Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the Wexner Foundation cutting ties with Harvard University over the institution’s responses to the Oct. 7 terror attacks, and feature an opinion piece from Maya Bernstein and Rabba Sara Hurwitz about leadership during times of crisis. Also in this newsletter: Wadea Al-Fayoume, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and President Joe Biden. We’ll start with UJA-Federation of New York beginning to distribute large emergency grants to groups in Israel.
UJA-Federation of New York has begun distributing $22 million in emergency grants to Israeli nonprofits and initiatives in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacres and ensuing war, the organization announced on Monday, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
This represents a major round of fund distribution, with grants being issued to a wide variety of organizations and causes, from mental health organizations to volunteering efforts and aid to Israelis directly affected by the war. Itzik Shmuli, the head of the federation’s Israel office, told eJP that these initial grants are only the beginning and that UJA-Federation of New York already plans to significantly increase the size of some of its grants.
“These grants cover the most pressing needs across affected communities including procuring new hospital equipment, mobilizing mental health counselors, providing cash grants for victims of terror, aiding thousands of displaced residents from southern Israel, and helping so many cope with displacement and grief,” Eric Goldstein, the federation’s CEO, said in a statement.
Roughly a third of the grants — $7.2 million — will go toward direct assistance to communities and residents of southern Israel, mainly to their local governments. Some regional councils of towns closest to the Gaza border who were hardest hit by last Saturday’s attacks will receive up to $700,000, while others will receive $300,000.
Shmuli told eJP that his message to local governments in the affected areas is: “We are here, whatever you need. I’m your first phone call.”
“The needs are immense, immense. The local authorities are taking on a lot more responsibility than they would by the book,” he said. “There are some who say it is unprecedented.”
The rest of the grants are split between support for the organizations providing relief to the victims of the attacks, their families and to displaced Israelis. This includes: psychological trauma organizations, hospitals, emergency response services, groups organizing and mobilizing volunteers, financial support for terror victims through the Jewish Agency for Israel, support for soldiers and initiatives benefiting Arab and Bedouin Israelis.
“In every place that the cursed terrorists tried to damage, we will be there,” Shmuli said.
Read the full report here.
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