...

Guilt and history no longer bring

young Jewish philanthropists to

the Jewish table of giving.

Yet many are participating-

either through family

foundations or as self-made

en trep reneu rs-passiona t ely

and purposefu//~ happy to be

active and hands-on.

By Rahel Musleah

T IS STANDING-ROOM ONLY at Pub-lic, a trendy, sky-lit restaurant inNew York's Greenwich Village, asthe crowd of hip 20-somethingsclinks glasses of honey-vodka-lime

Mule cocktails and nibbles on sweet pota-to pate, skewers of feta cheese and water-melon cubes, smoked salmon spring rollsand creme brulee in tiny cups.

This is not speed dating, although thereis a certain amount of matchmaking in-volved in whetting the funding appetites ofthese young Jewish philanthropists.

They are networking with potential reci-pients of their largesse-representatives of50 Jewish organizations chosen to be includ-ed in Slingshot: A Resource Guide to JewishInnovation, self-described as "a kind of Za-

34 MAY 2.007HADASSAH MAGAZINE

.

Fun and Giving New Generations brings together 20- to40-)'ear-olds (above), who lvork to advance justice in Israel,.1nd takes hundreds on its annual trip to Israel.

and Y (1981-1999). It is the brainchild of21/64, a three-year-old division of the An-drea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropiesspecializing in multigenerational philan-thropy, and Grand Street, a network for 18-to 28-year-olds who are or will be involved

gat of Jewish organizational innovation.""We consider ourselves lucky and we want

to share the happiness," says Lewis Silber-1 man, 28, a New York stock trader who, with; his actor-wife, Ariel, is looking to target more'"~ of his philanthropy to Jewish causes.~ Slingshot represents one creative effort to~ focus the Jewish philanthropic spotlight on3 Generations X (born between 1964 and 1980)

35HADASSAH MAGAZINEMAY 2007

~

in their family's philanthropy. According

to Shama Goldseker, the 32-year-old ACBP

vice president who oversees the division,

the approach brings together the perspec-tives of a young person coming of age

with that of a seasoned person consider-ing his or her legacy. "The very presenceof the next generation causes a paradigm

shift," she says, "through the questions,values and priorities they bring."

-,.,

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~ .~ HOUGH CONVENnONAL WISDO~

...bemoans the lack of Jewish in-volvement of 20- and 30-some-

things, predicting a steep decline in gifts to..I.. Jewish organizations, Gary Tobin, president of

the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, says,

"Every generation of Jewish donors thinks they're going tobe the last one We have plenty of evidence that youngdonors are feeling their way."

It's true, says Tobin, younger philanthropists are as like-

ly to be involved in the symphony and environment as inJewish causes. But, he adds, "I'd argue that's a good thing.Why would we expect Jews to integrate in every way inAmerican society and not expect them to integrate phi-

lanthropically? Guilt and history won't work on youngJews. They need a sense of excitement and purpose." Butthis is true not only of young Jews, he explains. All Jewish

philanthropists are changing because American philan-thropy is changing. Directed giving-designating funds to

specific causes-is now the trend, instead of donating toumbrella organizations that then disburse funds to manygroups. He characterizes today's givers as "more hands-onand active, entrepreneurial in background and temper-ment and unimpressed by typical donor-recognition events."

Mitchell Whiteman, 30, a money manager, a memberof Grand Street and vice chairman of Impact, the youngadult division of The Associated: The Jewish Community

Federation of Baltimore, compares supporting an um-brella organization such as federation to investing in a mu-tual fund instead of one stock. "Federations may not havethe sex appeal as targeted or more 'hip' philanthropies," he

says, "but they go to our values more than anything else.""When you talk about basic needs," counters Danielle

Durchslag, 25, an artist and associate board member ofthe $500-million Nathan Cummings Foundation createdby her great-grandfather, "it depends on your definition.To me, creating a [nuanced] Jewish community...open toreaching out to as many constituents as possible is a basicneed. It fuels the community to be the best it can be."

Michael Steinberg, 34, is a portfolio manager for a New

York hedge fund and one Grand Street j\1itchellof the cofounders of the Whitem,m, above, in a schoolNatan Fund, a philan- in Poland, and D~niellethr . tw k d Durchslag, near rIght, belong

OplC ne or ma e up .to the network for famlly-largely of Wall Street types based pl1ilanthropies.in their thirties who pooltheir resources. "We apply our 'best practices' to Natan-in our analyses, due diligence and strategic thinking," hesays. "In many ways, Natan is a venture fund. Many of theorganizations we research and support are new and offthe radar. [We have] a wealth of cumulative experience...from business to entertainment and marketing. That's

very powerful."Founded in 2002, Natan has awarded $3 million and

generated $100,000 in matching contributions in the pastfour years to groups targeting Jewish identity in Americaand economic opportunity in Israel. Its grants have helpedfund Visions, a university program that promotes dia-logue between Jewish and Palestinian Americans; Brook-lyn Jews, a community center for unaffiliated young Jews;Hazon, a Jewish environmental initiative; and www.Jewsrock.org, a Web site about Jews in rock 'n' roll.

Natan's 55 members, Steinberg notes, "are not dissatis-fied with Judaism, but disenchanted with its current phi-lanthropic structures." Adds Felicia Herman, Natan's exec-utive director, "People like to feel they're in control as muchas possible over where their money goes."

While Steinberg represents the self-made entrepreneur,many young Jewish philanthropists today have inheritedtheir wealth through family foundations. The number of ~family foundations has increased explosively in the past ~two decades. "At this point there could be 10,000 or ~30,000 family foundations," says Tobin. "We don't know. ~But it's huge. The dollars exceed $20 to $30 billion." ~

"If you have the means, you should find organizations;you are passionate about and give in a strategic way that ~will have the biggest impact," says Durchslag, whose fam- ~

36 HADASSAH MAGAZINE' MAY 2007

health and environmental causes. "I try to give with joya11d passion and not just obligation." But just as Jewishidentity is a choice rather than an obligation for many ofher generation, she adds, so, too, is their philanthropy.

"Giving Jewishly doesn't necessarily mean I give exclu-sively to Jews," she explains. Durchslag sees it as a Jewishethic to promote justice through debate and conversation,even in, for example, an inner-city classroom. She sup-ports initiatives such as the Jewish Fund for Justice, anantipoverty and social justice group, and Children ofAbraham, which builds dialogue betWeen Jews and Mus-

I

I

,j

~j ,

ri

[tWe have to change the waywe work by modeling truecollaboration, to usher inan agile...more resource-effi-cient Jewish community.

-Marcella Kanfer Rolnick

"They have to compete on a level playing field withany nonsectarian organization doing the same work," Thal-heimer says. Ironically, despite his universalist perspective,the organizations he currently supports are Jewish: theAmerican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and theJewish Fund for Justice.

"Jews giving to secular causes is important-it's part ofour role in tikkun a/am-but it has to be in addition to,not instead of, giving to Jewish causes," contends Mar-cella Kanfer Rolnick, 34, chair of the Lippman KanferFamily Foundation in Akron, Ohio. Her foundation is com-mined to "Jewish learning and engagement," and supportsAkron's Lippman Jewish Day School.

But since much of the next generation is not part of thetraditional Jewish community, "we have to find out wherethey are and get in that door," says Barbara Dobkin, atrustee of the Dobkin Family Foundation. However, whenshe hands over the reins of the foundation to her own twochildren, now 36 and 38, she says, "I will place no restric-tions [on them]."

Engaging young Jews in philanthropy is an opportuni-ty mainstream institutions such as Hadassah can hardlyafford to overlook. In addition to her own family's foun-dation, which focuses on women's issues, Dobkin alsoserved as first chair of the Hadassah Foundation, whichsupports programs geared toward social change for wom-en and girls in the United States and Israel.

Mirele Goldsmith, 45, a former Young Judaean, notesthat she agreed to be a board member of the HadassahFoundation because of its "cutting-edge and innovativefunding that speaks to my interests. We support causesnot supported by the mainstream." As examples, she citesRosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing, a self-esteem programnow in dozens of chapters across the United States, andeconomic-empowerment programs for women in Israelfrom backgrounds as diverse as Russian and Bedouin.

In addition to its foundation, inaugurated in 1998, Ha-dassah hopes to bring in new donors under the age of 46through a new initiative called Generation H, says ShelleySherman, national chair of the Young Major Donors divi-sion. "We have a combined women's, Jewish, Americanand Zionist agenda along with collegiality and peer net-working [to attract them]," she says.

One issue that has anracted young donors to Hadassahis stem cell research. The Hadassah Human EmbryonicStem Cell Research Center in Jerusalem, part of HadassahHospital's Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy andone of the three leading stem cell research facilities in theworld, was in need of refurbishment. A program launcheda year and a half ago for young donors hoped to raise

lims. In the arts, she supports JOub, an edgy Jewish-musicproduction company, and Storahtelling, a fusion of story-telling, Torah and performance.

"I don't spend a lot of time with people, Jewish or non-Jewish, who don't want to make the world a better placeor to whom education is not important," notes Jos Thal-heimer, 23, an intern at ACBP whose great-grandfatherbegan the Alvin and Fanny B. Thalheimer Foundation inBaltimore. "The question is how uniquely Jewish thosevalues are." Thalheimer says he grew up in a neighbor-hood that was "not mostly Jewish," and his friends andthe people he dates are also "not mostly Jewish."

That open-minded, diverse outlook characterizes Gen-erations X and Y. That means an organization that is Jew-ish in values, collects money from Jewish donors or serves

37MAY 1.007 HADASSAH MAGAZIN

In Style A turnout of 750 New York Jewish singles in their twenties and thirtiesfor a ViA-Federation 'Generosity' event in January made the evening a success.

based social and communal events,through real involvement and thoUght-

provoking, sophisticated program-ming that shows people the valuesthey hold dear in the U.S. are also rel-evant in Israel." Today, New Gener-ations members and "graduates" makeup about a 5th of the New York cam-paign, drawing 800 donors in 2005as well as hundreds to its events, pro-

grams and annual Israel trip. "Theyare now the driving engine of the or-ganization," says Sidelsky. "The invest-ment has paid off.» A smaller NewGenerations has opened in NIF's San

Francisco office.

"but there are foundations where

young voices can be threatening.""Foundations are complex organi-

zations filled with conflict, compas-

sion, loyalty and disappointment,

[complicated] relationships betWeenparents and children, siblings, friendsand grandchildren," explains Tobin.

"One can hardly think of a more in-tense set of intersections than those

betWeen family, money and religion."Grand Street addresses these some-

times overwhelming issues. Durch-slag, who was instrumental in its es-tablishment, recalls a conference sheattended for "young people of means"during her student days at WellesleyCollege. One of the icebreakers was

to stand in the center of the circle andshout out an identity. Anyone whoshared that identity joined the circle.

"I screamed out 'Jews,'" Durchslagrecalls, "and half the room walked in-to the circle. I was amazed. I realizedthere was a discourse missing." Sheeventually connected with ACBP, whichcreated Grand Street, naming it forthe Grand Street Association, found-ed in 1920, where former residents ofthe Lower East Side would gather toperpetuate the memory and love ofwhat came before even as they movedon to new endeavors. "When you're18 or 19, grant-giving isn't dorm-roomconversation," she says. "I now knowwho my peers are and have a net-work I respect and trust. It's a Jewishcommunity I feel comfortable with."

At 21/64, the process of values clar-ification encourages families to artic-ulate a coherent vision and set of goals,says Goldseker. To "unpack the dy- ~namics" she uses tools such as motiva- ~

Q

tional cards labeled with values from ::;'"

opportunity and responsibility to tol- ;erance, justice and compassion. "When @we invite family members to priori- ~tize them," she says, "we find that even ~if their funding choices are different, ~

their values are often similar. Dad ~'-'

might want to support the local syn- ~

$360,000 for the center over threeyears; it has already brought in more

than $750,000, increased its goal to$1 million and mobilized local advo-cacy efforts.

"We wanted a cause that wouldspeak to young women?" Shermanasks rhetorically. "It shouted to them.Many had never given a gift this big."

Rishona Myers, 34, was so takenby the project that she chose the high-est level of giving. "I'd already had aninterest in stem cell research; it touched

on illnesses that affected my family,"she explains. "I liked the program be-cause it focused on what young wom-en could do. My parents raised me tobe charitable, so I didn't have to thinktwice about it when I made the dona-

tion two years ago."The New York office of the New

Israel Fund, which seeks to present Is-rael's moral complexity and advancejustice for all Israelis, created NewGenerations 13 years ago for those intheir twenties to early forties. "A lot

of what we do is learning through ourerrors and our successes," says Ariel-la Sidelsky, the New York director.

"We draw people through content-

OME DONORS HAVE responsibil-

ity thrust on them at an espe-

cially tender age. Durchslag,

for example, calls herself "the

luckiest young philanthropist

in the world. I've always been wel-

comed at the table and encouraged to

share my voice." She joined the Na-

than Cummings Foundation board at

18; three cousins in their twenties are

also on the board.

"In my foundation young people are

responsible and cherished," she says,

38 HADASSAH MAGAZINE ,\fAY 2007

edgy projects. One such project is SixPoints Fellowship, which encouragesyoung artists to create works with aJewish focus.

~ -10RIN FRAMES THE debatebetween sexy and staid ina historical context: "Edgy, :

young, vigorous entrepre-neurial Jews created Hadas-

sah and federations and ]CC's and

Jewish family services and the Amer-ican Jewish Congress. [They] created...Israel and Brandeis University."

And it seems that the young phi-

lanthropists also have a larger snow-ball effect. In 1917, 27-year-old Sar-ah Wetsman and her mother, Bessie,

hosted Henrietta Szold for 10 days intheir Detroit home and were instru-

mental in founding Hadassah's De-troit chapter; a year later, Sarah gave

$1,000 (borrowed from her father)toward the purchase of an ambulanceto send as part of a medical mission

that Hadassah and the ]DC were send-ing to Palestine. Fast forward 80 yearsto 2007: Sarah Wetsman's son, Wil-liam Davidson, has just donated $75million toward the construction of anew inpatient tower at Hadassah Hos-pital in Jerusalem. Philanthropy pro-

duces philanthropy.Mitchell Whiteman characterizes

himself and most of his peers as "in-

credibly optimistic" about the futureof Jewish philanthropy. "Philanthro-py can be making grants through afamily foundation, giving a few dol-lars...or volunteering," he says. "If wedon't take ownership of our communi-ties, who will?"

While each generation may haveits own motivation, even its own cul-ture, the impulse to give is constant.

"Over and over," says Tobin, "Jewsre-create their communities and theirorganizational structures. This is not

something new. It's something won-derfully ingrained in the Jewish spiritof change and growth." H

..

agogue while his son wants to sup-port Hurricane Katrina relief, but theunderlying values aren't that differ-ent. They start to see themselves onthe same side instead of focusing ondifferent vocabularies."

Kanfer Rolnick's commitment toher family foundation earned her thecochairmanship with her grandfatherin 2004 and the solo chairmanshipon his death in 2005. Her involve-ment began in her twenties, thoughher role on the board was then littlemore than rubber stamping.

"I decided 1 wanted to understandthe field and potential of philanthro-py and went on a journey of self-edu-cation," she says. To do so, she attend-ed a conference of the Jewish FundersNetwork, which provides leadershipand services to Jewish grantmakers,and later became an executive boardmember after chairing its YoungerFunders program.

Kanfer Rolnick offers a critique ofher generation. "I'm afraid we are gid-dy with all the great stuff we're doing,"she says, "but 20 years from now ourkids will say the system is still brokenand the things we built are irrelevant.We have to change the way we workby modeling true collaboration...tousher in an agile, responsive, more re-source-efficient Jewish community."

Even though many young donorscome to Jewish causes from the out-field of community life, their philan-thropic activities usually pull them in.Almost all of the new donors becomemore involved, says Laura Spitzer, as-sociate executive director of the UJA-Federation of New York. Spitzer hasworked with at least a dozen federa-tions around the country that havestarted or are interested in startingventure philanthropy funds.

"We are literally educating andgrowing the next generation of phi-lanthropists," she says, refuting theperception that UJA-Federation doesnot attract younger people seeking

MAY 2°°7 HADASSAH MAGAZINE