JFN Israel held a Hitchadshut Yehudit Greenbook Salon on June 10 at the home of Raya Strauss Ben-Dror and Shmuel Ben-Dror.  More than 30 funders gathered to learn together and discuss investments in this emerging field.

My phone rings. “All my life,” the caller says, “I’ve been waiting for someone to connect my love of organic farming and my love of Judaism. And you just did it.”

When it comes to private foundations in the U.S., the perception is very different from the reality.

The Times of Israel, June 3, 2014

Imagine a country that says “we are going to get rid of all law enforcement agencies.” There will be no police, no army, and no coercion whatsoever. Sound like a hippie utopia? Can you hear John Lennon singing in the background?

Wait, it gets better.

NEW YORK, May 8, 2014—Avi Naor, the Jewish Funders Network co-chair, has received the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement for his pivotal role in fueling the growth of Israel’s high-tech industry and making  philanthropy an increasingly prominent feature of the Israeli landscape.

In 2009, my uncle, Saul Schottenstein, passed away.  Saul was a down-to-earth person who gave half of his estate to a foundation.  He made me a trustee. In his usual way, he created the foundation but left no instructions.

Going back to Talmudic times, we find references to the idea of “kuppa,” which loosely translates to a “community chest” to which members of the Jewish community were required to contribute to help the local poor. This concept and various iterations have been the basis for many of our modern-day fundraising institutions.

NEW YORK, April 29, 2014—The Leichtag Foundation, in partnership with the Jewish Funders Network, has awarded $1.12 million through a  matching grant initiative  designed  to increase  funding for Jerusalem-based NGOs that are devoted  to furthering cultural and social programs in  the Israeli capital.