← New Books Network
New Books Network
Jack Wertheimer, "Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life" (NYU Press, 2025)
01:00:38
Loading summary
Transcript154 lines
- [00:01]
State Farm Announcer
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast Smart move Being financially savvy Smart move Another smart move Having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
- [00:31]
Rumchata Announcer
Toast the holidays in a new way and raise a glass of Rumchata, a delicious creamy blend of horchata with rum. Enjoy it over ice or in your coffee. Rumchata. Your holiday cocktails just got sweeter. Tap or click the banner for more. Drink responsibly. Caribbean rum with real dairy cream, natural and artificial flavors. Alcohol 13.75% by volume 27.5 proof. Copyright 2025 Agave Loco Brands, Pojoaquee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved.
- [01:02]
Depop Announcer
Kids, they grow up so fast. One day they're taking their first steps and the next they don't fit into the tiny sneakers they took them in. You blink your eyes and their princess dress is two sizes too small. And their dinosaur backpack isn't cool anymore. But don't cry because they're growing up. Smile because you can profit off of it for real. There are a bunch of parents on depop looking for the stuff your kid just grew out of. Download depop to start selling.
- [01:32]
Jack Wertheimer
Welcome to the New Books Network.
- [01:36]
Alfred Marcus
Welcome to the New Books Network. I'm Alfred Marcus, and this is on the Cusp, where we explore how strategy and ethics intersect in shaping institutions and social change. Today, I'm speaking with historian Jack Wertheimer, author of Jewish Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life, published by New York University Press. This book traces how Jewish donors and organizations have built a dense philanthropic infrastructure over centuries, supporting refugees, hospitals, education, social services in Israel, while also attracting rising criticism today about concentration of power, priorities and accountability. So, Jack, could you briefly sketch the core argument of the book? What story are you telling about Jewish philanthropy in America, and why do you think this was the right moment to tell it?
- [02:39]
Jack Wertheimer
Great. So first of all, thank you for having me on. It's a pleasure to be with you.
- [02:45]
I'll start kind of with the third part of your long question just now, and then work my way back from there.
- [02:52]
American Jewish philanthropy during the middle decades of the 20th century was widely hailed not only within the American Jewish community, but also well beyond that. Famously, there was an article that appeared in Fortune magazine in the 1950s, which.
- [03:17]
Hailed what it was called by Fortune magazine, the Miracle of Jewish Giving, by which the magazine argued that the miracle was twofold. On the one hand, the success in raising significant sums of money for Jewish needs, and second of all, the infrastructure that was created by Jews in this country to raise those sums of money and then also to disperse them. Disperse with a B throughout American Jewish society. And just to go on a quick explanatory note here before going further, my focus in the book is giving by Jews specifically to Jewish causes. The majority of Jews and the majority of Jewish money, in fact, does not go to Jewish causes, but goes to non sectarian cause causes. But my focus was on that aspect which goes to support specifically Jewish causes. And maybe later on we can get into the question of what is a Jewish cause. But leaving that aside, that whole infrastructure was held in high esteem and was widely praised. Starting from the latter part of the 20th century into the current century.
- [04:39]
Lots of new questions have been raised both about the viability of that structure and.
- [04:50]
Will in fact, it continue to be successful in terms of raising money. And also, critiques have been raised about whether sufficient amounts of dollars are going to non sectarian causes by giving when we're talking about the giving of Jews, and simultaneously questions being raised by others who are asking whether too much is going to non sectarian causes and not enough to support the vital Jewish institutions that are needed to have.
- [05:23]
A stimulating and responsive Jewish community. So the moment is such today where these questions are in the air. And that's what impelled me to learn more about both the history of American Jewish giving as well as the nature of Jewish giving today, and to what extent we can answer the question about sums of money, where they're going and will they continue.
- [05:55]
In this way. So that's your question about the why or the motivation behind the book.
- [06:02]
Alfred Marcus
That's a very important issue. Let's go back historically and how Jews built a highly organized philanthropic system, from early relief societies to federations, it's centralized fundraising and allocation. How did that arise? How did the model emerge? And what strategic problems in particular was it designed to solve?
- [06:22]
Jack Wertheimer
Okay. And which strategic problems did it also create?
- [06:27]
Which is another aspect of this as well. So.
- [06:34]
If we look at the longer span of American Jewish philanthropy, what we find is that for much of American Jewish history, starting from the colonial era, and let's understand that the first Jews arrived in this country in 1654. There was no United States then, obviously, but they arrived in North America, American colonies, in 1654.
- [06:57]
And throughout that period of time and certainly into the full breadth of the 19th century, into the early 20th century, the dominant issue confronting.
- [07:10]
Jewish communal life was how to sustain institutions, Jewish institutions in a voluntaristic environment. Now, obviously, that was not just a Jewish issue. That is an issue that faces every single group in this country, especially when it comes to religious identification, with separation of church and state. There is no requirement, no government requirement to support religious institutions. But in general, there's no government requirement to support any not for profit institutions. And so that was one challenge that philanthropy had to address and the community had to address. The second challenge was continuing waves of immigration. Jews coming to this country relatively in small numbers initially, so that by roughly 1880, it's thought that there were no more than a quarter of a million Jews in the United States. But even so, that quarter of a million Jews were primarily Jews who had fled from Central European countries. And some of them were.
- [08:21]
Indigence, some of them needed help to establish themselves, to establish employment of one sort or another. And so institutions were created in order to address the immigrant issues. And then with the mass migration of Jews coming from Eastern Europe, which began roughly in the late 1870s and continued until World War I, and there we're talking about much larger numbers of impoverished Jews, roughly two, two and a half million Jews in that period of time. And they needed all kinds of social welfare, types of support.
- [09:09]
And so various kinds of institutions were established for them in quotation marks by the native Jews, the native Jews being in the country for maybe one or two or three generations before.
- [09:23]
And also these groups eventually created their own infrastructure organizations to support their own. So those were the initial challenges that had to be addressed. The next period that I focus on runs from roughly the teens, late teens of the 20th century until the very end of the 20th century. This was an era in which immigration.
- [09:56]
Was far reduced compared to the mass migration of the earlier period of time due to American.
- [10:04]
Quota laws.
- [10:07]
And so the resettlement of immigrants and poverty in general were not nearly as significant.
- [10:18]
An issue as they had been during the earlier period of time. But a new issue arose with great force, and that was the needs of Jews abroad. During World War II. Jews in Eastern Europe were caught between warring armies at the end of World War. I'm sorry, the end of World War I, I should say at the end of World War I, with the Bolshevik Revolution, Jews were caught between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, the White and the Red Armies, and were suffering as a result of that. There was a lot of dislocation if not anti Semitism. And that was true other East European countries as well. And so American Jews began to form a series of organizations to help Jews abroad. And there were some periods of time.
- [11:12]
In which half the sums of money that were raised for Jewish causes were sent abroad. And that particularly took off around the time of the creation of the State of Israel, which needed Israel, that is, needed to absorb roughly three quarters of a million Jews fleeing from Muslim countries because they were persecuted there, and then also resettling Jews, survivors of the Holocaust and others who were fleeing, fleeing to the newly established Jewish state. And in that regard, too, the American Jewish community rallied, as it did when various wars broke out between Israel and its neighbors in 1967. 73. And that process continued apace. And it exists to the present day, when Israel was attacked by Palestinians in Gaza on October 7, 2023. And so funds have been raised to address those international Jewish needs. And finally, coming now to the present century, we see some diminution, until the most recent period, that is, since October 7, 2023, of giving abroad and a greater focus on domestic Jewish needs here, as the American Jewish community recognizes that it's dealing with severe issues of undereducated Jewish populations, assimilating Jewish populations, populations that need strong Jewish institutions that are compelling to keep them involved with Jewish life. And so, in a nutshell, I've tried to cover three major periods here of Jewish philanthropic giving.
- [13:07]
Alfred Marcus
Religions in the United States are very different than in Europe because the state even supports in France, the Jewish community. I think there's a taxation system that works in their benefit, and that goes back, really, I think, to the origins, the Protestant origins, of each church being independent.
- [13:27]
On its own.
- [13:30]
It's a voluntaristic religion in the United States is voluntaristic, as opposed to the rest of the world, which most countries do have a national religion of some kind.
- [13:40]
Jack Wertheimer
They certainly do. And not only that, but the Jewish communities in Europe.
- [13:47]
In France.
- [13:49]
For a period of time, did receive support from the government. That changed early in the 20th century, but it continues to be the case in Germany to the present day, where the Jewish communities of Germany are supported by the government. And that was true prior to the Holocaust also. Now, this is not totally altruistic on their part. The governments collect tax revenues from Jews and Protestants and Catholics to help support their respective institutions as well.
- [14:21]
Alfred Marcus
You talked about Israel giving how much, what percentage ends up going to Israel, the large federations, and then. And how dependent Israel is on this funding. Because my sense is that it's less dependent than it was, let's say, in the 1950s.
- [14:42]
You know the answer to this question.
- [14:44]
Jack Wertheimer
Well, you certainly are correct in saying that the Israeli economy does not depend nearly as much as it did early in the history of Israel on this international support. But there are various welfare organizations and health organizations, hospitals for example, and clinics, and also religious institutions that are heavily dependent upon funding coming from abroad because the government does not support them nearly as well as the government supports other types of institutions. Obviously the military, but there are other kinds of institutions that it also supports. I can't give you a precise answer about the percentage of American Jewish philanthropic giving that goes to Israel, in part because nobody knows the answer, but also in part because it obviously changes depending on circumstances in Israel. So clearly there's been an upsurge of giving to Israel since October 7, 2023. The massacres that took place there and the wars that have persisted against some seven different Arab groups that has prompted American Jews to step up their giving to Israel. Prior to that, it had declined. But I also want to note that while federations have played a role, an important role in raising money for Israel, they are not the dominant players any longer. They have raised somewhere in the vicinity of $900 million, slightly more than that since October 7, 2023 that they have channeled to Israel. But.
- [16:34]
There are hundreds of so called Friends of Israeli organizations that are based in the United States. They have to be based in the United States in order to qualify as tax deductions. That is, gifts to them can qualify as tax deductions. And they then channel their funds to various specific institutions. So there is an American Friends of the Hebrew University or American Friends of Sheba Hospital. And I can go on and on. There are hundreds of these institutions and in the aggregate they are major players in this story as well. Now, I'm not trying to.
- [17:17]
The role of federations. What I'm suggesting is that there are many other avenues and institutions that channel funds to Israel.
- [17:27]
Alfred Marcus
It's very fragmented. Is there like a central database?
- [17:31]
Jack Wertheimer
No, which is why I couldn't answer your question.
- [17:36]
Nobody really knows the answer to that. But to give you some idea.
- [17:45]
Giving to Israel from the largest foundations that have an interest in things Jewish. We're talking about somewhere in the vicinity of 20% of their funding goes to Israel. But those understand, those are foundations that have an interest in Jewish things. But there are many foundations that Jews have established which have no interest in anything Jewish. Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today?
- [18:19]
1-800-Contacts Announcer
Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contact contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast.
- [18:27]
Uniswap and Coca Cola Announcer
And breathe.
- [18:28]
Jack Wertheimer
Oh, sorry.
- [18:29]
1-800-Contacts Announcer
I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.
- [18:40]
Uniswap and Coca Cola Announcer
1-800-Contacts.
- [18:42]
Uniswap Wallet Announcer
The Uniswap wallet makes it easier and safer to own and use crypto. Created by pioneers of the crypto economy, the Uniswap protocol has powered over $3 trillion in trading volume and it's trusted by tens of millions worldwide. With the Uniswap Wallet, you can discover, swap and manage your crypto all from your phone. Buy your first crypto assets in just a few taps and start exploring the freedom of decentralized finance with Uniswap. Tap the banner to get started.
- [19:12]
Uniswap and Coca Cola Announcer
Coca Cola for the big, for the small, the short and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers for the optimists, pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca Cola for everyone. Pick up some Coca Cola at a store near you.
- [19:42]
Alfred Marcus
There's a long history of this. I mean, in the 19th century there was Jews had settled in what was then Palestine and people throughout the world donated to the sustenance of that community. And the federations themselves, I think.
- [20:04]
Continue the kind of.
- [20:07]
The way the Jewish communities were historically organized in the Diaspora, and that they were more than just charitable organizations or governance organizations in some respect. Would you agree with that? Or what does this tell us about.
- [20:25]
Jewish institutions in the United States generally?
- [20:29]
Jack Wertheimer
Yes. Well.
- [20:32]
It'S a large question, but I'll begin to answer your question by referring to a book that appeared in the mid-1970s, the title of which is.
- [20:46]
Community and Polity. The author of that book was a political scientist by the name of Daniel Elazar, and one of his arguments was that the American Jewish community is shifting from becoming a community to a polity in the sense and this comes to self governance also, and that the central institution of that self governance process, in fact are federations. As you just pointed out.
- [21:15]
No sooner did that book appear than the whole thing began to collapse. Well, I'm exaggerating there, but federations no longer maintain that kind of role because of the competing institutions that have been established in the United States and because many of the biggest funders don't want to be limited by the consensus driven decision making of federations. I want to do with my money what I want to do, which is the approach of philanthropists. Now that's not unique to American Jews. That is why United Way has been suffering or struggling as well, because philanthropists are less eager than they were in the middle decades of the 20th century to give to an umbrella organization which decides on its own how to allocate funds. And instead philanthropists want to give where they want to give. And that's the case with foundations. But it's also the case with people who have donor advised funds and given in other ways, also targeted giving, boutique giving. There are different terms for this, but it's the same idea. And as a result of that to come. Now back to your question of governance. The power and influence of federations has diminished. Although I will say that since the early 2000 and twenties, with the COVID outbreak, there's been a new respect accorded by philanthropists to federations because they recognize that federations are able to address crises in a much more.
- [23:07]
Effective and much quicker action than any philanthropist could. And so during these crises of the COVID epidemic, the outbreak of antisemitism in this country, and then the crisis since.
- [23:24]
October 2023, more money has been channeled to federations.
- [23:30]
Alfred Marcus
The federations reacted to their.
- [23:34]
Loss of influence or loss of centrality.
- [23:38]
Jack Wertheimer
They've reacted.
- [23:42]
In a number of different ways. Some of them have kind of dug in the tried to dig in their heels and tried to dominate their local community.
- [23:52]
Setting the calendar, for example, of when various kinds of events can be held and that they can't compete with federation sponsored events. But many federations have tried to adapt to the new environment. One obvious way of adapting is to.
- [24:12]
Invite younger American Jews to become part of the system, to play a role on federation committees, in other words, to be involved in governance issues and allocations issues in a much more dramatic fashion.
- [24:31]
Some federations have ceased to call themselves federations, but rather they will call themselves Jewish. Dash, you fill in the blank. Jewish Dallas, Jewish Austin. There are many other, in other words, to identify themselves as being the central.
- [24:49]
If not convener, then certainly the central address of Jewish life in their community to provide communication between different Jewish institutions. And what many federations have done is literally to convene regular monthly meetings of heads of Jewish organizations to get them to talk to each other and to plan together. Not that the federation's doing the planning, but that these various organizations collectively meet, I.e. their leaders meet and they develop Plans together.
- [25:21]
Alfred Marcus
There were some major big funders at the beginning, people like Jacob Schiff and Julius Rosenberg, while Sears Roebuck fortune. Is that correct?
- [25:35]
And then so has that changed in a great way. And how do.
- [25:40]
Among the very wealthy Jews of today, are they shying away more, Are they giving more to non sectarian or are they giving more to Jewish? Do we have any sense for that and how it's working now?
- [25:56]
Jack Wertheimer
Yeah, well, some of these large givers today, many of them have foundations. And thanks to the IRS requirements that foundations file annual 990 reports, we have a pretty good idea, a very good idea of how much they're giving and whom they're giving. Their the foundations.
- [26:19]
Who the foundations are supporting. And I did in fact.
- [26:26]
Tally the giving patterns of foundations with a Jewish interest in terms of their giving roughly around 2019, 2020, 2021.
- [26:40]
I could not bring the story closer to the present because there is a lag in how when these 990 reports are publicized, made public.
- [26:50]
But what I found there was that foundations which have an interest in something Jewish and have given minimally a quarter of a million dollars annually to Jewish causes.
- [27:06]
Gave somewhere in the vicinity of 27% of their largesse of their grants to Jewish causes. Now again, that excludes the foundations that give nothing to Jewish causes. And there are many large foundations that fall into that category. And so what we see here is that the vast majority of foundations interested in Jewish causes give overwhelmingly to non sectarian causes. So that's number one. But number two, there's another aspect to what you're saying, and that is to what extent are they trying to shape the agenda of America? Newish lots. And there.
- [27:48]
Certainly we know that what was called the mega donors of the 1990s and early years of this century most assuredly launched new initiatives such as Birthright Israel.
- [28:06]
Moshe Houses. There's a whole list of institutions that they established because they felt that there was a need in the Jewish community that was not being met. And that's what foundations, after all, see themselves as doing. They see themselves as the innovative sector of Jewish philanthropy. And while that gets criticized because some people don't like the decisions that they make.
- [28:33]
They in fact are the ones who are taking the risks. Because when you're starting a new initiative, you don't know whether it's going to pan out or not.
- [28:42]
So they are playing that kind of role. And as we've seen quite recently, when some large donors have lobbied to get other donors to withhold their funding from universities that were tolerating the abuse of Jewish students on campus. That was one way in which big donors are trying to influence. There are obviously other ways in which they're trying to influence Jewish institutions that they give to.
- [29:13]
Alfred Marcus
You talk about three types of criticisms of Jewish philanthropy. Fear that Jewish giving to Jewish causes is eroding, and arguments that it is too parochial, and complaints from professionals about donor dominance and lack of accountability. How do these critiques illuminate the ethical tensions in giving?
- [29:36]
Jack Wertheimer
Expel it out a little further.
- [29:38]
Alfred Marcus
Yeah. So what kind of ethical tensions are there in giving right now? What kind of tensions exist? The major tensions?
- [29:48]
Jack Wertheimer
Well, I'm not sure they're necessarily all ethical, but if we start with the ethical ones, the most obvious ones are abusive behavior on the part of donors. By that, I mean everything from.
- [30:07]
Demands made by donors and that they should have access to all kinds of information.
- [30:16]
Of the organization that they're supporting to some donors insisting that personnel at a Not for Profit should be fired. And I came across examples of that, two examples of sexual harassment that donors, some individual donors, have engaged in as well. So that's one whole area of ethical problems throwing their weight around. I am giving you money, and therefore you owe me X, Y, and Z.
- [30:57]
That's one area. The second area, which is, I don't know that essentially an ethical issue has to do with very heavy demands made of not for Profits that are receiving donor funding, which are just unrealistic given the staffing of not for Profits and the time that they have available to be responsive to donors. That can mean anything from the whole initial kind of proposal process where.
- [31:39]
Funders, I'm sorry, where not for Profits will come to a funder and ask, are you prepared to support this project? And the funder then strings along the organization, in some cases over the course of a long period of time, and at the end of the process saying, never mind, we've changed our priorities. And I write in the book about examples of this where donors promised very large sums of money and then at the last minute they changed their minds. One notable example of that comes to mind that was related to me during the interviews that I conducted. And I conducted roughly 320 interviews preparing for this book. One of the interviewees who heads up a major Health not for Profit, told me that there was a donor who promised a multimillion dollar gift.
- [32:41]
And.
- [32:43]
The organization counted on that kind of funding. And then one fine day several months later, the organization received a phone call from a lawyer, very apologetic, saying.
- [32:57]
My client decided that he's really not going to give you that gift, never mind. But the end of the story, and this is not the full end of the story, was that a few months after that the check for the multimillion dollar gift arrived.
- [33:12]
And then the same donor promised a gift that was in the tens of millions of dollars in the form of real estate. And again the same process, never mind, I changed my mind and I don't know the end of that story because at the time that large gift was pending. So those are some of the ethical concerns dealing with kind of high handedness and just jerking these organizations around and making demands on them while not necessarily following through.
- [33:47]
So those are some of the ethical questions that come to mind.
- [33:50]
Alfred Marcus
You make the point that philanthropy is a hard work, if taken seriously, that it's difficult to give money away constructively. Is there some guidance you can give? What kinds of government practices or metrics or norms distinguish foundations and charities that seem to navigate the challenge better? And even, you know, are there, is there some guidance that you could give to, to people who want to give money to how should they behave?
- [34:17]
Jack Wertheimer
Yes. So the wisdom I have on this subject is wisdom from a slew of organizations that are non sectarian in character in this country that in fact do advise donors and funders about how to behave in an ethical fashion and in a fair minded fashion.
- [34:42]
To start with something very nitty gritty. One of the things that's very bothersome to not for Profits when they're applying for grants is that every foundation has a different set of requirements for the proposal, what must be included, data, various types of information that is needed. And so what some of these organizations recommend is creating a kind of common form that can then be used by the not for Profit while applying to multiple different foundations for support like Apple Hanson College today. Exactly right. Exactly right. Yes. So that's one suggestion, but the other one, another one rather has to do with.
- [35:33]
Knowing one's limitations in the sense that just because you're giving funds doesn't mean that you can control the organization and dictate to the organization how it should be handling matters. And related to that.
- [35:52]
Seeing your funding not solely.
- [35:57]
As a transaction, but taking an interest in the not for profit and seeing whether in fact you can help that not for profit get stronger. There are some foundations that provide capacity building grants to not for profits that doesn't necessarily help them with a particular initiative that's of interest to the funder, but it helps the organization, the not for profit get stronger.
- [36:28]
And acquire the personnel that are needed really to carry out its Work in the most effective fashion. And speaking of effectiveness, one other piece of advice that's often given is to understand that the more obstacles you create to the work of a not for profit that you're supporting, the less efficient it will be. And so you are hampering the work of an organization that you really are trying to support. Now on the other end of the spectrum, because this is not just a matter of the funders being the bad guys in this story, because they're not. Because there are many funders that do take a strong interest in organizations that they support. And the capacity building grants is one example of that. I'll give you another example from an interview where someone told me about an experience he had. He was the executive of a Not for profit. And one of his most important funders wanted to meet with him at the offices of his not for profit. And he was chagrined because the office was in a pretty dilapidated state. State. They just didn't have the money really to house themselves in a very up to date kind of place. And he thought that the funder would be totally turned off by that. But when she came, she in fact regulated him. I see you're not wasting my money on the frills, are really investing my money in what needs to be done out there. So he got a gold star for that when he thought that he would end up losing that funder. But that's an example of a funder who appreciates the work that the organization is doing. And there are funders that literally visit places not to play gotcha with the not for profit, but to learn more about the work that they're doing and to be helpful to them. But I want to, if I may just talk about the other side of the equation, because speaking with foundation, there are a number of aggravating stories that they have to tell. Also, I'm talking about the professionals who work at foundations. One of them is the lack of understanding or perhaps the unwillingness to appreciate the fact that foundations are generally not in the business of supporting a not for profit indefinitely, but rather they are in the business of launching new initiatives, making sure they get off the ground and then they move on because they have a limited amount of money that they can invest and they want to launch new initiatives. And if they keep on giving to their existing ones, they will not have the resources to launch new initiatives. Now again, there are some foundations that are trying to balance these two. In other words, maintain funding for organizations that they believe in over a longer term period of time while also setting aside some of their funding for new initiatives. And the other aspect that.
- [39:49]
Is aggravating to.
- [39:52]
Professionals at foundations is when basically not for profits come from to them and say, you know, we want to know what you fund and we'll come up with a program that might fit the bill. At one at one large Jewish foundation with a Jewish interest, the CEO told me that.
- [40:15]
One professional of a not for profit came to him with a box full of 20 or 30 index cards and said here, look these over. You decide what you want to fund and it just doesn't work that way. But try to kind of outsmart what the foundation is interested in so I can fit in with that. That sometimes is a big turn off to these professionals.
- [40:41]
Microsoft Copilot Announcer
Meet the computer you can talk to with Copilot on Windows Working, creating and collaborating is as easy as talking. Got writer's block? Share your screen with Copilot Vision to help spark inspiration and use Copilot voice to have a conversation and brainstorm ideas. Or maybe you need some tech help with Copilot Vision. Copilot sees what you see. Let Copilot talk you through step by step guidance so you can master new apps, games and skills faster. Try now@windows.com copilot.
- [41:11]
1-800-Contacts Announcer
Experience a membership that backs your business journey with American Express Business Platinum. When you pay with membership rewards points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with a qualifying airline through Amex Travel, you can get 35% of those points back up to 1 million points back per calendar year. American Express Business Platinum there's nothing like it. Terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.com Business Platinum.
- [41:39]
At Capella University.
- [41:41]
Uniswap and Coca Cola Announcer
Learning online doesn't mean learning alone. You'll get support from people who care about your success, like your enrollment specialist who gets to know you and the goals you'd like to achieve. You'll also get a designated academic coach who's with you throughout your entire program. Plus, career coaches are available to help you navigate your professional goals. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella Eduardo, you have.
- [42:10]
Alfred Marcus
To be very humble if you're a giver and you have to be able to work with the organization and really try to help the organization rather than dominate it in any fashion.
- [42:21]
Jack Wertheimer
I very much agree with that and.
- [42:25]
I have done some work with foundations and one chairman of a foundation that I had dealings with.
- [42:34]
Was acutely aware of the limitations of how much had been accomplished through the giving that took place under his chairmanship. And this was a chairman who was very actively involved in trying to help organizations, but recognized that there are limitations to what funding can accomplish because there are personnel that are involved that that may or may not be able to carry out the work, but also because many of the greatest challenges that we face are not so easily remediable just with money.
- [43:15]
And that's especially the case with Jewish life in this country. When we talk about poor Jewish education, when we talk about assimilation, when we talk about Jews who lose interest in Jewish life, there are so many variables involved that funding alone is not necessarily going to solve all those issues.
- [43:38]
Alfred Marcus
What kind of initiatives do you think right now would be really important for the world of Jewish philanthropy to take? Is there any in the book itself? Do you make any recommendations at the end about what should be done? And I guess this is an associated question. Is there. Do you note an overall decline in giving compared to prior years in erosion? Is that taking place and how might it be overcome? I've jumbled a couple of things, so.
- [44:12]
Jack Wertheimer
There are two questions there. I'll start with the second one, and you'll remind me of the first one.
- [44:18]
I do in fact have data, comparative data. And I'll begin by saying that in 1979, two sociologists, both of them actually good friends of mine, wrote a very influential article titled Will the well Run Dry? And they were referring to the well of Jewish giving to Jewish causes. And their answer was, yes, that was 1979.
- [44:51]
And they were wrong because, in fact, giving continued. It continued in the 80s with very significant funding that continued to go to Israel. And in the 1990s, a billion dollars, which in those days was a lot of money, was donated by American Jews to help Israel resettle the large influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
- [45:20]
And in this century as well, the sums of money being raised for Jewish causes has continued to rise. There was a study that was done in 2013 looking at sums of money raised by Jewish, not for profits, which estimated that roughly $6.5 billion was raised in 2013.
- [45:47]
By 2021, according to my best estimate, that figure has doubled. So the amount of money. Now, of course, inflation plays a right.
- [46:00]
Yes, yes. But the sums of money far outstrip inflation.
- [46:08]
And the sums of money are still being given in very significant amounts. The difference, however, today is that the base of givers keeps on shrinking. So you have fewer givers to Jewish causes who are giving larger sums of money. And part of that, of course, is the enrichment of a sector of the American Jewish community that cares about Jewish things. And therefore is prepared to give generously to those causes. I cannot. I'm not. Historians are notoriously bad prophets, and I cannot prophesy what the future will bring. Certainly the shrinking base.
- [46:57]
Is worrisome, but from reports that I've heard since 2023, they were funders who either had never given to Jewish causes, such as federations, or who had lapsed in their giving, who came out of the woodwork to give very significant sums of money. Whether they will persist in this when the immediate crisis passes, I don't know. But I also don't know when the immediate crisis, especially of anti Semitism in this country and anti Zionism around the world, when those will cease.
- [47:35]
So the amounts of money that are coming in to Jewish causes continue to be robust.
- [47:40]
Alfred Marcus
That's very encouraging in some ways, but I can see why it's also precarious in other ways.
- [47:46]
Jack Wertheimer
It is. And now I want to come to the first section of your questions, which has to do with advice.
- [47:53]
The book is published by an academic press. I didn't think it was my role in that book to offer recommendations, so I did not do that. But I've written.
- [48:05]
In more personal ways in more popular venues. My views about this matter. There were huge sums of money that had been poured into the battle against anti Semitism and anti Israelism in this country.
- [48:23]
And that is understandable given that many American Jews have felt the brunt of that. There are constant news stories about Jews who are dealing with discrimination and marginalization in the workplace, in schools, in social settings, even in political settings. And so the battle needs to be fought. Certainly, we constantly read about and hear about demonstrations in various settings against Israel, the spread of malicious lies about Israel on the Web, in mainstream media, which are obsessed with Israel and which the most prominent American newspapers print stories that are outright lies. And eventually they offer retractions in very small letters that nobody ever sees. So these must be battled. But at the same time, there is another.
- [49:30]
Serious issue that cannot be allowed to be ignored. And that issue has to do with providing for the Jewish education of the next generation of Jews, because, obvious reasons, they represent the future.
- [49:48]
And simultaneously, the funding of a whole range of Jewish communal and religious and social and cultural institutions that are vital if we want to have compelling Jewish communities. And so finding the right balance between these two, I think, is a great challenge that faces funders today. And there is no way we can avoid trying to find that balance.
- [50:17]
Alfred Marcus
There's three different priorities you're talking about. There's the defense of the Jewish community, and of Israel. Then there's the.
- [50:26]
Building up of the American Jewish community, identity, Jewish identity, Jewish future.
- [50:34]
And then a third priority would be the priority of.
- [50:40]
People with needs, Jews with needs and other people with needs.
- [50:44]
And even the division between how much should go to Israel and how much should go to Jews in the United I think that's historically been an issue with federations. And what do you think the trends are going to be going forward on that? And I guess if the historian where are things now? Do you have any sense for the trends? And even from a prescriptive point of view, do you have any prescriptions you would make?
- [51:14]
Jack Wertheimer
Well, first of all, we do know historically that when.
- [51:21]
Crises in the Middle east ease, that funding tends to drop off there and is used more for domestic Jewish causes. That certainly there was once upon a time when federations, for example, gave half of the money that they raised directly to Israel and to help Jews in other lands as well abroad. That percentage had dropped precipitously starting in the 1990s and certainly into this century. There are very few federations that maintain that 5050 parity. Most of them at best give between 10 and 20% to age use abroad and the rest is given to support domestic Jewish needs. Again, that has changed since October of 2023. But as I said, if the crisis eases and if people feel that.
- [52:22]
Israel's needs are being met, then that will be rebalanced again in some fashion.
- [52:31]
But what I have heard is that there are some funders who, when they look at the American Jewish scene, and especially some of the surveys that have been taken since 2023 about the attitudes of younger American Jews, have gotten quite worried because their attitudes towards Israel are very different from the attitudes of middle aged and older American Jews. And since it's the latter, the middle aged and older American Jews who are giving the funding, they are concerned to see that younger Jews may have a more balanced view about Israel and develop a relationship with Israel, regardless of whether they approve of this policy or that policy or this government or that policy in Israel. And so what I've heard is that some funders are shifting towards more immersive programs, educational and cultural and religious programs, as opposed to what had been very popular for much of the first two decades of the 20th century, of the 21st century rather, which are kind of.
- [53:51]
Entry level types of Jewish programs. In other words, let's sponsor a social gathering and let Jews get together with each other. There's nothing wrong with that, but what does that lead to? And that's the question that funders have been asking and are there ways of utilizing those social get togethers to provide education, to provide deeper cultural opportunities.
- [54:20]
And religious opportunities for younger Jews so that they will remain engaged with Jewish life and maybe deepen their engagement in Jewish life? Now, what I'm speaking about here is in part descriptive, but also in part prescriptive.
- [54:36]
Alfred Marcus
On my part, you have, like yourself, we're going to come to an end very soon. But do you have three, what would be your top three priorities for. For the use of the funds that the Jewish community obtains? And if you don't want to deal with that, what are you working on now? And.
- [55:02]
So. And is there anything I haven't asked that you would like to say? So those are the three, the three remaining things I'd like you to cover.
- [55:11]
Jack Wertheimer
So I'll start with what my priorities would be. And that is.
- [55:19]
I would prioritize what I refer to as immersive programs because they have much more staying power. What do I mean by immersive programs? Maybe as an example, Jewish summer camps. I'm talking about residential summer camps. These provide a terrific opportunity both to build Jewish social networks. We know many people who have made lifelong friends in camp. In my case.
- [55:49]
I've been married now for 54 years to a woman whom I met in a Jewish summer camp. And I have friends to the present day whom I made in that Jewish summer camp. But in addition to that, there are Jewish summer camps that also provide Jewish educational opportunities, in some cases more formal classes, but in many cases it's done through informal education. And that's also fine. But the point is that here you have kids who are in a camp for three, four, eight weeks or seven weeks, and it's an opportunity to really.
- [56:31]
Provide them with much more Jewish knowledge.
- [56:36]
In a very compressed fashion, but also in a fun fashion. So that's one area. And I think it's a crying shame if there are families that want to send their kids to such gyms and they can't afford to.
- [56:53]
Compare to the other immersive programs that I very strongly support, which are Jewish day schools. Those are immersive environments of the other 10 months of the year. And they have powerful effects. There is no question in my mind, based upon the data, that many, not all, but many, most of our Jewish leaders are coming from day school backgrounds. And they are nurtured in those environments through educational opportunities, but also through their social opportunities. And they're given a sense of commitment to Jewish life and there too, to provide the funding. So that these day schools can admit students from families that have difficulty affording it. And the affordability issue in day schools is a crisis in American Jewish life. And the other area, of course, has to do with Israel trips. It's been, I think, tragic that as a result of the wars of the last two years, that Israel has been fighting that Birthright. Israel and many other programs of longer duration than the 10 day trips, birthright.
- [58:09]
Have seen declining enrollment. And I'm hoping that that will pick up again, because being in Israel, seeing it firsthand, I think can establish a relationship with Israel, regardless of your political views and ideological views. So those are areas that I think are worthy of great support.
- [58:31]
I'll answer your question about what I'm working on now. I'm doing research for a biography of a man by the name of Louis Finkelstein. Louis Finkelstein was pictured on the COVID of time magazine in 1951.
- [58:47]
He was regarded by many of his contemporaries as the most prominent American Jew of his time. And I would guess that most American Jews today have no idea who Louis Finkelstein was. He was the longest serving chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary. But his claim to fame was not only that he headed this institution, but also that he was a pioneer in interfaith and intergroup work. There are famous stories of meetings that he held with Catholics and Protestants and eventually with Buddhists and Muslims and other Eastern Asian religious leaders. And they would talk to each other, and they turn to each other and would say, isn't it interesting that the first time you and I have ever met and had a conversation, it was within a Jewish institution. Institution. And Finkelstein also founded radio and then television programs called the Eternal Light, which were broadcast on NBC every Sunday morning, eventually early afternoon. And as a result of that, Americans learned about Judaism, something that they knew nothing about and perhaps to the present day may not know all that much about. I could go on about Finkelstein, but he was pretty interesting.
- [60:12]
Alfred Marcus
Yeah. And anything that I have not asked that you would like to add.
- [60:17]
Jack Wertheimer
I think we've covered a lot of ground and I feel for the audience because I've spoken rapidly. So I just want to thank you for having me on and giving me this opportunity to talk about my book, Jewish Giving, Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life.
- [60:35]
Alfred Marcus
It's been a pleasure and very illuminating. Thank you very much for joining me and for this great book where you've looked at Jewish philanthropy and what it reveals about charitable giving more broadly. The book is Jewish Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life from New York University Press. For listeners, I'm Alfred Marcus. This is on the Cusp on the New Books Network, where we examine how strategy and ethics intersect in organizations and civic life. Thank you for listening. If you have comments or suggestions for books for future podcasts, please be in touch at amarcusmn Eduard.