Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we look at a new approach to caring for Holocaust survivors being taught at the PowerNET 2023: Mission Possible conference in Dallas, and feature an op-ed from Ted Sasson and Hanna Paris. Also in this newsletter: Marshall Levin, Cheryl Fishbein and Gov. Kathy Hochul. We’ll start with the Jewish federations’ public and behind-the-scenes efforts to free Evan Gershkovich.
The Jewish federations network launched a public campaign this week to raise awareness about and support for Jewish Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for the past two months, hosting a virtual rally this week attended by some 500 people. But while this public effort is only now getting underway, both the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey have been working behind the scenes on Gershkovich’s behalf since his arrest in March, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Elana Broitman, JFNA’s senior vice president for public affairs, has taken the lead role in coordinating the organization’s efforts with the U.S. government, while the southern New Jersey federation has maintained regular contact with Gershkovich’s parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, who live in Princeton, N.J.
“The federation in southern New Jersey, run by Jen Weiss, they’re the ones who launched the work right away,” Broitman told eJP this week. “And as we always do, the national [JFNA] works with any of our federations on their biggest issues to really amplify their efforts and because this is really a national issue, we’re able to really give support with our additional connectivity in Washington.”
Broitman said the federations are focused on two main things: One is to keep the issue in the public eye to ensure that Gershkovich’s case remains a priority for the U.S. government so it maintains pressure on Russia and works to secure his release as quickly as possible. And the other is to send a message to Gershkovich himself. “Evan gets news of what’s happening, and so our ability to keep his spirits up is also really important,” she said.
The local Jewish community in Russia has made efforts to reach out to Gershkovich in prison, but these have largely been for naught, according to Baruch Gorin, a spokesman for the community. “For Passover, they let us bring him matzahs and grape juice with a Haggadah. But other than that they haven’t allowed us to be in touch with him or send him anything. The [Russian] chief rabbi sent a letter requesting permission to meet with him, but he hasn’t yet received a response,” Gorin told eJP this week.
With its new public campaign, JFNA is looking to make it clear that the entire American Jewish community is invested in Gershkovich’s welfare, Broitman said. “We’ve been asked, ‘Why is the community so engaged?’ It’s not because we would suggest that Evan was detained because he’s Jewish. But, as a Jew, he will always have – like any member of our community is going to – the backing of our entire community. That’s our ethos,” she said.
Read the full story here.
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