What We\u2019re Watching<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll be keeping a close eye over the weekend on the\u00a0situation in the Middle East\u00a0amid continued U.S. strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks across the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
RikudAmerica, a three-day Israeli dance camp in Cherry Hill, N.J., marking the 250th anniversary of the\u00a0Declaration of Independence\u00a0and honoring leaders of the American Israeli dance scene, begins tomorrow.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Rochester Jewish Film Festival\u00a0begins Sunday and runs through Aug. 2.<\/p>\n
What You Should Know<\/p>\n
A QUICK WORD FROM eJP\u2019S JUDAH ARI GROSS<\/p>\n
Yesterday\u2019s\u00a0stabbing<\/a>\u00a0on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side,\u00a0in which the assailant reportedly yelled \u201cAllahu akhbar\u201d before attacking two men \u2014 one who was visibly Jewish and attacked as he left a nearby synagogue, the other not \u2014 with a screwdriver in what police are investigating as a hate crime caught no one by surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jewish leaders and organizations have regularly warned\u00a0about precisely this type of violence, including in the day preceding the attack. \u201cAt a time of rising antisemitism, repeatedly singling out and vilifying the world\u2019s only Jewish state for perceived political benefit is repugnant, puts Jews at greater risk \u2014 and leaves many Jewish New Yorkers feeling targeted and unwelcome in the city we call home,\u201d UJA-Federation of New York wrote in a statement on Wednesday in response to Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s viral video in which he called Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Within the Jewish community, the Manhattan attack is sure to intensify\u00a0the ongoing debates about antisemitism and security: Are communal funds best spent on combating antisemitism and fortifying institutions or would those resources be better spent on Jewish education and initiatives to deepen Jewish identity and pride?\u00a0<\/p>\n Read the rest of \u2018What You Should Know\u2019 here.<\/a><\/p>\n \n Q&A\n <\/p>\n \n Holding the middle ground: Reform layleader Daryl Messinger steps in as chair of Israel Policy Forum\n <\/p>\n Last month, Daryl Messinger \u2014 the immediate past chair of the Reform movement\u2019s Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) and former chair of the Union for Reform Judaism \u2014 stepped into the role of chair of the Israel Policy Forum, one of the leading advocacy groups pushing for a two-state solution and, more broadly, for a \u201csecure, Jewish and democratic Israel.\u201d She\u00a0spoke with\u00a0eJewishPhilanthropy\u2019s Judah Ari Gross<\/a>\u00a0recently about the challenges facing liberal Zionism, her goals for the organization and its role in the broader Israel ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n JAG:\u00a0We are in a time where Israel is viewed in an increasingly polarized, partisan way. How does IPF plan to bring more people into the middle? Does IPF serve as a resource for the elite levels, for Jewish leadership, or is there a way for it to reach the masses of American Jews directly?<\/p>\n DM:\u00a0We\u2019re trying to be a space and a place for the folks in that middle ground who feel unmoored, as I described \u2014 to have a conversation and to have a community, particularly among young adults, post-college to 35 or 40 years old. We\u2019ve had success there, and there\u2019s interest in growing it, and also in making sure those leaders continue their journey within the larger communal spaces.<\/p>\n Read the full interview here.<\/a><\/p>\n \n BIG SWINGS\n <\/p>\n \n JCC Association plans to expand its Maccabi Games, return them to Israel in 2028\n <\/p>\n The JCC Association of North America is taking a big swing, doubling down on Jewish teen sports with a planned $19.5 million investment over the next four years, most of which has already been raised, in its JCC Maccabi Games,\u00a0reports\u00a0eJewishPhilanthropy\u2019s Justin Hayet<\/a>.<\/p>\n Major growth:\u00a0Through the campaign, the JCC Association plans to grow participation in teen sports by more than 80%, from roughly 2,650 teen athletes to 4,000 in the JCC Maccabi Games. The campaign will also return the JCC Maccabi Games to Israel in 2028. The campaign has already $12.45 million in funding, with the Marcus Foundation providing $5 million and the Samueli Foundation giving $6.25 million, JCCA said in a press release. The organization did not identify the sources of the remaining $1.2 million.<\/p>\n Read the full report here.<\/a><\/p>\n \n MIND THE GAP\n <\/p>\n \n The Jewish community doesn\u2019t have a funding problem. It has a strategy problem.\n <\/p>\n In an opinion piece for\u00a0eJewishPhilanthropy, Hadara Ishak, president and COO of the Jewish Future Promise, argues that the Jewish community in America is locked in asymmetrical warfare against antisemitism.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are answering a systemic campaign with scattered responses. No amount of individual organizational excellence closes that gap. \u2026 Imagine what becomes possible if the largest Jewish foundations, federations and major donors stopped solving this problem separately and started working from a shared long-term strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full\u00a0piece here.<\/a><\/p>\n \n SHALOM SHINSHINIM\n <\/p>\n \n Bringing Israel to the classrooms of our youngest learners\n <\/p>\n In an opinion piece for\u00a0eJewishPhilanthropy, Sharona Israeli Roth, president and executive director of EarlyJ, writes about the partnerships that brought a Shinshinim program tailored specifically for preschool settings to the Bay Area and the model the program offers for cultural connection and immersive learning.<\/p>\n \u201cBy embedding Shinshinim [Israeli high school graduates who dedicate a year to service before beginning their military commitment] directly into these environments, children experienced Israeli culture as a daily, joyful presence. Hebrew language, music, traditions and stories became part of the rhythm of the school day. Educators gained creative partners, and classrooms became spaces where connections to Israel felt personal, tangible and alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full\u00a0piece here.<\/a><\/p>\n One More Day:\u00a0In the\u00a0Times of Israel, historian and licensed tour guide Ari Melnik\u00a0??laments<\/a>\u00a0that visitors now book only the Gaza envelope and Nova sites while Jerusalem and Masada sit empty, arguing that Israel deserves to be shown as more than its worst day. \u201cSo when you come to Re\u2019im, and I hope you will, know that you are already standing inside the fullest answer to the question the world keeps asking about us. Do not let it be the only thing you see. Give me one more day, and I will show you the country that existed before that morning, the country that survived it, and the country that is already building what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a $50 million gift from\u00a0Einhorn\u00a0Collaborative\u00a0to create the\u00a0David M. Einhorn Institute for Early Relational Health\u2026<\/p>\n Philanthropist\u00a0Herbert Wertheim\u00a0has\u00a0pledged<\/a>\u00a0$100 million to Baptist Health South Florida to establish the\u00a0Wertheim Center for Cancer Prevention\u00a0and underwrite its research partnership with\u00a0Florida International University\u2026<\/p>\n Bill Ackman\u2018s Pershing Square Foundation is\u00a0committing<\/a>\u00a0$260 million toward two Manhattan buildings that will house the\u00a0Ackman Oxman Institute, a brain research center the investor conceived after his 26-year-old daughter survived a hemorrhage in February\u2026<\/p>\n Knight Foundation\u00a0and\u00a0Village Media\u00a0unveiled<\/a>\u00a0a partnership to build 15 digital newsrooms across three states \u2014\u00a0Wisconsin,\u00a0Pennsylvania\u00a0and\u00a0Illinois\u00a0\u2014 backed by a $5 million Knight investment that buys an ownership stake meant to seed operations and eventually hand the outlets to local owners\u2026<\/p>\n Nvidia\u00a0co-founder\u00a0Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori,\u00a0donated<\/a>\u00a0$75 million toward a new\u00a0Vanderbilt University\u00a0arts college based in San Francisco\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthropic\u00a0is\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0another $20 million to\u00a0Public First Action, a tax-exempt group pushing for AI oversight\u2026<\/p>\n Adam Pollack\u00a0was\u00a0promoted<\/a>\u00a0to be\u00a018Doors\u2019\u00a0executive director\u2026<\/p>\n Amnon Shashua, founder of the\u00a0Shashua Family Foundation\u00a0and co-founder of\u00a0Mobileye, will\u00a0step down<\/a>\u00a0from his role as CEO of the company once a successor is hired\u2026<\/p>\n California Gov.\u00a0Gavin Newsom\u00a0tapped<\/a>\u00a0podcaster and self-proclaimed \u201cOctober 8 Jew\u201d professor\u00a0Scott Galloway\u00a0for a seat on the\u00a0University of California Board of Regents\u2026<\/p>\n The Harvard Crimson\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0Hillel International\u00a0filed an amicus brief backing\u00a0Harvard\u2018s bid to restore $2.7 billion in federal funding and then swiftly pulled it after backlash, saying the filing never cleared its internal vetting process\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0Equal Employment Opportunity Commission\u00a0has dropped its subpoena demanding the\u00a0University of Pennsylvania\u00a0identify Jewish employees, ending a fight the school framed as a government effort to catalog Jews,\u00a0Jewish Insider\u2019s Haley Cohen reports<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Sen.\u00a0Tom Cotton\u00a0(R-AR) is\u00a0unveiling<\/a>\u00a0a bill that would strip anonymity from fiscal-sponsorship arrangements, taxing sponsors and denying donor deductions for money routed to anti-Israel and far-left groups\u2026<\/p>\n Israeli prosecutors\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0an Israeli man over a July 11 attack on a\u00a0CNN crew\u00a0in the West Bank\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0Mossad\u00a0foiled<\/a>\u00a0an\u00a0Iranian Intelligence Ministry\u00a0plot to send foreign operatives into Israel to surveil and assassinate senior officials\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0Orthodox Union Advocacy Center\u00a0welcomed<\/a>\u00a0a new\u00a0Justice Department\u00a0initiative offering houses of worship and police departments more than $7.7 million to cover surveillance upgrades, on-site patrols and joint training\u2026<\/p>\n AIPAC\u00a0touted<\/a>\u00a0the House-passed fiscal\u00a02027 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes $750 million for U.S.-Israel cooperative programs, a $65 million increase over the prior year\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center\u00a0in Boca Raton, Fla.,\u00a0is\u00a0<\/a>undergoing<\/a>\u00a0a $9 million renovation of its 31,000-square-foot campus, adding an amphitheater and upgraded gathering spaces to broaden its programming\u2026<\/p>\n Baltimore housing nonprofit\u00a0Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc, better known by its acronym\u00a0CHAI,\u00a0is completing<\/a>\u00a0a $14 million overhaul of its\u00a0Weinberg\u00a0House\u00a0senior living facility in\u00a0Pikesville, backed by federal, state and county funding\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0shekel\u00a0has\u00a0reached<\/a>\u00a0a three-month low against the dollar\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0Times of Israel\u00a0spotlights<\/a>\u00a0a\u00a0Maccabee Task Force-sponsored\u00a0trip that brought 15 non-Jewish\u00a0UCLA\u00a0student leaders to Israel for 10 days\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law\u00a0and the\u00a0Anti-Defamation League\u00a0reached<\/a>\u00a0a settlement with\u00a0Reed College, in which the school agreed to adopt a range of measures, including an updated discrimination policy detailing how anti-Zionist conduct can constitute unlawful discrimination\u2026<\/p>\n A\u00a0Sydney man\u00a0who wore a shirt with a swastika outside a hearing in which survivors of the\u00a0Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack\u00a0testified before Australia\u2019s royal commission investigating antisemitism was\u00a0fined<\/a>\u00a0$1,500, with a judge ruling that the man was \u201cfrustrated with the horrific events [in the Middle East] as he perceives them\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n Barry Levitt, a South African immigrant to Israel who founded the international\u00a0Chilla\u00a0beverage company,\u00a0died<\/a>\u00a0on Monday when a balcony collapsed onto a Jerusalem cafe where he was having coffee with his wife and two grandchildren\u2026<\/p>\n Zehava Shaul, the mother of slain Israeli Staff Sgt.\u00a0Oren Shaul, whose body was held by\u00a0Hamas\u00a0for more than a decade after he was killed in 2014,\u00a0died<\/a>\u00a0at 71\u2026<\/p>\n Jewish men read the Book of Lamentations on Wednesday night at the start of Tisha B\u2019Av at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ella Blumenthal<\/a>, participant in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and a Holocaust survivor, she is the subject of the 2021 documentary \u201cI am Here,\u201d turns\u00a0105\u00a0on Saturday<\/p>\n FRIDAY<\/p>\n Alfred H. Moses<\/a>, Former U.S. ambassador to Romania, now senior counsel at Covington and Burling, turns\u00a097<\/p>\n Lowell Bergman<\/a>, pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who worked for ABC News and CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d turns\u00a081<\/p>\n Iddo Netanyahu<\/a>, Israeli physician, author and playwright, he is the younger brother of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, turns\u00a074<\/p>\n Joel Benenson<\/a>, political consultant known for his role in both of President Barack Obama\u2019s presidential campaigns, turns\u00a074<\/p>\n Michael Jeffrey Bordy<\/a>, retired Los Angeles-based business and real estate attorney<\/p>\n Michael Sugerman<\/a>, radio anchor and reporter on both CBS nationally and NYC\u2019s WCBS<\/p>\n Charlie Crist<\/a>, member of Congress (D-FL-13) until 2022, he previously served as the governor of Florida, turns\u00a070<\/p>\n Boris Mints<\/a>, Russian businessman, one of the largest real estate investors in Russia, he is a member of the Board of Patrons of The Conference of European Rabbis, turns\u00a068<\/p>\n Patty Shwartz<\/a>, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, turns\u00a065<\/p>\n Gil Troy<\/a>, presidential historian, professor at McGill and senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute, turns\u00a065<\/p>\n Alan \u201cShlomo\u201d Veingrad<\/a>, director of donor development for AIPAC, he is a retired NFL player who played for the Packers and the Cowboys, where he won in Super Bowl XXVII, turns\u00a063<\/p>\n Esti Rosenberg<\/a>, founder of the Migdal Oz seminary for women in Gush Etzion, she is a granddaughter of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, turns\u00a061<\/p>\n Douglas Eric Liman<\/a>, film director and producer, turns\u00a061<\/p>\n Jonathan Miller<\/a>, partner in Frost Brown Todd and author of The Liberal Case for Israel, he was the first-ever Jewish statewide elected official in Kentucky (state treasurer), turns\u00a059<\/p>\n A.J. Baime<\/a>, author, he wrote roughly 600 stories for the \u201cMy Ride\u201d column on exotic cars for\u00a0The Wall Street Journal, turns\u00a055<\/p>\n Esther E. Manheimer<\/a>, mayor of Asheville, N.C., she was elected in 2013, 2017 and 2022, turns\u00a055<\/p>\n Jamie Denbo<\/a>, actor, writer, podcaster and comedian, turns\u00a053<\/p>\n Jason Miller<\/a>, president of Access Computer Technology in West Bloomfield, Mich., he is a rabbi, entrepreneur and social media expert, turns\u00a050<\/p>\n Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas<\/a>, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles<\/p>\n Sharon Yeshaya<\/a>, executive vice president and CFO of Morgan Stanley, turns\u00a047<\/p>\n Lauren Miller Rogen<\/a>, actor, screenwriter and director, turns\u00a044<\/p>\n Aviva M. Futerman Schochat<\/a>, former member of the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester<\/p>\n Adam Finkel<\/a>, co-founder and partner at Orfin Ventures, an incubator and deep-tech venture fund<\/p>\n Sarah Citrenbaum<\/a>, public relations manager at The Avon Company<\/p>\n Shlomo Klapper<\/a>, actor, best known for her role as Nomi Segal on the Freeform comedy-drama \u201cGrown-ish,\u201d turns\u00a036<\/p>\n SATURDAY<\/p>\n Stuart M. Matlins<\/a>, Former publisher and editor-in-chief of Jewish Lights Publishing, he is an economist and religious scholar best known for his interfaith work,\u00a0turns 86\u2026 <\/p>\n Peter Suschitzky<\/a>, cinematographer whose work includes \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show\u201d and \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back,\u201d\u00a0turns 85\u2026 <\/p>\n Alan N. Maisel<\/a>, member of the New York City Council from 2014 to 2021,\u00a0turns 80\u2026 <\/p>\n Victor Drai<\/a>, born in Casablanca, nightclub owner, entrepreneur and film producer, he produced \u201cThe Woman in Red\u201d and \u201cWeekend at Bernie\u2019s,\u201d\u00a0turns 79\u2026 <\/p>\n Efraim \u201cEffi\u201d Eitam<\/a>, former IDF brigadier general (he was part of Operation Entebbe in 1976), then a member of Knesset,\u00a0turns 74\u2026 <\/p>\n Peter Grossman<\/a>, voiceover artist, he is also the writer, producer, director and narrator of a documentary about the restoration of a NYC synagogue\u2026 <\/p>\n Philip Darivoff<\/a>, chairman of Vibrant Capital Partners and chair emeritus of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia\u2026 <\/p>\n Anne Applebaum<\/a>, Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist, she is a staff writer at\u00a0The Atlantic,\u00a0turns 62\u2026 <\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Bautista<\/a>,\u00a0retired MLB pitcher from a small Jewish community in the Dominican Republic,\u00a0turns 62\u2026 <\/p>\n Oshrat Kotler<\/a>, Israeli journalist, former news anchor and author of a non-fiction book and a novel,\u00a0turns 61\u2026 <\/p>\n Rabbi\u00a0Steven Weil<\/a>, former CEO of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces\u2026 <\/p>\n Arkady L. Bukh<\/a>, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, he is a NYC-based criminal defense attorney in many high-profile cases, especially involving Russian-born defendants, turns 54\u2026 <\/p>\n Rob Senderoff<\/a> , head coach of the men\u2019s basketball team at Kent State University since 2011,\u00a0turns 53\u2026 <\/p>\n Josh Spiegel<\/a>, radio personality on Baltimore\u2019s WBAL and 98 Rock,\u00a0turns 51\u2026 <\/p>\n Erin Seidler<\/a>, senior communications lead at the National Association for Healthcare Quality\u2026 <\/p>\n Daniel Lopatin<\/a>, experimental electronic music producer, composer and singer, known professionally as Oneohtrix Point Never,\u00a0turns 44\u2026 <\/p>\n Michael Welch<\/a>, film and television actor,\u00a0turns 39\u2026 <\/p>\n Joseph \u201cJoey\u201d Samuel Wagman<\/a>, pitcher for Team Israel at the 2020 Olympics and at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he is also a real estate broker at CBRE,\u00a0turns 35\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n SUNDAY<\/p>\n Oscar Goodman<\/a>,\u00a0former mayor of Las Vegas for 12 years, where he was succeeded by his wife,\u00a0turns 87\u2026 <\/p>\n Barry Munitz<\/a>,\u00a0former administrator at the University of Illinois and the University of Houston, chancellor of the California State University system and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust,\u00a0turns 85\u2026 <\/p>\n Paulette Cooper<\/a>, journalist and author or co-author of nearly two dozen books, both of her parents were killed in Auschwitz,\u00a0turns 84\u2026 <\/p>\n Shammai Engelmayer<\/a>, author, podcaster, columnist and rabbi,\u00a0turns 81\u2026 <\/p>\n Richard Stark<\/a>, member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020,\u00a0turns 74\u2026 <\/p>\n Alan H. Spiro<\/a>, MD, MBA, chief medical officer at F|42\u2026 <\/p>\n Lesli Linka Glatter<\/a>, film and television director, she is best known for her work on the Showtime drama series \u201cHomeland,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0turns 73\u2026 <\/p>\n Paul Finebaum<\/a>, sports columnist, author, television and radio personality, he works for ESPN\u2019s Charlotte-based SEC Network, turns 71\u2026 <\/p>\n James W. Breyer<\/a>, venture capitalist, turns 65\u2026 <\/p>\n Jeremy Samuel Piven<\/a>, actor, comedian and producer,\u00a0turns 61\u2026 <\/p>\n Daniel B. \u201cDan\u201d Harris<\/a>, former correspondent at ABC News for 23 years, now a founder at Ten Percent Media,\u00a0turns 55\u2026 <\/p>\n Nicholas Muzin<\/a>, physician and attorney, he is the founder and chairman of the D.C.-based consulting firm Stonington Global,\u00a0turns 51\u2026 <\/p>\n Mageina Tovah Begtrup<\/a>, actor best known for her role in the Spider-Man trilogy,\u00a0turns 47\u2026 <\/p>\n Nachama Soloveichik<\/a>, partner of the D.C. office of ColdSpark\u2026 <\/p>\n Tal Shalev<\/a>, senior Reporter at CNN\u2019s Jerusalem bureau\u2026 <\/p>\n Gilad Hochman<\/a>, Israeli born classical music composer,\u00a0turns 44\u2026 <\/p>\n Hila Bronstein<\/a>, Israeli born R&B singer and songwriter, turns 43\u2026 <\/p>\n Lauren Garfield-Herrin<\/a>, communications manager at Cetera Financial Group\u2026 <\/p>\n Hallie Meyers-Shyer<\/a>, actor and filmmaker,\u00a0turns 39\u2026 <\/p>\n Zachary Andrew\u00a0\u201cZach\u201d Kornfeld<\/a>, member of the comedy group \u201cThe Try Guys,\u201d turns 36\u2026 <\/p>\n Drew Gerber<\/a>, associate policy director for complex care at United Healthcare\u2026 <\/p>\n Tarik Cohen<\/a>, NFL running back who retired in 2024, despite his last name he is not an MOT,\u00a0turns 31\u2026 <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/F260722YS43-scaled.jpg\")
Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2190699438.jpg\")
Gianluigi Guercia\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n