Thank You

Dear friends,

Oy vey, what difficult times we’re living in. How many of us doom-scroll on our phones and binge-listen to news and commentary on what seems like the end of the world? And then we shut it all down because we just can’t take it anymore?

In a recent news article, Dr. Jocelyn Sze, a clinical psychologist who specializes in treatment of PTSD and anxiety, offered suggestions for how to make it through. Besides whatever efforts we choose to make in response to current events, she encourages us to: a) set boundaries and put in place a support system to stay safe; b) build resilience, practicing collective care and self-care which are revolutionary acts in times of oppression; c) rest, which is not retreat but how we recover the clarity and cohesion needed to mobilize and rebuild; d) join hands, because there is strength in numbers and safety in solidarity; and, e) above all, keep faith in the long game, because deep change comes from staying calm, clear and connected.

Here at The Jonah Maccabee Foundation, we’re all about joining hands. Any and all donations are put to use trying to make a substantive difference where we can. We have awarded important (and unusually large) grants to programs that are working tirelessly to correct some of the injustices being perpetrated by the current administration in Washington. Without wanting to annoy you too much, your increased donation will help us to make more of these increased, vital grants.

With abundant gratitude for your support, here’s how we have used your donations thus far in 2025:

In the United States …

• National Immigrant Justice Center … keeps families together, protects neighbors from deportation, and ensures someone can start a new life in the U.S.
• Immigrant Defenders Law Center … defends our immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system
• Northwest Immigrant Justice Center … promotes justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education
• The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project … provides free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in Arizona who face immigration removal proceedings, endeavoring to ensure each immigrant has access to counsel, understands their rights under the law, and is treated fairly and humanely
• Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights … advocates for the rights and best interests of immigrant children, from custody and release to the ultimate decision about whether the child will be allowed to remain in the U.S.
• The Borgen Project … works to make extreme poverty a focus of influential nations’ foreign policy
• United Negro College Fund … awards more than 10,000 students scholarships annually, and provides financial support to 37 historically black colleges and universities
• Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism … works to educate, inspire, and mobilize the Reform Jewish Movement to advocate for social justice
• Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry … providing food for neighbors in this part of Westchester County, NY, who struggle to make a living, work two or three jobs, or are seniors for whom it’s become increasingly difficult to live on a fixed income
• 6 Points Creative Arts Academy … a summer camp that strives to create holistic, meaningful experiences for young artists in a living laboratory for learning and performing
• Paws Crossed Animal Shelter … works to create a better world for pets and for people as a unified community, best fulfilled through rescue, rehabilitation, rehoming, advocacy, collaboration and education
• HUC-JIR Soup Kitchen … provides food and support to people in need around the New York campus neighborhood of the Reform Jewish seminary, Hebrew Union College.
• Play Group Theatre … “preparing kids for every stage in life,” PGT understands that rather than the show what’s most important when kids do theatre is learning collaboration, sharpening listening skills, embracing creativity, and treating one another with honor
• Creating S.P.A.C.E. … provides a cohesive education program in Denver, CO, that engages communities to embrace all differences and disabilities
• Treehouse Shakers … provides teacher trainings and residencies for students that focus on the art of dance and storytelling
• Harmony Project … provides no-cost, high-quality music instruction and social support to underserved children in low-income communities throughout Los Angeles, motivating them to cultivate their human potential
• Lifting Up Westchester Summer Camp and Youth Services … gives children who are experiencing homelessness in Westchester County, New York, a safe space filled with fun and games, plus literacy activities that help them retain the past year’s school lessons, preparing for success when the new school year begins, then stays with them to help ensure success throughout the entire year
• Sing Unto God … works to elevate the practice of communal singing and meaningful worship for any person, congregation, or community wanting to learn about or experience the transformative power of uniting voices
• 52nd Street Project … creates and produces new plays for, and often by, kids ages 9-18 who reside in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City
• Institute for Multipartisan Education … dedicated to sustainably increasing and improving capacity for curious approaches to difference and disagreement in educational settings
• Makom Community … creates family-centered Jewish experiences in Philadelphia

Around the world …

• World Central Kitchen … despite ongoing and dire risk in Gaza, WCK’s Palestinian team shows up daily, providing more than 100,000 meals each day by land, sea, and air
• United Help Ukraine … provides the people of Ukraine with critical humanitarian support (first-aid, food and water) that will enable them to survive in the face of current adversity

We hope you feel as good about these grants as we do. Thank you so much for supporting our projects. We’re grateful to have you with us as we carry forward Jonah’s legacy — his zest for living and his passion for goodness — and, together, work to improve the lives of young people everywhere.

Have you ever watched “About Schmidt,” starring the inimitable Jack Nicholson? Filmed in 2002, it’s about a new retiree (Nicholson) who struggles to find meaning in his life. Needless to say, after a lot of soul-searching (and even more miles on his RV), it’s in the small acts of caring that his life sorts itself out. Treat yourself to an excellent film (it’s on Amazon) that will leave you feeling better about the modest but significant actions each of us can take to build a better world.

Wishing you every goodness,
Ellen, Billy, Katie and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation

P.S. Your donation is always welcome at jonahmac.org/donate.

Dear friends,

The Jonah Maccabee Foundation is grateful for you. Because of your gifts, and only because of your gifts, we are able to award grants to remarkable organizations that are doing amazing work in making the world a better home for us all.

With abundant gratitude for your support, here’s how we used your donations in 2024:

• Vote.org … eradicating barriers between American voters and the ballot box
• Play Group Theatre … “preparing kids for every stage in life,” PGT understands that rather than the show what’s most important when kids do theatre is learning collaboration, sharpening listening skills, embracing creativity, and treating one another with honor
• Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights … advocates for the rights and best interests of immigrant children, from custody and release to the ultimate decision about whether the child will be allowed to remain in the U.S.
• United Negro College Fund …awards more than 10,000 students scholarships annually, and provides financial support to 37 historically black colleges and universities
• 6 Points Creative Arts Academy … a summer camp that strives to create holistic, meaningful experiences for young artists in a living laboratory for learning and performing
• Food Bank for NYC … working to end food poverty in New York City’s five boroughs by helping low-income New Yorkers overcome their circumstances and achieve greater independence
• Keshet … working for the full equality of LGBTQ Jews and their families in Jewish life
• Music to Life … supporting artists who are dedicated to helping people and the planet through their work on civil and human rights, climate change, poverty and health
• Mississippi River Network … disproportionately and unjustly impacted by pollution, public health disparities, and economic injustices, communities of color along the Mississippi River benefit from the efforts of the MRN which works for the well-being of the people, land, water, and wildlife of America’s largest watershed
• American Indian College Fund … supports Native student access to higher education. With only 14% of American Indians earning college degrees (less than half the national average), AICF empowers 4000 American Indian students annually to start and stay in school, complete degrees and launch careers.
• Judaism Alive … identifying, training, promoting, and placing young leaders in Jewish organizations throughout North America to keep the spirit of Judaism alive for future generations
• The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project … provides free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in Arizona who face immigration removal proceedings, endeavoring to ensure each immigrant has access to counsel, understands their rights under the law, and is treated fairly and humanely
• Makom Community … creating family-centered Jewish experiences in Philadelphia
• D’Addario Foundation … providing as many children as possible with an extraordinary musical education via 200+ nonprofits worldwide, college scholarships, and by conducting scientific research on the impact of immersive music education
• Animal Love Rescue Center in Costa Rica … a non-profit, no-kill charitable organization, founded on the belief that all animals deserve respectful and loving treatment and must be protected by humans as well as by law
• Brave New Films … championing social justice issues by using a model of media, education, and grassroots volunteer involvement that inspires, empowers, motivates and teaches civic participation to make a difference
• American Friends of the Parents Circle … more than 600 bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families whose common bond is that they have lost a close family member to ongoing conflict but instead of choosing revenge, they follow a path of reconciliation
• Harmony Project … providing no-cost, high-quality music instruction and social support to underserved children in low-income communities throughout Los Angeles, motivating them to cultivate their human potential
• The Penguin Project … provides theatrical outlets across the country for young artists with developmental disabilities, joined onstage by children without disabilities who work side-by-side through rehearsals and performances
• National Diaper Network … providing basic necessities required to build the strong foundations all children, families, and individuals need to thrive and reach their full potential
• Creating S.P.A.C.E. … providing a cohesive education program in Denver, CO, that engages communities to embrace all differences and disabilities
• Treehouse Shakers … providing teacher trainings and residencies for students that focus on the art of dance and storytelling
• Lifting Up Westchester Summer Camp and Youth Services … giving children who are experiencing homelessness in Westchester County, New York, a safe space filled with fun and games, plus literacy activities that help them retain the past year’s school lessons, preparing for success when the new school year begins, then stays with them to help ensure success throughout the entire year
• MindLeaps … creating educational paths for vulnerable children by engaging them in fun dance classes that are part of a carefully crafted curriculum to develop key cognitive and social-emotional skills vital to success in school and work
• Sing Unto God … working to elevate the practice of communal singing and meaningful worship for any person, congregation, or community wanting to learn about or experience the transformative power of uniting voices
• The PICO Union Project … distributing free, fresh produce, mentoring high school students, planting gardens and trees, and providing art programs to lift the minds and spirits of the immigrant communities living in the El Pueblo district in Los Angeles

In Israel …

• IsraAID … partnering with local organizations and civil society initiatives in Israel’s south, focusing on psychosocial support, stress relief activities, and relief supplies as needed
• Just One Chesed … providing Israeli soldiers and civilians with life-saving medical, tactical, and other essentials
• Friends of IDF … working closely with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to provide for the well-being of its soldiers, veterans, and family members through educational, financial, spiritual, and cultural initiatives
• Rabbis for Human Rights … an Israeli organization that works within the Occupied Territories to promote social and economic justice within Israel
• Parents Circle – Family Forum … a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 700 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict there, all of whom believe that reconciliation between nations is a prerequisite to achieving a sustainable peace
• Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Community … ten kibbutzim within a few miles of Gaza that offer pluralistic, egalitarian Jewish cultural and social action activities and, in the aftermath of October 7, care for their emotional well-being as well.
• Road to Recovery … Jewish volunteers meeting Palestinians at checkpoints to drive them to Israeli hospitals for much-needed operations … a number of Road to Recovery volunteers were murdered by Hamas on October 7 … the organization continues its mission nonetheless
• Combatants For Peace … Israelis and Palestinians, former fighters on both sides of the conflict, working together to nonviolently bring equality, freedom and peace … nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018
• World Central Kitchen … partnering with local restaurants across Israel, WCK served meals to people who were displaced from their homes on October 7, and delivered fresh, nourishing meals to the hospitals where returning hostages received checkups and reunited with their families
• Torah Tzedek … an Israeli human rights organization which acts to safeguard Arab and Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, West Bank and East Jerusalem
• The Tamari Project … raising funds for Bikurim, the youth village for performing arts (3 miles from the Gaza border), established in 2014 by Tamar Kedem Siman Tov (murdered on October 7) and Sagui Dekel Chen (kidnapped on October 7) … watch their amazing rendition of “Yihiyeh Tov”)

In Gaza …

• American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) … providing humanitarian and development aid to the Middle East, specifically the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan
• World Central Kitchen … despite ongoing and dire risk, WCK’s Palestinian team show up daily, providing more than 100,000 meals each day by land, sea, and air

In Ukraine …

• United Help Ukraine … providing the people of Ukraine with critical humanitarian support (first-aid, food and water) that will enable them to survive in the face of current adversity

AND OF SPECIAL MENTION — THANK YOU ONE MORE TIME TO COMEDIAN BOB ALPER. This past February, we hosted a house concert featuring Bob’s hilarious comic routines. Besides falling off our chairs at his jokes, we raised $10,000 which we immediately sent out (always on your behalf) to organizations in Israel helping folks to cope in the aftermath of the October 7 murders. Bob generously donated his own fee to The Jonah Maccabee Foundation to support this project.

We hope you feel as good about these grants as we do. Thank you so much for supporting us. We’re grateful to have you with us as we carry forward Jonah’s legacy — his zest for living and his passion for goodness — and, together, work to improve the lives of young people everywhere.

Wishing you every goodness,
Ellen, Billy, Katie and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation

Dear friends,

So many of the people we talk to carry with them a round-the-clock anxiety. The world seems more filled than ever with turmoil, scarcity and suffering. There are days when we want to just disappear into some Enchanted Forest where discord is long forgotten and all is well.

Then, perhaps with a sigh and a strong cup of coffee, we begin our day. While trying to earn a living, raise a family and keep ourselves from going insane, we look for something WE can do to help alleviate suffering and restore hope.

The Jonah Maccabee Foundation may not find that Enchanted Forest but everyday we are enchanted by the courage and resilience of good folks who are trying to make a difference. We seek them out and, in partnership with YOU, award grants of financial assistance that assist these verifiable heroes in continuing their valiant labors.

With abundant gratitude for your support, here’s how we have used your donations thus far in 2024:

OF SPECIAL MENTION — THANK YOU TO BOB ALPER: This past February, we hosted a house concert featuring comedian Bob Alper who generously donated his fee to The Jonah Maccabee Foundation to support Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 tragedy. We raised $10,000 and immediately sent out (always on your behalf) a slough of grants. We also dug into our savings to send additional humanitarian aid into Gaza. Here’s how you have helped …

In Israel …

• IsraAID … partnering with local organizations and civil society initiatives in Israel’s south, focusing on psychosocial support, stress relief activities, and relief supplies as needed
• Just One Chesed … providing Israeli soldiers and civilians with life-saving medical, tactical, and other essentials
• Friends of IDF … works closely with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to provide for the well-being of its soldiers, veterans, and family members through educational, financial, spiritual, and cultural initiatives
• Rabbis for Human Rights … an Israeli organization that works within the Occupied Territories to promote social and economic justice within Israel
• Parents Circle – Family Forum … a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 700 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict there, all of whom believe that reconciliation between nations is a prerequisite to achieving a sustainable peace
• Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Community … ten kibbutzim within a few miles of Gaza that offer pluralistic, egalitarian Jewish cultural and social action activities and, in the aftermath of October 7, care for their emotional well-being as well.
• Road to Recovery … Jewish volunteers meet Palestinians at checkpoints to drive them to Israeli hospitals for much-needed operations … a number of Road to Recovery volunteers were murdered by Hamas on October 7 … the organization continues its mission nonetheless
• Combatants For Peace … Israelis and Palestinians, former fighters on both sides of the conflict, working together to nonviolently bring equality, freedom and peace … nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018
• World Central Kitchen … partnering with local restaurants across Israel, WCK served meals to people who were displaced from their homes on October 7, and delivered fresh, nourishing meals to the hospitals where returning hostages received checkups and reunited with their families
• Torah Tzedek … an Israeli human rights organization which acts to safeguard Arab and Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, West Bank and East Jerusalem
• The Tamari Project … raising funds for Bikurim, the youth village for performing arts (3 miles from the Gaza border), established in 2014 by Tamar Kedem Siman Tov (murdered on October 7) and Sagui Dekel Chen (kidnapped on October 7) … watch their amazing rendition of “Yihiyeh Tov”)

In Gaza …

• American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) … provides humanitarian and development aid to the Middle East, specifically the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan
• World Central Kitchen … despite ongoing and dire risk, WCK’s Palestinian team show up daily, providing more than 100,000 meals each day by land, sea, and air

In Ukraine …

• United Help Ukraine … provides the people of Ukraine with critical humanitarian support (first-aid, food and water) that will enable them to survive in the face of current adversity

And so many other places that need your help …

• Judaism Alive … identifies, trains, promotes, and places young leaders in Jewish organizations throughout North America to keep the spirit of Judaism alive for future generations
• Makom Community … creates family-centered Jewish experiences in Philadelphia
• Animal Love Rescue Center in Costa Rica … a non-profit, no-kill charitable organization, founded on the belief that all animals deserve respectful and loving treatment and must be protected by humans as well as by law
• Harmony Project … provides no-cost, high-quality music instruction and social support to underserved children in low-income communities throughout Los Angeles, motivating them to cultivate their human potential
• National Diaper Network … provides basic necessities required to build the strong foundations all children, families, and individuals need to thrive and reach their full potential
• Creating S.P.A.C.E. … provide a cohesive education program in Denver, CO, that engages communities to embrace all differences and disabilities
• Treehouse Shakers … provides teacher trainings and residencies for students that focus on the art of dance and storytelling
• Lifting Up Westchester Summer Camp and Youth Services … gives children who are experiencing homelessness in Westchester County, New York, a safe space filled with fun and games, plus literacy activities that help them retain the past year’s school lessons, preparing for success when the new school year begins, then stays with them to help ensure success throughout the entire year
• MindLeaps … creates educational paths for vulnerable children by engaging them in fun dance classes that are part of a carefully crafted curriculum to develop key cognitive and social-emotional skills vital to success in school and work

We hope you feel as good about these grants as we do. Thank you so much for supporting our projects. We’re grateful to have you with us as we carry forward Jonah’s legacy — his zest for living and his passion for goodness — and, together, work to improve the lives of young people everywhere.

Wishing you every goodness,
Ellen, Billy, Katie and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation

P.S. Your donation is always welcome at jonahmac.org/donate.