editorials
P resident Joe Biden delivered his second State
of the Union address last week. He spoke to a
newly divided Congress and an electorate that polls
indicate is generally unimpressed with his performance
in offi ce. He used the attention-grabbing State of the
Union spectacle to make clear his intention to pursue a
second term, with the theme of his campaign to “fi nish
the job.”
Biden’s speech began with and repeated his
bipartisan aspirations — a recurring theme in the
president’s decades-long political career. He was
complimentary of Republican congressional leadership
as he argued that his fi rst two years in offi ce have
generated bipartisan support on a range of important
issues. And he invited his “Republican friends” to
continue to work together with him “and fi nd consensus
on important things in Congress,” including the lifting of
the debt ceiling.

Biden’s goading on the debt ceiling issue,
including barbs about high defi cits under the Trump
administration and accusations of Republican demands
to cut entitlement programs like Social Security and
Medicare, drew audible protests and accusatory jeers
from some in the audience, including repeated yelling
of the accusation “You lie!” by newly empowered
right-wing warrior Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(R-Ga.). Recently elected Speaker of the House Kevin
McCarthy appeared unnerved by the outbursts and
sought to gently shush the off enders. But Biden seized
the opportunity and responded to the hecklers by
President Joe Biden gives the State of the
Union Address on Feb. 7.

pivoting off -script and seeking to orchestrate bipartisan
support to preserve Social Security and Medicare,
notwithstanding the debt ceiling debate. Biden’s
urgings were met with a standing ovation from the
entire chamber.

The speech then morphed into campaign mode
as Biden previewed the themes he will likely pursue
in his expected 2024 re-election bid. Those include
challenges to the policies, proclivities and personalities
in the Trump administration and a focused pitch toward
pivotal blue-collar voters. Biden’s lunch-pail pandering
was textbook: He criticized Big Oil for reaping
outrageous profi ts when gas prices were at a record
high. He skewered Big Pharma for drug prices that
gouge regular Americans. And he criticized Big Tech
for collecting too much personal information, especially
on children. He encouraged support for American
manufacturing and American-made products, pledging
to impose new requirements that all construction
materials used on federal infrastructure projects would
have to be made in America, as he promised to make
“Buy American” the law of the land.

To further address the concerns of everyday
Americans, Biden promoted the previously obscure
Junk Fee Prevention Act to crack down on airlines
that charge fees for families that want to sit together;
prohibit high ticket-processing fees for concerts and
events; and prohibit media companies from charging
customers to change service providers. And then, in
typical stump-speech campaign mode, he asserted
that “Americans are tired of being played for suckers.

Pass the Junk Fees Prevention Act so companies stop
ripping us off !”
Foreign-policy issues were addressed largely in
passing. And the pro-Israel community heaved a sigh
of relief that no mention was made of the Jewish state
and concerns over developing policies. Those issues
will undoubtedly be addressed in Biden’s expanded
pitch for re-election. Stay tuned. ■
A New Tool for Jewish Philanthropy
T he Jewish philanthropic sector is valued in the
billions of dollars. It is, literally, a very big business. It
is comprised of organizations and individuals dedicated
to the highest forms of tzedakah and good works that
together have signifi cant impact and worldwide reach.

At its core, there is a recurring dynamic that drives
the players: Charitable organizations must fi nd donors
interested in funding the organization’s eff orts, and
funders want to fi nd nonprofi ts that match their
philanthropic goals. Last week saw the launch of
a tool that has the potential to make the nonprofi t
sector more effi cient, more eff ective and even more
consequential, through a partnership between the
Jewish Funders Network and impala, a nonprofi t sector
digital database.

Founded in 1990, JFN has more than 2,500 members.

Its ranks include private foundations and individual
philanthropists in the United States, Israel and nine
other countries. JFN works not just to promote giving,
10 FEBRUARY 16, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
but also enables and encourages the exchange of
ideas in order to maximize the impact of philanthropic
giving. JFN’s meetings and conferences give those in
the Jewish nonprofi t world the opportunity to come
together, share ideas and walk away energized. This
year’s conference will be held next month in Phoenix.

Impala is a digital database that assembles publicly
available information on millions of foundations and
nonprofi ts. It collects data by scraping details from each
entity’s IRS 990 forms, annual reports and websites.

With such a reservoir of information available to it, any
philanthropic organization or donor faces a much less
daunting chore of researching and connecting with
potential partners interested in or devoted to the very
idea or sector the searcher is looking for.

According to a recent article in eJewish Philanthropy,
impala will off er free subscriptions to members of
the Jewish Funders Network and their grantees for
two years. The free subscriptions almost guarantee a
signifi cant mining of impala’s data. Should usage drop
off when the free subscriptions lapse, it will be another
lesson learned. But for now, the Jewish nonprofi t world
is taking this opportunity seriously. The Jim Joseph
Foundation, the Glazer Foundation, DARE Foundation
and JFN’s board chair, Marcia Riklis, have pledged
$525,000 to fund the project.

Our community is constantly searching for new and
innovative ways to tackle the challenges we face. The
planned cooperation between JFN and impala could
help develop connections to address many of those
issues and could be of great value.

Free access to the impala database for organizations
and donors opens myriad partnering opportunities
to help the people and causes that the nonprofi t
community exists to serve. We applaud this win-win
development, commend the philanthropists who have
committed to fund it and look forward to reports of
signifi cant successes from this exciting opportunity. ■
Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire
SOTU Stump Speech



opinions & letters
Assad Hates Israel More Than
He Loves His People
Mitchell Bard
W ho sent the most volunteers and were
among the fi rst on the scene to assist
in the rescue of the victims of the earth-
quake in Turkey?
Israel, of course.

Yifat Erlich reported in Israel Hayom that an Israel
Defense Forces rescue team and hundreds of volun-
teers from other organizations were working fever-
ishly to fi nd survivors amidst the rubble.

“The conditions in their make-shift camps are not
easy, and rescuers have no access to running water
or electricity, and sleeping on the fl oor in the bitter
cold,” Ehrlich related. “The team — consisting of 500
people — has been working non-stop since Tuesday,
racing against time and in the conditions of the winter
cold. No one stopped to eat or sleep, despite the fact
that they had been at it for over 48 hours. By early
Wednesday morning, they had already managed to
rescue several people, including a 2-year-old child
and a 23-year-old woman.”
At least 19 people have been rescued by Israelis
in what the IDF is calling Operation Olive Branches.

Israel is doing this in a country that only recently
restored diplomatic relations. President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan has spent the last several years
attacking Israel and, even today, after reconciling
with Jerusalem, allows Hamas offi cials in Istanbul to
plan operations. Rejecting Israel’s request that they
be expelled, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said
in October, “We didn’t satisfy any request on Hamas,
because we don’t perceive Hamas as a terror group.”
Still, Israel sent rescuers.

Meanwhile, across the border in Syria, thousands
of victims of the quake were dying due to a lack of
assistance. Israel off ered to send its fi nest to help
there too but President Bashar Assad would rather
see his people die than accept help from Israel.

The situation is not funny but nevertheless reminds
me of an apropos joke:
The captain of a Syrian airliner sends out a distress
message: “Mayday, mayday, mayday, Syrian 174,
fl ame out engine one, we want to land at any airport
in the Mid-East that’s not in Israel.”
No answer.

A short while later he announces, “Mayday, Syrian
174, fl ame out engines one and two, requesting
permission to land at any airport in the Mid-East
OTHER than in Israel.”
Silence. A while later the captain announces, “Mayday,
Syrian 174, we are desperate. We have lost two
engines and are losing the third. We need to land
at any airport in the Mid-East OTHER than in Israel.”
Still no answer.

Finally, the captain calls, “Help! This is Syrian
Airlines 174, we have only one engine left and it is
rapidly failing. Unless we can land, we are going to
crash. We need permission to land at ANY airport,
INCLUDING in Israel.”
A voice is heard in the Syrian airline cockpit:
“Shalom Syrian 174, Tel Aviv Approach. Radar
contact over the Mediterranean, eight-fi ve west of
Tel Aviv. We stand ready to assist.”
“God bless you,” says the Syrian pilot. “What
should we do?”
“Repeat after me: Yitgadal, v’yitkadash …”
Not even a devastating earthquake was enough
for Assad to accept help from Israel.

Still, Israel does what it can. Back in 2016, the IDF
Northern Command established the headquarters
of Operation Good Neighbor near the border with
Israel. A fi eld hospital was set up to provide human-
itarian assistance and medical aid to victims of the
civil war. More than 10,000 Syrian civilians were
treated, and fuel, food and clothing were provided to
Israel’s “enemies.”
Similarly, the IDF set up a fi eld hospital in Turkey to
treat earthquake victims, including Syrian refugees.

The Times of Israel reported that a 4-year-old Syrian
refugee whose parents were killed in the quake was
among those treated at the makeshift hospital.

“I found myself taking out halva from our combat
rations and giving it to him, and he loved it,” said
Lt. Col. Aziz Ibrahim, a nurse and a commander in
the IDF Medical Corps. Ibrahim told the paper the
boy’s uncle said, “You Israelis treat us better than
our people.”
Meanwhile, have you heard from supporters of the
Palestinians expressing any concern for Palestinians
who might have been injured in the quake? They’re
too busy demonizing Israel to organize help for the
people they care oh so much about only if Israel can
be blamed for their plight. They undoubtedly see
Israel’s relief activities as “rescue washing;” that is,
just another cynical eff ort to distract attention from
the persecution of Palestinians.

At a time when Israel is being assailed on multiple
fronts for its politics, it is worth reminding the world
that it is a country that values life above all else
and is prepared to help even its most entrenched
enemies, in the tradition of the Talmudic teaching
that whoever saves a single life is considered to have
saved the whole world. ■
Mitchell Bard is a foreign policy analyst and an
authority on U.S.-Israel relations.

letters Elie Wiesel Censorship Op-Ed Lacked
Context Though I agree we need to talk about all forms
of discrimination, the specifi c event Lindsay Karp
chose — a Central Bucks School District temporarily
removing a poster with an Elie Wiesel quote — was
not fully described (”The Quiet, Potentially Deadly
Discrimination We Need to Talk About,” Feb. 9).

The actual events were that the principal ordered
the Wiesel quotation removed. The librarian removed
it. Parents protested. The school board heard the
protests and ordered the quotation to be reinstalled.

That was done the following day. The op-ed leaves
the impression that the quote is no longer in the
library. The Central Bucks School Board is very worrisome
in that they wish to control what may or may not be
taught in class and also what literature is available in
the school libraries. ■
Gerald Gilbert
Washington Crossing
Correction In the Feb. 9 article “You Should Know Gevura Davis,” Aish Chaim was incorrectly identifi ed as a
Modern Orthodox congregation. Aish Chaim describes itself as an unaffi liated independent outreach
community. SEND US LETTERS
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