CHARITABLE GIVING
Despite Israeli Unrest, Organizations Find Support
GI VING
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
IN 2020 AND 2021, Israel
weathered storms on multiple
fronts: ongoing response to the
pandemic and the distribution
of vaccines and boosters, as
well as the violent Israel-Hamas
conflict flare-up in May 2021.

In Israel’s time of need,
Israel advocacy organizations
in the United States with the
help of donors, have risen
to the occasion to assist the
nation-state, and those organi-
zations have seen an increase
in giving this year.

Since 2019, American
Friends of Magen David
Adom, which assists Israel’s
emergency medical service,
has seen exponential growth in
revenue from the Philadelphia
region, from $578,522 in 2019
to $1,025,711 in 2020 and
$2,780,368 in 2021.

“Our very strong fundraising
year is really in response, in
many ways, to the tremendous
needs that Magen David Adom
has faced as a result of events
happening in Israel,” AFMDA
CEO Catherine Reed said.

Since the beginning of the
pandemic, MDA has provided
testing and vaccinations. After
the deadly Mount Meron
disaster, a crowd rush that
killed 45 on April 30, MDA
was the first to respond and,
this May, MDA was able to
treat victims within hours of
Hamas rocket attacks, largely
thanks to the proactive giving
from U.S. donors, Reed said.

AFMDA has not been alone
in having a good fundraising
year. Jewish National Fund-USA
raised $4 million in 2021, $1.5
million above its fundraising
goal, according to JNF-USA
Eastern Pennsylvania President
Dale Danilewitz.

“We make long-term
philanthropic investments
in Israel,” Danilewitz said,
“meaning that when Israel
faces a crisis, we already have
the infrastructure needed to
help them respond effectively
and remain resilient.”
JNF-USA has effectively
extinguished forest fires in
Israel’s Eshkol/Gaza Envelope
region and provided clean-up
resources after the Western
Galilee Now Tourist Information
Seventy MDA paramedics and emergency medical technicians provide COVID testing to Orthodox Jews in
Ukraine in September.
Courtesy of American Friends of Magen David Adom
Center in Akko was destroyed.

In October, six JNF-USA
Eastern Pennsylvania lay
leaders took part in JNF-USA’s
first official mission to Israel
since the onset of the pandemic,
and they are preparing for the
Celebrate Israel Mission from
Jan. 14-20.

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A JNF-USA firefighter puts out a wildfire in the Eshkol/Gaza Envelope
region of Israel.
Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA
The American Jewish
Committee Philadelphia/South
Jersey saw a 20% increase in
donations this year, Regional
Director Marcia Bronstein said.

AJC has initiatives to counter
the boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement and to
strengthen ties between Israel
and the American diaspora.

“Our donors tend to have
a more nuanced, long-term
approach to the conflict,”
Bronstein said. “They remain
hopeful for peace in the region.

The path to peace sometimes is
not very clear, but they do know
that by supporting AJC, they’re
promoting Israel’s safety and
security, and those are things
they really care deeply about.”
These organizations have
largely attributed increased
giving to the challenges Israel
has faced this year and growing
antisemitism in the U.S.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



CHARITABLE GIVING
“It’s partially because of
rising antisemitism,” Bronstein
said. “Our donors are motivated
to do something ... It comes up
in the majority of our conversa-
tions with our donors.”
And though no organization
wants to see increased antisemi-
tism and anti-Israel sentiments,
those incidents correlate with
an increase in giving.

“[Donors] see it in our
own emails or Facebook page
and social media, and people
respond,” Reed said.

Even though many of these
nonprofits experienced an
increase in giving this year,
not all members of the Jewish
community are interested in
donating to them.

Zev Guttman of Center City
hasn’t donated to any Israel
advocacy organizations because
of his focus on giving locally.

“Our sages say that a man
who is very wealthy and gives
proudly to all kinds of causes
in the community or the
world, but then his own wife
and children go hungry with
tattered clothing — that man
is a wicked person,” Guttman
said. “Charity starts at home.

Once you’re done taking care
of your home, then you expand
that charity by giving to your
immediate community.”
Instead of giving to larger
organizations, Guttman, who
considers himself “a man of
extremely modest means” and
financially impacted by the
pandemic, prefers to give to
Jewish communities in which
he’s already involved, such as
B’nai Abraham Chabad and
Congregation Mikveh Israel
in Philadelphia.

By giving locally, Guttman
can more easily see the impact
of his donation.

Even without giving money
to Israel advocacy organiza-
tions, Guttman is still a proud
supporter of Israel. His family
lives in Tzfat, and he hopes to one
day make aliyah to Israel. If he
were to move to Israel, he could
begin giving to Israeli organi-
zations because Israel would
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM become his local community.

If Guttman were to give to
larger Israel advocacy organi-
zations, he would seek greater
transparency from them,
wanting organizations to “show
exactly how their money is being
spent and where it’s going.”
In addition to contending
with those whose giving
priorities lie elsewhere, Israel
advocacy organizations must
also confront criticisms of
those disagreeing with policies
or actions of the Israeli govern-
ment. Some organizations are
using any ambivalence toward
Israel to their advantage.

“What those kinds of senti-
ments allow is for us to educate
people about Israel,” Reed said.

“In many ways, AFMDA is a
great argument to the ridicu-
lous attitudes people have and
the unfortunate rise we see [in
antisemitism] from time to time.”
AJC is continuing to focus
on advocacy campaigns, rather
than explicit fundraising
campaigns, knowing that
involving the community in its
mission translates to increasing
There’s a lot of work to be done. American
Jews are feeling like (they’re) on the defensive
with anti-Zionist voices.”
MARCIA BRONSTEIN
giving. Like other organiza-
tions, AJC is trying to keep the
fundraising momentum of the
past year.

“There’s a lot of work to
be done,” Bronstein said.

“American Jews are feeling
like (they’re) on the defensive
with anti-Zionist voices. We’re
aware of those challenges,
and we want to work towards
a world where there’s zero
tolerance.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
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