, the founder and president of Reut USA, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher. Today, the group released its recommendations for how the Jewish federation system can revise and remap itself to empower small communities with disproportionate power to influence local politics.

Hub-and-spoke: Suggestions include remodeling 15 federations into regional hubs covering larger swaths of territory; investing in smaller and under-resourced federations; establishing a national community relations cabinet alongside national organizations; and shifting funding from the five largest federations to smaller federations. A JFNA spokesperson refrained from commenting on the policy paper’s suggestions and said that Reut USA has not discussed its recommendations with JFNA leadership. The spokesperson added: “We thank them for thinking about us and appreciate their advice.”

Read the full report →

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Israeli President Isaac Herzog highlighted the impact that the current negotiations to create a governing coalition in Israel are having on Diaspora Jewry on Wednesday night, calling for a “less hostile” approach overall, during discussions with the Yisrael Beiteinu party at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.

Out from Zion: “We haven’t spoken about the Jewish People until now,” Herzog said. “In the end, every word that goes out from here has a dramatic impact on our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora. And I ask myself whether the time has come for us to project something a little less hostile among ourselves, and more open and embracing, also with a view to the possibility of aliyah.” Forer agreed, stressing the support that world Jewry showed Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and accusing the outgoing government — which his party looks to oust — of alienating Diaspora Jews.

Read the full report →

Opinion

TIME FOR A CHANGE

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Mika Ahuvia recounts her post-Oct. 7 experience as director of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle — a position from which she has since resigned — and encourages donors to increase support for Jewish studies at institutions that offer a less hostile environment for students and staff.

“I am not arguing that we abandon Jewish studies in universities. There are dedicated faculty doing extraordinary work there, and they deserve support, too. But the institutions whose mission is training the next generation of Jewish leaders are doing it with a fraction of the endowment, staff and security a flagship university takes for granted. We have an opportunity — and I would argue an obligation — to redirect resources to the colleges and seminaries doing that quiet work.”

Read the full piece →

READER RESPONDS

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Shira Hutt, executive vice president of Jewish Federations of North America, responds to Monday’s analysis of concerns about JFNA’s new $35 million Frontline initiative, addressing questions the article raised about how the Jewish community should invest in combating antisemitism.

“The rise in antisemitism is a challenge with many causes and requires many solutions. Every Jewish organization should contribute what they can, and we should all welcome new ideas and initiatives. But there is one indispensable place where we must draw the line: on the front lines of our communities — where we live, work and send our children to school. That is where Jewish federations lead, and where we are growing and deepening our efforts to ensure that our communities remain places where Jewish life flourishes without fear.”

Read the full piece →

BETTER TOGETHER

In an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, Sara Fredman Aeder, executive vice president of programming at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, reflects on the proceedings of last week’s New York Jewish Coalition meeting, calling the gathering “what a shared destiny looks like in practice.”

“Most of my working days since Oct. 7, 2023, have included a phone call or email about something that went wrong for the New York Jewish community. … But on Oct. 28, after spending a morning with more than 70 leaders of dozens of Jewish organizations from across New York, I left the event feeling more hopeful than I have in years.”

Read the full piece →

Worthy Reads

The Path Ahead: In a Jewish Council for Public Relations blog post reflecting on the midterm elections, CEO Amy Spitalnick urged incumbents and newly elected members of Congress to confront antisemitism and other hate even within their own parties and to reject the idea that protecting Jews and protecting democracy conflict. “We cannot move forward without recognizing that this election season has been particularly divisive and painful for the Jewish community and for so many others — an election in which we were too often treated as political footballs, pitted against one another and exploited to reinforce political division rather than protect any of our communities.”

Everything’s Political: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Rasheeda Childress speaks with Kendra Paiz, director of the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina’s annual fund, about a new fundraising tactic of appealing to donors based on their political affiliations. “Paiz’s campaigns were a success, resulting in a 67 percent year-over-year increase in digital revenue. Registered Democrats generated 60 percent of revenue attributed to paid social media that retargeted previous donors, while those registered as Republicans or no party affiliation generated 40 percent. ‘It showed for us that these are two very different groups that are very strong groups and are within our donor base,” Paiz says.”

Community Comms

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Major Gifts

The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles awarded Leading Edge an undisclosed amount in the form of an operating support grant from its Vibrant Jewish LA Community Impact Fund to back the group’s work with Los Angeles Jewish organizations…

Fortune magazine details how YouTuber MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, says he put $10 million into a new village in Ghana with homes, a school and a well to keep children out of illegal labor, and vowed to keep making philanthropy videos even if they draw fewer views…

Transitions

Former Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik will step down as Hadassah Medical Center’s board chair next month, two years before her term expires, after a Channel 12 investigation into alleged political influence and corruption at the Jerusalem hospital…

Nadav Shachmon will become senior vice president and director general of the JCC Association of North America’s Center for Israel Engagement beginning next month…

Birthright Israel Foundation hired Rachel Cohen as its vice president of Israel initiatives…

Aviva Polonsky was selected to be the founding head of school of St. Pete Jewish Academy in St. Petersburg, Fla., which will open in August 2027…

Orshrit Cowan began her new role as development director at the Foundation for Jewish Heritage…

Talia Goldin started a new role at Young Judaea Israel as its director of Israel programs in North America…

Tara Levy was hired by the Jewish Federation of Arkansas as director of development…

Maya Slade joined the Jewish Federations of North America as its executive director of its Student to Student initiative…

American Friends of Lubavitch named Phil Friedman, CEO of Computer Generated Solutions, to chair its Chanukah 250, a plan for 250 public menorah lightings across every state this holiday season that culminates with the National Menorah lighting at the White House Ellipse on Sunday, Dec. 6…

Word on the Street

Prominent Jewish leaders and longtime Democratic donors in Michigan made a substantial push to prevent Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) from achieving victory on Tuesday. That effort failed — and now some say they’re grappling with questions over the community’s future in the Wolverine State, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Alumot Or, a Tel Aviv-based special education group, won special consultative status at the United Nations, the first Israeli organization to do so since Oct. 7, giving it a seat in international talks on disability rights and inclusion…

The Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh received a record $61.1 million in new gifts during fiscal 2026, lifting its assets above $464 million, marking its best year in 114 years…

Sivan and Patrick Dumont, the daughter and son-in-law of Dr. Miriam Adelson, took controlling ownership of the Dallas Mavericks with a 69% stake after buying her shares last month, while Mark Cuban kept about 27% of the team…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the growing popularity of second-row seats to Knicks games as a less-pricey alternative to courtside seats, with season ticket-holder Andrew Murstein describing those who sit one row behind courtside as “people that could afford to have their own team”...

The Furness Multi-Cultural Community Forum, an anti-racism charity in Barrow-in-Furness, England, removed a trustee after UK Lawyers for Israel complained about 13 Facebook posts by the trustee it called antisemitic…

New guidance from the British Department for Education instructs teachers not to flag students for the country’s terrorism prevention program if they express antisemitic ideas unless it’s part of a “broader extremist world-view”; the instruction drew harsh criticism from local Jewish groups, noting the rise in antisemitic terror attacks in the country…

The U.K.’s House of Lords passed 94-90 a “motion of regret” on Wednesday over Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new sanctions regime targeting West Bank settlements, with a cross-party group of peers warning the policy appears “singularly aimed at Israel”...

El Al posted a record third-quarter revenue of $1.27 billion, up 18%, and declared a $116 million dividend despite a 14% drop in net profit…

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was again nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2027 as one of five contributor candidates…

The U.K.’s Labour party is ending 11 council power-sharing deals with the Greens over the party’s motion equating Zionism with racism…

Marla Romanoff Levine, who led Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo and spent decades championing the American arm of ORT, died on Wednesday at 89…

Photo of the Day

COURTESY/YOTAM SHAHAR

Economic attachés and representatives of five European countries, along with Israeli entrepreneurs, visit Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee yesterday for “The Europe Sprint,” which is meant to help connect northern Israel’s “innovation ecosystem” with European markets, the university said.

“These are global challenges, and they require global collaboration,” Michal Kelman-Avital, the university’s vice president of strategic partnerships and global resource development, said at the event, referring to food security, sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, health and AI.

Birthdays

YANIV KOPEL

Bernard-Henri Lévy, French public intellectual, media personality and author, turns 78

Art Garfunkel, singer, poet and actor, best known as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, turns 85

Richard Ziman, co-founder and former chairman of Rexford Industrial Realty, turns 84

Jeffrey Lyons, television and film critic, turns 82

Jeffrey Sachs, economist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, turns 72

Daniela Yaniv-Richter, Israeli ceramic artist and sculptor, turns 70

Sara Netanyahu, psychologist and wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, turns 68

Diane Eidman, director at The Gottesman Fund

Kevon Glickman, music producer and entertainment attorney

Yair Lapid, former prime minister of Israel, turns 63

Michael Schmidt, former regional director of AJC New York, now CEO at Healthcare Foundation of NJ

Benjamin Wittes, editor-in-chief of Lawfare and senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, turns 57

Dana Jacobson, sports anchor and correspondent, turns 55

Keath Blatt, founding executive director of the Jewish Action Coalition

Orli Shaham, Jerusalem-born pianist, she has performed with major orchestras worldwide, turns 51

Max Eden, director of federal education policy at America First Policy Institute, turns 38

Tara Khoshbin, co-founder of Los Angeles-based Aesthetics and Edits

Jacob Shamsian, features and investigations correspondent at Business Insider

Yuval Raphael, Israeli singer and survivor of the Nova Music Festival, she won second place in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025, turns 26

Talia Katz, policy advisor to Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA)

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