For the duration of the crisis, JFN will be sending regular updates highlighting philanthropic needs and opportunities for action as they emerge. These include:
- Regular dispatches from our President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny, which can be found here
- Recordings of our Zoom briefings, which can be found here
- Our list of vetted agencies and nonprofits, which is updated daily, can be found hereÂ
Please continue to share your responses to the crisis and resources you find valuable by filling out this form, and by writing to [email protected]. Our team is available 24/7 to advise you.
In the Face of Growing Antisemitism, Silence From Secular Philanthropy Is Unacceptable
I want to talk from the heart about how the Jewish philanthropic community feels almost two weeks after the world changed for us. I want to talk about what we need from our friends and allies as the trauma of generations bubbles up and we live through horrors we thought belonged in the dustbin of history.
Your Jewish colleagues feel alone, scared, and abandoned by a zeitgeist that refuses to see their suffering because it can’t be fit into the narrow and arbitrary confines of familiar categories of oppression. We see those who should be our allies relativizing, both-sidesing, and even making excuses for terror. They are somehow unable to mourn the loss of innocent life just because it happens to be Israeli.
Read more of JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny's op-ed for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
There’s No Place for Equivocation in Israel’s Time of Need
In my pain, and experiencing the pain of my colleagues, friends, and family in Israel, I could not have imagined that voices would arise laying blame for the attack at Israel’s feet. There is no justification for the murderous onslaught of Hamas. Full stop.
So why are we hearing justifications? Why in this case is it acceptable to blame the victim? We know that it isn’t acceptable to ask what a woman was wearing when we hear she was raped by her date. We point out that George Floyd’s prior convictions had no bearing on his murder by police. There is simply no excuse for these violent acts, and the same is true here.
As we announced last week, JFN has cancelled or postponed its immediate slate of regular programming as we focus on working to help our members respond to the crisis in Israel.
Some programs, like the JFN West Regional Convening, will go on as scheduled, but are being adapted to respond to the crisis. For more information, please visit our website, or contact Tzivia Schwartz Getzug at [email protected].
For more information on our general programming schedule, please visit our website, or contact Sarah Horowitz at [email protected].